15 January Bondi Junction Move

02 9389 3689

I wish you and your families a joyous Christmas season, a happy and healthy New Year and a wonderful summer. Thank you for all your support throughout the year in rekindling my business into the thriving and vital life it is today. In January 2013 I will be moving my Bondi Junction clinic next door to Better Health Clinic which have better facilities so I can provide improved service to all of my clients. There will be full time reception making it easier to book appointments, collect herbal medicines and supplements, make postal orders and Hicaps health fund rebates.  I will be practicing from Better Health on Tuesdays 8am - 6pm and Thursdays 10am - 8pm. I will still be practicing in  the city at The Jocelyn Centre on Wednesdays 2pm - 7.30pm. Better Health Clinic is located next door at 40 Grosvenor St Bondi Junction on 02 9389 3689. I hope you all have a relaxing and joyous holiday season and I look forward to seeing you in 2013.

• Grill or barbecue chicken breasts for 5 minutes on each side or until cooked through 
• Slice chicken into strips  
• Mix baby spinach, sliced avocado, walnuts and pomegranate seeds with olive oil and lemon juice in a bowl 
• Arrange chicken strips over salad to serve 
• You can always substitute pomegranates or your favourite summer fruit e.g. mango

Summer has arrived and with it the festive season. Here are some tips to still enjoy the summer parties while keeping those Christmas kilos at bay.

• Hydrate: Make sure you are well hydrated by drinking a bottle of water before you go out. The more water you drink, the less fluid retention you will hold. 
• Booze: Tis the party season but that doesn’t give us a licence to go overboard with alcohol! Try and eat before you drink and have a glass of water in between each alcoholic beverage. Try lower alcohol drinks such as Pimms and fruit punches for hot afternoons or for a more refreshing thirst quencher try vodka and cranberry juice. Avoid cocktails which are high in sugar and calories. Have a night off the alcohol and be the designated driver.
• St Mary's Thistle: This is the best herb to take during the party season to protect your liver and help it detoxify. 
• Detox Herbal Teas: Green tea and roasted dandelion coffee help the liver detoxify, while lemongrass and spearmint teas have a refreshing zing for summer. 
• Summer Iced Teas: Make some iced herbal tea by adding ice cubes, slices of fresh fruit e.g strawberries, apple, orange and a sprig of fresh herbs. Herbal teas can even be frozen into ice blocks for your children with added honey.
• Energizing Juices: Freshly squeezed juices flush your system with antioxidants and aid detoxification. Carrot, celery, beetroot, ginger are particularly effective, while pineapple and mint give a little summer zing.
• Summer Salads: Surrounded by the abundance of tropical summer fruits, it’s easy to forget your greens but these cannot be replaced so make the most of the bountiful salad season with lots of rocket, baby spinach, or try some of the many varied coloured and curled lettuces.
• Unclog: Keep your bowel regular so the toxins can be removed from the body. Try prunes, psyllium husks, lemon in warm water on rising, consider colonic irrigation.
• Metabolism Booster: Exercise stimulates the lymphatic system which encourages toxins to move out of the body. It also pumps more oxygen to the cells and the brain as well as speeds up your metabolism so you burn your fat faster. Try and exercise at least every second day after which your metabolism begins to slow again.
• Electrolytes: If you are exercising heavily, choose a good quality electrolyte drink with added magnesium to help you reabsorb your fluids, preferably without artificial sweeteners.
• Dinner Parties: When preparing dinner, use fresh vegetables steamed or in a delicious salad, complemented by lightly grilled or barbequed fish, seafood or chicken.Wholegrain sourdough bread on the table is much better than white, and with a lower GI too. Avoid too many dairy foods which clog up your digestive system such as cheese, cream, ice-cream and chocolate.
• Plan Ahead: Eat a small meal before going to a party. The misconception that "if I skip dinner I can eat everything in sight" can lead to too many calories consumed. Often these party snacks produce bloating and lack nutritional value.
• Socialising: When arranging to meet friends, organise activities that don’t revolve around alcohol, such as a picnic in the park followed by a game of boules or cricket, or a swim or surf at the beach.
• Recharge: Get a good night’s sleep. Too many late nights take their toll on the body, resulting in post party overeating. Try to alternate a late night with an early one to maintain energy levels.

