Are antibiotics making children sicker?

Are antibiotics and our modern lifestyle contributing to the recurrent infections and symptoms many children are experiencing?

I started asking myself this question several years ago after seeing countless repeat prescriptions for antibiotics for the same children over and over again; only to see parents back again more frustrated or beginning to accept the fact, that yes it was yet another ear infection.

Full disclaimer: I am not a mother currently - though I do hope to be one day. However, I do speak personally and professionally to a lot of Mothers. I fully appreciate that being a Mother is the most challenging yet most rewarding job on the planet, hands down!  So to all the mums out there reading this, know you are a superstar in my eyes, even if you don’t feel like one. I also appreciate that every mother has their children’s best interest at heart. Hence, why I wanted to shed some light on this extremely important topic. I will also give some practical advice to ensure you are well informed and supported if you are faced with the above dilemma.

No-one (!!!), including myself and any other health practitioner for that matter, can tell you how to raise your children. At the end of the day, that is your responsibility and your circumstances that determine how you do the best job you can.

One of the biggest problems we face as a society today, is that we have lost touch with our own inner “gut feeling.” Which by the way is an actually “thing.” Often referred to as the second brain, the Enteric Nervous System is housed within our digestive tract. The ENS is a rich and complicated network of neurons and neurochemicals that can sense and cause changes in our body, including in our brain.

Turns out the feeling of butterflies before a big event are very real (not actual butterflies but you get what I am saying). We are bombarded with so much information and differing opinions that we forget to listen to our own inherent intuition and what feels right for us. But let me tell you, a mothers intuition, is almost always right. Remember this, tune into this and act on it.

As a health practitioner, we abide by an oath, of which, “Do no harm”, is listed first and foremost. When it comes to the use of antibiotics in children I really want to believe that we thought we were abiding by this rule. “Hey, better to treat the infection, bacterial or viral it doesn't really matter, as what is the worst the antibiotics can do, cause a little diarrhoea, no biggy. Better than leaving it untreated and have complications.” Sounds reasonable, right?

That was until an alarming amount of growing research and studies have identified the importance of having a healthy, robust microbiome (sciencey term for all the various little critters living within you and on you) for overall health.

In 2008, the Human Microbiome Project was established. With a mission to “generate resources that would enable the comprehensive characterisation of the human microbiome and analysis of its role in human health and disease.” Today, a simple google search will bring forth an enormous amount of research and information linking poor gut health with a myriad of health complaints, from Eczema to Autism.

But this wasn't always the case.  Remember back to when we had only one little blue-pill bouncing around on the tele screeching, “Have you had your Inner Health Plus today?”  That was an effective Ad campaign! 

Nowadays, every supplement company has a probiotic product or entire range. Fermented foods have made it into mainstream and are now readily available to health conscious consumers. Connections have been made such as, the a gut-brain axis,  gut-skin axis, a gut-hormone axis, a gut-immune axis and multiple links to common health complaints, from mental illness to obesity.

This last decade has really given rise to the importance of GUT health for OVERALL health.

But It turns out this concept is not that new …

Hippocrates, the Greek father of modern medicine said some 2000 years ago - “All disease begins in the gut.”

Only now when we are faced with crippling statistics affecting our children’s health and wellbeing, are we starting to take notice of his message.

    •    Autism prevalence has more than doubled since the year 2000, and that’s not just because of increased rates of detection

    •    Food intolerances are only growing

    •    1 in 4 children are overweight or obese

    •    Today is the first generation of kids in modern history that’s expected to live shorter lifespans than their parents. Think about that for  just a moment… That is scary stuff!

So who are these critters I speak of and what is all the fuss about?

I like to think of the human body more like a living ecosystem. We have microbial parts (majority are located in our gut but also in our lungs, mouth, vaginal canal and on our skin) and human parts. And together we make a kind of super organism. They help us out, we help them out.

As it turns out, we haven’t really had "their back". The introduction of sterilisation, overuse of antibiotics, C-section births, sanitisation and highly processed foods has severely impacted our microbial friends.

