Category:

The Beauty of Bitters

10/10/2024

Do you eat your bitters? Bitter foods offer a multitude of health benefits, such as improving digestion, enhancing liver detoxification, and clearing up your skin when hormonal issues lie at the root of issues like acne. But did you know bitters can also improve your mood, clearing feelings of depressed malaise and calming the fires of impatience and anger?

In Chinese medicine and in Ayurveda, the hallmark of a balanced meal is the inclusion of all of the flavours. By including all of the flavours in a meal, you’re probably going to feel very satisfied. And satisfaction is a crucial element of enjoyable, intuitive eating.

One of these flavours is bitter, a very important taste that many of us are missing on our plates.

Throughout Spring and Summer in my Southeast Queensland neighbourhood, edible weeds pop up everywhere including in my own my backyard.

Under the kids’ trampoline out of the lawnmower’s reach, I find dandelion greens, sow thistle, sheep sorrel, and wild carrot, among other largely unknown yet freely available sources of nutrition (always correctly identify plants before eating them, come to one of my Herb Walks to help you with this!). At the farmer’s market I uncover a similar array: mustard greens, endive, chicory, kale, parsley, rocket.

FIRST DO NO HARM.

12/3/2019

A call to naturopaths to embrace a weight neutral approach to practice.

Primum non nocere. First, do no harm.

This is the first tenet of the naturopathic oath we all take on graduation day from college, and the most critical.

As naturopaths we strive not to add to the burden of problems of our patients. To refrain from further damaging their physical, mental or emotional wellbeing. To not intervene in such a way that will in any way harm.

Doing nothing is better than doing something that will cause harm.

In many ways, we are very good at abiding by this foundational tenet.

And yet... there is something insidious going on within the naturopathic profession that has not been called out. And despite our best intentions, it is doing serious harm to our patients, our profession, and ourselves.

That thing is a weight focussed approach to health. Whether directly or indirectly, promoting weight loss does irrefutable harm.

Even if it's weight loss "for health". Or weight loss "for fertility". Or weight loss just for the sake of weight loss, because "who doesn't want to be a bit leaner?"

To illustrate my point I'll set the scene. The other week I received two emails: one from a very well known nutraceuticals company promoting its weight loss seminar to naturopaths and other natural health professionals. The other was the exact same email, forwarded on to me from a major natural medicine education institution to its students.

This is not okay.

As I'll illustrate shortly, a focus on weight loss does unequivocal harm. This is in direct opposition to the first and most crucial naturopathic tenet.

It's 2019, and I propose that it's time that practitioners in the field of naturopathic medicine universally adopted a non-diet, weight neutral, Health at Every Size approach. For the sake of our clients, our best practice, and for the future longevity and validity of our profession, we must steer the ship away from the weight-centric doctrine it is starting to (and arguably, has) become and back towards true preventative and holistic medicine.

The kind of medicine that naturopathy sprang from. The kind of medicine that does no harm. The kind of medicine that treats the whole person, not a number on the scales.

Purity vs. hybridisation

19/12/2018

When it comes to the work I do, I've never been 100% sure about what to call it, or if it even has (needs?) a name. Try as I might (and I have, numerous times), the stuff I "do" can't be put into a single box.

And it's not for lack of direction; I know what I am good at and what I love to do. It's just that there are so many directions I feel I am being pulled in.

Perhaps a nicer, less divisive way to say that, is that I have many colourful threads that form my web of being! :)

I often feel this pressing need to categorise "it", to pack it down nice and neatly into a label, to be able to explain to people what I do in a concise sentence without feeling like I've left large chunks of who I am stranded by the side of the road, all for the sake of simplicity.

And so here I am, eating disorders dietitian by day; (newly) Zenthai shiatsu practitioner by candlelight.

In one studio a yoga teacher emphasising the importance of play; in the next a nutritionist distilling hours of reading textbooks and research papers into digestible information that my clients can understand.

Studying naturopathy and Chinese Medicine on one hand; investigating the clinical applications of CBT and DBT for eating disorder clients on the other.

Sometimes I feel like a bit of a jill of all trades. Master of none. A case of shiny object syndrome. A fraud. Not really good at any one of those things.

Hello, voice of my inner critic, I hear you loud and clear.

The "Winter Symptoms set" - physical, emotional and energetic causes

8/7/2014

I've been noticing a common set of symptoms in my clients and friends lately that I've found very interesting. It's a set of symptoms I have observed over a number of Winters, and which you may have noticed in yourself or others.

