Feijoa Energy Balls

Feijoa Energy Balls

4 large feijoas, flesh removed
2 Tbsp almond butter or sunflower butter
2 Tbsp soaked chia seeds

1 Tbsp raw cacao nibs

5 dates soaked
desiccated coconut to roll

Put all ingredients in a blender and mix.  If it is too wet, add some protein powder to thicken.  Moisture can vary depending on size of feijoas and how juicy they are.

Roll into balls and roll onto desiccated coconut.  Chill for 1-2 hours.  Serve.

Golden Satay Chicken

Golden Satay Chicken – serves 2

Herb marinate

A handful of fresh turmeric

A root piece of galangal about 3-4 inches

3 large stalks lemongrass

Chilli (optional)

Salt

2 palm size piece of organic chicken breasts, sliced

Satay sauce

Herb blend

6 cloves garlic

1 onion

1 cup coconut milk

3 tamarind slices

Ground almond/ cashews to thicken

2 tsp maple syrup (optional), to taste

Salt to taste

Remove skin from turmeric and galangal or scrub them clean.  Cut out the pale part of lemongrass.  Put all herbs in a blender and blend till fine.  Put blended herbs into freezer containers, this makes about 4 serves.  Reserve 2 serves for satay sauce, where you will add garlic and onions, and other sauce ingredients in.  (do not add garlic and onion if you are FODMAP sensitive)

Slice chicken breast.  Marinate overnight or at least for an hour with one portion of the herb marinate. 

Heat some coconut oil in a pan and put chicken in to sauté until just cooked.  Serve with satay sauce.

To make the sauce, once the first herb blend is added with onions, garlic and blended again, sauté in a pan with coconut oil until fragrant.  Add tamarind slices and coconut milk to simmer for about 15 minutes.  Make sure liquid does not dry out.  After simmering discard tamarind slices and add ground almonds to thicken (you can make it crunchy if the nuts are not ground too finely).  Add maple syrup (optional) and salt to taste. If you have trouble sourcing for tamarind slices, use lime juice (1 medium fruit is typically adequate).

Save one half of the cooked satay sauce in a freezer container for later use.  Serve the other half with the cooked golden satay chicken.  Serve with 2-3 cups of lightly steamed vegetables or 150g rocket/ mesclun salad greens.

Beetroot Bowel Mover Smoothie

1 tsp organic beetroot powder

10 almonds

3 brazil nuts

1 tablespoon chia seeds

¼ cup stone fruit of your choice

2 tsp Green Fibre Blend

200mls coconut water + 100ml coconut milk

Blend ingredients and drink immediately.  The smoothie will thicken if you leave it for too long.

Why Proton Pump Inhibitors should not be used long term

One of the most commonly prescribed drugs is proton pump inhibitors to treat acid reflux, indigestion or heartburn. The most commonly prescribed PPIs in New Zealand are omeprazole, lansoprazole and pantoprazole.  Some patients take it to overcome severe reflux or heartburn or as part of a triple treatment for H.pylori infection.  Others who use this group of drug do not have regular symptoms and use it as a preventative which in the long term can cause other problems.   

After a big meal, the esophageal sphincter (that connects your esophagus to stomach) can undergo some stress and reflux some contents up to the esophagus.  However, this should not happen often, or else you are overeating.   Cells in your esophagus are not designed to handle such acidic state.

If your portions are right for your size and activity, then overacidity can be an excess of hydrochloric acid or lactic acid.  Hydrochloric acid is the resident acid in our stomach released by the parietal cells.  It is there to facilitate digestion.  The pH of the stomach should range from 1.5 to 3.5. Lactic acid is the acid produced on fermentation of food in the stomach.  This can happen if food is passing through the digestive tract too slowly when the pH of the stomach is not appropriate.  When food is not digested properly in a timely manner, fermentation occurs and production of lactic acid is part of the process.  If proton pump inhibitors are taken to neutralise lactic acid from already inadequate hydrochloric acid, this will create a snowball effect, causing more problems in the digestive tract.  This is what I commonly see in clinic.

Antacids and proton pump inhibitors should at best be used as symptomatic care or as part of the triple therapy used short term.  The root cause of the heartburn, bloating and reflux is not because of the acid. 

