The macrocosm lies within the microcosm. All is connected. Have you ever pondered on the true meaning of these words?

As a dietitian, connectedness is a concept that helps me to understand the dynamic and changing nature of the body and reveal how our relationship to food can teach us about our relationship to life.

The missing ingredient in most dietary systems is a spiritual context, an appreciation of the sacredness and interconnectedness of all things. The nutritional systems developed by numerous traditional cultures were deeply embedded with their spiritual beliefs and rituals, whether it was holy food preparation (the sadhanas in traditional Ayurvedic medicine), blessing of food before eating it (all traditional cultures), or eating with the seasons, a natural consequence of living close to nature.

In westernised countries, we seem to have lost our reverence for food, where it comes from and our gratitude for it. This has occurred at the same time we’ve lost many traditional methods of preparing foods and traditional foods.

For example, we’ve lost a great deal of valuable fermented foods that in the past kept our immune and digestive systems strong, such as raising sourdough bread, pickling vegetables, and home-brewing beer. Only recently have these foods started coming back into “vogue”, which is cause for celebration!

Suppose we look at food from a spiritual, truly holistic perspective. The ultimate goal of any dietary philosophy ought to be “to take us fully into the body, and beyond the body,” as degrowth activist Charles Eisenstein puts it (2).

By taking us fully into the body, our diet must allow us to experience vibrant health, the joy of intuitive eating, and of course the fulfillment of nutritional requirements.

By taking us beyond the body, our diet must serve to remind us that we are feeding more than just a body.

That nourishing the body well keeps it healthy, and also maintains it as a vehicle in the service of that higher power many of us know to be real, whether we call it the divine, nature, or God.

Many ancient traditions consider the body sacred, not because they view the body as God, but as a vehicle for God (2). Yogis and Taoists went to great measures to ensure the health and longevity of the body. Yogis developed an amazing system for maintaining and developing the body through diet (ayurveda), exercise, postures (yoga asana), herbal medicines, methods of breathing (pranayama), meditation and other lifestyle practices.

The Taoists also developed unique methods combining martial arts, visualisation, sound, subtle energy cultivation, energy manipulation (e.g. acupuncture), meditation, healing food and herbs. Despite such strong emphasis on health and longevity, both of these traditions understood that there is a deeper form of nourishment that sustains heart and soul.

The body is sacred, and therefore the nutrition of the body is also sacred. True nourishment grown, prepared and eaten consciously and respectfully, was believed to open the energy conduits of the body, helping the individual to be in service of the divine – whatever you perceive that to be.

In the west we have swapped this around – the body is emulated, manipulated, and morphed at a surface level, as a means to an end of creating a “good body”. Diets centered on making us feel good and look better sell the most books. The body is worshipped as if its perfection and health were the highest goal we could possibly attain.

Makes approx. 12 goodie balls

• 1 cup pesticide-free raw almonds, or other raw nuts
• 1 cup pitted Iranian dates
• 1-2 tablespoons warm water, to mix
• 1-2 drops of peppermint essential oil (don't use any more than this - consuming too high a volume of essential oils e.g. more than a few diluted drops in food by mouth can have serious health hazards!)
• 2 tablespoons raw cacao powder
• 2 tablespoons organic desiccated coconut
• Optional: goji berries, Inca or golden berries, chia seeds, powders such as spirulina or maca, cacao nibs

Put all ingredients in a food processor. Blend on a low speed till it gets moving and then process on high until it’s well mixed but not smooth! Depending on how powerful your blender is this could take up to a few minutes.

Use a tablespoon to measure out mixture for each goodie ball and roll them into balls. You can roll the balls in coatings such as cacao powder, chia seeds, desiccated coconut or sesame seeds to create variety. Have fun!

Who wants to live to 100?

Who wants to look 25 forever?

If you've been brought up or conditioned to any extent by mass western culture, you may find your answers to those questions a little bit contradictory!

The western world is obsessed with youth, yet most of us want to live forever. Which implies ageing.

Our cultural impetus is on remaining youthful looking at any cost but at the same time, wanting to extend our life span for as long as possible -  it's a really weird mix.

Whilst I was in India earlier this year, I was astounded and pleasantly surprised to see billboards with elderly female politicians, activists and even moviestars - complete with jowls, pigmentation spots, double chins and droopy eyelids. How refreshing! You never see this kind of thing in Australia.

