Quirky Cooking Chats

AQJ 130: A GAPS Christmas with Elyse Comerford

Christmas is a dangerous time of year for those living in the GAPS village. Taken out of their natural habitat – clean water, chemical-free living, wholesome whole foods without additives colours and preservatives – and instead plunged into the chaos of conventional diets means GAPS folk need to be extra careful. Today we interview the wise elder Elyse Comerford on her experience on how to face the world during Christmas. This episode is full of tips and ideas that will make it easier for GAPS people to enjoy delicious, healing food with their loved ones during the holidays.
We chat about:
Whole food and GAPS menu ideas
Elyse’s favourite Christmas foods and treats
Healthy main dishes, salads, and desserts that everyone will love at a potluck Christmas dinner
Food prep short-cuts
Nourishing treats for the adults and kids
How to cope with food reactions if they happen
GAPS friendly food gifts to share
Tips from Elyse on other ways to make Christmas special besides the food!
(Elyse Comerford is an Integrative Nutritionist and Certified GAPS (Gut & Psychology/Physiology Syndrome) Practitioner, Holistic Health Coach, Exercise Scientist, Keynote Speaker, Mentor, Mum to Dylan, and a massive sustainability advocate. Elyse is also the GAPS mentor for members of our Quirky Cooking for Gut Health Program, and helps answer questions from listeners on our podcast.)
Useful Links:
For those of you working towards beginning GAPS on the school holidays, you can begin with a consultation with Elyse and you’ll be off to a great start! Elyse has a 50% off consultations special for a limited time, you can contact her here.
Join in Elyse’s 12 Days of Christmas to get some nourishing Christmas recipes!
Make Jo’s GAPS Gingerbread

AQJ 129: A Simple, Healthy Christmas with Cyndi O’Meara

Over the next few weeks leading up to Christmas, Jo and Fouad are interviewing a few of their favourite health-foodies about their best Christmas tips, with a focus on ways to reduce the holiday stress and enjoying a beautiful, healthy Christmas with friends and family. Each one will share some of their favourite Christmas traditions, and what the holidays look like for their family.
In this episode, take a sneak-peek into nutritionist Cyndi O’Meara’s family-focused Christmas! Jo and Cyndi chat about:
Cyndi’s family traditions
ways they enjoy Christmas without the stress
how to reduce the ‘gift clutter’
the fun of going away for Christmas
the importance of time out together over the holidays
learning to say ‘no’ to the craziness
how Cyndi helped her kids make good food choices on their own
the wisdom in not being too ‘precious’ about food at Christmas and how she let her kids learn for themselves how food makes them feel
her thoughts on the importance of ethical, sustainable food at Christmas
some fun ideas for stocking stuffers
and Cyndi’s delicious substitute for rum balls – recipe coming to her FB page soon!!
Cyndi O’Meara is a nutritionist, film maker – ‘What’s With Wheat?’, best-selling author, international speaker and founder of Changing Habits. Learn more about Cyndi here.
Useful Links:
Cyndi’s ‘Changing Habits, Changing Lives’ book
Cyndi’s online ‘Marketplace’
The Changing Habits Facebook page
Our upcoming events
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AQJ 128: Your Gut Health Questions Answered, with Elyse Comerford

Our gut health and GAPS practitioner Elyse Comerford joins us on the show once more to answer your questions. Today’s discussion includes fasting and in particular broth fasting, what to do while you’re on or recovering from antibiotics, Elyse’s approach to SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), reflux and weight management while on a healing diet. Listen In
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AQJ 127: FUNctional Movement with Carl Hammington

