Winter Wellness - Medicinal foods in your garden, pantry and fridge

Winter is here. That means the season for coughs, cold, snot, ear infections, tonsillitis, upper respiratory sickness, croup, you name it! How well prepared are you??

The germ, bacteria, bug, virus, whatever you want to call it is not the problem, it is the host in which it is living. The germ can only thrive in the right environment, that is our immune system. When the immune system is not as strong and resilient as it should be, it will really struggle to fight off these bugs and more often than not will succumb to them.

There is so much goodness in our garden and pantry that is truly medicinal in nature and  have stood the test of time. Wouldn't it better to use these than feel helpless and use over the counter medication which do have a damaging effect on our eco system, the MAIN hub of the immune system?

With a little education and a little preparation, you can be fully prepared for whatever is thrown your way.

Harnessing the medicinal properties of readily available herbs:

• Rosemary – It’s aromatic smell has been known to help improve memory tasks. Great for upper respiratory tract infections and is anti-microbial

• Oregano – This herb is highly antimicrobial and is very effective at treating chronic & acute infections. Add it to food regularly or have as a medicinal tea with a little raw honey

• Lavender – who is not a fan of the smell of lavender, me actually, but that is a story for another day. Not only is the fragrant soothing and helps you fall asleep, it also contains anti-oxidants called polyphenols that fight belly bloating

• Thyme – This has to my favourite herb for medicinal purposes and is my go to when the dreaded cough kicks in. This is a great herb to use for respiratory problems and is also very antiseptic. I will share an easy cough tea recipe in the download below. My daughter loves it when I make this tea.

• Basil – This little beauty is great at calming the nerves and also has a detoxing effect on the liver

• Parsley – This common garnish is packed full of nutrients. It contains Vit A & C and just teaspoon offers nearly half your daily intake of vit k

• Chives – A member of the onion family that can help boost the immune system. Admittedly I don't use this herb as often I could do.

• Coriander – This is my go to herb for stirfries and salads. It provides iron and fibre and is also known as a great chelator of heavy metals to help draw them out of your tissues

• Mint – A rich source of Vit A and useful for the breath, digestion, nausea and headaches.

In short, add a variety of herbs daily where ever you can in your diet and reap the benefits, a little really goes a long way.

Suggestions – Garnish, salads, add to stirfries, casserole, soups and make your own brew of tea

Medicine in your pantry:

• Apple Cider Vinegar – Rich in it’s own probiotics, it has been known to be great for detoxification, supporting digestion, anti-microbial and supports the immune system. It is also known to have benefits of topical applications for dry skin, as an anti-fungal agent, whiten teeth and relieve rashes. One little product and so many uses.

• Honey – no pantry should be without a good quality local if possible, raw honey. It is definitely my go to for the first sign of sore throat or cough, taken straight off the spoon. It is very useful as part of a gut healing journey harnessing the prebiotic benefits, however still to be used in small amounts. Also fabulous a moisturiser for dry skin, acne and wound healing.

• Olive oil – Firstly make sure it is a good quality. Not only it is wonderful as a moisturiser for hair and skin, it is a great source of good fats which are essential for the immune & gut cells, not to mention the brain.

• Good Quality ORGANIC tea bags – These are fabulous to have on hand during sickness and a good selection will be found in any good health food store. My favourites are:

  • Rosehip & hibiscus

  • Ginger & lemon

  • Chamomile

  • Peppermint or mint

  • Immune tea

  • Digestive tea

What's hiding in your fridge that can serve as medicine?

• GINGER – This little innocent unassuming vegetable is so potent. Really get creative how you can incorporate it into your diet as much as possible. It is known to be useful for treating:

  • Inflammation

  • Remedies motion sickness or an upset tummy

  • Cold & flu prevention

  • Assists digestion

  • Assists common respiratory conditions that helps break down and remove phelm and mucous

  • Strengthens the immune system

• TUMERIC (fresh) or spice from the pantry - It’s the compound curcumin in this food that makes it so magical and gives it the amazing anti inflammatory and antioxidant properties. I love adding to broth to pimp it up and a few shakes of the spice where ever I can.