Of course there is a reverence for youthful beauty in India, but it doesn't totally predominante the media's portrayal (and therefore, the people's acceptance) of women. It got me thinking - if I had to choose between the two, would I rather live to 100, or look 25 forever? Obviously one is possible naturally, the other is somewhat possible via unnatural, expensive and painful means. So having a low tolerance to pain and no progress to date in my plastic surgery funds savings account, I guess I'll go for living until 100! (And just enjoy being 27 while I'm at that actual age).

The nutritionist in me then asked the inevitable question: what should we eat to live to a healthy 100, rather than the decrepit centenarian on life support and a plethora of medications that fuels the fear of ageing? And possibly even retain into advanced age, a degree of sexiness, aliveness, vivacity and pep? (I realise that using that word reveals a distinct lack of pep).

To answer this, we need to distinguish between life span and health span.

It's curious that in the west there is an emphasis on extending life span, rather than health span. According to United Nations estimates, Australia has the fourth-highest male life expectancy in the world (79 years) and the third-highest female life expectancy (84 years).

Big woop!

Many of us have spent time in nursing homes or seen grandparents battle with multiple chronic diseases for years leading up to their deaths. Life span seems more an indicator of how accessible modern medicine and pharmaceuticals are than how healthy a people are overall.

Life span is measured in years, but a longer life doesn't necessarily mean a healthier life. For many people in the western world, optimal health is reached between ages 20-30, after which pre-disease states start to set in and health deteriorates over the next few decades - asthma or allergies in your 20's, adrenal fatigue and PCOS in your 30's, pre-diabetes or diabetes in your 40's, high blood pressure in your 50's and so on. Check out any national health statistics for cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other chronic diseases - and the ever-younger ages people are developing these conditions - and you'll see that we have succeeded in extending our lifespans, only to spend more of our lives dying slowly.

Despite its amazing advances in treating acute health crises, modern medicine has been less successful in treating chronic disease, prolonging life span but not the proportion of life spent in an optimally healthy state. Our hospitals and nursing homes are filled with people "living" to ever increasing ages, but rather than dying late in life, people are spending more time starting to die early in life, and spending much of it in a suboptimal state of health.

Health span on the other hand, is the capacity for people to live vitality-filled, healthy lives until very late in life. According to John Robbins in his fantastic book, Healthy at 100,tThe Okinawans of Japan, Abkhasians of the Caucasus, Vilcabambans of Ecuador and the Hunzas of Pakistan are the longest-living peoples on the planet, but they also maintain incredibly high levels of health until very late in life.

So how do they do it? Sure, they exercise far more, have a respect and adulation for elders, find joy in their work and don't have a word for retirement in their vocabularies; all of this contributes to their comparitively long and vitality-filled lives. But from a purely dietary perspective, the traditional diets of these long-lived cultures are remarkably similar:

* The percentage of their diets that come from plant foods is between 90% (Abkhasians of Soviet regions) and 99% (Vilcabambans of Ecuador and the Hunzas)

* Their consumption of salt is low, and consumption of refined sugar and processed food is nil. Yep, not a smidgen of crap.

* Their overall daily calorie intake (adult males) is 1800 to 1900. In Australia, where lifestyles are far more sedentary, the average man consumes 2650 calories a day.

* In these diets, percent of calories from protein ranges from 10 percent to 15 percent, from fat it's 15-20% and from carbohydrates it's 65-74%. Mind boggling to the average westerner, who has been told to up the protein and cut the carbs in order to lose weight! The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends a daily macronutrient ratio of 10 percent to 35 percent protein, 20 percent to 35 percent fat and 45 percent to 65 percent carbohydrates.

I'm not saying we should emulate exactly the macronutrient ratios of these cultures, in the same way I don't expect we should all live in mud houses and run up mountains for 6 hours a day. These are simply points to think about and experiment with in your diet, rather than replicate exactly. And it doesn't have to complicated. In the words of Michael Pollan, "Eat real food. Mostly plants. Not too much."

I've done a survey of friends and family, and have found that of all meals, people find DINNER is the hardest to "eat healthy".

Fruit or smoothies for breakfast are easy enough, and if you're living in a city there are fast and healthy homemade and takeaway options a-plenty for lunch.

But DINNER... let's face it! After a full day of work, kids, driving, gym, exercise, email, computers, family, shopping centres and iphones, sometimes, you just can't be bothered.

Come evening, for MANY of us, whatever is the easiest thing in front of you gets eaten.

So let's make sure that what you have in front of you is as healthy, tasty and convenient as possible! Here are my top fastest, near-zero prep dinners that help me out when I've got no mojo left!