It seems that the culture of exercise as portrayed by media equates very low body fat, summer abs and shredding with health. Relatively few exercise practitioners are advocating holistic movement practices, and with the majority of exercise media focusing on attaining aesthetic goals, many of us feel far too daunted by exercise. In addition, if we are on the healing path and have been suffering from poor health and fatigue, improper exercise could further complicate our issues. In this podcast we interview Carl Hammington, a movement and FUNctional training expert. Carl discusses how realistic fitness goals can be tailored to the individual, how movement can contribute to healing, and how to integrate movement into your life in a way that is sustainable. Carl has been in the health and fitness industry for 16 years. He has been actively involved in corporate health, has run health retreats, is a presenter and has presented health and fitness seminars around New Zealand and internationally. He is a co-founder and Academic Director of Wellington’s fully integrated gym HealthFit Collective. Carl is behind the mic on the Wellness Couch podcast, BestMe Radio.
More about Carl here
Carl’s Health Fit Collective website – health assessments, programs, online education, corporate health, and more!
Carl’s Podcast, Best Me Radio
Our upcoming events 
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AQJ 126: Q&A with Jo & Foo

Calorie restriction, colitis, leaky gut, nourishment in time of stress, weight gain, weight loss, kids that don’t eat vegetables – these and much more are on today’s agenda. Jo and Foo take questions from listeners for a session of ‘Ask Us Anything’. Join us for another information packed episode of A Quirky Journey!
Useful Links:
Weston A Price’s recommended diet for pregnant & breastfeeding mothers
Our Life-Changing Food Cookbook for simple nourishing meals
Solidteknics Pans – our favourite non-toxic cooking ware (use the code 10QCP for 10% off)
Podcast: Ulcerative Colitis and Changing Your Mindset for Healing
Vegetarianism Explained by Dr Natasha Campbell McBride
Fouad’s “Fire, Feast, Fable” Event
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AQJ 125: My Health Record – What’s It All About?

A few years ago, the Australian government introduced “My Health Record”, a nation-wide health database which Australians could choose to be a part of. Australians will now be automatically opted into this system unless they choose to opt out before November 15th, 2018. Some feel there are data security risks with having a centralised system that contains your sensitive information. Today we are joined by journalist Kale Brock to discuss the pros and cons of this system, what it would mean to have your health record online, and why many are choosing to opt out.
Kale Brock is an award nominated writer, producer and speaker. With a background in TV journalism, Kale has a special interest in health & wellbeing. His recently released documentary, The Gut Movie, investigates the human microbiome in a scientific and fun journey in which he travels to Namibia to live with The San tribe. Kale’s books, The Gut Healing Protocol and The Art Of Probiotic Nutrition, have generated international acclaim. (More about Kale Brock here.)
Useful Links:
Watch Kale Brock’s video discussing My Health Record here.
Follow Kale on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
Find out more about Fouad’s Fire, Feast, Fable event in the Blue Mountains!
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AQJ 124: Healing Adrenal Fatigue – Part 2

Join us for part 2 of our podcast on adrenal fatigue. Once more we are joined by our GAPS practitioner Elyse Comerford (and her very cute son, Dylan!), to dive more deeply into this fascinating topic. So many of us, whether we know it or not are dealing with some degree of adrenal fatigue. In part 2, Elyse talks about iodine treatment, thyroid, supplementation, and cortisol. We also touch on how adrenal fatigue affects weight gain, and look into practical advice that helps us overcome this condition!
Useful Links:
Elyse Comerford – Website, Facebook, Instagram, Podcasts, Blog, Events & Retreats
Microbiome Store
Iodine program
Blue Blocker GlassesRosita’s Cod Liver Oil
Iodine Books:  ‘The Iodine Crisis’  Lynne Farrow; ‘Iodine: Why You Need It, Why You Can’t Live Without It’  Dr David BrownsteinAdrenal Fatigue Webinar with Elyse
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AQJ 123: Healing Adrenal Fatigue Part 1

Find yourself feeling constantly tired, always needing that second cup of coffee, or day-dreaming about sleeping on the couch? Our GAPS practitioner Elyse Comerford joins us to talk about adrenal fatigue, a super common cause of daily exhaustion. In part 1 of 2 episodes on this topic, Elyse discusses how to identify adrenal fatigue and what we can change in our lifestyle, emotional and mental lives to overcome exhaustion.
Useful Links:
Elyse Comerford – Website, Facebook, Instagram, Podcasts, Blog, Events & Retreats, Online Programs, Shop
Adrenal Fatigue Webinar with Elyse
Kakadu Plum Powder for Vitamin C
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AQJ 122: Hope for Health – Reawakening Indigenous Health

