February 8, 2016

Want to be the best you? Well, try this lifestyle approach…

[1610] Yianni - full day

Want to be the best you? Well, try this lifestyle approach…

By Rachel Grunwell

Want to become the best version of you?

I’m not talking about enrolling in some American-style ‘biggest transformation’ style program. That stuff freaks me out!  It’s not sustainable either.

How to become the best version of you requires you wanting be a better you, firstly. Then you need to tell yourself you are going to change your lifestyle. Next, adopt “a positive mind-set” and repeat after me: “I believe in myself”.

Think about something that drives you to want to look and feel better. For me, I remember hating the feeling of my legs swishing together when I walked. This was a while back, when I put on 30kg when I was pregnant with my first child. But I’ll never forget that feeling. I hated it. So wanting to escape the “leg-swish-walking” was one driver for me! It may be that there’s a dress you’d love to wear for your wedding or a big event. Or you may just want to simply get back to looking like “you” again. Focus on this and how you will feel when you get to your goal.

Then I want you to think about a reward when you get to your goal. Something you long for and want. Promise yourself you will buy it for yourself when you reach your goal and look forward to that, (obviously you have to be able to afford it! No Ferrari-wishing okay – except if you are a partner in a law firm or something… then you can wish for a Ferrari).

But seriously, next I want you to start drinking 2L of water daily. Put it in the fridge in a jug and so you can see if you are getting through this amount each day.

Next up, look at how much movement you do. Try and walk/do some kind of exercise class/swim – whatever you want really – and commit to doing it thrice weekly. You can build on doing more later. Just starting is the main thing right now.

Also, walk whenever you get the opportunity – early in the morning or at lunch time with a friend can be great times to try and fit it in. Walk the kids to school, don’t drive them. Walk to get that coffee or meet with a mate. If it’s a close distance than get on your feet. Any chance you can move, do it. Even standing burns more calories than sitting. So every bit counts i.e. don’t sit while you fold the washing – stand!

A tough thing to do next will be to “cut the not-so-good-for-you-stuff” from your pantry. Avoid sugar, fizzy drinks, alcohol and then don’t drink more than one coffee a day. If you are drinking or eating a lot of any one of these things then mindfully cut back – ease off it slowly. Be kind on yourself.

Next eat greens whenever you can at each meal. Not just dinner time! Greens like broccoli and salads are great. Then fill your pantry/fridge with healthy foods. Now all you need to do is eat more healthy stuff, less crap, drink more water and avoid all those sugar-laden or alcoholic things trying to drag you down. They’re not doing you any favours.

Now, do all these things consistently and see how you go. Remember, you can do this! You got this!

believe you can

Remember weight-loss takes time too. So keep going and don’t give into old unhealthy habits. Good things take time and if you are doing these things then you should be feeling even better over time.

However, if you don’t think you can do this weight loss and fitness journey on your own, or find it confusing, or think that you could benefit from some support and education in this area then consider something like Weight Watchers.

 

Weight Watchers has recently overhauled their program and it is even better than when I used it years ago. It now focuses on a new way of living, not a diet. It’s more of a holistic approach that looks at food, fitness and feeling good “your own way”. So there are lots of options to choose from to help you on your journey. It’s awesome.

Weight Watchers says research shows about a third of Kiwis aged 15-years and over are overweight. And Weight Watchers believes women can find it tougher than men to kick the kilos. Add to that more fast foods, less sleep and a lack of motivation in general in society… It’s tough to break the weight-gain cycle. So don’t feel reluctant about reaching out to something like Weight Watchers if you need help achieving your goal.

Weight Watchers Director of Program and Content for Australasia, Martha Lourey-Bird, says “We have the tools to reverse this trend.”

“The new Weight Watchers Program goes beyond kilojoule counting and allows you to personalise your approach to weight management and healthy living. Backed by the latest scientific learnings, the  Your Way Program  nudges members towards healthier eating, including more lean protein and less saturated fat and sugar.”

She says Weight Watchers also makes it easier to work fitness into your life with a new FitPoints™ system and a smartphone app. It’s an approach that’s about eating good foods you love and getting active.

Ultimately you will feel better, so make the change.

After all, Oprah Winfrey backs Weight Watchers. She raves this has given her the “tools” to have accountability to herself. So if someone like Oprah gives it the green light then you can believe in Weight Watchers being able to help you to be the best version of you. Go on; you’ll feel great if you do.