1. Chemical-free Frozen Cuisine. Although processed frozen meals are not ideal, you can get wholefood and/or organic frozen stews, casseroles and soups from the freezer section of health food shops and even from supermarkets! The Pitango brand organic soups, curries and risottos, are high quality packaged wholefood and tasty. Ready to go, you can bung these on the stove, do something else for 5 minutes (with intermittent stirrings) and return to a warm, hearty dinner. You can get these from the fridge section of Coles, Woolworths and some delis.

2. Sunday afternoon delight. For the slightly less lazy among us, making large batches of homemade soup, curry or stew on a Sunday to freeze and eat over the next week saves money and time later on. You can make your not-quite-gourmet 3 litre batch of lentil soup more exciting by adding flavoursome extras – olive tapenades, guacamoles, baba ganoush, vegetable-based packaged dips, bruschetta sundried tomato mix, olives, capers, sea salt and pepper, and fresh herbs or even squeeze tube herbs, chilli and garlic.

3. Fast dinner ideas when I haven't done the Sunday arvo cookup thing. It doesn't have to be a formal one-plate, sit down meal - just as long as there is some healthy food at dinner and it's yummy!

* Tinned tuna/salmon with steamed packaged veggies (chopped fresh is always better, of course) and corn chips
* Organic goats cheese rolled in cabbage, silverbeet or spinach leaves with whole-grain mustard and sprouts, and a slice of toasted essene sprouted bread with butter
* Punnets of cherry tomatoes, snow peas, other easy access veggies to eat as finger food with your cheesy handrolls, fast soups etc
* Blended salads - everything you'd put in a salad without all the chopping, just blend and go. This is especially nice with avocado, fresh tomato and miso!
* If you feel like a sweet snack before dinner, try fruit, nut butters with banana, or blended green or fruit smoothies (banana and almond butter is very yummy)

On days where you really can't bring yourself to the kitchen, remember there ARE healthy take out options - if you're ultra keen, talk to me about healthy Japanese, Thai, Mexican and other takeout and restaurant options. As a foodie and lover of exotic food I'd be happy to talk your ears off!

Know that these options are a temporary solution and that we all go through fab phases and BLAH phases. In a perfect world, we'd mindfully sit down to a homemade, organic dinner and big raw veggie salad every night! But for now, just do what you can.

As you know, looking after yourself  will give you extra energy and resilience to get through any rough patch you are experiencing at the moment. If you can get your nutrition sorted enough, you're supporting yourself from the inside out.

And then everything else becomes easier.

Let me know if you have any other ideas for low-effort healthy wholefood dinners, I'd love to hear your suggestions!

Look after yourself,
Casey xox

Whether you're at home, or packing a lunch box for school or work, there's something here for everyone! Apply your body wisdom and food processor/mandolin/hands to quickly satisfy your hunger and fuel your body and soul.


 
·         Radiance Crudites: Enjoy sticks of raw carrot, celery, capsicum, cucumber and other raw vegetables dipped in a selection of guacamole, olive tapenade, hommus, liver pate, and baba ganoush.


·         Apple-Raisin Lunch Bowl: In a salad bowl, mix 100g baby spinach, ½ cup cherry tomatoes, ½ cup sultanas, 1 finely chopped Fuji apple, chopped spring onions, chives, basil, orange capsicum and ½ a cucumber. Dress salad in the bowl with minced garlic, sea salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste. Add shredded chicken, chickpeas, baked sweet potato, and/or hardboiled eggs for a complete meal.


·         Gorgeous Vegetable & Herb Slaw: Grate beetroot, fennel (reserve fronds), radish, carrot, red or white cabbage. Add in fresh chopped parsley, tarragon, dill and the reserved fennel fronds. You can dress this with drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (optional) lots of lemon, lemon zest, sea salt and pepper. This looks like a rainbow exploded in your plate! Serve with sprouted grain toast topped with avocado slices and/or goat's cheese.


·         Geisha Rolls and Easy Teriyaki Sauce: To make enough sauce for another day, blend 1 cup tamari, 1 cup pure maple syrup, 1 teaspoon chopped ginger, 1 clove garlic, and a drizzle of toasted sesame oil. Using whole red cabbage leaves, rice paper or nori sheets as wrappers, place julienned capsicum, carrot, and chopped coriander, mint, hardboiled egg, and whole basil leaves inside a cabbage leaf. Roll the cabbage leaf and dip into the teriyaki sauce.