Earlier this year, Jo and Fouad were excited to connect with Dr Kama Trudgen and Tim Trudgen of Hope for Health and learn about the important work they are doing with the Yolngu people in Arnhem Land, a remote part of the Northern Territory of Australia. In this podcast they interview Kama about the story of the Yolngu people, and how Hope for Health is helping to reawaken their health and wellbeing by combining traditional practice with modern approaches to health.
For thousands of years the Yolngu of East Arnhem Land had thrived, enjoying a vibrant and self-reliant culture. However,  in just 50 years their diet has changed so dramatically that they now face a significantly reduced life expectancy due to a resulting epidemic of chronic disease. But there is hope.  Through the development of this Indigenous-driven, diet and lifestyle program, the community is seeing transformational changes. By blending traditional Yolngu culture with experiential nutritional education and an integrative approach to medicine a movement within the community has been created. We welcome you to join us in supporting this pioneering program empowering the Yolngu people.
Jo and Fouad will be joining Hope for Health on their next retreat as volunteers, managing the kitchen and cooking nourishing food for the attendees and workers. Hope for Health depends on donations and community support for these retreats, so if you’d like to do your bit to help, please see links below. Thank you!!
Useful Links:
Learn more about Hope for Health
Join Hope for Health on this journey by becoming a regular monthly sponsor or making a one off donation: https://www.hopeforhealth.com.au/donate
Follow their journey on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – and please share with your friends!
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AQJ 121: GAPS Q&A with Becky Plotner ND

This week Jo chats with Becky Plotner (naturopathic doctor and certified GAPS Practitioner) about some of the most common GAPS questions. In their last podcast together, Becky shared the science behind how the gut works and how it is damaged, and how to begin the healing process. In this second podcast, Becky answers questions from our listeners, covering subjects such as:
how to make a nutritious, healing meat stock (and how meat stock helps to heal the gut)
natural relief for headaches
how to deal with adrenal fatigue
working through constipation and diarrhoea
how to deal with candida
what to do when kids will only eat limited veggies
how to support the body when having surgery
important factors to look at besides GAPS when working on healing
and lots more!
Helpful Links:
Becky’s website, Nourishing Plot
Our last podcast with Becky, “Healing with Food”
Upcoming Life-Changing Food Events
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AQJ 120: Low Tox Life with Alexx Stuart

Jo and Fouad have been talking a lot lately about how to make simple yet powerful lifestyle changes that will help to get your health back on track, before you even begin making major diet changes. One of these lifestyle changes is detoxing your home – your body products, cleaning products, home environment, and pantry. So of course, they had to get their good friend Alexx Stuart, the queen of Low Tox living, on the show!
Alexx has recently released her first book, Low Tox Life, and Jo and Foo review the book plus chat with her about ideas for simple improvements in the home. They then dig deeper into Alexx’s personal story of recovering from mould illness – the symptoms, tests, and solutions, and what she has learned along the way.
Useful Links:
Alexx’s Low Tox Life website
The Low Tox Life book – available in our online store, and from bookshops in Australia or through Amazon UK & US
Our upcoming ‘Life-Changing Food’ and ‘Nourishing’ events in Tasmania, Adelaide & Perth
Fouad’s ‘Spice & Smoke’ dinner in Katoomba
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AQJ 119: The Island Where People Forget To Die – Marcus Pearce on Visiting Ikaria

We are joined by the legendary Marcus Pearce, who has just come back from Ikaria, the island where people forget to die. Marcus was running a retreat in this special part of the world, to introduce people to the lifestyle and habits of some of the longest living people on Earth. In this episode, he shares some of the findings he came across on this recent trip. We also talk about the upcoming Wellness Summit, what junk media is doing to us, and a whole lot of more lighthearted, fun topics. If you’re in the mood for a bit of a laugh, join in!
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