Quirky Cooking Chats

Do you need some tips for helping your kids to cope with the changes to their diet, and with how they will feel in the first couple of weeks?

Are you worried they will refuse to eat the food you make?

Are you wondering how other families have coped in this situtation?

Listen in as Jo talks to her friend Cathy about what it was like for them when they began their kids on GAPS – the struggles to get the kids to eat, the emotional upheaval, the fear about ‘am I doing the right thing?’… but most importantly, how they overcame these things, their successes, and how their girls have learned to love their food.

If you have kids on GAPS and would love some support, join our GAPS for Kids support group on Facebook.

The post AQJ 29 : Cathy Benson – How to help your kids to cope with starting GAPS appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

Did you know that if you’ve given birth within the last decade, you may be still suffering some consequences, such as lethargy, anxiety, memory disturbances, ‘baby brain’, and poor energy levels? It’s not just because life gets busy when a new baby comes along, but also because the process of growing a baby exacts a significant toll on the body.

Dr Oscar Serrallach is a GP in Mullumbimby who has done training in Nutritional and Environmental Health and has a special interest in post natal repletion (helping mothers recover from the biopyschosocial ordeal of having kids).

In our society, many mothers are already nutritionally and physically depleted before conception and pregnancy, and this can escalate after the birth, to the stage where mums are ‘running on empty’.

How do you know if you are suffering from postnatal depletion, and what tests should be done to show what to work on?

What are some simple steps to follow before and after having a child to make sure your body doesn’t become run down and nutritionally depleted?

How does gut health impact on postnatal depletion?

What is the peak time for postnatal depression, and do mums who have depletion commonly end up with depression?

How important is a support network for new mums?

Answers to these questions and more! This is a fascinating podcast which really highlights the importance of caring for our new mums.

Useful Links:

• Dr Oscar’s website, Facebook page, and Instagram

The post AQJ 28 : Dr Oscar Serrallach – Postnatal Depletion appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

How can a gut healing diet, natural therapies, and working daily with your kids to encourage optimal learning, help them to cope with the world around them?

In this episode, Leah shares some recent results of their family’s healing journey, the story of their big move out of the city, and their recent transition from homeschooling to public schooling – big changes for the Follett family!

Listen in to learn more about how kids can function so much better when they have a healthy environment – both inside and out. Gut health and stress affect everything from behavior, to concentration, anxiety, food reactions, sensitivity to chemicals in their environment, sensitivity to noise and distractions, ability to cope with change, and more. Big kudos to Leah and her husband for all their hard work – the changes they’ve seen in their kids in the past four years have been amazing.

To learn more about Leah’s story, and how she’s worked with her kids to reduce ASD symptoms, listen in to Our Stories.

To learn more about Jo and Leah’s homeschooling journeys, listen here.

To learn more about helping kids with learning difficulties and special needs, listen here.

The post AQJ 27: How good gut health helps kids cope with the world around them! appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This week’s episode is all about fermented foods! Katrina Kehoe of Kehoe’s Kitchen joins Jo to share her story of the past four years – from GAPS to a paleo diet, with a focus on using fermented foods as natural probiotics to help with the healing process. Find the answers to the following questions, and more!

How can fermented foods help in the gut-healing process? And what do you do if you really just don’t have the time (or the patience) to make your own? Are the fermented veggies you can buy at the grocery store any good? Where can you buy traditionally prepared sauerkraut, and what are the benefits? What is ‘wild fermentation’? Does it make a difference if the vegetables used are organic or not? How should you begin if you haven’t really eaten fermented veggies much before, or are just beginning GAPS? What do you do if you are low FODMAPS – are there some options for you? What if you have issues with histamines? Which ferments go best with which foods?

Katrina also has plenty of helpful information, recipe ideas, tips for getting started with GAPS, and answers to the most common GAPS questions on her website and Facebook page, so check out the links below!

• GAPS Intro Meals: see what Katrina cooked for her family while on the GAPS intro diet

Where to buy Kehoe’s Kitchen’s Organic Raw Artisan Sauerkrauts, Kim Chi, Sauerkraut Juices, Cultured Paleo Tasty Cheese, Cashew Yogurts, Coconut Yoghurts and Raw Activated Paleo Bars: Find a stockist in your area

The post AQJ 26 : Kehoe’s Kitchen: helping to heal the gut with fermented foods appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

On today’s podcast, Jo has a very special co-host, her 14 yr old son Isaac. Jo’s family started GAPS (the Gut and Psychology Syndrome protocol) because Isaac was suffering with severe OCD. A year ago Isaac was barely able to function – now he’s doing amazingly well and loves to share what he’s been learning.