The set of symptoms I've been seeing is:

aching joints
sore muscles (especially in the feet and legs)
immune system dysfunction - colds, flus and allergies
skin conditions such as rashes and dry, flaky, itchy skin
constipation and/or diarrhoea

Sound familiar to you? Let's take an integrative (i.e. both allopathic and alternative) approach to figure out what might be the root cause of such symptoms occurring together. We'll start with the physical and then explore more deeply the emotional and energetic.

Physical

Skin problems such as acne, skin rashes and flaky, dry, and itchy skin often come back to liver and lack of bowel function. Your liver is one of your largest organs of detoxification. In Winter, when we stay indoors more, eat fattier richer foods, drink more alcohol to stay warm, and move less, we inevitably place more pressure on our livers.

If you aren't eliminating the toxins that your liver has dealt with fast enough then there are only a few other places they can come out and a big one is the skin! Even if liver function tests come back as normal, the liver may still not be working optimally - liver function tests may only appear abnormal once liver function is very impaired.

This is where I'd recommend seeing a good naturopath who can provide herbs that will support your liver such as St Mary's Thistle, Globe Artichoke, Dandelion root, Schizandra, and Turmeric. These herbs all work in slightly different ways so leave it to your Naturopath to decide which ones are best for you.

Certain amino acids such as Methionine, in combination with B Vitamins, Inositol, and Choline are particularly good for supporting the function of the Cytochrome P450 or detoxification pathway of the liver. They are also particularly effective for getting fat out of storage and putting it back into circulation as an energy source, something that many of us could do with during the "Winter storage" period!

Similarly, if your bowels aren't eliminating fully, skin conditions may be exacerbated as the body tries to get rid of excess toxins through the skin. Constipation and/or diarrhoea that persist for weeks are one sign that your bowels are not working the way they really ought to, and are often accompanied by pain, cramping, gas, and bloating. There are a number of reasons the bowels may not be working optimally, ranging from relatively simple and benign to more serious, including:

Not enough water or very poor diet
Emotional or physical stress
SIBO (Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth) or Dysbiosis
IBS (Inflammatory Bowel Syndrome)
IBD, Diverticulitis, Crohn's or Coeliac disease
Bowel or Ovarian Cancer

It's difficult to impossible to self-diagnose serious bowel issues so I recommend seeing a trusted medical practitioner for this one, and getting any necessary tests.

Energetic

In the past I may have attributed the "Winter set" of symptoms to liver and bowel issues, and the rest of the symptoms - allergies, colds, flus, and achey joints - to general Winter woes. But having recently undertaken an incredible training in energetic-based nutritional medicine, another more esoteric (and equally valid) explanation for ALL of these symptoms occurring together, became surprisingly apparent.

If you practice yoga, you have probably heard about the chakras or energy centres of our bodies. According to yogic science, there are seven chakras located along the length of the spinal column. Through these energy centres travel energy channels, known as nadis in yogic science. In Traditional chinese medicine, energy points are called meridians, and they correspond with the main nadis outlined by the ancient Indians.

This of course all points to the idea that we aren't just physical bodies; that we are energetic beings also. This is where my dietetic training comes to a cliff's edge, and my yogic training and understanding of more traditional healing wisdom steps in.

Anything we do, eat, say, feel or think purportedly has the ability to shift our collective energy field. This energy field has been recognised for thousands of years by numerous traditional wisdoms, such as Ayurveda, yogic science and Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Spiritual practices, such as Qi gong and yoga open or increase this innate energy, and the philosophy behind certain martial arts implies that these energies can be developed and focused.

"If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration" - Nikola Tesla

The training in energetic-based nutritional medicine I undertook, called Food & Spirit by developer Dr. Deanna Minich, helped me see a whole new side to the root cause of this particular set of symptoms which I see time and time again during the Winter months. It gave me a wider lens and a personalised toolkit that has already helped me better understand my clients' journeys to wellness, and allowed to me to help them on a much deeper level.

The Root Chakra

What I discovered was that this set of symptoms involves anatomy associated with the most grounded vibration in our chakra system, the root chakra. The root chakra is linked to survival, tribe, tradition, and grounding. According to Dr. Minich, "this slow, assured vibration supports our energetic structure, and provides the instinctual, primal template for who we are as physical human beings." As I re-discovered in my recent training (a reminder from yoga trainings past), the root chakra is responsible for the energy of body systems that provide us with physical structure, allowing us to make contact with - and ground ourselves to - the Earth.

Anatomy associated with the root chakra:

joints
bones & muscles
large bowel and rectum
legs & feet
immune system
skin

Revising this, I started to see a stronger connection between the usual Winter symptom set I described at the start, and our energetic body - not just the physical body!