Long term use of proton pump inhibitors causes many symptoms of nutrient deficiencies, because food does not get broken down properly and nutrients that need an acidic pH to absorb do not get the right environment to absorb.  This can lead to many long term problems like tiredness, cardiovascular problems, bone density problems and increased risk of fracture and increased risk of infection from altered gut bacterial balance. 

For common causes of acid reflux  and how to overcome it, refer to my article http://blog.nutriactionz.co.nz/2016/06/causes-of-acid-reflux-and-how-to.html

Lastly, know the difference between heartburn and a heart attack.  It can safe you your life!  If you are uncertain, please go to your GP or A&E clinic.  An immediate test can be done to check troponin, CK or myoglobin in your blood, to see if you’ve had a heart attack.

5 reasons why you could be struggling with constipation and what you can do

Constipation is a lack of regular bowel movement or bowel movements that require straining and does not empty completely.  Many people claim they are regular and their definition is once every 2 days or 3 days.  Being regular really means one to two bowel movements a day.  There is a problem if we eat 3 times a day, but we eliminate only once every 2-3 days.

Bowel emptying is a very important part of healthy living, detoxification and weight loss.  Our liver processes toxins and dumps them into the bowels for elimination.  In cases of delayed bowel emptying, the toxins can reabsorb creating increased toxic burden resulting in low energy levels, nausea, headaches, aches and pains or a crampy uncomfortable abdomen. 

If you have constipation, the first thing you need to investigate is your diet.  Are you having enough fresh vegetables, some fruits, seeds and nuts?  Fibre is required to bind and bulk.  Are you drinking enough water?  A normal healthy person requires 30mls of fluid (excluding coffee and alcohol) per kg body weight. 

Are you on any medication where the side effect includes constipation?  If so, it is time to review your medication.

Do you have a healthy gut flora?  Have you been on antibiotics more than twice in the last 2 years?  Are you on the oral contraceptive pill? If your gut microbiome is out of balance you could be constipated.

Are you stressed?  Our ancestors were hunter gatherers and stress meant that they had to run from the saber tooth tiger.  When trying to safe our lives in an emergency, our bodies do not get us to waste time visiting the lavatory.  That said, our modern day stress is different but the impact on the nervous system and signalling remains the same.  If you are stressed, get onto natural stress management protocols.

Do you have a habit of holding it in each time you an urge to defaecate that your body is losing its ability to move the bowels regularly.  If so, make sure you listen to your body’s signalling and go when you feel the urge.  To stimulate the large bowels, squatting for a period of time to induce the urge is a great strategy.  We used to have squat toilets until sitting toilets were invented.  We were not meant to be sitting and defacating at the same time!

Don’t underestimate the benefits of pooping regularly.  

Pineapple Mint Cocktail (alcohol free)

• 1 handful Peppermint leaves sliced and steeped in 1/2 cup hot water
• 2 tsp chamomile tea or 2 tea bags of chamomile tea steeped in 1/2 cup of hot water
• Fresh pineapple juice 2 cups
• Sparkling mineral water 1 cup
• Ice cubes

Steep the peppermint and chamomile teas and leave to cool.  Juice fresh pineapple and chill in the refrigerator.  Mix all ingredients together and add ice cubes and a fresh slice of pineapple on the glass with some mint leaves to serve.

Goji Shape Up Balls

100g organic goji berries

30g organic chia seeds
20g ground almond

1 scoop Shape Up weight management powder

2-3 drops stevia (optional)

1. Soak goji berries and chia seeds until water covers over the seeds and berries.  Soak for 1 hour.  The berries would plump up and chia seeds feel gel-like.
2. Put both soaked goji and chia into a blender and blend using pulse.  There will be some leftover liquid in the bowl.  If you prefer the balls a little more moist, use the water in the balls. (There should not be a lot of water left over)
3. Pour out into a bowl and add 1 scoop of Shape Up.  Mix well with a spoon.  Shape Up is our non-allergenic weight management protein with fat burners, herbs and minerals.
4. Roll balls together with your hands.  This quantity makes about 8 balls.  They can be chilled in a covered container for 3 days or frozen for upto 2 weeks.
5. This makes a good snack over the holiday season when you are travelling or camping or when you have to bring a plate of dessert to share.  Double or triple up the quantities if you have to serve more people.