This fresh summer salad is nutritious and quick to throw together for lunch or to complement your BBQ.
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup quinoa
• 1.5 cups of water
• 1/2 cup diced red onion
• 2 cups of rocket
• 1 cup of thinly sliced celery
• 1 cup of grated beetroot
• 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
• 1 tsp mined fresh garlic
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of ground pepper
• 1 sliced avocado
• 1 can of organic chickpeas or 1.5 cups of soaked and cooked chickpeas

Last week I attended a seminar on Andropause, or male menopause, testosterone deficiency and erectile dysfunction. All three are more common than most men would like to admit, with Andropause now medically recognised as a normal part of ageing, occurring between the ages of 40 to 55 with a significant drop in sex hormone levels. Signs of testosterone deficiency in men include loss of libido and physical agility, poor erection and low ejaculate volume, infertility, shrinkage or enlargement of the prostate, depression, anxiety, fat accumulation around the belly and hips, loss of muscle, high cholesterol and aged appearance. Studies show that this decline in testosterone can actually put one at risk for other health problems like heart disease and osteoporosis.

What Depletes Testosterone Levels?

• Age
• Intense endurance sports or exercise
• Intense emotional stress 
• Foods high in saturated fats e.g hot chips, deep fried oily foods, animal fats
• Adrenal fatigue (chronic stress exhausts the body)
• Medications: e.g Antidepressants (SSRI's)

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe Avocado
• 150gm raw Cashews
• 350gm Ice cubes
• 35gm Cacao (or Cocoa)
• 100gm Dates
• 1 tsp Vanilla bean paste or essence

Now is the perfect time to detoxify your body just like spring cleaning your house to help you feel refreshed and energised for the coming summer action!

Have you ever noticed that many people treat their CARS better than their bodies? They would never ignore a warning light for an oil change or regular maintenance, but they often ignore the tell-tale signs that their body is in desperate need of a tune up. An unfortunate fact of our modern life is that even the healthiest body struggles with inferior nutrition, pollutants in the air, water and food supply, and A lack of healthy activity. It’s no wonder that most of us don’t feel like the Formula One racing cars that we should!

Some Of The Body’s Warning Signs:

• Do you feel less healthy and energetic than other people your age?
• Do you struggle with your weight or fluid retention?
• Do you have digestive disturbances (wind, bloating, flatulence, constipation, heartburn)?
• Do you have dark circles under your eyes, post-nasal drip or hayfever symptoms?
• Do you have bad breath or body odour?
• Do you have sore, aching muscles or acne?

Detoxing at least once a year will help to keep you feeling and looking great!

