Now is a great time to look at the health of your gut, especially after ongoing January festivities where holiday over-eating may have left you feeling a little worse for wear.

Gut health is by far the best way to nudge off a few excess kilos gained during the over-indulgent festive season.

If you haven’t already tried it or seen it in stores, my Love Your Gut powder, which is all natural and made from naturopathic grade, organic and fresh water diatomaceous earth is the perfect antidote to seasonal weight creep and will get you back on track.

This all natural food based ingredient will give your gut that little daily spring clean it craves, particularly after a long-winded holiday eating splurge that seems to run for the best part of the new year and beyond.

It’s not just our cupboards that need a bit of tender loving care, our hard working colons do too!

Diatomaceous earth is the superfine fossilised remains of fresh water diatoms, a natural type of hard-shelled algae. For hundreds of years our ancient ancestors recognised algae as an incredible food source, holding magnificent health benefits. But for some reason it has taken us a long time to reap those benefits.

The wonders of algae lie in the silicon makeup. Silica provides an abundance of health benefits, from boosting hair growth, to easing skin problems such as redness, acne and eczema. Slowing down the degenerative break down of connective tissue, to increasing calcium deposits to bone.

Getting sufficient amounts of this super mineral is essential. However, it’s not all in the mineral composition, diatomaceous earth holds many other benefits as it’s anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-any nasties in the form of parasites. It helps with increased nutrient absorption, better immunity and improved waste removal.


Due to the texture of this natural sediment, it very gently exfoliates the intestine wall, sweeping away all impurities that sit in your gut.

These unwanted toxins block our bodies from absorbing vital nutrients, and therefore decreasing our general well being, energy and happiness.

Once the junk has been removed from your trunk, you will nourish and glow from the inside out.  It’s easy to take and tasteless too without any additives. It's also suitable for vegans and is gluten and GMO free.

Simply add a tablespoon to water, juice or a smoothie twice a day before meals and scroll down for my favourite gut soothing smoothie.

Here's a short video about the benefits of Love Your Gut powder,  which can be purchased here.

Happy Gut Banana and Mango Smoothie

Serves one

Ingredients

• 1 frozen banana
• ½ cup frozen mango chunks
• 1 cup almond milk or milk of choice
• 1 tsp Love Your Gut powder
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder or extract
• Pinch cinnamon
• Pinch nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp turmeric

NOTE: If you don't have all the right ingredients, you can use our Golden Gut blend and just add mango and banana and milk of choice.

Method

• Place all ingredients to a high-speed blender and whizz until combined and smooth
• Pour into a tall glass

You can also spice up your mornings by adding this fine powder to one of the gut healing drinks from my Love Your Gut recipe book.

I've put together a little video for you, it's just me, no filters, no makeup, no spicy effects or souped-up editing.  

I'm feeling relaxed at home in my kitchen and I'm talking about my new book Eat Right for Your Shape. I hope you'll like it!

This book takes a fresh look at the ancient healing system of Ayurveda and applies it to the way we eat and live.

It's been cooked up in the Ayurvedic kitchens of Kerala, where I spent time last year studying Ayurvedic nutrition and cooking and getting my head around the doshas and supercharged ingredients.

If you want to learn more about the book and see photos of the recipes you can go here.

Or you can click on the video below to hear me talk more about my philosophies behind the book.

If you'd like to buy a copy click here and you'll receive The Renewable Table eBook as a gift.

Getting kids to eat food that is good for them doesn’t have to be the Mount Everest of parenthood!

Today I’m celebrating the release of my book Supercharged Food for Kids in print form, which is a new and updated version of my popular eBook, and in it I’ve turned my attention to those who need the best nutrition – our kids!  

I’m sharing a quick and simple Chocolate Popsicle recipe from the book for all of the ice cream guys and girls. It’s creamy, chocolaty and tastes scrumptious.

As a mother myself, wholefoods chef, and former English teacher who’s spent years helping kids grow academically, I’ve created a book that I hope will inspire and help families make better food choices.

Supercharged Food for Kids is my mission to change the way children eat so we can build stronger, healthier and brighter kids.

The book features simple to make recipes to help parents deliver the right nutrients needed for kids to sustain their energy levels, keep their mood up, concentrate and perform at their best.

I believe in the 80/20 rule: try to give your kids healthy options 80% of the time and you're doing well.

In the book I offer numerous tips on how to sneak wholefoods into everyday meals and Supercharged Food for Kids features healthy versions of family favourites, swapping an ingredient or two to make them more nutritious.

You won’t find any low-fat foods here as manufacturers often compensate for the loss of fat with large amounts of sugar and additives. I use good fats which are an essential component of a child’s diet required for healthy development and brain function.

