Quirky Cooking Chats

AQJ 44 : Parasites, Candida & Ketogenic GAPS, Rachel Favilla

In episode 23, Rachel Favilla shared her story of growing up with an autoimmune disease, and struggling to find answers. She began the GAPS protocol and quickly saw improvements. However, after about 6 months, she seemed to hit a wall, and was unable to progress beyond stage 4 of GAPS intro.
In this episode, Rachel shares her continuing story – her discovery that she had candida and an infestation of parasites in her gut meant she needed to change her diet again. To fight them, she has had to transition to a ketogenic version of GAPS.
Rachel receives a lot of questions about ketogenic GAPS, enemas, parasites and candida, she answers those questions, explaining why and how it is helping so far.
The post AQJ 44 : Parasites, Candida & Ketogenic GAPS, Rachel Favilla appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

AQJ 43 : Q&A with Fouad Kassab & Rachel Favilla

Let’s kick off the start of a new year with a Q&A!
In this episode, Jo is joined by her new co-host, Fouad Kassab, and her friend Rachel Favilla (author of Real Soup for the Real Soul, and soon to be podcaster for a healthy teens show), to answer questions posted by readers in the Quirky Cooking Chat Group. They talk about:
– What oils are the best for frying?
– What veggies are important to have organic?
– Are dehydrated bone broths ok if you’re time poor?
– Is it possible to do the GAPS diet if you are fructose intolerant?
– How can I meal plan in a way that really works, so I’m not making dinner at 9pm and buying lunch everyday?
– How can I gain healthy muscle mass on Paleo/GAPS?
– What are some tips for helping little people gain weight?
– Is there a Thermomix version of any Paleo cookbooks coming out soon?
– How much butter does Fouad eat each week?
… and more!
If you’d like to contact any of us directly, you can find us here:
Jo: Quirky Cooking Blog, Quirky Cooking Facebook, Quirky Cooking Chat Group
Fouad: The Food Blog, The Food Blog on Facebook
Rachel: Real Soup for the Real Soul Blog, Real Soup for the Real Soul Facebook
The post AQJ 43 : Q&A with Fouad Kassab & Rachel Favilla appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

AQJ 42 : A Healthy Christmas

Christmas is nearly here, and all around the world, stress levels are rising… So Jo and Fouad are coming to the rescue with tips and recipes to help reduce the Christmas overwhelm, and make this your happiest, healthiest Christmas ever!
‘A healthy Christmas’ isn’t just about the food – it’s also about keeping stress levels low, not getting caught up in the ‘spend heaps of money’ holiday hype, and simply enjoying this special time with family and friends.
This fun episode is full of great ideas, and answers readers’ questions like:
What can I cook that will cater for the special diets in our family and still be enjoyed by all?
What are some delicious and simple GAPS and Paleo dishes for Christmas dinner?
What’s the best way to handle family and friends who don’t like us eating differently to them, and give us a hard time?
What can I make ahead and freeze, so I’m not overwhelmed on Christmas day?
How do I deal with food reactions if I eat something that doesn’t agree with me?
What are some ways to keep Christmas simple, enjoyable, and stress free?
How can I practice gratefulness and contentment at this time of year?
The post AQJ 42 : A Healthy Christmas appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

AQJ 41: Surviving Percreta – Christina Matthewson

About a year ago, Christina Matthewson was on life support and not expected to live. Now she is teaching fermenting workshops, studying naturopathy, and coaching people as they journey through GAPS. Her main desire is to help others live fulfilled, healthy lives, as she has been close to death and realises how important it is to make the most of the time you have.
Christina is a survivor of a pregnancy condition called Accreta, and it’s a miracle she is here today.
Listen in to her amazing story of recovery, and be inspired by her determination to get past the dark depression that followed.
You can find Christina’s blog here: http://thejoyofthehome.blogspot.com.au/
The post AQJ 41: Surviving Percreta – Christina Matthewson appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

AQJ 40: Dealing with Parasites

How can you tell if you or your children have parasites?
What has gut health got to do with parasite infestation?
How do you get rid of them? Is it as simple as just taking antibiotics, or is there more to it?
Is there a more natural, gentle way to kill off parasites?
Will they come back once you do get rid of them?
How can you heal the gut if you did have antibiotic treatment to rid yourself of parasites?
In this episode, Mary Kelly of Good Mood Food goes into detail about her family’s experience with parasites. After 18 months on GAPS, they felt like they’d ‘hit a brick wall’, and some symptoms just weren’t going away. After some research and testing they realised they all had parasites. Mary explains that parasites multiply in the gut for good reason – and to get rid of them you have to deal with the root cause.
Learn the answers to the above questions, and find out what gut health has to do with parasites. For more information, see Mary’s blog article, Parasites, The Hidden Menace; as well as her Natural Parasite Treatment Plan.
The post AQJ 40: Dealing with Parasites appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