·         Raw Butternut Salad: Mix 2 cups grated butternut pumpkin (I cut them into long chunks and grate it though my food processor), 1 zucchini, a small thumb of minced ginger, 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, all spice), drizzle of agave nectar, juice of a lemon, a sprinkle of pepitas and a pinch of pink Himalayan rock salt. Fast and yummy! Serve with your choice of protein and carbs - panfried tempeh and brown rice noodles go well with this.


·         The Best Guacamole: In a salad bowl, mash together 3 ripe avocados, juice of 2 limes, finely chopped red onion, 2 chopped  vine-ripe tomatoes, a cob of raw corn, 1 sliced red or yellow capsicums, chopped fresh coriander, 1 pinch stevia or honey, chilli powder and celtic sea salt to taste. Use this as a vegetable or chip dip or spread it onto a sandwich. You can also add mixed greens and shredded carrot to create a dreamy guacamole salad!


·         Crunchy Candied Almond Salad: In a small bowl, place ½ cup raw almonds, agave nectar and tamari. Let the almonds soak in the marinade while you combine in a bowl mixed greens, vine-ripened tomatoes, grated carrot, 4 chopped pitted dates, and diced sweet onion. Dress with balsamic vinegar, minced garlic, wholegrain mustard and fresh pepper, adding the candied almonds last. Crunchy, colourful, high in Vitamin E, and satisfies a world of cravings.


·         Raw Blended Carrot Recharge: Blend 2 cups fresh carrot juice, 1 ripe avocado, 1 tablespoon curry powder, 1 tablespoon fresh ginger and 1 clove garlic in a blender on high until smooth. Serve with toasted Essene bread or flax crackers. Great concoction for healthy eye function!


·         Raw Thai Young Coconut Soup – Combine in a blender meat of 2 young coconuts, 2 cups coconut water, 1 garlic clove, 1 knob ginger, 1 tablespoon minced lemongrass, 1 handful each of Thai basil and coriander, 3 tablespoons lime juice, and 1 red chilli (optional) and blend until smooth. Add salt/pepper to taste and garnish with finely diced red capsicum and spring onions. Serve in the empty coconut shell for a gourmet touch! A great entree or starter to an Asian dinner.

·         Japanese Guacamole Nori Rolls: Mash 1 ripe avocado with 1 tablespoon tamari, 1 teaspoon raw honey, 1 teaspoon chopped ginger, a little minced garlic and a tiny squeeze of wasabi. Using  nori sheets as wrappers, place a line of the japanese guacamole, julienned capsicum, carrot, mushroom, red onion and chopped spinach inside a nori sheet. Roll the sheet up, slice in halves or quarters and devour!

·         Buckwheat Pancakes with Savoury Fillings: Drain 1 cup raw buckwheat (soaked for at least 4 hours) and process in a blender with ¾ cup water until it reaches a thick-shake consistency. Cook in a non-stick pan on low to medium heat for around 2 mins on each side, using a little butter, coconut oil or rice bran oil if required.

Stack pancakes on top of each other so they stay warm and soft. Add julienned vegetables of your choice, sprouts, olives, sweet onion and sundried tomatoes. Roll up and devour!


·         Sunomuno Salad: This is a traditional Japanese dish: 1 ribboned cucumber (use a vegetable peeler) and 50g soaked wakame seaweed marinated in rice vinegar, sugar and salt. To make it detox friendly, substitute for equal amounts of lemon & lime, sea salt and stevia, if desired. To make it into a dinner size salad, toss with chopped cos or red/green leaf lettuce.  Top with a handful of crushed nori and a sprinkle of black sesame seeds. Light, lovely and high in natural iodine for thyroid health.


·         Chunky Tomato Gazpacho: Finely dice 4 cups cherry tomatoes, ½ a cucumber, ½ a red or yellow capsicum, ½ cup red onion. Finely chop ½ bunch of parsley and 1 clove garlic. Place ingredients in a bowl with the zest and juice of 1 to 2 lemons, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, if desired, and Tabasco hot sauce to taste. Puree 3/4 of the recipe and garnish with the remaining quarter. Bask in the Tuscan sun and enjoy!

Q: Do you have any healthy meal ideas to feed a family of 6 which won't blow the budget?

A: That's a fairly detailed question to answer, as healthy eating whilst not expensive requires a shift not only in what foods and meals you create, but an honest look at where you're spending unnecessarily and a mind open to shifts in lifestyle that might include: shopping at weekend markets, creating veggie gardens, taking part in co-ops, planning ahead more than a week, and buying dry foods like nuts and dried legumes in bulk.

