Caffeine Comedowns!

A Story By Ellen Fromm

At boarding school we did this thing called 7/11. It’s where you put 7 teaspoons of instant coffee and 11 teaspoons of white sugar in a mug with a splash of milk. While the thought of that now makes my liver cringe, it’s how we stayed up all night cramming for exams. By 16, coffee was life. My poor developing brain would get headaches without it. Then I moved to Melbourne, the coffee capital of Australia. No more 7/11’s, but hello cold brews and hot baristas. Coffee was my petrol. I couldn’t start my brain without it. Second gear was impossible without a second coffee. Perhaps you can relate?

My name is Ellen and I’m a caffeine addict. 

Or I was. I’m currently 2 months sober after trying to quit for the last six years.  

How?! More importantly, why? Well, I’ve done my best to explain everything I’ve learnt by distilling it into a single shot for you. Hopefully in a way that might make you think twice about your next coffee. 

Ok, let’s jump in my time machine for a minute and go back to 2014. Back to a time before Trump ruined everything and we were all dancing around to “Happy” by Pharrell... Oh how ironic. Anyway, it’s my first year of full time work, complete with an inhouse coffee machine and a barista who’d ensure we were gassed up every morning. Now, I didn’t know this yet, but my poor adrenal glands wouldn’t stand a chance against advertising. I was burnt out before I even started and hit whatever is below rock bottom soon after my introduction by fire. To get through, I turned to old mate caffeine. Coffee fuelled my creativity. But it was also fuelling my anxiety, my gut problems, my hormonal imbalances and my insomnia. 

And I had no idea. 

The next few years were just patterns repeating. Well, that’s not entirely true. After finding out I had chronically low iron, I started taking my health more seriously. I saw a string of expensive specialists. Each diagnosed me with something new - PCOS, adrenal fatigue, leaky gut and so on - but no one could really give me a clear answer about my health. I was 22 and felt like I was 102. Slowly, I improved my diet, upped my exercise, got control of my sleep. Things got better, but mostly they stayed the same. Looking back, it was probably (most definitely) because I was still consuming three flat whites a day and was stressed out of my mind. 

Stress, coffee, exhaustion, coffee, stress, exhaustion, coffee, stress, coffee. Maybe you’re familiar with this cycle? My adrenal glands are very familiar with it. See our adrenals kindly look after our stress hormones; adrenaline and cortisol. Which is great, if you’re in trouble… Like if you’re running away from a bear, the adrenals kick in to get you out of there. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’ve never met a bear. My body thinks I have though. Turns out the body can’t tell the difference between types of stress. So running late for a meeting or receiving a shitty email sends your brain the same signal as BEAR! Coffee also sends your brain these signals. That’s why you feel so ready to take on the world after your morning brew. Coffee keeps you up, alert and ready for danger. Thing is, you can’t keep this level of “upness” up. 

I’ve known this for a while now. I knew caffeine wasn’t good for me. I knew it was making my underlying health issues worse. BUT IT TASTES SOOOO GOOD. It’s a lovely treat. It’s a part of the day that’s just for me. No way could I function without it! Anyway, I tried giving it up. Guys trust me, I tried. About three times I gave up coffee for 6 month stints. The first week of each time, I wanted to chop my head off. But after that, it was honestly ok. Boring, but ok. Anyway as you’ve probably guessed, coffee crept back in. Usually in parallel with life busyness and work deadlines. Hurtling me hard and fast back into my addiction. 

With the arrogance of hindsight, I can now see that my reasons for giving up coffee were never quite as strong as my double shot flat whites. I also had no faith that I could actually quit and continue as a high functioning corporate woman. Well guys, you can and here’s a tip… If you’re serious about giving up caffeine, find your true, deep motivation. For me, the straw that broke the coffee’s back was that I was just sooo over health issues ruling my life. No matter how “clean” my diet was or how much wellness I consumed, I was still burnt out. My gut was still a complete mess. And I was broke from all of the above. I was at the end of my tether. 

So at the end of last year, I gave up coffee for good. And I was oh so proud of myself. Completely chuffed. Sure, it was a good achievement, but I hadn’t really given up anything… Jump forward to our recent lockdowns where I was having about seven English Breakfast teas a day. Work was more stressful than ever, well gosh, the whole world was more overwhelming than ever. Anyway I realised that I wasn’t getting out of bed unless I went straight to the kettle. I’d get jittery when it was time for the next cup. And again I was getting headaches when I went without. See, only when I started buying my own tea bags, did I realise just how much I was consuming. Eeeeek.

