The Case Against Sunscreen: A Natural Health Perspective
Sunscreens, Recalls and Sunshine As a young mum, I was called a child abuser because I refused to put sunscreen on my children. One mum could not believe I was endangering my children’s health in such a manner. It was not worth telling her why I didn’t, because she refused to listen. Now 30 years […]
Top 10 Natural Sources of Vitamin D
Top 10 Natural Sources of Vitamin D Vitamin D is different from other vitamins because our bodies can make most of what we need with enough exposure to sunlight. Australia is renowned for its sunny weather and outdoorsy, beach-loving lifestyle, yet research says that 23% – or 1 in 4 – of Australians are deficient in […]
Be the change you want to see in the world this Mother’s Day
Have we lost our way as mothers? Being a mum for the first time is a daunting process, and it doesn’t get any easier as the next lot of siblings arrive. As mothers, we have the ability to change the trajectory of not only our own children but the world. We for the most part […]
Easter is a time to nourish your family with food and love
Easter, a time for togetherness and wholesome foods. Anything that brings a family together is my favourite time of the year. Easter, Christmas, family dinner, birthday parties and family holidays are my greatest joys. This is also a time for me to nourish my family, not make them sick with ultra-processed foods, like commercial chocolate […]
Let’s talk all about synthetic biology – a synthetic route to natural
What is Synthetic Biology? Synthetic biology, bioengineering, biodesign and biotechnology are just some of the names that are being used to describe the production of a relatively new wave of ingredients in our food supply. This science behind synthetic biology is not new. Insulin, the life-saving medication required for people with type 1 diabetes, is […]
8 Food Trends I’d Like to See in 2022
I’ve been in the food and nutrition arena for 40 years – I’ve always been ahead of the rest. In the 80’s I was talking about the importance of fat and salt, eating real butter rather than margarine, how unprocessed dairy is healthier than low fat, the need for proper food preparation, how breakfast cereals should not […]
Why is Referencing So Important?
Why is Referencing So Important Many students I speak to find the referencing side of their assignments and articles challenging. They are wondering if they are formatting the reference list and citing sources correctly. They feel frustrated that so much importance is placed on referencing data in the correct manner. We know that it is […]
22 Myth of Modern Diet and Nutrition
I studied at Deakin University in the early 1980’s to become a dietitian. After completing my BSc majoring in Nutrition to be able to do a diploma in Dietetics, I decided not to proceed as I didn’t agree with what I was taught. Nearly four decades later and many of those principles I didn’t agree […]
Meet The Seed Cycle: Natural Hormone Balance For Women
Meet The Seed Cycle: Natural Hormone Balance For Women The Seed Cycle is a small Australian business with a big mission of helping women feel their best, every day. All great things that bloom start with a small seed, and for our founder Melissa Kovacevic, this was planted at her wellness clinic, Functional Health Canberra. Melissa […]
Paracetamol in Pregnancy – What You Need to Know
The history of medicine at best is assorted. Just 100 years ago medicine consisted of alcohol, opium, heroin, morphine, cocaine and cannabis. The history is clearly talked about in the book Pharma: Greed, Lies, and The Poisoning of America by Gerald Posner. A worthwhile read. There have been disasters in medicine, like thalidomide, but also life savers, like insulin – and then everything […]
Alloxan, Flour and Type 1 Diabetes
Alloxan: Be Aware Until recently, I had never heard of ‘alloxan’. I was asked a question from someone who watched my documentary What’s With Wheat? He asked what I knew about alloxan in bleached wheat and its association with type 1 diabetes. I’m a curious person. I ask questions about things rather than take things at face value. So when flour, alloxan and type 1 diabetes was […]
The Importance of Culture and Tradition
Due to my interest in health, I’ve always loved traditional foods. My aunt gave me a Lebanese yogurt culture when I was 23 (1983) and I kept it going for a decade. Then one day the incubator I was using (an old-fashioned glass thermos) broke and I lost it forever. Then in the mid-90s when […]
Look after your bugs!
The Nutrition Academy runs a course on the microbiome – 10 modules, teaching you the fundamentals all the way up to the latest in research. When I did my nutrition degree at Deakin University, there was no course offered in microbiology as part of my degree. I had to go to another university to do […]
Sugar Alcohols
Does the World Need so Many Sugars? A recent monthly webinar with my students and graduates of The Nutrition Academy, was all about sugar. We covered lots of interesting information, so I thought I’d share it here. Natural Sugars From History There are many sweeteners on the market – in fact, sugar is known by […]
The Relationship Between Biodynamic Farming and Nutrition
About 20 years ago I went to a friend’s place who was dabbling in biodynamic gardening. The one thing I remember is a large cauldron of liquid, and we had to stir it one way and then back the other for an hour. It was then sprinkled on the vegetable garden at some point under […]
A Flawed Dietary Guideline That Is Killing Us
I’m seeing a growing number of doctors moving away from medications and surgery as a panacea, to nutrition and lifestyle. One such doctor that I have come across recently is ophthalmologist, Dr James Muecke. As 2020 Australian of the Year his aim, among other things, is to change the dietary guidelines. He said earlier this […]
A Look at Food Replacements – It’s Not Pretty
The human body is pretty incredible; you can feed it junk and it still keeps on going. But keep feeding it junk and it will eventually break down. Chronic disease is usually the result. In Australia, around 80% of the adult population over the age of 65 have a chronic disease. There is a disconnect […]
Just Breathe: Why Conscious Breathing is Important
We can last days without water and sleep, weeks without movement, connection and food (the longest recorded fast lasted 13 months) and seasons without sunshine and darkness. But, the human body can only live minutes without breathing.