If we really want optimal health for ourselves and our children we simply cannot continue to disrespect our microbial counterparts, as they are such an important part of our biology. If they aren't happy (diverse, abundant, plentiful in the right places), they are going to cause havoc until we listen up.

This is a partial list of conditions associated with a disrupted gut microbiome:

    •    Acne

    •    Antibiotic- asscoated diarrhoea

    •    Asthma/allergies

    •    Autism spectrum disorders

    •    Autoimmune disease

    •    Cancer

    •    Dementia

    •    Dental cavities

    •    Depression and anxiety

    •    Diabetes, Eczema

    •    Fibromyalgia

    •    Gastric ulcers

    •    heart disease

    •    Inflammatory bowel ideas

    •    Neurological disorders

    •    Parkinson's disease

*New ones are added almost monthly

Gut bacteria influence our:

    •    Immune function - 70% of the immune system resides in the gut. It's called the Gut Associated Lymphoid Tissue (GALT). These little critters “speak to” the immune system to protect and defend us.

    •    Metabolism - the presence of different species of bacteria and the ratio of these can affect how much energy or calories we extract from our food

    •    Nutrition - microbes help us to digest and assimilate nutrients. Some actually produce certain nutrients as by products that we can then use. Like Vitamin K & B vitamins.

    •    Mental health - the gut and brain are connected via the vagus nerve and through the ENS. The brain can also be affected by chemical signals that these microbes secrete and can get absorbed into the bloodstream. Neurotransmitter like serotonin and melatonin are produced in the gut.

    •    Detoxification - the liver is directly linked to the gut, so any upset in the gut will burden the liver.

    •    Inflammation - the largest amount of microbes live within our large intestine. They consume the food substances that we humans cannot digest, namely fibre, and produce short chain fatty acids, that then have anti-inflammatory properties in our body. A leaky gut, or increase intestinal permeability is associated with an immune response, leading to inflammation.

    •    Weight gain - due to disruptions in metabolism and thyroid hormone production, conversion of T4 to active T3 takes place in the gut.

    •    Autoimmunity - has been linked to the the production of endotoxins like lipopolysaccharide, which activates zonulin. Zonulin is a protein that regulates intestinal permeability via its effect on the tight junctions. If food proteins are getting through the gut lining into the blood stream the body sees this as foreign and mounts an attack which can result in attacking its own tissues.

Now that you can appreciate the enormity of the role these microbes have on our body systems and potential links to so many chronic diseases, I hope you can start to appreciate my concern.

Antibiotics are up there among the most frequently prescribed medications for children. “By age 20, the average American child has received 17 courses of antibiotics.” Crikey that’s a lot! 

Antibiotic resistance has become a real, worldwide problem that has alarmed the medical community. These smart little critters (did I mention they are super smart, so much so they can influence our gene expression) have found ways to protect themselves from antibiotics giving rise to super bugs that have no cure.

What causes antibiotic resistance?

    •    Yep you guess it, multiple antibiotics.

    •    Using antibiotics when not needed (viral infections)

    •    Not taking them at appropriate doses and duration to kill off pathogenic bacteria. (My observation is that most children's antibiotic doses are actually under doses).

    •    Overuse of antibiotics in agriculture and veterinary medicine and us humans consuming these meat products. (Hence, always ensure you choose pasture raised, organic, animal products)

Fortunately the medical community is aware of this issue and many doctors have cut back their use and only prescribe antibiotics when strictly appropriate (much to many patients disgust). So next time you (or a friend) goes to the doctor with a viral cold feeling like death and they so NO to antibiotics, cut the Doc some slack and think of the bigger picture. You will be doing your gut health and immune system a good thing by skipping them this time. Make friends with a cosy bed & a pot of chicken broth (Grandma knows best) to support your bodies immune system to fight of the virus.

Here is what every mother needs to know to make an informed decision:

Antibiotics kill bacteria - not viruses, not fungal infections.

    •    The majority of ear (60-73%), upper respiratory (80%) and throat infections (95%) are viral in origin.

    •    Upper Respiratory Infections (URI) and ear infections are the two most common conditions which paediatric antibiotics are prescribed

    •    URI are mainly caused by viruses, so antibiotics will have no effect on the outcome.