• LEMON – This wonderful citrus fruit so readily available and has many health benefits such as:

  • The juice of a lemon is useful in assisting indigestion and constipation

  • It is one of go to treatments for fever and works a charm breaking a fever by increasing perspiration.

  • Soothes respiratiory disorders

  • Helps to flush out bacteria and toxins from the body

  • With it’s antibacterial properties, it’s a fabulous choice for sore throats

Here you can download a few DIY recipes using the ingredients above to get yourself all ready for winter:

Included in the EBOOK are recipes for the following, however they all have multiple uses:

• Immune System

• Cough

• Resiliency Tonic

• Digestive

• Tummy Upsets

Chantal Khoury is a Certified and Accredited Nutrition & Wellness Coach with a special interest helping mum's implement Healing Wholefood & transformational wellness practices to improve the health of their family one personalised step at a time.

What is needed to build a strong healthy Immune System

I don't want my child to be strong, healthy and resilient. I'm OK with them getting sick ALL of the time - said no mother ever!

As a mum who suffered with a child that was CONSTANTLY sick I was desperately searching for the answer that was going help me FIX this and I was prepared to do WHATEVER it took. I was relentless in this search, often wanting to give up at times.

I did so many supplements, potions, tests, in and out of doctor and naturopath offices, all of which had very limited or very temporary success.

I intuitively knew the heart of the issue was that he needed to eat better, but if the truth be told, I had no idea how to do this, even after seeing 4 different pediatric dieticians in 5 years.

Completely frustrated, but not deterred I kept searching and finally I understood the root cause of the issue, i.e. his gut needed healing. Without this being addressed, no supplement or potion was going to help.

We used GAPS (Gut & Psychology Syndrome) as the spring board for this process and I can’t even begin to tell you how life changing that was.

Having said that, you don’t NEED to do GAPS, but you definitely need to address the nutritional status and address gut health. This is non negotiable. There are no magic pills or quick fixes.

85% of the body’s immune cells plus genetic material reside in the gut – hence the link between immunity and gut health .

Understanding the other factors that affect gut health and ultimately affects immunity and resilience?

1. Refined sugar
2. Processed food
3. Trans fatty acids
4. Lack of dietary proteins
5. Food intolerances
6. STRESS
7. All prescription or over the counter medication
8. Lack of sunshine
9. Living in a sterile environment
10. Chemical cleaning products
11. EMF

Ways to boost the immune system:

• Wholefood that is plenty full in fat, protein and vegetables
• Healing foods including broth, fermented foods and drinks
• If you feel you need to supplement, ensure it’s good quality and wholefood derived. Anything else is still seen as toxic by the body
• Sunshine
• A bit of dirt

The aim is not to make our children bullet proof to getting sick, as that is definitely how the immune system learns, but we do want them to be resilient and bounce back quickly. So it’s all about supporting the body with the right nutrients and tonics when they do get sick, rather than give them medication that harms and treats symptomatically. This is such a trap most mum's fall into, and I did this too for a little while.

Today, I only use food as medicine and a few key herbal supplements to boost and support the body during a time of sickness.

To help you start your Natural First Aid kit, I’m gifting you my key DIY Homemade Remedies that will support and build resilience rather than harm. These remedies will be suitable for:

• Coughs
• Digestive upsets
• Colds
• Building resilience & overall immunity

You only need a few key ingredients to get started, all easily sourced from your garden, supermarket or health food store.

Click here to grab your FREE DIY Remedy Ebook

Chantal is a Certified Nutrition & Wellness Coach that specialises in helping stressed and overwhelmed mums heal their children with wholefoods using a personalised wholistic step by step approach.

