Best Recipe Websites for Inspo!
If you are seeking me out to hand over endless customised meal plans, you have come to the wrong person. A few years back I dabbled with starting a recipe blog. At the time there weren’t as many options as there are now. But it all ended very quickly when I started feeding the chickens too many times with my failed recipe attempts. I just couldn’t handle throwing my creations into the chook pen anymore (coconut flour is a real pain in the arse to work with).
I LOVE cooking and I also enjoy eating too! But with so many recipe websites available now, it can get a little overwhelming to know what is right for you and what also tastes good too.
Over the years I have noticed that I generally recommend the same websites over and over. So now is the time to share these websites with you!
If you are anything like me, I often go to a recipe and adjusted it if I don’t have the ingredients or I would rather choose a different ingredient.
The list you have been waiting for!
The Healthy Chef- Teresa Cutter
You might notice that many are Australian and a few that live in Perth, Western Australia…
If I have forgotten any, I will update this again (or if I discover new ones!)
Enjoy!
Supporting Your Mental Health
As things start to return to normal for us folk in Perth , Western Australia, there are other places in Australia and the rest of the world that are still feeling the pinch of Coronavirus.
Today I visited my local beauticians. I am not generally one for waxing and spending money on such things, but I guess it is the usual feeling of when things are suddenly taken away from you- you miss them!
There have been many a funny meme on social media of image of (mostly women) people that had regrowth, broken nails and hairy legs and eyelashes falling of their faces. You honestly have to laugh of the first world problems that we live in.
While many businesses have their staff working from home, I am back at taking face to face clients. It was so lovely to step back into the space that I know and love - EarthPoint Energy Centre in East Perth. It is a combination of the smell, the amazing women that I work along side with and the atmosphere that does something supportive to your nervous system.
I hindsight, I hope this pandemic has made more people aware about the importance of mental health during these times. Fortunately for me I have been one of the lucky ones. But for many, the home environment can be volatile and unsafe. Or the workplace can be for some people their only interaction with others and gives them a sense of belonging.
Has this time been a positive or negative experience for you?
The amount of online services supporting people’s wellbeing has increased greatly from free mediation sessions, online yoga classes and Zoom meetings.
My 3 pillars to health: MIND, MOVEMENT & MICROBIOME are always at the forefront of my mind for creating an ideal life for my clients. For if we don’t have a balance of all of these components, then we can become out of balance and experience low mood or digestive upsets.
I know living or even attempting to live a healthy lifestyle can be daunting and overwhelming. Knowing where to start can be off putting and can often lead to no action at all.
My approach is always taking one step at a time and focus on what is the easiest for you. No use in setting you up for failure before you have even started!
If you feel you need support with your mood or your tummy troubles….fill out my online enquiry form and see if I can help you.
Living with SIBO
It was back in 2014 when I took my first Hydrogen breath test to see if I had SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth) or not. And sure enough I was positive for both Hydrogen & Methane gases. I immediately started to treat and eradicate my SIBO…
It was back in 2014 when I took my first Hydrogen breath test to see if I had SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth) or not. And sure enough I was positive for both Hydrogen & Methane gases.
I immediately started to treat and eradicate my SIBO by following Dr. Jacobi's Bi-Phasic diet. During my herbal treatment, I noticed instant results. My skin began to improve (SIBO and acne rosacea are linked- and the initial reason for testing), my bloating decreased and my bowel motion improved.
Looking back on the determination in following the diet and finally knowing the cause of my acne rosacea was the end of years of frustration and embarrassment.
If you have ever had to follow a restricted diet you will understand how difficult it is to live a 'normal' life that doesn't impact you and the ones you life with.
But considering my main problem had been eradicated, I began to slowly add the foods in that I was eating previously (It is also strongly advised that you should not follow any restricted diet long term).
Low and behold.....my skin didn't get effected!!!
Sure, the obvious items would cause a flare, such as alcohol and wheat. But I had never had an issue with onions or any other high FODMAP foods.
But slowly over time, even though my skin never returned back to its acne state (thank goodness!), my bloating returned and my bowels also decided to slow down too...….
Bring in test number 2 in 2017. And yep, I tested positive yet again for both Hydrogen and Methane gases. SIBO was back with even more bite!!
So what did I do???
Nothing.
I certainly felt disheartened with a capital D, but after treating so many others for SIBO in my practice I had noticed a trend...….
it comes back!
Knowing the cause of your SIBO is imperative!
The thing about SIBO is that you need to find the cause, and if you don't find the cause, it WILL come back.
What's my cause?
Most likely poor gut motility and a leaky gut to match.
But I didn't want to go in with the big guns (anti microbial herbs) to get rid of the unwanted bacteria and Archea. It didn't want to go on the super restricted diet for months on end.
Nup.
By this stage I had a fair idea of what would cause my bloating. I mentioned a couple of them previously- wheat and alcohol. You can add potatoes, rice and refined sugars onto that list too. But do I avoid them? No. I just know that I should keep potatoes down to once per week and if I am going to eat wheat, it will be with good quality sourdough stuff.
And what about legumes?