From breakfast (think savoury breakfast muffins, chai coconut pikelets and French toast) to lunch (zucchini slice, mini salmon frittatas and gluten-free pita pockets), dinner (veggie-packed lamb meatballs, cauliflower mac + cheese, and Mr Tomato heads with tuna) and the ever-important before and after school snacks (Tamari nibble mix, “zoo poo”, and cacao bomb crackles).

You'll discover lots of lovely and stress free ideas for the school lunch box – delicious sandwiches, wraps, pizza, pasta, nuggets muffins, energy and treats – and advice on how to eat for allergies and intolerances, which so many parents have to navigate around.

Supercharged Food for Kids is full of resources to help establish positive eating habits for your kids that they can maintain for their rest of their lives.

Also I’m so excited to share the happy news that my sixth cookbook in the Supercharged Food series, Eat Right for Your Shape is available for pre-order here too!  Eat Right for Your Shape takes a fresh look at the ancient healing system of Ayurveda and applies it to the way we eat and live. This book has been cooked up in the Ayurvedic kitchens of Kerala, where I spent time last year studying Ayurvedic nutrition and cooking.

PRE ORDER either of these books now for delivery in late January and you’ll receive a free copy of my Renewable Table eBook as a gift.

Chocolate popsicles

Makes 4

Ingredients

• 2 bananas
• 65 g (2¹₄ oz/¹₄ cup) nut butter
• 60 ml (2 fl oz/¹₄ cup) additive-free coconut milk or coconut water
• 2 tablespoons cacao powder
• 1 teaspoon alcohol-free vanilla extract
• ¹₄ teaspoon stevia powder or your sweetener of choice (rice malt syrup/honey etc)
• 4 ice block (popsicle/ice lolly) moulds and sticks

Method

• Whizz all the ingredients in a food processor to combine.
• Pour into the ice block moulds and add the sticks, then freeze until set.

Happy cooking 🙂

Lee xo

If you’re looking to immerse yourself in mind-body healing then a great way to fill up your wellness cup is with a soothing mug of Ayurvedic herbal tea.

Ayurveda is an ancient healing system, originating in India, that takes
a holistic approach to feeling well and living in harmony with yourself and your surroundings. Through nutrition, yoga and meditation, it focuses on treating the individual as a whole rather than a specific issue or disease, so that you can achieve balance and good health, not only in your physical body, but also in your mind and spirit.

Ayurveda teaches us that balance is the key to health and happiness.

There are three doshas or unique constitutions central to Ayurvedic philosophy and each person can lean towards vata, pitta or kapha or be a mixture of two or three.

When it comes to diet and nutrition and how to balance your dominant dosha, The Chopra Centre teas are a delicious way to tailor your diet and lifestyle to suit your unique constitution and bring about harmony to your body.

There are four gorgeous organic teas in the range, Relaxing Tea, Soothing Tea, Invigorating Tea and Ginger Tea and they comprise of a specially crafted blend of natural and organic herbs and spices.

Relaxing Tea for Vata Dosha

I tried the Relaxing Tea to balance vata as I am predominantly a vata type. Vata people are creative and contagiously energetic. They make good teachers, artists, actors and professional speakers. The elements that govern vata are air and ether and, just like the wind, they can quickly get out of and back into balance.

The Chopra Centre Relaxing Tea for vata dosha features organic herbs and spices such as cinnamon bark, roasted chicory root, ginger root, cardamom, nutmeg and licorice root.

It’s a beautifully tasting blend which will soothe, warm, and harmonize your body, mind and spirit.

Relaxing Tea helps to relieve stress or restlessness, silence an over-active or busy mind, warm you in colder weather and settle a disturbed and uneasy digestive system, something that vatas can suffer from.

Soothing Tea to Balance Pitta

Pittas are fiery people with leadership skills and intellect – they love a good debate! The elements that reign in pitta are fire and water. Pitta’s qualities are sharp, hot, oily, smooth and mobile. Pitta heat is responsible for digestion and transformation of food, thoughts and physical exertion into
 energy. The state of your pitta digestive fire (agni) determines whether you are healthy and digesting your food properly.

This refreshing and invigorating aromatic tea will help to soothe, cool, and harmonize to take the edge off irritability and impatience that goes hand in hand with the pitta dosha.

The Chopra Centre specialized soothing tea blend features organic spearmint leaves, organic coriander, organic fennel seeds, organic hibiscus flowers, organic peppermint leaves, organic citronella, organic chamomile flowers, organic lemongrass to liven and cool down a lively and intense mind.