    •    Most ear infections recover after 24 hours regardless of antibiotic treatment or not. When researches compared immediate antibiotic treatment to a “wait and see approach", there was no improvement in pain associated with the ear infection at follow up visits and no difference in ear abnormalities or symptom recurrence.

    •    Antibiotics were most useful in children under 2 years of age with bilateral (both) ear infections and discharge.

    •    Otitis media which means ear “inflammation” (itis = inflammation) not ear “infection” can be caused by food allergies and food sensitivities. Treating them with antibiotics can worsen gut health and actually further increase the risk of food intolerances.

    •    Only 20% of sore throats are caused by bacteria (group A B haemolytic streptococcus) otherwise most sore throats will clear up on their own.

    •    Asthma prevalence was almost half as likely to develop in children who had received antibiotics during their first year of life than those who didn’t.

    •    Antibiotic use in pregnancy and in early life has been associated with increased risk of food allergies.

    •    Use of antibiotics in early life increases a person’s risk of being overweight in later life.

    •    Due to the gut flora, early life appears to be a critical time of development of a persons metabolism and immune system.

Now don’t get me wrong - the purpose of this article is not to say that antibiotics ARE BAD or that they shouldn't be used to treat bacterial infections. They have a time and a place and can be LIFE SAVING. But they are also not harmless and have a wide range of consequences on gut health, metabolism, allergies, intolerances and inflammation. And we are only at the very beginning of understanding the impact this is having on our health and our children's health.

Always speak and have a discussion with your medical doctor if you are concerned about your child’s health.

If you feel like you are stuck in a constant rut of recurrent childhood illness’s with or without recurrent scripts for antibiotics maybe you need to consider concentrating on building a strong robust immune system. This isn’t possible without having a healthy gut.

Healthy little guts = less need for childhood antibiotics and strong, vibrant humans for life! WIN WIN.

Let’s beat the super bugs by raising super humans! 

Love Chantel.

Why trying to get your pre-baby body back is failing you

A few months ago, I had the honour to present at FILEX 2017 in Sydney which is the biggest fitness and health conference in Australia. The presentation was titled, The Motherhood Fat Trap. I also had the pleasure to present it with a real life mum and fitness professional, Kylianne Farrell of The Movement Room who brought her knowledge and experience to the discussion. 

I wanted to follow up that presentation with this blog as I know that it is an area where a lot of women struggle. It is kind of no wonder, with images and tag lines like this one...

This isn't your life.

Getting your "pre-baby body" back is something that brings huge emotional distress to women. More times than I would like to witness it robs precious moments of joy, happiness & connection with their partners as they celebrate the gift of a new life but battle internally with living inside a body that has changed.

Words like "hate", "disgusting", "fat", "wobbly", "gross", "dimply" are often used to describe what they now see. 

Here is my heartbreak with this

1. An under appreciation of the metabolic changes that occur post birth which are not in your control

Harvesting a child and feeding it is a very energy demanding process. There are metabolic changes that occur to accomodate metabolising "for two" during pregnancy and in anticipation for the demands of breastfeeding. 

These changes include: increase in insulin resistance, increased visceral fat, increased insulin, increased circulating lipids. 

Now let me make sure you get this, these things happen to ensure you have enough energy to grow and feed your baby. It's a good thing. 

It is hypothesised that breastfeeding may play a role in mobilising these accumulated fat stores and kind of "resetting' maternal metabolism. That isn't to say that if you don't breastfeed you will keep these fat stores forever. However, some studies show that the longer a women breastfeeds the more completely accumulated fat is offloaded. 

This is an area of grave debate and there are numerous individual cases where women who breastfeed lose body fat easily and women who don't breastfeed lose body fat easily. The point is that the demands of having a child and feeding it are high, from an energy perspective. We have innate mechanisms that ensure a mother will have enough energy stored to feed her child (these mechanisms were in built to make sure our species survived, well before the option to feed children formula existed). 