4 Steps to Fill Up Your Child's Love Tank

So I am all about the food, but it's not all about the food. Have I confused you on the first sentence??

Let me explain myself. I believe with ALL my being that there is absolutely no substitute for eating a wholefood diet, NOTHING. To me, its job done, non negotiable and so I ask what is next to live a vibrant extraordinary life ?

To be truly healthy as described in this blog, you need the balance of both physical & emotional/mental health, so it’s equally important to be emotionally intelligent and physically healthy. This couldn’t be truer for our children today who are living in such a fast paced technology driven world who are experiencing unacceptable levels of anxiety.

 In my humblest opinion, it’s our job as parents to make our children feel loved, secured, confident and empowered and we primarily do this by filling up their love tank in a language they understand. After all, to feel loved is a primary human emotional need.

So let me introduce you to the concept of the 5 Love Languages.

I first became aware of this concept a number years ago when I started to take an interest in personal development. It was ONE of the BEST books I have ever read and believe that EVERY couple should receive a copy of this at pre-marriage counselling. Anyways, that is a topic for another day :-)

So the 5 love languages are different ways that people or children need to be communicated to in order to feel loved. There are 5 of these love languages and you would typically have 2 dominant ones that you need, a primary and secondary.

Let me tell you from personal experience in relationships with my husband, children and immediate family that this is GOLDEN. When you understand what their love language is and you communicate to them in the way that they WANT you to, you form the most beautiful bond and your relationship just goes to another level.

The Five Love Languages

1.       Words of Affirmation:

This refers to verbal compliments or words of appreciation. These are best expressed in simple sentences and obviously need to be sincere. Here are some examples:

• I love the effort you put into you that project

• I love you

• I really appreciate you helping me fold the washing

• You are so good at colouring in between the lines

• I love that you made a good judgment in X situation

• I love your smile

2.       Quality time:

This is quite self explanatory and literally means to give someone your undivided time and attention for a period of time. This all about being present and even better if you can initiate the time spent together

3.       Receiving Gifts:

A gift is something you hold in your hand and say “here I was thinking of you” It doesn’t have to cost anything. Gifts are just visual symbols of love. Examples of insignificant gifts are:

• Stickers

• Reading books

• Colouring in

• Their favourite game

• A T-shirt with their favourite character

• Stationary with their favourite characters

4.       Acts of Service:

This is all about having things done for them, not because they are lazy or can’t be bothered doing it themselves, but because they enjoy being looked after. Obviously you know when the mick is being taken :-). Examples are:

• Cooking their favourite food

• Filling up their water bottle for them when they could have done it themselves

• Putting the toothpaste on their toothbrush before they ask

5.       Physical Touch:

In the world of psychology, touch is known as a form of expressing emotional love. That may just mean things such as:

• Touching them whilst talking to them

• Giving them a back rub

• Random Hugs

• Offer to massage

Putting this into practice, I’ll give you examples of my two munchkins:

Son

He has 2 predominant love languages, that is Quality time and Gifts. This was very evident since he was a toddler. He just always wanted to be belly to belly, eyeball to eyeball He just loves spending time together doing exactly what HE wants. We could spend all day together at an outing or event, but within minutes of being home, if his needs were not satisfied, he would request to play a game such as uno, chess, lego etc. That's him expressing that he has not received enough 1:1 time. Sometimes that need is as little as 10 minutes to fill up the tank, it's all about the quality, not quantity...most of the time :-)

He also LOVES receiving gifts. This was and still is an easy one to use in a reward based system.

If I was to shower him with hugs (physical touch), he would get really annoyed, so I learned very quickly not to take this personally.

Daughter:

Her 2 dominant love languages are Physical Touch and Acts of service. As a baby, toddler and even now, she absolutely loved being held and cuddled. In fact, when she did something wrong, coming to give you a hug was the first thing she wanted to do, it was also her way of saying sorry. She adores being stroked and sitting on the couch having a cuddle watching her favourite show together.