Rachel Grunwell is a wellbeing columnist for two NZ magazines and seven newspaper titles nationwide. She’s the director of Inspired Health.

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January 24, 2016

What is Biodynamics? And how a beauty company gets the best products

edible flowers

By Rachel Grunwell 
Making great natural beauty products with quality ingredients is key.
But what’s also important for the creators of the Dr.Hauschka products is caring about having holistic, ethical and socially responsible practices.
In essence, Dr.Hauschka cares about everything from the start to the finish: From the soil quality and environment in which they grow their crops – to the sumptuous products you take home and enjoy in your home.

Dr Hauschka
The scientific term for this is called “biodynamics”. Essentially the term means all of the above, but so much more.
Biodynamics is similar to organic farming. It was first developed in the early 1920s thanks to the Austrian writer, educator and social activist Dr. Rudolf Steiner, whose philosophy is called “anthroposophy”. This philosophy centres on things like using natural means and holistic methods to optimise wellbeing. He believes in a natural relationship between natural science, modern science and spiritual science, nurturing the soul of individuals, but also society, along the way.
Steiner believes everything is interlinked including soil fertility, the way you grow plants using non-chemical means and self-made compost, to how the environment is nurtured to attract insects into the garden. His beliefs extend to using the astrological sowing and planting calendar and using ecologically-sustainable and socially-responsible business practices. So any workers involved too are treated with integrity.
Biodynamics is at the heart of why Dr.Hauschka has their very own gardens of about 4.5 hectares in Eckwalden, Germany, where around 150 different high-grade medicinal plants are grown. Here they can control what goes into the soil and manage it naturally including having more than 25 composts where all the residue plant debris and things like grass clippings can be returned back into high-quality soil that revitalises and rebalances the land.
Dr.Hauschka focus on renewable resources and works around natural cycles.
On the land, they nurture what they can grow successfully and what thrives in this environment. For example, they cultivate noble roses and common daisies because this is where they thrive and they are rewarded with bumper crops. They also obtain almost all of the seeds for the next year’s crops from these plants.
Here they can also control a natural ecosystem so they know they have the best environment to produce the best quality natural raw materials. This is why the Dr.Hauschka products that contain lavender for example, smell like a field of lavender when you open a bottle. It’s real lavender and it’s of the highest quality. 

lavender
Meanwhile, the Dr.Hauschka company knows that to get the best crops of some plants that they must be grown in other habitats. So they partner with other like-minded suppliers. An example is gathering shea butter from a producer in West Africa, castor oil from India and some roses from Turkey and Afghanistan.
A plant example which can not be grown optimally in the Dr.Hauschka gardens is Eyebright, which is used in some Dr. Hauschka products like Eye Solace, mascara and eyeliner.So the company commissions a wild collector, with a relevant collection permit, to harvest these plants in Vosges Mountains in France – at an altitude of 1,200metres. This collector never harvests the entire meadow and regularly changes the collection sites. This ensures that the plants are never depleted.
Meanwhile biodynamics is growing globally. Thousands of farms, gardens, vineyards and agricultural businesses now follow the inspirational business and holistic model. Perhaps this is a result of customers increasingly asking questions about how products are made and what exactly is in them.
So next time you open one of the Dr. Hauschka products, don’t just savour the sensational smells and incredible benefits of these beautiful products, celebrate the fact you are using a great brand that also cares about doing good.
 
Rachel is a professional wellbeing writer and columnist, marathoner and yoga teacher. She’s the director of Inspired Health.
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Where else you can find Rachel’s work:

Rachel’s writes: She’s a wellness columnist & creates a healthy recipe page each issue of Good magazine 

She’s a wellbeing columnist and healthy recipe food creator every issue for  Juno Investing magazine (including boutique stays/events/healthy food/wellbeing inspiration)

Rachel writes a weekly wellbeing column (on anything health, fitness, events, food or wellbeing related) for the NZ Herald, which goes in newspapers throughout New Zealand.

Rachel is a wellbeing ambassador for Cigna and does wellbeing blogs and video content for the company.

 

 

January 14, 2016

The Tussock Traverse – one of NZ’s most scenic courses

Tussock Traverse

By Rachel Grunwell

It’s a New Year and so it’s time for new adventures. Training for an “adventure” is a top way to keep fit.

It can also scare you out of bed in the morning to train!

A unique event (for walkers and runners) is the Tussock Traverse, one of the most scenic courses in New Zealand (on January 30). 

It’s an off-road adventure like no other.