Fun Fact: Studies of lipolysis (the breakdown of lipids) and LPL activity (an enzyme involved in fat breakdown) in fat biopsies also show regional deposition of femoral fat (thighs) during pregnancy and mobilisation of these stores during lactation. Whilst I cannot promise a thigh gap post pregnancy if you breastfeed  (nor should this ever be on your #goals of things to achieve), it may be that accumulation of fat in this particular area, happens for an intelligent reason. The authors in this study, noted that long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids are concentrated in lower body fat, and they speculate that fat from this region is preferentially mobilised in lactation to support infant brain development. Fat around the thighs = healthy fat for babies growing brain!!!! Again, it's a good thing! 

You know how things look a little "well less defined" than before you had a baby? Let me introduce you to the hormone, relaxin. You can thank this guy for making your musculosketal system (bones, ligaments, muscles, joints, connective tissues including skin), a little more "relaxed" to accomodate housing a child and getting it out of you. Relaxin, levels peak during the transition of the first and second trimester and then again at birth and remain in a womens body until breastfeeding stops, but at lower levels. So try to relax about your softness, the shape will come back with time. 

2. Accidental or intentional undereating and or undernourishing

Yes, you read that correctly. I said, undereating ie. not eating enough overall calories to support the basic requirements for your body to function. Undernoursihing refers to a lack of adequate nutrients (like protein, fat, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins). Both over the longer term signals to the brain famine/starvation and to kick into survival mode. 

I once had a new Mum reach me out and tell me that she didn't eat anything but coffee (which need I remind you, isn't food), for two days straight due to the new demands placed upon her of being a Mum. She ended up in hospital on a drip!

This may be more on the extreme end, however the majority of Mum's that I speak to are under eating and or undernourishing their bodies. Sometimes it is purely accidentally due to the demands placed on them and lack of support and awareness. But sometimes it is a diet or restrictive mindset due to desperately wanting to lose body fat.

All species including humans have a primary goal in life - to survive and reproduce to avoid extinction. Lack of nutrients and calories over a prolonged period can trigger your stress response, leading to increased stress hormones, like cortisol, and a slowing down of metabolic rate through effects on thyroid hormone production. 

*** Note that the calorie requirements in breastfeeding go up by an additional 500 calories per day, so that's about one extra meal. 

The consequences of being in survival mode span well beyond fat loss resistance. 

Thyroid hormone not only effects weight regulation it also controls memory, concentration, mood, body temperature, intestinal motility, hair and nail growth, energy levels and more. 

Elevated cortisol can lead to redistribution of fat to the midsection, immune suppression, reduced healing, fluctuation in blood sugar levels and cravings, sleep disturbance, gastrointestinal upset, low libido and more. 

The worst thing a women can do in this scenario is eat less or exercise more to kick start fat loss. The opposite would be true and this can be really hard for women to get their heads around. Your body needs to know it is safe, well fed, and nourished in order to function and let go of excess body fat. 

3. Not recovering properly

One of the biggest take home messages from our presentation was this concept that the "fourth trimester" should really be treated like an athlete and the post birth phase as a recovery process from a major event (with or without any injury sustained). 

This means that in order to even consider performing at life there must be a recovery plan in place whereby you are building the body back up. That means eating enough food to support overall calorie needs for you and if you are breastfeeding for your growing human, replacing nutrients that have been used up more readily during pregnancy, supporting tissues to heal, sleeping when you can, and having a team of people around you to support and allow you to recover - physically, emotionally and nutritionally.

Throwing yourself back into the game and expecting to perform at peak level, despite your recent major physical and emotional event would be considered crazy in any sport. Yet as a mum it's kind of expected.

Having a recovery strategy in place sets the foundations for achieving fat loss down the track. 

4. Sleep is a critical missing piece of this puzzle

Of all the post pregnancy stories I hear, the lack of sleep and quality sleep is probably the thing that scares me the most. 

And when it comes to fat loss it can be a big missing piece of the puzzle. A single night of sleep is associated with an increase in insulin resistance, increased inflammation, changes in hunger hormones, emotional instability, increased calorie intake (and usually not of the meat and veg kind but rather the highly, palatable, energy dense kind). 