• Add Veggies to...Everything: Load up your meals with vegetables so there's less room for starchy grains and nutrient poor white flour products. At lunch, you can stuff a wrap with lettuce, rocket, tomato, grated carrot, sprouts, capsicum, avocado and bulk up your dinner meals with extra veggies thrown in. The rise in the incidence of asthma has been linked to diets low in fresh vegetables. We need a serve at every meal!
• Start with Salad or Soup: Starting with a salad or soup can help you eat less over the course of meal, says researchers. It also ensures you get your 5 portions of colourful vegetables per day and is visually satisfying to think you can have 2 plates of food rather than only half a hamburger.
• Juice It! Freshly squeezed juices flush your system with antioxidants and aid detoxification so rather than getting an afternoon coffee to pep you up, head for the juice bar. Carrot, celery, beetroot, ginger are particularly effective, while watermelon, pineapple and mint give a little summer zing.
• Green Smoothies are all the rage! Rather than juicing, buy a blender & simply blend your green veges with water for a quick antioxidant-rich, filling snack in itself: kale leaves, spinach, half a cucumber, half a lemon, 1 green apple or a banana for taste: bon appetit!
• Elixir of Life: Drink at least 2 litres of water every day, carry a bottle of water with you wherever you go, always keep a jug of fresh water on your desk or at home. Contrary to popular belief, the more water you drink, the less fluid retention you will hold. If exercising a lot, add a little salt to your water to replace your electrolytes.
• Going Herbal: Make some iced herbal tea by adding ice cubes, slices of lemon/lime and a sprig of fresh herbs. Herbal teas can even be frozen into ice blocks for your children with added honey.
  Green tea and roasted dandelion coffee help the liver detoxify, while lemongrass and spearmint teas have a refreshing zing for summer.
• Dessert Selection: Half a cup of natural yoghurt has fewer calories and improves digestion rather than half a cup of ice cream. Choose fruit such as pineapple or melon rather than cake or biscuits to fill up on fibre and water. 1 Tim Tam is equivalent to 2 cups of watermelon or 1.5 cups of pineapple! Avoid dried fruit which is high in sugar and sulfur preservatives: 1/4 cup of sultanas contains the same calories as 1 cup of grapes. Add a bag of apples or oranges to your weekly shopping list so you've always got some fruit on hand.
• Glycaemic Index Load: If you eat a bowl of ice cream, your blood sugar level goes through the roof, but if you eat a bowl of white rice or white pasta and measure your blood sugar again, it will be exactly the same! So it's not just about the amount of sugar or fat content but how quickly foods breakdown to sugar and are absorbed. Another example is broccoli has 4% carbohydrate and strawberries have 5% carbohydrate, while white bread has 75% carbohydrate content. As a result, 1kg of strawberries is the equivalent of 1 slice of white bread. Always eat wholegrain breads or crackers, brown or basmati rice, try Quinoa for a nutritious change (cook just like rice but only 10 minutes!) and combine these with lots of vegetables and some protein to slow down your digestion and make you feel full faster so you don't overeat. 
• Snack it! Everyone gets caught out on snacks but rather than be tempted by the quick fix of the biscuit jar or chocolate bar, keep a bag of almonds in your desk drawer, dip vege sticks rather than chips into humus or salsa, eat hard cheddar cheese rather than soft Brie or Camembert, head to the juice bar, keep a few hard boiled eggs in the fridge for emergency snacks or a quick breakfast with a piece of fruit on the way to work, keep some sachets of miso soup in your desk drawer, a fruit smoothie (with yoghurt rather than ice cream) is healthier than a milkshake or Cherry Ripe. By adding 1 commercial muffin to what you normally eat each day, you increase your "bad" trans fats by 2%, but your risk of a heart attack increases by 93%!
• Dressing Up? Topping your salad with a creamy dressing will clog your system so keep it simple with extra virgin olive oil or flaxseed oil combined with apple cider vinegar or fresh lemon juice. 
• Detox Your Mind: A good detox also includes some decluttering of your mind and your life to make space for the new to unfold. Take some time out for yourself to relax and rebuild your energy stores - there's plenty of summer parties ahead so you won't miss out! Consider what no longer serves you in your life....and let it go. Spend time doing what you love and are passionate about rather than wasting your time worrying about what everyone else is doing. Surround yourself with those people that genuinely care and bring out your best rather than simply boosting your ego.

Summer is just around the corner but shedding your extra winter weight can be easy with these healthy tips:

• Get Moving! Regular exercise is essential - put it in your diary so it becomes a daily habit. Choose something you enjoy, that is close to home or work and arrange to meet a buddy so you won't talk yourself out of it.
• KIS - Keep it simple with meals based on a protein e.g. fish, chicken, eggs, meat, beans and salad or vegetables e.g. wholegrain sandwich with roast beef, mustard, avocado and rocket.
• Don't skip meals! Eating every 3 hours boosts your metabolism so you burn through calories faster and have higher energy levels.
• Snack it - Keep a jar of nuts e.g. almonds and fresh fruit at your desk or carry with you so you don't get tempted by the biscuit jar or chips.
• Late night dinners - If you arrive home late rather than having a quick fix like instant noodles or a microwaveable dinner, try having boiled eggs on toast or a tin of tuna/salmon with salad.
• Healthy takeaway - When time has got the better of you, some healthy takeaway options are Thai stir fry, sushi, grilled fish from your local fish shop, BBQ chicken with salad.
• Drink it - Drinking 2-3 L helps flush out toxins, keep your bowels moving and decreases hunger cravings. Green tea helps weight loss and to detox your liver - rather than a milky coffee!
• Ordering out - Ask for rice or salad rather than chips or mash 
• Get some shut eye - If you don't get enough sleep, you crave sugars for energy and you make poor decisions regarding your food choices. 7-8 hours sleep every night aids weight loss!
• Hidden sugars - Sugar is highly addictive and it is in so many products nowadays e.g. cereals, muesli bars, flavoured yogurt so it's hard to avoid but eating excess sugars only contributes to weight gain and long term health problems. Throw out anything in your cupboards that has ingredients that your grandmother would not recognise and rather than eating packet products, eat fresh food.