Jo and Isaac discuss simple ways to start implementing these gut healing principles into your everyday cooking, without stressing out the family; and how to take some baby steps to get started. Not everyone can jump right in and do strict GAPS, but there are some basic things you can do to begin healing, adding in other steps when you can.

They also answer readers questions like:

– how GAPS has changed Isaac’s life socially

– how to help kids not feel like they’re ‘missing out’ when around friends eating differently

– tips for kid’s snacks

– how to manage GAPS with toddlers

– do people lose weight on GAPS

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, have a listen to these simple ideas and tips from a teenager on GAPS!

Useful links:

• How to make bone broths

Good quality gelatine: GoBio or Great Lakes gelatine (available at health food shops)

• Getting healthy fats into your diet

The post AQJ 25 : Q&A with Isaac – gut healing simplified, and kids on GAPS appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

Five years ago, Marlies Hobbs was a busy lawyer with no time to be worrying about the food she was eating. She thought she ate pretty well, and she was excercising, so if she was a little bit overweight, exhausted, bothered by skin problems and not really feeling great, that was just a part of normal life, right? Then her first son came along and shocked Marlies, and her husband Jai, into realising how important food and lifestyle really are for health. Their baby was highly allergic to dairy, and many times Marlies thought she had lost him. Jai began researching the paleo lifestyle and diet, and together they began a journey that has taken this family above and beyond what they thought was possible.

Listen in to Marlies’ fascinating story of the healing power of food, and how eating natural, nutrient dense foods and living a lifestyle closer to nature has changed their lives. Out of it has also come a successful family business with cafes popping up all around Australia, and many other people being helped to change their health for the better.

You can find lots of the delicious Paleo Cafe recipes here on the Paleo Cafe website.

The Paleo Cafe Lifestyle & Cookbook, by Marlies Hobbs, is now available in most bookstores and department stores, including Big W and Kmart. Or you can order it online, here.

And don’t forget to follow the Paleo Cafe Australia on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The post AQJ 24 : Changing your life by the way you eat with Marlies Hobbs of the Paleo Cafe appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This week’s guest on “A Quirky Journey” is a young lady who has been fighting an auto-immune disease since she was 14, and shares her story of her ups and downs, and how GAPS is helping her in her quest to heal her body. Rachel Favilla is just 18 years old, but her maturity and knowledge of nutrition, gut health, auto immune disease, and cooking ‘meals that heal’ is astounding! This is one amazing young lady!

Rachel is the author of the blog, “Real Soup for the Real Soul”, where she shares her delicious, GAPS friendly recipes. She is studying nutritional medicine at the Endeavour College of Natural Health, and wants to become a nutritionist, with a focus on healing the gut.

Listen in as Rachel shares lots of tips for learning how to heal your body, and how to cook for good health in a way that is simple and easy for everyone.

Real Soup for the Real Soul: http://www.realsoupfortherealsoul.com

The post AQJ 23 : Rachel Favilla: Fighting an Auto-Immune Disease appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

The post AQJ 22 : Alexx Stuart Discusses the MINDD Forum, 2015 appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

The post AQJ21 : Jo & Leah Catchup appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

Jo has recently been travelling in the UK with her Quirky Cooking classes, and while there she did a radio interview on Marlow FM’s “The Health Show”.  Jo chats with Ann Garry and Jenny Tschieche (nutritionists) about:

– her family’s food journey and how they got to where they are now

– why they began GAPS

– the link between depression, anxiety, OCD, and gut health

– the differences GAPS has made in Jo’s family

– how Jo copes with such a busy schedule while cooking everything from scratch

– ideas for quick meals, easy nutritious breakfasts, and time saving tips

– coping with special diets while travelling

– getting the kids involved

and more!

If you are new to “A Quirky Journey”, this is a great place to jump in, as Jo summarises her family’s food journey in this information-packed interview. It’s lots of fun and there’s plenty to inspire you, so listen in and enjoy!

Useful links:

Marlow FM radio online

Nutritionist Jenny Tschiesche – Lunchbox Doctor and Facebook page

Gut and Psychology Syndrome

The post AQJ 20: Quirky Cooking Interview on “The Health Show” appeared first on The Wellness Couch.