At a basic level, the physical body is also connected to key elements that are formed from a very young age by our family patterns - aspects like safety, trust, and boundaries. When we are grounded in these fundamentals of everyday living, we feel secure and at ease in our physical bodies, ultimately translating into our relationship with foods and our eating practices and patterns.

Emotional

We are not just physical beings - we have emotional, mental and energetic aspects too. When I run an initial consultation I don't just ask about diet and physical symptoms. I try to get to know the client on a deeper level - who they are, what they stand for (core beliefs), personality, and current life issues. Naturally I started seeing root chakra issues in people with this symptom set, which was an amazing revelation for me to witness!

Core issues associated with the root chakra

Ability to defend oneself
Security (financial and physical)
Safety
Familial and social law and order
Physical family
Feeling "at home" and "grounded" with self, family, and community

When I looked closely, the clients I'd seen with skin issues, constipation, haemarrhoids, poor immune function, achey joints and muscle soreness often shared an interesting life situation - they were in between or highly dissatisfied with their jobs. Facing financial challenges. Feuding with family, or having to face big family issues. Often, they would mention that they felt "ungrounded" or "lost". The correlations were truly amazing, and have expanded my viewpoint of holistic health care to include the energetic system I know so well from my yoga practice.

Treating root chakra imbalance

A root chakra imbalance varies widely between people, depending on whether the chakra is deficient or excessive. One also needs to consider imbalances in other chakras, and the many individual lifestyle factors each person faces. As a general guideline, if you feel you are experiencing an imbalance in your root energy centre, you could look at addressing the following:

Protein - getting an adequate and a healthy range of plant and/or animal-based protein, not too little or too much protein
Including root vegetables for grounding
Edible and medicinal mushrooms to boost the immune system
Addressing bowel issues that may have been ignored
Assessing for mineral deficiencies
Investigating suspected food allergies
Feeling secure about accessing food
Eating when hungry
Letting go of protecting oneself with food
Engaging in healthy social eating

The recommendations I give to clients with the set of symptoms I described at the start may be based on purely clinical observations, or they may also take into account energetics. As a dietitian I can only practice within a certain scope and my recommendations are always based first and foremost on tangible clinical evidence.

But as a yoga teacher and firm advocate for integrative and energetic medicine I will always take into consideration non-physical factors when helping my clients, especially when there is so much overlap between physical, emotional and energetic symptoms. And especially when I see the great results I have witnessed by using a more integrative, holistic approach to health care.

5 life lessons I learnt from being bed-ridden

8/5/2014

I went to bed on Tuesday night feeling nauseous and with a belly ache, and woke up feeling like I’d been hit by a truck. Every muscle in my body ached, and moving was a joke – I felt about 200 years old!

I don’t know whether it was food poisoning or that yucky gastro bug going around, but it felt dreadful! However, it lasted a fraction of what it could have, thanks to some herbs, some rest, and even some TV (I know, shocking!).

When I went over the last week step by step, I could see the warning signs and how I’d ignored them. Read on for the five big lessons I learnt from the whole experience that could help you avoid experiencing the same thing I did, starting with lesson number one...

Listen to the warning signs.

Last weekend I was preparing to open my new yoga and clinic space… at the same time my mum was visiting for the first time in a long time, at the same time I was teaching a bunch of classes the same day, on the same day I planned to catch up with several different friends… you get the idea.

I noticed I was losing my keys over and over again. Locking them in the car, finding them in obscure places after hunting for ages, and getting really frustrated in the process. Picture me after teaching my final yoga class of the day, crying and screaming whilst lying under my Dad’s land cruiser for twenty minutes trying to undo the spare key in pitch black, while my mum waited for me to pick her up from the train station! I was stressed out and it was giving me the memory of a guppy.

Stress triggers our brains to release hormones, like cortisol, which affect the memory and cognitive function section of the brain. The over-stimulus caused by these hormones overloads the memory part of the brain, which causes us to forget things. Temporary memory loss can also be caused by multi-tasking, which many of us do to "stay ahead" in our busy lives. I for one am guilty of multi-tasking, thinking I’m being more productive when really I’m just making myself unmindful and stressed out!

When we are carrying on a conversation on the phone as we walk into the house, and planning what to cook for dinner at the same time, we aren’t paying attention to where we are simultaneously putting down our keys. Our brains don't store data well when we’re not paying attention to something in the first place. Brains are designed to do one task at a time. We are not computers and when we try and behave as if we were, our brains refuse to co-operate and forget things.