The event showcases the eastern area of the World Heritage Tongariro National Park encompassing Tukino and the Round the Mountain and Waihohonu tracks before finishing at the majestic Chateau Tongariro in Whakapapa. 

Victory Events director Jason Cameron says most Kiwis can take part in the event. “Unlike its near neighbour the Goat, the Tussock Traverse is not highly-technical and is very achievable with its range of distance options”.

He says there’s an event option for most ages and abilities (6.5km, 13km and 26km). “It’s not highly-technical; it’s achievable”.

In the 26k expect some rock hopping through a lava field before negotiating the rolling lunar like landscape with volcanic sands through native vegetation before reaching formed tracks in the last 10km.

He says at one point in the race, entrants are “dwarfed by Mt Ngauruhoe on the right whilst capturing stunning views of Mt Ruapehu out to the left”.

Project Tongariro (formerly known as Tongariro Natural History Society) is the event’s charity partner and so entrants help give back, and conserve, the area too.

craig kirkwood

Pictured: Craig Kirkwood running in the 2015 Ironman NZ event.

One participant this year will be Craig Kirkwood, 41, an elite runner and coach from Tauranga. He “runs” Craig Kirkwood Coaching. He says this event will be “a training run” for the Tarawera Ultra 100km event on February 6.

His tips for doing the Tussock Traverse (which he came second in last year): Expect the course to feel 10% longer than running on-road, take a good quality raincoat in case the weather turns and “smile” and “enjoy it!”

* For more info check out: www.tussocktraverse.co.nz

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Rachel is the director of inspiredhealth.co.nz/ 

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January 9, 2016

Where to get the best advice on run technique

Kelly & Rachel

By Rachel Grunwell

Obviously I’m not likely to ever run like some light-footed Kenyan athlete. They’re long-legged; I’m vertically challenged. They’ve got lightening speed genes; My ancestors preferred pints at the pub.
I ain’t a gazelle. I know that.
But even everyday runners (like me) love to strive for personal bests.
I’ve run 11 marathons, but I’d like to improve my run style. After all, I’ve only been running for a few years.
So I visit Kelly Sheerin at AUT Millennium’s running and cycling clinic on Auckland’s North Shore (pictured above). A physiotherapist and biomechanist, he analyses the science behind optimum run technique and injuries. Some top athletes seek out his advice, but also “weekend warriors” like me.
He assesses my run efficiency by putting 20 reflective markers on my lower body to measure joint angles. I’ve got 9 infrared 3D cameras watching my every move – and my form (or lack of it).

AUT Millennium pic 2

I run at different speeds on a treadmill which measures the force, and angle, at which I strike the treadmill.

Rachel running on treadmill
I then do some strength tests and he analyses all the data. The camera doesn’t lie so Kellly gets a full “picture” of my weaknesses. He tells me about things like my stride width and rate, heel whip, peak knee velocity and reveals that my gluteus medius muscles need strengthening and gives me “homework” (ie strength exercises). His technique advice is around how to optimally strike the pavement and how to position my trunk, hips and knees when I’m in motion.
It was fun being a “lab rat”. I learnt some new things about my body and what I need to do to work on running better. Information is power. Hopefully I’ll power through my next marathon. Maybe there’s a gazelle within that’s screaming to get out ha ha ha!

Meanwhile, the AUT Millennium is a very cool place. It has incredible gym and pool facilities, does some exciting research and attracts some big name athletes. While I was there I spied champion shot putter Valerie Adams pumping iron. So if you go to the gym here you can say “I work out with Valerie Adams!!” Well, you won’t quite be “training buddies”, but you do get to see her in the flesh and she’s a pretty super mighty fine cool Kiwi. A Kiwi hero.

Upstairs, is the research testing area where it’s clinically-clean (and hospital-like with all the white). There are lots of weird testing machines. There’s one room (Environmental Chamber) where athletes can practice training in hot or freezing temperatures (acclimation for overseas events). There are stationary bikes, enormous treadmills (Endurance Performance Clinic) and some weights (Strength and Conditioning Clinic). They also can do exercise testing for people at risk or living with medical conditions (Human Potential Clinic) and body composition testing (Body Composition Clinic).
Another test is lactate testing (where pin-pricks of blood are taken to measure lactic acid in the blood) as a predictor of endurance performance in events like cycling, rowing, running and triathlon style events. Plus there’s an anaerobic peak power test (a sprint test) on measuring anaerobic ability.
There’s a VO2max test too, which can reveal aerobic fitness and performance potential (or not). In other words, your ability to utilise oxygen.  For this, you run on a treadmill, while attached to a mask (which measures the volume and composition of the air breathed out) and also a heart-rate monitor.