I innately knew caffeine was bad for me, which hadn’t changed anything before, but finally something clicked. I was frustrated at my health. I had nothing to lose. So I went cold tea turkey. I’m going to be honest. It was the worst two weeks of my life. Or my brain told me it was. Man, caffeine is one of the strongest drugs. Detoxing was exhausting. Like new levels of tired and depressed. But from everything I’d learnt, I knew this was a good thing. 

And it was. At the end of that first fortnight, I woke up before my alarm. I didn’t need to snooze. I was ready to get up. I don’t remember ever having that feeling before. I went to the gym and had a great workout. And walking home, I had this overwhelming feeling that I was finally producing my own energy. There were no artificial uppers. I felt happy, and it was all me. That might sound weird, but I don’t know how else to describe it. I could feel parts of my body working that I hadn’t felt before. It was weirdly empowering. 

Now two months-ish on, and no part of me craves coffee or tea anymore. My head feels clearer and more spacious. It’s like the part of my brain that was constantly thinking about coffee has stopped screaming and I have more space to think. Which is nice. 

I’m calmer, more tolerant and have more capacity for the stuff that inevitably goes wrong. And the most exciting part, I have more energy. Real energy! Not caffeine infused, crash and burn energy. 

Giving up coffee hasn’t solved all my problems. I don’t want this to sound like a bad infomercial. But I feel like removing caffeine has been a huge step in allowing my body to heal and repair. And I’m pretty excited to see what happens next. 

One last thing, I feel like it’s important to acknowledge that the world is addicted to coffee. And that this addiction has been normalised by marketing and our competitive busyness. But coffee isn’t essential. You do function without it. Actually, you function surprisingly better without it… So if you’re contemplating your own break up with caffeine, just give it a go. It might take a while, but it will be worth it in the end. 

Resources for Healthy Recipes

The birth of the internet has changed our capacity to access information - and when it comes to incredible ideas for how to eat healthy - there are no longer any excuses.

The following is a list of my go to websites, for yummy, EASY and healthy recipes.

Green Kitchen Stories

Luise and David from Green Kitchen Stories hail from Stockholm Sweden. Their blog contains beautiful vegetarian recipes that are mouth wateringly delicious. They also have three small children, and therefore lots of tips about how to feed smalls healthy meals. You can also download their app from the app store.

My New Roots

Sarah from My New Roots is a force when it comes to recipe creation. Originator of the famous “Life-Changing Loaf”, every recipe of hers is a winner. Sarah is a holistic nutritionist, so all the recipes are vegetarian, whole food and anti-inflammatory. i also really like her food philosophy - no rules and no rigidity! Eat food food for pleasure and to vitalise your body!

JHS Health

Jessica Sepel is an Australian health blogger, who through her own journey with poor health and an eating disorder, is now a poster child for whole foods and clean eating. She has several cookbooks and an app you can subscribe to, which provides you with an overwhelming array of delicious balanced meals.

The Healthy Chef - Teresa Cutter

Teresa is an amazing chef, who has had her own progression with food and ways of eating over the last 20 years. These days she is more focused on plant based nutrition, but her earlier cookbooks also contain meat recipes. Her banana bread recipe which I’ve included in the Gut Health App is to die for!!! Like the other resources, Teresa has an app, as well as a heap of eBooks which you can download to Kindle - amazing!

The Importance of Salt

Most of us have been taught that salt is something to be avoided at all costs. A lot of salt’s bad rap has come from what it’s commonly sprinkled on - deep fried foods. Salt plays an important role in the body. So, which one do you buy? The salt section of the supermarket is overwhelming. Natural, sea, Himalayan, table? Urgh! Sit tight, we’re here to set the salty story straight.

Why is salt so important?

All of our body fluids are naturally salty. The amniotic fluid, that our cells were bathed in from the very beginning is saline. Blood is saline. Sweat and tear, salt central. So it makes sense that the human body demands that the salt concentration of your blood is kept constant.

Salt also allows us to digest our food - playing an important part of the creation of stomach acid. It is vital for proper muscle and nerve function. Basically salt is essential to help every cell in our body function. It is essential we provide our body with salt, in the right form, to allow it to thrive.