She also really enjoys things being done for her such as, in the morning helping her put her gown or slippers on and will actually get quite upset if I forget. She is fiercely independent but loves to have little things done for her of HER choice.

How to do it?

Step 1 – Observe their spoken words and actions to determine their primary and secondary love language. You could even take a quiz here to help you identify their dominant love language.

Step 2 – Communicate to them in their desired love language, not yours. Be careful of this trap.

Step 3 – Watch them thrive emotionally

Step 4 – Repeat. As our needs and desires as adults change overtime, theirs will too, so it’s all about staying observant, flexible and adaptable.

I hope that gives a little insight into the 5 love language. I cannot encourage you enough to identify your loved ones love language and just watch them soar and thrive emotionally.

Chantal XX

If you are wanting to address your health or that of your family using nutrition & wellness principles, do not hesitate schedule your FREE Health Mapping Session here or here

Chantal is a Certified Nutrition & Wellness Coach that specialises in helping stressed and overwhelmed mums heal their children with wholefoods using a personalised wholistic step by step approach.

What is "HEALTHY"

Do you ever ask yourself if you or your child is truly healthy?

Firstly, let’s look at the definition of healthy according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), in 1946 it was defined as:

“A state of complete physical, mental & social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”

That is quite an interesting definition of healthy, when you think about, you would often just associate it with a physical wellness but it’s actually a combination of both physical and emotional well-being. Somehow we don’t like talking so much about emotional well-being, but in reality it possibly trumps physical health, but like everything we need balance and cannot focus on one without considering the other. They fit together like a glove.

Sometimes it seems easier to bury our heads in the sand, but our children are far more stressed and anxious today because of this fast paced technology driven world we now live in and their emotional needs are not being adequately addressed. More importantly, I don’t believe parents know HOW to address the emotional needs of their little ones.

What we need to understand as parent, that one of our roles is that of a teacher, which means we need to lead by example. If we are able to address and manage our own emotional well-being successfully, then we are able to do teach our children the same. The sad truth however, is that this is just not being taught anywhere unless it is actively sought out by the individual.

To be truly healthy now and in the future one needs a wholistic approach and address the following:

1. Physical health through nutrition, this is not negotiable

2. Emotional well-being through techniques and practices that allows us to live joyfully, in peace and with integrity

3. Be mindful of external factors in our environment that affect our health & emotional well-being.

Physical health through Nutrition:

1. Eat food as close possible to it’s natural state

2. Eat a variety of foods daily within each food group

3. Remove ALL packaged & processed food - another non negotiable.

4. Remove refined & processed sugar and greatly reduce even the so called “healthy” sugar

Emotional Well-being:

1. Practice gratitude daily for EVERYTHING, even the bumps on the road. More than likely there is beautiful gift just over than bump. Start with the small things such as the food on the table, the roof over our heads, the clothing on our body, the beauty of a new day etc

2. Try to be more present – this is much harder than it sounds, and I get that. But practice makes perfect. Catch a good moment daily and just try to “sit” in it

3. Do not underestimate the power of deep breathing. Something I’ve resisted for a long time. Just 1 minute of focused deep breathing brings so many benefits and is so easy to teach the kids

Outside factors

1. Reduce chemical & toxic load in the food you eat and the products you use

2. Embrace loving relationships

3. Learn how to deal with stress

I’ve put together a quick checklist of both physical & emotional symptoms that you can refer to for being “healthy”. Accepting anything less for you or your child is just doing a disservice.

Download your checklist here ====>

Click here to grab your "Healthy Checklist"

If you are wanting to address your health or that of your family using nutrition & wellness, do not hesitate schedule your FREE Health Mapping Session here or here

Chantal is a Certified Nutrition & Wellness Coach that specialises in helping stressed and overwhelmed mums heal their children with wholefoods using a personalised wholistic step by step approach.