I am well aware that most Mum's cannot do a lot to improve this, being aware of the effects it has on you however can be empowering to make better decisions when you inevitably will be affected by the effects of lack of sleep.

Having ready to go healthier snack options, pre-made meals, removing all tempting foods out of your house and getting a nap in whenever and wherever you can is super important. 

And going easy on yourself, not trying to always push through it and give in to the tempting allures of 3 cups of coffee per day - because hey, a woman needs her sleep!

5. Thinking too big or too small when it comes to exercise

Too big = Feeling like you have to go and do a HIIT session three time a week

Too small = no time for anything anymore. 

Aim for something in between, minus the HIIT for now, don't do that yet. Remember we want recovery first which will ultimately set the foundations for fat loss moving forward. Go for a walk, not on the treadmill but outside, with or without baby. Find a group of women and a trainer who specialises in post natal training. Think of it as an investment into being an amazing Mum.

And better yet, start moving before you plan to become pregnant and during. The same is true for nutrition. 

6. Being unrealistic with your expectations

The reality is, your body after birth is different to your body prior to birth - need I remind you that you housed and gave birth to a little human, of course it is different now. 

The truth is, you are different too and your life is now different. And that is ok.

You have been through a life changing experience. You cannot and shouldn't expect or compare yourself to the life nor body you had before.

Nor should you compare your body to someone else's post baby body.

Focus on what you have right now; on what your body is capable of; that you are here to experience this amazing time in your life; and that it is the small steps you do everyday that make the biggest impacts on your health outcomes. 

It's not a time to do it all on your own. "It takes a village to raise a child". Ask for help, connect with people, speak about your struggles, and find time to nurture yourself. The only way forward is to go through it, one day at a time. 

I hope this gives some insight into the complexity of fat loss post birth and gives you some areas to focus on that you may have overlooked. I wrote an ebook, Healing Post Birth - A Nutritional Perspective that goes into a little more detail about how to optimise nutrients to promote healing after birth.

If you feel you need more support in your post birth healing please feel free to reach out.  

OLD SCHOOL SUPERFOODS – ARE YOU EATING THEM?

Let’s welcome back some “Old School Superfoods”?

I was unpacking my groceries today and they stopped me in my tracks! In my head I said, “My gosh that’s a good looking bunch of superfoods – nutrients gallore”. Literally that’s what I said.

The truth is even these “Old School Superfoods” can get a little pricey, as they come back into fashion. Still not as expensive as the new wave of powdered superfoods. The good news is that they are so dam cheap and simple to make yourself! I am going to link to some recipes under each superfood so you can all take the cheaper option if you choose.

Today convenience won out for me. But in perspective, still A LOT cheaper than living with a disease. #foodismedicine #preventioncheaperthantreatment

Are you ready for a little Nutritional Pornography?

Ok, here they are:

Chicken Liver Pate (from Harvest Deli)

• Gram for gram liver contains more nutrients than any other food! Hands down winner. I hear you, I didn’t like it either. But I learnt too!!!! It’s too nutritionally good not to!!! Power of mindset people.
• Think natural Vit A (moderate doses of synthetic Vit A were associated with birth defects in studies NOT with natural Vit A at normal doses), abundance of B vitamins, including B12, folate, bioavaible iron, copper, zinc, chromium, CoQ10 – not a complete list.
• In case your concerned, no, the liver doesn’t store toxins. Toxins are stored in fatty tissues.
• However, it does detoxify and store important nutrients for these processes (hence the array of nutrients in liver). So best to buy organic and from well raised animals that don’t have dodgey livers from metabolising drugs/hormones etc.
• How much? Small amount twice a week, that’s all I ask.
• How to http://realeverything.com/chicken-liver-mousse/

Raw milk (from Cleopatra’s Bath Milk)

• Oh my the creamy goodness.
• Comes from cows that graze off grass. Cows are herbivores and thrive on grass not grain.
• Grass fed cows milk has higher levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a healthy trans fat, yes you read that right and higher levels of fat soluble vitamins.
• Pasteurised milk does retain some level of nutritional value but it seems that unpasteurised milk is superior in vitamin and mineral content overall.
• How much? Enough to leave a creamy moustache whilst your bathing in it (it’s illegal remember).
• How to make ? Milk a cow.