AQJ 39 : Toxic Kids: A Health Professional’s Experience with Healing Her Daughter

Heidi ate mostly wholefoods, cooked with real ingredients, didn’t eat sugar, and lived for years as a strict vegetarian. But she was struggling. Her health was not good, and she was suffering from major depression. She began to study naturopathy to try to find answers, removed all packet foods from her diet, and researched the role of proteins and fats in the body.
Diet changes resulted in a big improvement in Heidi’s health and well-being, so she began a health retreat in Bali with a team of health professionals, promoting a wholefoods diet. But she felt there was still something missing. She was struggling with exhaustion and didn’t feel 100% healthy.
When Heidi’s daughter, Winter, was born, she caught an infection in the hospital, and was given five different strains of antibiotics in her first ten day of life. Heidi knew there would be a backlash from that treatment, but had no idea what it would be.
Winter began having food reactions, didn’t walk until almost two, seemed to live in a bubble, had no eye contact, couldn’t be toilet trained, and her speech was slurred. After much testing, they found she was riddled with pathogenic bacteria and had the MTHFR gene mutation, meaning she couldn’t absorb folate and was highly toxic. Heidi got her hands on the GAPS book, and the lightbulb went on.
Listen in to the interview to see how the GAPS diet turned this little girl’s life around, and gave her ‘health professional’ mum new insights into food and healing, and the link between gut and brain.
Heidi shares her knowledge and experience of healing foods at her health retreats. Find out more about her “Alive Wellness Retreat” in Bali, here: http://www.alivewellnessretreats.com.au/
You can read the full transcript of this interview on my website, www.quirkycooking.com.au.
The post AQJ 39 : Toxic Kids: A Health Professional’s Experience with Healing Her Daughter appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

AQJ 38 : Healthy Weight Loss, and why ‘Diets’ Don’t Work!

Sometimes it’s difficult to work out how to eat well and stay at a healthy weight, without being confused by all the ‘diet’ advice out there. Is it all about counting calories, cutting out fat, and exercising heaps? Brenda and Naomi of The Break Through! Program say no!
Healthy weight loss is much more about healing than ‘dieting’. Some important factors are:
– detoxing the body
– getting rid of ‘trigger foods’
– giving the gut a chance to heal
– getting into the right mindset and reducing stress
– breaking the cycle of emotional eating
– balancing hormones
– eating healthy fats
… and there are many more things to consider.
It may seem like it’s all way too complicated, but Brenda and Naomi are very experienced at helping women to navigate the weight loss minefield. Brenda is a certified health coach, and Naomi is a naturopath, and together they have put together a fabulous program to help women uncover the reasons their bodies may be resisting weight loss and work out a plan to work on positive, thriving health.
You can check out The Breakthrough! Program here!
Visit Brenda’s and Naomi’s websites here:
Brenda Janschek, Certified Health Coach
Naomi Judge, Naturopath
The post AQJ 38 : Healthy Weight Loss, and why ‘Diets’ Don’t Work! appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

AQJ 37 : Good Mood Food – Healing from Anxiety and Depression

This week Mary from Good Mood Food joins Jo again, to discuss working through anxiety and depression with the help of a healing diet.
If you, or someone close to you, has struggled with depression, you know how debilitating it can be, and how hard it is to pull yourself out of the vicious cycle of eating badly, which only makes things worse.
How do you even begin to get back on track with healthy eating when you feel completely overwhelmed by everyday life? And does it even help to change the way you eat, anyway? What else can you do to help yourself to heal?
Mary talks about the importance of just putting one foot in front of another each day, doing what you can, but not putting yourself under the pressure of a time limit for changing your diet or getting off medication or feeling well again. It takes time, but there is definitely hope, and if you have hope, you have everything.
Mary has been through deep depression herself, due to her son’s illness, post-natal depletion, and her damaged digestive system, and is passionate about helping others through this dark time. She shares five key areas to work on that will make a very big difference to your health and well-being, and recommends taking it one step at a time, as you feel ready. Mary also explains the importance of adding good things in that contribute to healing, before trying to take the bad things out.
This is a very encouraging and hopeful podcast, showing how healing the gut can totally turn around the way you feel both mentally and physically.
The post AQJ 37 : Good Mood Food – Healing from Anxiety and Depression appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

AQJ 36 : Simplifying – with Fouad Kassab

Over the last couple of months, Jo has been focusing on simplifying her busy life. She says, “It’s challenging not to get caught up in the ‘do more, have more, eat more, buy more’ mentality”, and that we have to consciously work on taking a step back and making life simpler, even though that’s not what our culture is all about.
In this episode, she chats with her friend, Fouad, about how they both found their lives were getting way too complicated, and what they have done to help simplify things. They talk about the importance of not getting so caught up in all the ‘doing’ that we neglect the ‘being’, learning to say no, learning to cook more simply, decluttering, disconnecting from the constant barrage of social media, how lists and prioritising can help, and how little things we do to live a simpler life can help someone else to have a better life.
The post AQJ 36 : Simplifying – with Fouad Kassab appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