It has a spicy chai like flavour and is very easy to drink.

Invigorating Tea for Balancing Kapha

Kapha people are steady, grounded and nurturing. They tend to be the healthiest of the three doshas, particularly when it comes to mental health. Kapha is the dosha responsible for lubrication and structure of the body. Its elements are water and earth, and its governing qualities are wet, cold, heavy, oily and static. Kaphas like to be
 in their comfort zone, and once they find a place where they’re content, they find it hard to move. They don’t like change or disruption, and like to stay where they are.

If you’re a kapha who suffers from a sluggish digestion, this balanced tea blend provides natural energy without containing caffeine. Invigorating Tea contains a fragrant blend of herbs to speed up your metabolism and enliven your natural energy. It’s the kind of tea which is good for reducing congestion within the body, something that can be common in kapha types. Ginger helps to rekindle the digestive fire or agni in your body. Cloves and black pepper warm and stimulate, while cardamom and allspice warm and balance. To refresh and rejuvenate, a mixture of earthy cinnamon, peppermint, and orange peel are used.

Ginger Tea

The Chopra Center's Ginger Tea has a pungent, earthy and warming nature and helps to enliven your digestion and boost metabolism. Digestive fire or agni is stimulated and in Ayurvedic philosophy, a strong agni supports better absorption of nutrients and elimination of toxins. The tea features Wakaya Perfection 100% organic pink Fijian ginger and anti-inflammatory spices, Organic Ginger Root, Lemon Peel, Ginger Pieces and Black Pepper. Sipping on this tea will provide a spicy and fresh flavour and will instantly calm your senses.

To make the perfect cup of Ayurvedic tea, use freshly boiled water and let it steep for 2-3 minutes or up to four minutes for a brisk and deeper flavour.

You can drink up to two to three cups a day or more to bring balance to the body.

For more information about the teas and to purchase visit The Chopra Centre.

Barberyn Reef, a luxury resort set amidst a luscious and picture perfect island landscape has one major goal and that is to improve the health of its guests through authentic and traditional Ayurvedic practices.

Ayurveda, an ancient healing system, originating in India, takes
 a holistic approach to feeling well and living in harmony with yourself and your surroundings. Think of it as a union of the mind, body, senses and soul with three main objectives: to prevent disease, to encourage wellbeing and to promote longevity.

Conscious Cuisine

Through nutrition, yoga and meditation, it focuses on treating the individual as a whole rather than a specific issue or disease, so that you can achieve balance and good health, not only in your physical body, but also in your mind and spirit.

Barberyn is a wonderful facilitator for the Ayurvedic way of life and an antidote to the fast paced world that many of us find ourselves living in. The sprawling resort, nestled quietly on the south east coast of Sri Lanka in Beruwala, is a purpose built “sanctuary for the soul” and a place where you can rejuvenate your mind body and spirit with undivided attention and without personal effort or trying. The only ‘doing’ required by you is to close your eyes and gently surrender to it’s all natural nurturing ways.

 Pom Pom Flowers 

At Barberyn Reef, four of the essential Ayurvedic healing philosophies are applied very simply and traditionally, giving you the opportunity to slow down and enjoy each enriching experience as a simple pleasure.

Simple, Traditional Decor

You’ll relish in the most wonderfully homegrown and delicious nourishing cuisine, tailor made to suit your unique dosha, you’ll engage in individualized cleansing and detoxification processes to purify the body, and enjoy warm oil massages administered by Ayurvedic nurses which not only melt away your tension but more deeply, eliminate energetic blockages in the body.

One of the more physical aspects to Barberyn are the healing yoga and meditation classes to help you to slip into a feeling of serenity and emerge with an insightful and multi-layered physical and emotional personal transformation.

Everything you experience at Barberyn, from the pulverised dahl body scrub to the healing herbal bath is delivered in the most traditional sense, allowing you to access your innate inner wisdom and feel very much in tune with yourself and your surroundings. It is in that moment when true transformation occurs. 

Floating Blossoms 

One of my biggest discoveries was that there is a big difference between feeling refreshed and energized after experiencing a spa resort, compared to the treatment and nurturing that Barberyn is dedicated to offering every single one of its guests.  I hadn’t experienced anything on this level of genuine authenticity and for me Barberyn symbolises a profound and life changing environment and a place where true healing can be experienced on a number of different levels. The focus is not on pampering but more on therapeutic health results.

Ayurvedic Nurses in Uniform

Another impactful unearthing was being immersed in a structured and fully equipped Ayurvedic hospital which gave me a better insight and understanding of the workings of each practice on a variety of people with different conditions. I discovered these first hand and by talking to other guests.