I’ve tried this in the past. I was asked to run at progressively increasing speeds until exhaustion (think: rat on a wheel). During this, a bloke asked when I found the test fine, hard, very hard, and when I needed to stop (or I might pass out).

Through doing this I pinpointed my best training zones i.e. how fast I can run comfortably and approximate indicators of what my heart-rate should be doing during different types of training drills like interval training to endurance runs. So it’s a science-based guide to follow.

With this information, you can better tailor a training programme to suit you best.

So is this worth it? I reckon sports-mad folk will love getting science-based data to improve their performance. I want to do the lactate testing next time here – for even more accurate results. And I’m keen to try a deep water running session with Kiri Price. This is a full-body workout, I hear. It’s biomechanically the closest cross-training method to actual running (without the impact on the body).

Try it: AUT Sports Performance Clinics at AUT Millennium, 17 Antares Place, Mairangi Bay, North Shore, Auckland, www.autmillennium.org.nz

Rachel is a wellbeing columnist and healthy recipe creator for Good Magazine & Juno Investing Magazine. She writes a weekly column (on health/fitness/wellbeing etc) too for the Herald group of newspapers.

She is a marathoner, yoga teacher and director of Inspired Health

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December 22, 2015

6 Essential yoga poses for runners

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By Rachel Grunwell

“I can’t do yoga”. This is what lots of people tell me.

“But anyone can do yoga”, I reply.

Many people reckon they need to be “flexible” or a circus-star to stretch. But that’s not what yoga is about. It’s about just feeling a stretch where it benefits “you”. And if you are in a class with an experienced yoga teacher then they will give different options with each yoga move. This is so you can tap into the level that best benefits your body.

I work with lots of runners (I take ‘yoga for runners’ classes in Auckland) and so I tell my yogi students that they would never expect to run a marathon overnight; So why expect to nail the first yoga class you try? We’re so hard on ourselves!

Like all things, it takes time to improve.

No matter what age or ability, anyone can tap into the benefits of this ancient practice. It’s especially useful for runners and athletes to help re-balance the body, but the mind benefits are as big as the body benefits too.

I use yoga to strengthen, stretch and tone my body for marathon running, but I also use it to calm my mind, de-stress, detox and to reach my “bliss place”.

But it wasn’t always like that. I used to wobble on every balance pose and strength work would frustrate me, while inversions would infuriate me.

But now I love it and it helps to keep my life a bit more “balanced”and fuels my happiness. So stop, drop and yoga sometime. Give it a go.

Here’s a column I had published on how to do 6 essential yoga poses for runners. Read it by clicking here.

 

* Rachel is the director of inspiredhealth.co.nz/ (which offers health, fitness, food and lifestyle inspiration). Follow Inspired Health on Instagram (@inspiredhealthandfitness) or Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/InspiredHealthNZ/)

  • If you are interested in joining one of Rachel’s yoga classes email: [email protected]
  • Pic  taken by Rebecca Grunwell
December 2, 2015

NZ’s Best Milkshake Competition

smoothie bowl

Pictured: Rachel Grunwell, left, and Niki Bezzant, right, with their ‘choc berry smoothie bowl’.

By Rachel Grunwell

The hunt is on for New Zealand’s Best Milkshake.

The competition was officially launched this week by Anchor and they’re encouraging cafes, petrol stations, dairies and food-stores to enter their best blend!

Judge Nici Wickes will tour the country in March to taste the top four voted milkshakes. She’s looking for great texture, uniqueness, aesthetic appeal, and, of course, a delicious taste. I wonder who will be the cream of the crop? 

To launch the competition, I was among a dozen media, sports and TV personalities invited to Tom Tom Bar and Eatery in Auckland to create our own unique blends.

I teamed up with Niki Bezzant, from the Healthy Food Guide, and we did a “healthy twist” on a “milkshake”. We created a Choc and Raspberry Smoothie Bowl. These were really trendy in hip cafes I visited in Hawaii and Sydney this year (I was in these countries for wellbeing feature writing assignments).

I love the smoothie we created because it looks good, tastes great, but ultimately it’s full of nutrient-rich ingredients.

Here’s the recipe: Put 1 Cup Strawberries, 1/2 Cup Anchor Milk, 1 Frozen Banana into a blender for the “pink” half of the bowl.

