The Linéa Nutrition Blog

This is such a delicious and helathy snack for both kids and adults. They are naturally very sweet and if you want to give your child a sweetie treat now and then this is a great alternative to your normal sweets. You and your children will absolutely love them. Fruit leathers are made best in a dehydrator. There are plenty ones on the market. A dehydrator makes sure vitamins, antioxidants, and other nutrients are still in the food when eating it. However a conventional oven would work fine as well.

What you need to do:

Cut up 3 cups of fruits and berries - Could be any fruits really. Its nice to use berries. Berries are full of antioxidants and slightly less sweet than most fruit. You can mix the berries with apples and bananas for example to keep the cost down. But any fruits are ok, like pears, kiwis, plums,  or whatever you have at home. I also always put some greens in like spinach, kale, spirulina or similar. It will not alter the sweet yummy taste much. It might make a slightly greeny brown colour though.

The HPV vaccine constantly comes up in the Media. My advise to all parents with teenage girls is to think long and hard and to read all information out there about this vaccine before making a hasty decision. Read both pros and cons. Read from both sides.

This following text is from Natural News:

Our 3rd Restore Retreat was a great success again. June 2013 and we had the first glimps of the beautiful summer of 2013. The weather was amazing and the setting beautiful. Cas and Marcus Pollen's amazing estate Norton Hall at its absolute best. Outdoor living the whole weekend. The tennis court and pool came into its own right and the ladies were using it throughout. The group dynamic is different at each retreat and it never stops amaze me how many lovely souls there are and how people come together and find each other. I was deeply humbled by these lovely ladies and what they brought to the group.

Norton Hall is beautiful. The house is grand and gorgeous as well as being very cozy and welcoming. The house really wants to be lived in and Cas has done a stunning job with it.

There is a very interesting article in the latest (October 2013) 'What Doctor's Don't tell you' about brave Dr Jayne Donegan, a GP that was all for vaccination (like most other doctors) in her early career but changed her mind when she started to do her own research into vaccines. Her career was almost ruined when she discovered that doctors are being misled by the government about their safety and effectiveness.

Deliberately Misled

Dr Jayne Donegan believes that her profession is being deliberately misled by the UK's department of health (DoH) which, in its 'Green Book' on vaccinations issued to all doctors, is deliberately massaging the data to make vaccines seem more effective and safe than they actually are. She was for this reason charged by her own governing body, the General Medical Council (GMC), of serious professional misconduct of bringing the profession into disrepute. The hearing was the result of the GMC charging her directly although, in the vast majority of cases it only acts when the public has filed  complaint. Remarkably, the GMC panel found her not guilty and agreeing in their findings that she had been objective, independent and unbiased in her research conclusions. Which kind of suggest that they are agreeing with what she is saying.

Reading this morning an article on Natural News about a Canadian Doctor and researcher that seems to have found something that might be able to fight cancer cells in humans without harmful side effects. The substance is known as dichloroacetic acid, or DCA, and Dr. Evangelos Michelakis, M.D., believes it could be the next breakthrough treatment in the fight against cancer. This is if the government is interested. And they are not at the moment as there is currently no patent on DCA, and thus no incentive for private industry to research its potential benefits as a cancer treatment. Natural news says "it's all about the money, after all, not public health"

I seem to say this a lot now a days: The people that rule our countries do not seem to have our interest at heart anymore (did they ever). Good health make a lot of sense, but it doesn't make any money.

Natural Fertility is all about enhancing your fertility in a naturopathic or natural way. When I see clients in my practice I look at diet, natural hormone balancing, fertility enhancing exercise, stress reduction, detoxification and cleansing, how to avoid harmful toxins and chemicals and more.

Eating for fertility

An important part of natural fertility is to maximize nutrient intake to make you more fertile, decrease the risk of miscarriage, and to give your baby the best start possible. Never is there a better time to eat well than when you are trying for a baby.  It is well researched and documented that the better nutrition both parents have before conception, and the mother during pregnancy and breastfeeding, the healthier your baby will be when its born, and all through its development into adulthood.

3 months to prepare

It takes about 3 months for a man to produce a new batch of sperm and also 3 months for a woman’s egg to mature, ready for ovulation. What you eat today will affect the quality of eggs and the sperm 3 months from now. Therefore it is a good idea to prepare at least 3 months before trying for a baby. This is also the time to look at other naturopathic ways, like the ones mentioned above, to increase fertility.

1. Zink - is Absolutely vital for reproductive health. It affects every part of the female cycle. From the desire for sex and adequate levels of hormones that stimulate the egg to grow to preventing early pregnancy losses. Zink is also vital for men as it improves the quality of the sperm. Zink can be found in good quality meat, fish, oysters, eggs, nuts, ginger root, pumpkin seeds and green leafy vegetables.