The Herbal Pharmacy at Barberyn

An interesting eye-opening surprise from Barberyn was that I came away more comfortable in the knowledge that fifty percent of true health and healing comes from within and the remainder can be delivered in whatever form works within your own philosophies. Whether it is western medicine or alternative practices, it doesn’t matter. I believe personally that what has had the most impact on my health at a fundamental level is Ayurveda and so the whole experience completely resonated with me.

Natural Medicines

When you arrive at Barberyn, you’re given an in-depth consultation by an Ayurvedic doctor who remains your doctor for the duration of your stay. Your pulse will be checked and blood pressure monitored, your tongue will be inspected and a medical history taken and from there you’re placed onto a specific treatment plan to help you achieve balance and healing. You’re given herbal medications in the form of decoctions, potions, pills and powders concocted from the onsite herbal gardens and a list of treatments and your treatment times.

A typical day consists of a two-hour yoga class at 6am followed by a spectacular nutritious breakfast by the water, with Ayurvedic doctors milling around to help you with your food choices and further information sits beside each dish; a description of its Ayurvedic balancing attributes.

A Personally Aligned Ayurvedic Breakfast

Then it’s off to the treatment centre where you'll indulge in warm oil massages delivered by two skilful and nimble-fingered practitioners guaranteed to send you off into a sleepy, groggy, zombie-like trance.  Afterwards, you're given a variety of treatments designed specifically for you, I had a rice milk and herb heated herbal compress which soothed my tired and knotted muscles.  You'll almost certainly be given an eye treatment which after the initial gooiness from the ghee will leave your eyes sparkling and fresh. 

Warm Oil Massages

You’re then whisked off to lie in an atmospheric herbal garden where you're wrapped in sticky oil and herbal patches which are gently and carefully applied to different areas of your body, with fresh herbal cleansers applied to your face and cucumbers to your eyes.  Once you're covered in oil and herbs, you're then draped with muslin to allow everything to absorb to it's full potential, and it's right here where you find yourself succumbing to thoroughly relaxing and drifting off to sleep with the sounds of the birds in the garden.  Whilst still a little drowsy, a nurse will direct you to an area where you're bathed in a therapeutic herbal bath reminiscent of childhood bathing, the warm water flowing over you from the earthenware cup.  You're then patted-dry and wrapped carefully in a clean treatment cloth.

By now your tummy is grumbling and you're about ready for a delicious lunch in the communal lunch room overlooking the water.

Vata Balancing Lunch

This is followed by a daily acupuncture session based on your condition and then a swim in the generous salt water pool or if you prefer to laze on one of the loungers by the ocean as it laps gently against the shore lulling you into a state of complete relaxation, the choice is entirely yours.

Salt Water Pool

By the way if you’re feeling thirsty between meals there's a cute juice bar where you can order cucumber juices or drink tea and talk to other guests.

Cucumber Juice

At 4pm you have the opportunity to inhale deeply at another yoga class, or find yourself with turmeric stained hands in a cooking class with a couple of the chefs from the kitchen. I chose the cooking class which was fun and we made four or five very simple yet delicious dishes that I will most certainly be recreating at home. I still can't stop thinking about the garlic and fenugreek curry. That dish was mouth watering.

Guys, you had me at Garlic Curry!

Along with the treatments and activities, you might like to get out and about and sign up for one of the complimentary excursions into town or boat trip to the nearby river where you can spot some of the native wildlife.

After seven enriching and relaxing days at Barberyn my soul was doing cartwheels on the beach and I felt energized and restored.

Ideally you should spend at least ten days to really experience its healing benefits. I can’t wait to go back next year.

To find out more about Barberyn Ayurvedic resort visit http://barberynresorts.com

This Christmas holiday period, my favourite beach spot Kutti Beach is where I’ll be holding a family beach-themed picnic. The soiree will take the shape of a moveable feast with pistachio stuffed mushrooms followed by apple cider vinegar and smoked paprika pulled pork sliders with apple kaleslaw and homemade Christmas fruit cake. Finger food at it’s finest, guaranteed to bring a whole lot of merriment amongst the sandcastles!

To avoid the culinary festive pitfalls that accompany many Christmas Day celebrations, I look to organization as my main game plan and this is where meal planning comes into it’s own. For me it’s all about note pads, to-do-lists and pre-preparation so that the day runs as smoothly as possible with minimal input effort and big impact dishes.

To get the ‘baubles’ rolling, I plan to make as much as I can the day before, so for the first course, I’ll whip up the mushroom stuffing pre-Christmas day and then marinade the mushrooms on the morning of, ready to bake at the last minute. (more…)