For the chocolate side, blend 1 Frozen Banana, Half an Avocado, 1/2 Cup of Anchor Milk, 1 Tablespoon of Cacao Powder, a Drizzle of Maple Syrup. Blend these ingredients. To look all fancy-pants, I topped the smoothie with cacao nibs, strawberries and edible flowers.

* Rachel Grunwell is the director of inspiredhealth.co.nz/ (which boasts fitness & events directories & lifestyle inspiration). She’s also a wellbeing columnist for Good Magazine 

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November 25, 2015

ecostore Christmas party with a difference

 

Christmas Party           20151123_195856

 

By Rachel Grunwell

Wellbeing columnist

This Christmas party was a tad different!

No focus on guests getting blind-drunk, but rather “blind”. But just for several minutes – and for an inspired reason.

And yes, I am blind-folded in the picture beside Malcolm Rands – the legendary Kiwi entrepreneur, who along with wife Melanie, created the pioneering global brand ecostore – an award-winning company that makes household and beauty products containing “no nasties”.

The pic was taken at the ecostore Christmas party at which yoga teacher Nikki Ralston guided a roomful of guests, under blindfold, on a mindfulness exercise. She asked us to tap into our “heightened senses”.

Taking away one sense (sight), heightened our hearing to listen to Ralston’s message: to have more gratitude and notice more in life. She wanted us to notice more, and “be more” to others.

It was a time to be mindful for that moment right then, but importantly for “all” the moments going forwards. It’s important for our wellbeing to be mindful of how we live and how we are to others.

I guess being mindful was an apt theme too. Rands is extremely mindful in business and cares about the wellbeing of New Zealanders. All ecostore products are plant and mineral based and are safe to use.

Meanwhile, the event did end with a lovely dinner with wine (or fresh organic beetroot/or green juice).

Ultimately, instead of guests getting a hangover for this “do”. We instead left with our eyes wide open on being more mindful on how we live and how we are to others. It’s a great Christmas message…

Visit the ecostore website! (http://www.ecostore.co.nz/)

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November 16, 2015

Carrot Cake with Cashew Cream Icing

carrot cake + Chelsea Raw Sugar

Here’s my Carrot Cake with Cashew Cream Icing !

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By Rachel Grunwell

Here’s a recipe for Carrot Cake with Cashew Cream Icing that I created, which tastes really good.

Ingredients:
1.5 Cups of Brown Rice Flour
½ Cup of Coconut Flour
½ Cup of Potato Flour
2 Tablespoons of Ground Chia 
2 Teaspoons of Baking Soda
3 Teaspoons of Ground Cinnamon
Pinch of salt
4 Eggs
1 Cup of Raw Sugar
½ Cup of Olive Oil
1 Teaspoon of Vanilla
5 Grated Carrots (peeled and grated)
½ Cup of Raw Walnuts (chopped)
1 Cup “Sour Milk” (mix 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to 1 cup of milk)

Instructions:
Turn oven to 180-degrees. Put baking paper in a baking tin and spray this with cooking oil. Sift the flours, ground chia, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, olive oil, vanilla, carrots and sour milk. Next, combine both bowls of ingredients together and then add the walnuts. Place the mixture in the baking tin and bake for 45-minutes at 180-degrees (or a bit longer if you use a deep baking tin).
Cool on a wire rack and then ice. I used cashew cream icing.
To make the Cashew Cream Icing I just put 1 Cup of raw cashews in a bowl of filtered water for about four hours to soften. I then rinsed them and put the cashews in a blender with just a little fresh filtered water and blitzed them until smooth. I put the cashew “cream” in the fridge to thicken up and then put it into a piping bag (with a swirl tube on the end) and piped this onto the cake (but you could just spread it with a knife more quickly if you wish). I topped with edible flowers and served this up to the chief taste-testers – my kids. Oh and the bloke loved this cake too.

Give this recipe a go!!! It’s delicious and has just the right amount of sweetness. If you make it then please let me know what you think! Eve better send me a pic of your masterpiece so I can go ooooh and ahhhh and we can talk carrot cake!

November 9, 2015

Top Tips for Glowing & Gorgeous Skin

skin "food"

WIN Dr.Hauschka Skin Care, New Zealand 100% natural skincare including:

* 3x Rose Day Cream 30ml & Facial Toner 30ml packs worth $54 each.
* & 2x Hydrating Hands packs (which includes Hydrating Handcream 50ml & 2x 10ml Travel size Handcream which retail each for $39)

To go into the draw to win a pack, just enter via our Inspired Health FaceBook page 

 

By Rachel Grunwell

Beauty is an inside job. What you eat, drink and feel affects how your skin shines. A simple thing too like smiling can truly make you “sparkle”; Frown-lines, of course, age you.