Yes, they can cause havoc with SIBO and make anyone look 6 months pregnant in seconds. But once again, I have identified the ones that cause more symptoms than others (for me it's kidney beans and chickpeas).
But I still eat them, because I know how beneficial they are for me and they provide fuel for all of the anti-inflammatory bacteria that live in your colon.
And I have also noticed that by keeping my fibre up that my bowel habits improve (it's not rocket science!).
So lets go back to the cause again.....
The cause of your SIBO is a big clue if you are going to get rid of SIBO once and for all. Unfortunately for some, the cause can be due to adhesions and scar tissue in the pelvic region due to past operations. Constant visceral manipulation is required to reduce the scar tissue within the area. With this comes a very long time frame of healing...….
I discovered that I also have umbilical hernia (another causative factor for SIBO). But after I had met with a surgeon and understood what was involved in the operation, I decided to not go ahead. I felt that the scar tissue post op was going to be far worse than my little sticky outy belly button.
So its not all doom and gloom, and I certainly don't want to put you off in treating your SIBO. For some, it can be a simple cause such as post infectious IBS (just a little bit of gut dysbiosis and a teeny bit of inflammation). But the main take home point is that EVERYONE is different. And yes, it's worth exploring what is causing your unwanted gut symptoms and take the necessary treatment from there.
I just felt that I wanted to share my journey with living with SIBO. I have accepted it (that doesn't mean you should have to too). But I do know that my overall gut microbiome is a lot happier and healthier by me including a high variety of foods into my daily diet.
I also keep my symptoms down by adding movement into my life (yoga) and by keeping on top of my stress levels by ensuring my nervous system is supported and making sure my cup is always full (well 3/4 anyway!)…..
If you would like to listen more about my SIBO story, you can on The GUT GURU podcast.
If you would like support in your gut journey, you can by joining the FB group- Happy gut, Happy you
Do you still have a question?
Send me a message below.....
What makes a healthy gut?
With all the information about the importance of gut health it can get very confusing very quickly!
So I thought it is time to cover the basics.
Research has shown that there are a few fundamental components to what makes a gut healthy. Firstly, your gut microbiome needs to have DIVERSITY. This means that the more different types of bacteria you have, the better.
The other important factor is to have a high amount of bacteria that are anti-inflammatory. Having anti-inflammatory bacteria will keep inflammation low and enable your gut to heal and repair itself (if this is needed).
How do you create more diversity?
The simple way of creating diversity in your gut microbiome is to eat a VARIETY of wholefoods. The easiest way to think about it is by picturing lots of little seeds in your gut. And each seed needs specific foods to allow it to grow. If you keep eating apples you will only be feeding the seeds that grow from apples. But if you added bananas to the mix, you will feed another type of seed that grows from bananas.
The recommendation is to eat up to 40 different type of wholefoods per week. It seems like a lot, but if you do buy apples, buy different varieties (Jonathan, Fuji, Pink Lady etc.). Each type counts as one. This is also the same for capsicum. If you eat red, yellow and green capsicum, you have included 3 different types of wholefoods to your list.
Examples of wholefoods:
fruit
vegetables
rice
nuts
legumes
grains
To make it easier for yourself, I have included a table that you can print off to check off what wholefoods you have eaten during the week.
The other way of feeding the good bacteria in your gut is by consuming pre-biotic foods. Prebiotic foods are basically food for your gut microbes. The main prebiotic compounds that feed you gut are:
FOS- Fructo-oligosaccharides
GOS- Galacto-oligosaccharides
PHGG- Partially Hyrdolysed Guar Gum
Foods that are high in FOS include: asparagus, banana, barley, chicory, garlic, globe artichoke, leek, onion rye and wheat.
Foods that are high in GOS are: beetroot, broccoli, chick peas, fennel, lentils, oats, onion, ryebread
Other prebiotic foods include: brown rice, carrots, back currants, dark cocoa, green tea and almonds
Not only will prebiotics provide food for your gut microbes, they also will promote the production of short chain fatty acids. SCFA's decrease the risk of colon cancer, cardiovascular disease, obesity and insulin resistance.
Now that we have the diversity stuff sorted. Let's take a look at the anti-inflammatory bacteria. The following bacteria are considered to be anti-inflammatory bacteria (but not limited to):
Bifidobacteria
Lactobacillus
Roseburia
Ruminoococcus
Akkermansia
Faecalbacterium
Blautia
Coprococcus
Eubacterium
But how do you know which type of bacteria you have?
The only possible way of actually knowing of who lives in your gut is by having a stool test that tests the DNA of your gut microbes. Research on the gut microbiome is forever evolving, and new studies are covering exciting developments each week on the importance of a healthy gut. The tests that I use in my clinic are Ubiome Explorer and Microba. You can order them online and I will be able to interpret them for you.
In the mean time you can begin to consume anti-inflammatory foods such as the list above or reduce the amount of additive & preservatives, saturated animal fat and refined carbohydrates.
If you feel that you would like to know who lives in your gut and make sure that you have the correct levels of the good guys, contact me below and I will be happy to help.