Beet kvass (from Loving Living foods)

• A traditional Ukrainian fermented tonic. Great source of probiotics, it is usually fermented with lactobacillus strains. Also regarded as a blood tonic and liver cleanser. Not bad to have in the fridge pre or post-xmas !!!
• How much ? 30ml once or twice daily
• To make your own http://wellnessmama.com/9087/beet-kvass-recipe/

Sauerkraut (from Alive Foods)

• Also a traditional fermented cabbage condiment that is a rich source of diverse probiotics
• Pro = “For” & Biotic= “life” ie. Probiotics = For Life. They are microorganism that are beneficial to humans. Who doesn’t want some of that!!!
• Studies suggest consuming a diversity of probiotic microorganisms has a wide range of postive effects.
• Ready for them: reducing inflammation, treating diarrhoea and constipation, improving the immune systems, minimising or reversing lactose intolerant, and reducing anxiety and improving cognitive function.
• The fermentation even creates new nutrients that weren’t present in the food before. Our little friends produce B vitamins, including folates, riboflavin, niacin, thiamin and biotin. Lactobacilli also produce omega 3 fatty acids. Science is so cool!!!!
• There are so many different “cabbage/veggie combinations” available. Check out my beetroot kraut. A rotate them with different flavours to mix things up.
• How much? 1-3 tablespoon daily.
• To make your own http://wellnessmama.com/663/homemade-sauerkraut/

Extra Virgin Cod Liver oil (brand Rosita)

• A daily dose of Vit A (important for cell growth and reproduction) , Vit D (referred to as a vitamin-like hormone, and is essential for calcium absorption and bone mineralisation, immune function and much more)  and omega 3 fatty acids which are anti-inflammatory
• Taking A with D is best as it reduces the toxicity threshold of Vit A and all fat soluble vitamins work better together
• This brand taste very smooth to go down.
• How much? 1 teaspoon daily
• Available online here

Broth Concentrate (from Bountiful Broth)

• Bone broth in a jar. Great to take travelling or when you can’t get to make your own
• Broth contains gelatin which is great for keeping hair, skin nails, joints and the intestinal lining healthy
• How much? A cup a day or add as stock to meals.
• How to make http://chantelgough.com/bone-broth-benefits-how-and-why-to-consume-it-regularly/ or where to buy http://chantelgough.com/bone-broth-on-the-go/

Not your typical list however these nutrient dense, whole foods that have been around for generations and generations before us are some of the cheapest and best ways to ensure your body is thriving. And when the inside is happy, it takes care of the outside.

Love

Chantel xx

ONE OF THE BIGGEST PALEO MISTAKES

Unfortunately, when the majority of people switch to a paleo type of diet one of the biggest mistake they make is they start eating larger amounts of meats and eggs and not eating the other parts of the animals, organ meats and cartilage. This is not just limited to paleo peeps. It is actually the vast majority of people. Your grandparents have eaten these foods but most likely you and your children do not.

The problems with this includes:

• You and your family miss out on the most nutrient dense parts of the animal !!! Yep we through out, the best bits. From a value perspective it would kind of be like diving for a pearl oyster, finding it, tossing away the pearl and keeping the shells of the pearl oyster. Crazy right? Yes that’s we do. We discard the most valuable parts.
• These now unpopular parts (the ones we all screw our noses up at the near mention of them) actually work together with the more commonly eaten parts. For example, muscle meats (eg. chicken breast, rump steak) and eggs are high in methionine an amino acid that can be problematic in excess. However, glycine found in bone broth and B vitamins, choline, and betaine found in organ meats balances the potentially harmful effects of excess methionine. Cool right! Nature had it sorted for us all along.

**** Fun historical fact. “Observations of modern hunter-gatherers have shown that muscle meats (the leanest part of the animal) are least preferred, sometimes even being thrown away in times of plenty, in preference to the fattier portions. Eaten first are the organs such as brains, eyeballs, liver, tongue, kidneys, bone marrow (high in monounsaturated fat), and storage fat areas such as mesenteric (gut) fat.”