Iodine, salt’s partner in crime.  

In New Zealand our soils are very low in iodine. This is problematic because low iodine consumption can cause issues with thyroid function - the thyroid controls a whole bunch of hormones you do not want to mess with!

For this reason, we’re very keen on Malcolm Harker Sea Salt with Kelp.

This product is a combo of NZ and Celtic Sea Salt - air dried and naturally processed and enriched with NZ deep water sea kelp, an incredible source of iodine as well as trace minerals. Kelp and seaweed are the best sources of organic iodine. Fun fact, countries who consume a lot of seaweed in their diet, like Japan, report very low levels of thyroid dysfunction. Which means the best way to look after your iodine levels is with bit of seaweed everyday. If seaweed isn’t for you, the Malcolm Harker Sea Salt is a no brainer.

So, how do other salts wash up?

Natural, hand harvested sea salt:

Natural, hand harvested sea salts are produced from the evaporation of seawater, and have been used for centuries to augment health. Naturally, this process is facilitated by the sun, without artificial or industrial processing. When harvested properly, natural sea salt is light grey in colour and slightly moist, containing up to 84 essential minerals that are found in the ocean. Many sea salts contain magnesium, iron, manganese, zinc, iodine and potassium, all essential nutrients for good body function.

So, when you sprinkle natural, hand harvested sea salt on your food you are not only augmenting the taste and digestibility of the food, but you’re basically taking a multimineral supplement at the same time!

Himalayan Pink Salt:

This sea salt is mined in Pakistan, in the foothills of the Himalayas, from what is thought to be a dried up, ancient primordial sea. It is not heated or chemically processed, and is thought to be very high in trace minerals, similar to Celtic Sea Salt. Because it is so old, and has undergone huge pressure during the millions of years it has been forming, Himalayan Pink Salt is thought to be very pure.  

The only issue is that it doesn’t contain adequate iodine levels, so if you are using this as your predominant salt, you’ll need to supplement your iodine, preferably with seaweeds and kelps.

Table salt:

Table salt deserves its poor reputation. These types of salts have been mined from underground salt deposits and are so highly refined that the only ingredients left are sodium chloride. All of the trace minerals are stripped away, before anti-caking agents, bleaches and aluminium derivatives are added to make it flow freely from the container.

Finally, inorganic iodine is added, which is challenging for the body to process. All of this makes for a product that is quite toxic.

Please beware of large crystal table salts, masquerading as sea salt. Read the label carefully and look for the grey colour and moisture of natural, hand harvested sea salts. Don’t be fooled by sneaky marketing…  

Our Collective Addiction

Coffee. Our morning ritual. Our 9 to 5 fuel. Our sleep-less saviour. Our collective addiction. Our gut destroyer? No, no! How could there be anything wrong with something we have every morning, I hear you ask? 

Well, to understand the detrimental effects of coffee, you have to understand its impact on your nervous system. As you know, the main active ingredient in coffee is caffeine. And we all know too much caffeine is bad, but do we really know why? Keep reading friends. Caffeine creates its “rush of awakeness” by stimulating your adrenal glands to produce adrenalin and cortisol. These hormones are our stress hormones. They are normally produced when your body needs a kick into action to get you out of danger. 

As part of our “danger response”, both adrenalin and cortisol send blood and nutrient flow to our brains, so we have a clear mind. They also send blood to our muscles and our heart so we can run away if we need to. Basically the body is on high alert, ready to respond in the blink of an eye. Which is all well and good if you have a coffee and then need to outrun a mountain lion. But 99.99% of us have a coffee and then sit down to do some emails in a wildcat free office. 

So as you’re sitting there typing, your caffeinated body is channelling energy to your brain, heart and muscles and away from your resting organs. And as a result, your immune and digestive systems are getting ignored on the daily. All it takes is a simple cup of coffee to inhibit your body’s repair and maintenance functions. And when we try to eat in this state of “panic and danger”, well, there’s no blood or nutrient flow to the gut, and so our digestive function operates at approximately 50% of its capacity. Not ideal.  That’s when sore tummies become the norm, and bloating and gas become our least favourite friends.