2. B6 - Works together in synergy with zinc. You will find B6 in bananas, broccoli and watercress.

3. Good fats - Or your omega 3 (oily fish, flax and chia seeds) and omega 6 (raw and unsalted nuts and seeds)  are needed for the sex hormones to function correctly. A deficiency here is likely to affect your menstrual cycle and therefore your fertility.

4. Antioxidants - To keep your body young and healthy. They are especially good for older women trying to conceive and for women living in cities because of the pollution. Examples of antioxidants are your vitamin A, C and E, Selenium and zinc. Make sure you have a diet high in colorful raw fruit and vegetables for you anitoxidants.

5. Folic Acid - Is important because it lowers a naturally existing protein called homocysteine in your blood. If your homocysteine is too high it can increase the risk of miscarriages and also your baby’s health is in danger as it contributes to defects such as spina bifida. Folic Acid is also involved very much in fertility. Folic Acid is found in all green leafy vegetables. Some midwifes suggest you take folic acid as a supplement 3 months before you conceive.

What is Earthing or Grounding

Earth’s energy is very important for us, just like the Sun’s energy is important or in fact vital. When we touch Earth with our bare skin we receive a charge of energy that makes us feel good and this is called grounding or earthing. Humans have always done this naturally by working and walking the Earth. We earth or ground ourselves best through our bare feet and bare hands. In our modern time and lifestyle though many of us tend to spend most of our time inside and if/when we go outside we wear shoes that prevent us from touching Earth and grounding ourselves.This type of lifestyle disconnect us from Earth’s energy and it's magnetic field. It disconnect us from Nature itself. Some people, especially in cities, don’t touch the earth for days or even weeks, months and years.

All living creatures consists of bacteria. Humans are no exception. The human body is host to an elaborate indigenous amount of bacteria. In our bodies these bacteria outnumber the cells containing our DNA by more than 10:1. Most of these bacteria, in fact around 100 trillion of them, are found in our intestines. These bacteria play an amazingly important role in our health. We are only just realising how important they actually are. These bacteria break down nutrients we would not be able to digest otherwise. They regulate the balance between energy use and storage. They produces life important nutrients like B-vitamins and vitamin K. They stop bad bacteria from multiply. These amazing bacteria need to be in a certain shape and way for us to be healthy and vital. We need to live in symbiosis with these bacteria as they are our very good friends. Various things can alter the balance of this symbiosis and change the bacteria. Diet, stress, trauma, dehydration are a few reasons to why the bacteria in our bodies can change.

To include Fermented foods in your diet daily is probably one of the best things you can do for your digestive health.

Our intestines are not always balanced and working as well as they should. They can easily become damaged in one way or another. If our digestion is not on top form already, food can enter the intestines without being fully digested or assimilated causing trouble. Candida can cause a lot of problems in the intestines and all over our digestive system. If we eat medication that kills bacteria it may also kill the good bacteria inside us. Or if we are allergic or intolerant to food then it will come into our system and irritate the mucous membranes and in the long run it will cause all sorts of problems for us. If your diet is high in sugar (wheat, white and processed food) this can irritate the membranes and also feed Candida bacteria. Antibiotics will kill bad bacteria but it will also kill good bacteria. If we don’t have enough good bacteria our digestion will not work as well as it should and it is difficult for us to heal on our own. The appendix (that we for a long time thought did not have a function) has a digestive function and helps us balance the good bacteria. If we do not have an appendix it becomes even more important to complement with good bacteria in our diet. To complement with good bacteria in our diet is very important. To eat fermented or cultured foods are a brilliant way of doing this.

The digestive system is closely linked to the rest of our body and problems in the digestive system can cause problems in other parts of our bodies. It is said that 80% of our immune system and so a big part of our health sits in the guts. It is also getting more and more apparent that our guts are linked even with our emotional and psychological health. Often depression, memory problems, mood swings, fatigue and more can be made better if we heal our guts. It’s a known fact that ADHD and similar diagnoses benefits from treating our digestive system.

To include Fermented foods in your diet daily is probably one of the best things you can do for your digestive health. And if your digestive system works well your whole wellbeing is going to benefit. Fermented foods are a powerful aid to digestion and protects against disease. Fermented vegetables have incredible health benefits.

Fermentation or Lacto-fermentation is a process where the fermentation bacteria change the carbohydrates in the food into a lactic acid. In other words the natural bacteria formed in the fermentation process feeds on the sugar and starch in the food creating lactic acid. This lactic acid will make the food more digestible and it will lower the foods pH wich will stop the food from going off so it is a great way of preserving our food. A preservation method that has been used for 1000nds of years in fact. This fermentation process also increases the nutrients in the food. For example B vitamins including folic acid and B12 will increase. The lacto bacteria together with enzymes produced are what makes fermented foods so fantastic for our digestive health. The taste of the food also changes making it aromatic and slightly tangy or acidic in taste. The taste is delicious but for some people it might be an acquired taste.