• It’s extremely wasteful. It seems ludicrous to consume only 1/8th of that animal and discard the rest as waste. That is just not sustainable which is a real problem for our future.

THE SOLUTION ……..

To embrace the concept of nose to tail eating. **** Did you think I was going to say veganism?

It is a tried and tested tradition our ancestors learnt through experimentation over thousands of generations to maintain good health and fertility.

Sounds hard and maybe a little scary but it really doesn’t have to be. It is more to do with breaking down the mental barrier we have built up around these foods due to them falling out of favour in our generation. But when you say, “Do you want some liver and bacon for breakfast?”, to your grandma, she will know exactly what you’re talking about and she will be totally up for it. On the contrary, try getting it into a child these days, not going to happen! Especially with fruit loops and coco pops as hot contenders.

Getting these all important bits and bods into us these days may look a little something like this:

• Consume 1/2 cup of bone broth (call it stock if that sounds more “normal” for you) daily. You can add it to soups, stews, or drink like a cuppa. Recipe for homemade broth here.
• Eat tougher cuts of meat like brisket, chuck roast, oxtail, and shanks (who doesn’t love a good lamb shank). These cuts are cheaper too!!!
• Instead of peeling back and creating a pile of waste for all that delicious skin and cartilage, crisp it up and gobble it up. It really is the tastiest part once you get over the years of “no skin business”.
• Cook up a whole chicken or whole fish once a week. Eat all the parts leaving the carcass and bones. Boil up the bones with some veg to make chicken stock or fish stock like your grandma did.
• Use a high quality gelatin powder (Great Lakes Gelatin) to make gelatin based desserts – I’m talking smooth, creamy chocolate panacotta.
• Or add hydrolysed collagen (Great Lakes Collagen Hydrolysate) to hot or cold liquids – super smoothy anyone?
• Eat one to two, 85g servings of liver per week. Now what if I replaced the words “liver” with “pate’”, does it change things? As soon as you mention liver – faces instantly change. But when you say pate’ – it’s like, yeh ok I can maybe do that. Liver is really hands down the super house of nutrients namely B vitamins, vitamin A, iron (hence if you have iron overload or haemochromotosis not for you)
• Eat your yolks. Please please don’t toss them out. That little golden goodness is, well, a multivitamin. Eat at least four to five egg yolks per week, preferably from eggs that come from pasture raised chickens. They are the highest source of choline in the diet.
• Take a half to a teaspoon of extra virgin cod liver oil per day (I like the Rosita brand). Cod liver oil is on the of richest sources of vitamin A, it also contains vitamin D and other omega-3 fats EPA and DHA.
• If you eat canned salmon or sardines, find a brand that has the bones in it. They are soft, and safe to eat and a great source of calcium and omega 3 fats.
• Beef cheeks anyone ? Who doesn’t love a good beef cheek?
• Other nutrient dense organ meats to try include heart, kidney, tongue & brain. There is a whole host of recipes online disguising organ meats into nutritious meals. Once you brave the purchase, throw it into in a pot and add the rest of the goodies and the end result is usually way less scary than the raw version.

Photo 1: Is me chewing on a chicken drumstick 🍗 bone. I LOVE the crispy skin and chewing the crunchy top bits and sucking out the marrow. Disclaimer: I didn’t always, I was a product of the low fat era so it was chicken breast all the way. 

Picture 2 : The most delicious entree I’ve ever had. Roasted bone marrow from @milkandhoneymullumbimby. Disclaimer: My Mum wouldn’t believe me if she saw me eating this (nor the top picture).  I used to screw my nose up at my mum when she cooked and ate bone marrow. That was just me following social norm and conditioning, not my actual opinion or educated decision.

Well, hopefully that gives you a basic, less scary run down on how to incorporate some nutrient-dense parts of animals that have disappeared from the modern diet into your week.