A few recipes I give you will not be enough to save a significant amount of money when it comes to feeding any more than two people.

When you first decide to include more whole foods in your diet, it may seem costly, since you will need to restock your kitchen with some new items. However, once you’ve made the initial transition, maintaining your kitchen will be less expensive in the long run.

Having spoken to numerous families who have transitioned to a healthier diet, they often come from a mindset of shopping at a traditional supermarket such as Coles or Woolworths, and the typical family of 4 would spend an average of $800 per month on groceries, eating 2-4 meals out every week.

Once they start including more whole foods in their diets, most families this size continue to spend an average of $800 per month on groceries, but instead they prepare almost all the family’s meals, using the highest quality ingredients on the planet. What a difference in health (and yumminess and satisfaction) this can make!

Packaged food is very expensive, yet it appears that households with very low incomes tend to be the largest consumers of packaged products - and consequently the social sector suffering the most from chronic illnesses like diabetes.

If you are on a budget, it simply makes much more sense to put your food dollars toward natural foods. You’ll spend less on doctor visits, and you’ll be naturally glowing without having to spend a lot of money on makeup, clothes, facials, and other cosmetic purchases.

Notice where you’re spending money needlessly. Manicures and pedicures are not necessities. Impulsive long-distance phone calls and expensive coffees should take a backseat to the joy of cultivating real health!

Cut back on other expenses if you must, and learn to put your health and well-being first.

This does raise an interesting comparison, though. For example, a container of raw almond butter costs about $8, whereas a container of supermarket-bought peanut butter costs about $4.

The almond butter is a far superior food because it provides essential raw enzymes, calcium, and protein that the body can fully assimilate, whereas the supermarket-bought peanut butter is full of hydrogenated oils, salt, sugar, and other preservatives that the body cannot process. In the long run, isn’t it worth spending those few extra dollars on the almond butter? It baffles me that people think $3 is too much to spend on a papaya, but they’ll spend that amount or more on a bag of potato chips and a soft drink!

Whole grains like millet, brown rice, and buckwheat cost very little and are very filling, as are sweet potatoes and sprouted grain breads. You can buy fresh fruits and vegetables as well as many raw nuts and grain items at inexpensive co-ops, online community exchanges and wholefood bulk manufacturers.

If you like simple foods and are creative with nuts, dried fruit, and dates, you can keep costs down and still have dessert.

Do your homework, price things out online, and you will find a way to fit a healthy diet lifestyle into the tightest budget.

I could sit here all day finding healthy recipes for you that you may or may not use, but the best thing I can think of is to give you the cheaper FOOD ITEM OPTIONS and let you use your genius and googling skills to put together some simple recipes from these.

Inexpensive Staple Foods
Carrot soup and other vegetable soups
Sweet potatoes
Pumpkins
Sprouted grain bread products
Brown rice and other whole grains

Inexpensive Raw Food Products
Bulk bags of organic carrots & apples for juicing
Raw almonds and walnuts
Organic sultanas
Banana and almond butter shakes
Tahini-based salad dressings and shakes
Avocados
Dates

Let me know your thoughts, contributions and questions, there are many more food and meal ideas that could be added here! Feel free to email me [email protected] if you have anything you'd like to ask in private.

Happy budgeting!

In many cultures and religions, there is a tradition of offering thanks before eating. We recognise the blessing of having food, acknowledge that other living things die so that we may eat, and that while we eat others go hungry.

Many traditional cultures also eat a much simpler, more natural diet than we do in the west. However there is a tendency for indigenous peoples to be content with what they have, and offering thanks is one way of expressing this.

A respect for food and contentment with what we have, both develop a healthy attitude towards what we eat. Giving thanks and eating simply are ways we can experience greater health and vitality, as well as a deeper connection with the earth from where our food came.

Contentment and simplicity go hand in hand. If we always require complicated, exotic and expensive food items in order to be content, we are missing the point (although these things can be a wonderful celebration on special occasions).

Eating a humble yet delicious diet of fresh, seasonal, and regional foods whenever possible, brings an element of joy and lightness to eating. Such simple eating means stepping away from the Standard Australian Diet (S.A.D) of dense yet nutritionally empty processed foods, unnecessary supplements and complicated “health food” products.

By offering thanks, we recognise the miracle of life that produced our food, the macrocosm in the microcosm, the big in the little. In simplifying our diets, we reduce the environmental costs of production as well as our own intake of preservatives. And by understanding the beauty of simplicity, we can experience true contentment with not only our food, but with our bodies and with the force that created the foods that nourish our bodies and souls.