Many women and adults develop acne in their teenage years and sometimes it continues into later life. It is important to address so that it does not diminish self-esteem. Acne is not caused by ‘dirty” skin, poor hygiene or oily hair on the face. It is a symptom of an underlying hormonal imbalance of increased androgens (male hormones) together with enlargening of the pores in the skin, sebum overproduction, bacterial infection in the skin and consequent inflammation and oxidative stress. However, some people have hormonal imbalances but do not develop acne, while someone with acne will often have normal androgen levels in their blood tests. It is thought that these people have increased sensitivity to androgens or that the androgens are converted into stronger, more potent hormones in the hair follicle producing a localized effect only which does not show in the blood. These localized increased androgens cause increased sebum production and acne. This is related particularly to acne occurring around the jawline, chest and back as opposed to the T zone of the forehead and cheeks which relates more to internal body toxicity.


Diet Tips:

• Eat lots of vegetables, salads and fresh fruit everyday: 5 serves/day – the more colour the better: carrots and pumpkin (high in betacarotene); lots of dark green leafy eg. rocket, baby spinach, broccoli. Fresh vegetable juices eg. carrot, celery, beetroot, ginger are a wonderful way to cleanse and heal the skin.

• Avoid sugars, sweets, chocolate, soft drink, fruit juice, cordial and alcohol which imbalances your blood sugar level causing insulin resistance and bacteria in your skin bread off the sugar.

• Avoid constipation by increasing water intake to 2 litres per day at room temperature (not iced), regular exercise, prunes, psyllium husks: 1Tb in water on rising. Try colonic irrigation.

• Squeeze ½ lemon in glass of warm water upon rising to aid liver detoxification and hydration

• Reduce dairy as it raises Insulin-Like Growth Factor causing acne and clogs your lymphatics around your jawline and face, especially milk, ice cream, cheese. Make sure you have adequate calcium though – tinned fish with the bones, nuts, seaweeds, miso soup.

• Avoid coffee, cigarettes or drugs as they stimulate the stress hormones which raise androgen levels and your blood sugars and insulin as well as providing thousands of toxic chemicals.

• Protein in all your meals: controls your blood sugars by slowing down the absorption of sugars, stimulates your metabolism, decreases hunger and sugar cravings as well as aids liver detoxification of hormones: meat, poultry, fish, eggs, beans, legumes, nuts and seeds.

• Avoid synthetic hormones: only eat organic or hormone-free chicken and eggs, although ideally all food organic.

• Herbal teas: Roasted dandelion root is a coffee alternative & aids detoxification of the liver and bowel. Excellent mix is nettle leaf, red clover, burdock, dandelion root(unroasted) and calendula: 1 tsp of each: 2-3 cups per day. If stressed add chamomile, passionflower or lavender.

•     Herbal medicines that help clear acne include Echinacea, Calendula, Burdock, Dandelion Root and Chaste Tree for women if the acne is hormonal.

•    Nutritional supplements that help heal acne include Zinc, Vitamins A, C and D.

Lifestyle Tips

• Antibacterial face washers containing tea tree oil helps clear an infection. Avoid make up and heavy creams which block the pores and always remove makeup before going to bed. Facials with a qualified beautician help remove the blackheads before they become infected and to release the infection in cystic acne. If infection is severe, use benzoic peroxide 5% cream on the pimples only. Calendula and vitamin E cream or rose hip oil, lemongrass, carrot oils are very healing and reduce scarring once the infection is under control. Try Moo Goo products www.moogoo.com.au

•       Do not squeeze or pick at pimples, as the germs on your hands further infect the area and it is more likely to scar. Use natural makeup and skin care products and wash makeup brushes regularly and dry in the sun.

• Reduce stress. Adopt a lifestyle that balances work and relaxation, allowing some time to have fun, relax and have a good laugh! Consider a massage fortnightly, meditation, breathing techniques, aromatherapy, acupuncture, yoga, relaxing hot epsom salt baths with rose and lavender oils.

• Regular moderate exercise: minimum 4x week 45 mins (ideally daily) combination of aerobic and resistance is essential to control insulin levels and for stress management.

• Balance your weight. If you are underweight, you will need to increase it to boost your oestrogen levels. If you are overweight, your body stores many toxins and chemicals in your fatty tissues so you will need to lose some, even 5% which is usually only 3-5kg.

• Sunlight and salt water are very anti-microbial and healing for the skin.