Remember, food, provides the building blocks for all the various functions whizzing on inside us. Nutrient deficiencies are a major underlying cause of so many common health complaints, like skin complaints, fertility issues, fatigue, mental health conditions etc yet it is so often overlooked (& even scoffed at from the medical community). It actually sounds kind of silly talking about not getting enough nutrients in todays world considering the amount of food available at our finger tips.

But we may be well fed, but we’re undernourished.

Thankfully,  the power to change that lies within our very own finger tips.

Love Chantel 

OSTEOPOROSIS and VITAMIN K2?

Vitamin K2 – Have you heard about it? If not, you’re not alone. Most doctors and people have not. But you’re about to. Why? Because it’s IMPORTANT.

When I say Vitamin K, it mostly brings up images of dark green leafy veg / warfarin / bleeding & clotting. This is very true for Vitamin K1. But we are taking Vitamin K2, one of the most important vitamins that most people haven’t heard of.

WHAT DOES VITAMIN K2 DO?

• K2 is required to activate proteins involved in depositing calcium in the bones and teeth where it is needed, hence helping with osteoporosis and osteopenia.
• Importantly it keeps calcium OUT OF the soft tissues where you don’t want it. Why? Because calcification of soft tissues, such as the lining of ones arteries, can increase the risk of atherosclerosis and heart attack.
• Hence, if you are taking calcium supplementation you want to make sure you have adequate vitamin K2 intake so it is getting deposited into the bones where you want it and not into the linings of your arteries. I have seen some clued on supplement companies now adding K2 into all their “bone health” products.

*** There are now studies linking the use of calcium supplementation (not dietary intake of calcium) with an increased risk of heart attack. Scary I know, considering most women over the age of 55 years are recommended to take calcium. This is the link to one such study published in the British Medical Journey that concludes a reassessment of the role of calcium supplementation in osteoporosis management. ***** Note, I am not telling you to stop you calcium sups, simply giving you the updated news. 

• K2 reduces the risk of prostrate cancer by 35 per cent. And word has it may be protective against cancer in general
• It works with Vit A and Vit D in a kind of synergistic relationship
• K2 also supports enzymes in the brain which protect against Alzheimers
• May help prevent kidney stones
• Promotes a healthy bone structure in developing babies

WHERE DO I GET ME SOME VITAMIN K2 YOU ASK?

Well that’s the reason for this blog!!! It’s actually rather hard to find K2 in the diet unless you actively are on to it.

There are TWO main forms found in the diet MK4 & MK7. MK4 is mostly found in the fat from animal products and MK7 is primarily found in fermented foods.

The human body is rather inefficient at converting K1 to K2 however our ruminant friends and our little microorganism friends make this conversion for us more efficiently. Thank you friends!

So a cow that is eating rapidly growing, green grasses consumes the K1 and converts it into K2 and then we eat the fat via it’s dairy fat or it’s meat fat. The same is true for the fermentation process. The little friendly bugs make this all important vitamin and then we eat the yummy fermented food. Job all done.

Note this doesn’t work if said cow is fed grains and not allowed to munch and chew on fresh, green, grass. Hence, why always sourcing quality grass fed and finished meat and dairy is so important from a nutrient, health and environmental perspective! Find and support your local farmers, they are usually the nicest “fellas”. We had a great chat last week with John our local butcher who is also a true blue cattle farmer and knows a thing or too about quality meats. Guys like John, are a rare breed and they are only going to become rarer and quality meat in Australia is going to be harder and harder to find due to Chinese investors.

But back to the K2….

Best food sources of K2 include:

• Cheeses in particular Brie and Gouda (my fav)
• Poultry liver, in particular goose liver
• Pastured egg yolks (pastured eggs have three times higher K2 than conventional eggs). Find a friend with some chooks!!!
• Natto which is a fermented soy product from Japan. Have you tried? It is by far the highest source of K2. Apparently it has a very strong taste, I have never tried it and to be honest haven’t really seen it around much in Aus and not sure that it would be the traditional fermented style
• Other fermented foods like sauerkraut, dairy kefir

There you have it, an official excuse to eat some quality cheese. Care to join me for a slice of delicious Gouda ?

Love Chantel