Cabbage is especially good to ferment. Firstly it contains similar bacteria as our intestines do. It also contains a lot of glutamine that is an amazing mucous membrane healer. Last but not least it is part of the brassica family that are incredibly good for preventing serious disease like cancer. There is a component called indol 3 carbinol that does this. It cleans out cancerogenic hormones out of our bodies.

The Incredible Health Benefits of Fermented Foods

1.     Makes nutrients in the food more bioavailable (as pre-digested)

2.     Generates additional nutrients and removes anti nutrients or toxins

3.     It promotes the friendly intestinal bacteria and restore proper balance in your guts

4.     Stops bloating, gases and prevents constipation.

5.     Promotes our immune system and fight unfriendly bacteria

6.     Aids Digestion

7.     Probiotic Effect – Various strains of probiotics are formed in the fermentation process. The most effective, sustainable and cheapest     probiotic there is.

8.     Rich in Digestive Enzymes

9.   Increases all B-vitamins. Even B12 is produced

10.   Increases omega 3 content of the food

11.   It contains loads of vitamin C

12.   And lots of antioxidants

13.   Produces and increases acetylcholine which is a neurotransmitter essential for memory and has a calming effect and can lower blood pressure.

14.   Makes us take up minerals like iron and zink better. Both very important for our blood and also immunity. Also iodine and vitamin A makes easier to take up.

15.   Lowers the GI or GL of the meal we are eating together with the fermented vegetables.

16.   Amazing blood sugar balancer. A balanced blood sugar is very important for our health. For example it increases energy and vitality. This also means that you will not put on weight so easily.

Come join me to learn about this incredible art in one of my fermentation workshops. We will make sauerkraut, kimchi, root krauts, relishes, salsas, kefir, kombucha and much more. This is a practical workshop and we learn while we make. And as i am a nutritionist we also talk and learn about the nutrition and science bit of fermentation and culturing of foods.

We had an amazing night on the 24th of April 2013 at the Arancini Brothers Factory Café in Kentish Town. Our first Raw Food Pop Up Restaurant YAY! Thanks everyone for coming making the night absolutely amazing! And welcome back to our next one. Our next one will probably be in September as Bruna is having a baby end of May.

I had the absolute pleasure to host another raw food prep class with Miss Magic. And Gosh is she Magic. What she does not know about raw food is hardly worth knowing. She has been eating in this super healthy way for almost 20 years and she has brought up 3 beautiful boys this way too (oldest is 16).

It was a small group this time but quality before quantity. It was a great group and we had a lot of fun and got inspired by each other. We were making food as well as talking about the nutrition around it. I get too excited in classes so I tend to forget to take photos. Again I didn't take photos of all the yummy food we made. You just have to imagine it.

Our First Restore Retreat in November 2012 was a great success. I was the raw food chef together with Bruna Oliveira and we created high vibrational super healthy food free from meat, dairy, wheat, gluten, sugar and alcohol. Cuisine full of vegetables, fruit, enzymes, vitamins, minerals, phyto-nutrients and lots and lots of love. We served Raw food for breakfast and lunch whilst dinner was a cooked vegan meal. If you eat raw food for breakfast and lunch whilst keeping dinner cooked you eat a high raw diet. This means that you eat 80% of your food raw. This is a great way of eating for health, lots of energy and prevention of disease.

This first retreat was all about hormonal health. Especially about peri-menopausal transition and beyond. 12 women from the age of 40 came together and celebrated in awe. We were 6 therapists working on the retreat so plenty of love and care for every participant. We had such a beautiful time and everybody left feeling a few pounds lighter, inspired and motivated to continue leading a super healthy life.

The ladies started the day with a Detox Tea followed by a green Juice and there after yoga for an hour and half. Breakfast was served buffet style with 2 different kinds of granola, almond milk, chia pudding, various raw crackers and fruit salad.

At our November Restore Retreat we had a lecture by in-house Nutritionist Noonie. It was really good and very informative. I haven't really started to think about Menopause yet, imagining it being years and years away. However even at my young age of 43 it is a good thing to prepare yourself for the perimenopause as well as the menopause so that the transition is smooth and pleasant. Menopause is something that we should celebrate rather than defy. I believe this is the age when a woman becomes the most in tune with herself and her surrounding. An age were a woman has become wise and experienced, is still young and still beautiful.

 Here are some great tips for hormonal health:

1. Include phytoestrogens in your diet.