To have glowing skin you should try and sleep well, drink 2L of water daily, quit smoking, avoid getting sunburnt and stay away from environmental toxins.

As a qualified yoga teacher, I, of course, will recommend something like this style of exercise! It’s great for stretching and re-balancing the body and mind. It releases tension, and is also wonderful for the soul. Meditation too can help with “letting go” of toxic thoughts and ease a busy mind. It can truly relieve stress and worrying from the face!

Eating “real food” is crucial. The stuff that grows in the ground, on trees, and some quality sources of meat (unless you are vegetarian).

Eat foods like blueberries (a rich source of antioxidants), almonds (for Vitamin E) and avocados (which boast good fats and hydrate the skin).

Vitamin C-rich foods help too (like pomegranates and kiwifruit). Vitamin C increases collagen production, which can help plump up your skin.

Eat foods like fresh oily fish which helps “moisturise” the skin (those wonderful Omega-3s). My favourite oily fish is salmon and I love to order eggs Benedict for breakfast on the weekends. You can source Omega-3 too from the likes of walnuts, which are also a favourite and healthy snack of mine. They’re so portable and great for kids’ lunch-boxes.

I also highly recommend you to care about what you put on the “outside” of skin too. So don’t use products containing “nasties”. That’s why I love Dr. Hauschka’s 100% natural products. I also love how these products smell and feel when they soak into my skin. This beauty range uses medicinal plant extracts and it’s like there’s a garden of blooms bursting out of each beauty product. It’s heavenly.

What I’m loving using right now on my skin is Dr. Hauschka’s Quince Day Cream (which is in the above picture). It’s a light, not oily, and refreshing daily moisturiser.

With quince seed extract, jojoba, apricot and avocado oils, it’s a tool to firm skin. When I apply it, the smell from the tube also makes me smile.

The entire Dr.Hauschka range is certified by BDIH (the seal of approval for ‘certified natural cosmetics’) and NATRUE (the seal of approval for natural and organic cosmetics).

Meanwhile, I love this brand’s mission statement that your skin inherently knows what to do to look after and renew itself. Dr.Hauschka products do not take over these tasks, but just beautifully support your skin to be in balance with its own natural processes.   x x

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Rachel Grunwell is a mum, yoga teacher, runner, “wellbeing warrior” and director of NZ’s Inspired Health website (a Kiwi hub for fitness/health & lifestyle inspiration).

(Picture kindly taken by photographer Rebecca Grunwell)

  • Seeking more beauty advice? Read Rachel’s story on Detoxing. Click here. 

 

October 14, 2015

Don’t diet – detox instead, an expert says…

why detox image
By Rachel Grunwell
The “diet” word is a dirty word. I flinch at the mention of it. It conjures up the thought  of sporadic “starvation” and people being “hangry” (hungry/angry).
Short-term fixes with extreme dietary fads don’t tend to work. Rather adopting a  healthy lifestyle – everyday – is more sustainable.
So what’s the perfect formula? This is an often canvassed question and different experts often have different views.
This week I heard the recommendation to “detox” for “optimum health” from Sandra Clair who spoke in Auckland. She’s a Dunedin-based, but Swiss trained, medical herbalist and medical anthropologist who is completing a PhD in health science at the University of Canterbury. She foundered Artemis, a plant medicine company.
She doesn’t mean detox as popping pills or having meal replacements that promise unrealistic results. What she means by a detox is supporting our main cleansing organs, the liver and the kidneys, by making good health choices.
The liver and kidneys flush out all metabolic wastes that occur when digesting foods/drinks and alcohol. So what’s the best way to support these organs?
Here are some tips:
      1. Don’t collect toxins in the first place.
      2. Buy organic where possible.
      3. Buy cleaning and personal care products with no “nasties”.
      4. Eat fresh healthy foods and consume healthy drinks – and avoid fast food.
      5. Quit smoking.
      6. Avoid heavy metals, pesticides, herbicides, environmental oestrogen, volatile organic solvents and radiation… 
Lastly, just some signs you may need a detox include: Sluggishness, difficulty sleeping or getting out of bed, irritability, nausea and skin impurities…
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