Exercising daily, eating healthily, getting plenty of sleep and practising mindfulness all help maintain a healthy brain, producing more neurotrophins, essential transmitters to enhance nerve connections within the brain.

Herbs are king.

After a busy four days of fitting out the new space and entertaining my mum, I arrived at my partner’s house late one night, frazzled and exhausted. I ate something and went to bed feeling a bit nauseous but too tired to care. The next day I was in a world of gut pain and couldn't bear the thought of getting up.

Being in no state to self-prescribe herbal remedies, my herbal-wizard boyfriend Andreas took great pleasure in concocting strong and slightly disgusting brews of thyme (anti-microbial and carminative) and peppermint (calming for the gut), and making gel capsules of powdered pau d’arco (antimicrobial, analgesic) and echinacea (immune boosting) for me.

Sure enough, my every-minute stabbing gut pain became less frequent and less intense, and I recovered in record time. The power of herbs never ceases to amaze me. (This further fuelled my desire to study naturopathy in the second half of this year!) I also managed to get some sleep. A lot of sleep…

Rest is golden.

Trying to do too much gets us into trouble by putting our adrenals into overdrive and driving our immune systems into the dirt. Getting sick was the final alarm bell my body was using to tell me to “slow down or we’ll force you to.”

Once I was sick, all I wanted to do was lie in bed. Sleeping during the day is something I rarely do because of a misguided belief that it’s lazy to be in bed when the sun is out. How ridiculous of me to think that!

I was in bed for all of Wednesday – except when some unsuspecting but lovely Jehovah’s Witnesses came knocking and on seeing the state I was in, offered to come in and make me some tea. (With my about-to-hurl sounds they were only at the door for two minutes, which must be some kind of record.)

Listening to my body by staying in bed all day was possibly the best thing I did. I woke up on Thursday feeling refreshed and better than I did before I got sick! I enjoyed some hula hoop yoga in Andreas' sunny backyard, feeling grateful to be alive. Rest truly is a powerful healer. And it gave me a chance to watch a little TV, another thing I’ve avoided for the past 12 or so years…

TV is not (always) evil.

On Wednesday night, being in less pain but still feeling exhausted I desperately wanted a distraction. So I turned to watching a few hours of TV to divert my attention away from the pain.

I normally shun television but I managed to find a few English game shows on ABC and SBS that felt like they weren’t killing brain cells. Plus Masterchef was pretty enthralling!

I now understand why people are drawn to TV – it’s a distraction, and when you’re in (any kind of) pain, distraction isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s still not something I’d want to use as a long term coping mechanism, but it helped. And as I lay there staring at the idiot box, I started to realise that…

Having healthy digestion is a blessing.

In the midst of my crippling gut pain, I thought of all my clients with IBS, IBD, Crohn’s, food intolerances and food allergies, and sent them some serious metta (loving-kindness). I’m extremely fortunate not to have any life-consuming gut issues besides lactose intolerance (which is relatively easy to manage).

Living with that kind of pain day in and day out is hard to imagine, yet it’s something many of my clients and closest friends do every. Single. Day. Having healthy digestion, and having general health, are a blessing, something to be deeply grateful for, rather than take for granted.

Why I don't practice conventional dietetics

1/6/2013

Sometimes I'm asked, "Why have you spent hundreds of hours studying botanical medicine, nutrition, yoga, bodywork, and energy medicine?" And I ask myself the same question, reworded - Why isn't standard tertiary training enough?

Dr. Andrew Weil sums it up for me...

“Integrative medicine is just good medicine. We shouldn’t have to separate it out from conventional medicine, but in this medical climate, that is what we are forced to do.”

When people come to me looking to improve their health, I need to examine their symptoms through a wider lens than just blood work, diet history, and which medications they're taking.

These things are important, but I also need to look at their relationships, their lifestyle, what and how they're eating, their sleep patterns, their stressors, their beliefs, and their support systems. Only then can multi-level, lasting healing begin.

More often than not, the major chronic diseases of today are reversible through diet, exercise, and stress management. Yet most doctors, dietitians and other allied health do not have the time or the training to help their patients in this manner. This is such a shame.

Until we demand more of the mainstream approach of symptom treatment, drug prescription and mediocre fixes, people will need to continue to go out of their way to seek wholistic health care - or just good medicine. Thankfully, it is becoming easier to find. It's my hope that the integrative and functional approach to medicine - that includes nutrition, physical therapies, psychology and all areas of allied medical health - becomes more accessible to everyone in the very near future.

Casey's blog