AQJ 35 : Nicole Azzopardi – The “Better Day Plan”

What do you do when your kids are having constant meltdowns and nothing is going right? How can you help them to cope better, and turn a bad day into a good day? How can parents press the ‘reset’ button on one of those days?
Nicole Azzopardi has some great tips for how to have a good day! She came up with a “Better Day Plan” with the help of her children, and as simple as it sounds, there are good reasons behind each idea, and they really work!
This is a very practical podcast which will be a big help to parents of GAPS kids, or kids with anxiety or stress issues. Working on gut health makes a big difference for these kids, but for those first few months when the gut is still healing, you will also need other wats to help your child cope with the everyday stresses of life.
Jo and Nicole also discuss:
 dealing with constipation problems in kids
 tantrums and mood swings
 how important ‘the village’ is when raising children
 and how to look after yourself when everything is a bit crazy – caring for the carer!
You can read about Nicole’s “Better Day Plan” here: http://www.mummacare.com/blog/previous/3
And follow Nicole on Facebook at MummaCare! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mumma-Care/405299626262430
The post AQJ 35 : Nicole Azzopardi – The “Better Day Plan” appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

AQJ 34 : Nicole Azzopardi – Healing the Gut with Traditional Foods

Nicole Azzopardi is the author of ‘The Alchemy Cookbook’, where she shares simple, delicious, traditional recipes that fit so beautifully into the GAPS way of eating. In this episode, Jo and Nicole discuss the importance of bringing traditional foods back into everyday eating.
Nicole also shares the story of her family’s healing journey, starting with a low salicylate, additive free diet to help her daughter with severe food allergies, sleep issues, and autism symptoms. Her health improved, but Nicole asked herself, ‘Once you work out what foods are bothering you, are you stuck with avoiding those foods for the rest of your life?’ After much research, Nicole decided the answer was no!
Knowing that you’re reacting to different foods just highlights that there’s some work to be done with your digestion, and Nicole believes the GAPS diet can totally heal your gut so that you can bring many, if not all, of the problem foods back in over time.
The changes in Nicole’s family have been amazing, and as a busy mum, Nicole shares that it was much easier to work on changing the way they ate than to continue on dealing with the overwhelming allergies and health issues. Although it takes time and effort to change cooking and eating habits, it’s so worth it in the long run.
Nicole shares her recipes and tips online at Mumma Care, and can also be found on Facebook. She is passionate about helping mothers look after themselves so that they can better care for their families, and loves to help other mums get on track with healthy eating.
The post AQJ 34 : Nicole Azzopardi – Healing the Gut with Traditional Foods appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

AQJ 33 : GAPS Q & A with Shalani McCray – Naturopathic Nutritionist and GAPS Practitioner

This podcast is especially for those of you with GAPS questions that you need answered by a health professional, who has studied GAPS as well as other methods of healing. Shalani McCray, naturopathic nutritionist, medical herbalist and GAPS practitioner, joins Jo this week to answer your questions. Learn more about:
how to decide if GAPS is right for you
should testing be done before starting GAPS
how to do GAPS when you have histamine reactions
when slow-cooked broths are not good for you
how to add healing broths and fermented foods to a sensitive person’s diet
why raw cacao may not be a good idea
coping with the amount of time it takes to cook from scratch
when to push through a die-off reaction, and how to know if it’s an intolerance or die-off
the best probiotics to use, and how much and when to take them
how much you can ‘cheat’ on GAPS before it affects healing
are there benefits if you start doing full GAPS without doing the intro
how to fill kids up on GAPS food
is this way of eating just too much meat
can you do GAPS if you’re vegetarian
how to cope with eating out
will GAPS make me lose weight/gain weight
what you can do if GAPS didn’t work for you and more.
Shalani shares that there is no magic formula, everyone is different, and each person needs to work out the healing diet that suits their body. GAPS may need to be done a little differently for different people, so if in doubt or needing help, please get in touch with an experienced GAPS practitioner.
Jo has invited Shalani to come back for another podcast as there are still more questions from readers that they didn’t have time to answer, so stay tuned for part two. If you’d like to send in some questions, please contact Jo via her blog or Facebook page, and they will be added to the list!
Visit Shalani’s Website here, Live Alive, as well as her Facebook page and Instagram. Shalani is based in Sydney, but is also available for Skype appointments.
The post AQJ 33 : GAPS Q & A with Shalani McCray – Naturopathic Nutritionist and GAPS Practitioner appeared first on The Wellness Couch.