The gut needs to be fully firing to produce enough acid in the stomach, bile in the liver and digestive enzymes in the pancreas. Only then, do we have the components necessary to digest our food properly. We also need blood flowing to the lining of our digestive system so we can properly absorb nutrients from our food and ensure we’re getting all the goodness out of that very green, green smoothie. 

So, when we put our bodies into a state of stress, from a coffee or a mountain lion, the body decides that digestion is not an essential, and directs your energy elsewhere. But what happens when we put our bodies in this state of stress for long periods of time - like a twice a day flat white addiction? Well, this poses problems for the health of our digestive system and over time this equals gut dysbiosis (an imbalance in the microbes that inhabit your digestive system) and intestinal permeability (when the cells that line your gut no longer function optimally).

Unfortunately, even just one coffee in the morning is a problem for your nervous system and gut, especially if you tend towards being anxious. 

Eeek. So, the next question people always ask is: Is decaf a better option?  

By all means use decaf coffee as a way of getting off the hard stuff, but only as an interim measure. See, there are other properties in coffee (not just the caffeine) that are irritating to the lining of the gut, which is why your morning coffee will often stimulate your bowels to move. This may seem like a good thing, but in the long term it stops your body understanding how to pass a bowel motion without stimulation. Coffee is also heating and drying to the digestive tract and the body as a whole. It acts as a diuretic, meaning it stimulates the kidneys to pass more fluid than they would otherwise normally do, which can leave you dehydrated at the cellular level. So best to wean yourself off completely, if you’re looking for some gut love. 

Don’t just go running into the warm arms of milky tea!  If you’re an obsessive black tea or green tea drinker, rest assured you are still addicted to the caffeine rush. You should also look to reduce your tea intake as a way to help nourish your tummy and increase your uptake of nutrients.  Black tea contains tannins that interfere with your absorption of iron in particular. However, herbal teas like ginger, peppermint, chamomile and licorice are good gut buddies! 

So it turns out your daily wake up boost is not so friendly and innocent. And while this might not be the best news you’ve ever heard, if you’re serious about changing your gut health, it’s a really good idea to knock your coffee habit on its head for a period of time. Do an experiment. See how your body functions without this stimulant in your life. Watch to see if your gut is happier because of it. Maybe you’ll prove me wrong, and your body truly thrives from its daily fix. But at least give your body a break for a period of time, so you can optimise the flow of blood and nutrients to your gut, and really help to heal your digestive system. Good luck!

How To Meal Prep Without Hating It!

The nature of my personality is that of a rebel. Tell me to go up, rest assured I’ll go down. Not because I don’t like you or trust your opinion, but because something deep inside me rebels against doing the things I know I should do. A perfect example of this is meal planning. It screams rigidity, routine, boredom and lack of spontaneity. Yawn. But, in my experience, it’s undeniable that those people who manage to consistently eat well, are those who consistently plan their meals. Keep reading rebels.

Our health results from what we do 80% of the time. Health takes consistency. But that doesn’t mean you have to say goodbye to spontaneity, fun and fabulousness. Oh no. Our focus is to help you create food rituals, so you start making subconscious healthy decisions 80% of the time. Leaving heaps of space for guilt-free enjoyment at your favourite Italian restaurant.

But before you line up your tupperware for that Instagram #mealprep shot, planning what you eat is easier than you think. Humans are creatures of habit. Most us eat five main evening meals on a revolving basis - our quick, easy weeknight go-to’s. Which means we’re already buying roughly the same things from the supermarket each week. Take a moment to think about what those meals actually are. Are they super tasty, nutrient dense, anti-inflammatory and a breeze to prepare? Sound too good to be true?

Well people, this is my definition of meal planning. Simple swaps and minimal effort recipes that set you up to succeed. And I’m here to make it as pain-free as possible.

• Be conscious of how often you want to be eating meat, fish or vegetarian. With this in mind, choose five of your favourite dinner recipes from this program.

• List out the ingredients in these recipes. Which items can you buy in bulk, so they are always in the pantry?  

• Store extra meat and fish in the freezer, if that works for you.

• Once your kitchen is stocked, your weekly shop will predominantly be fresh ingredients.

• Trust your intuition when cooking. Choose vegetables that are in season. Make alterations that work for you.

• Then make these same recipes every week for about a month. In this time, you’ll become so familiar with them that it will no longer require any brain power for you to whip them up at a moment’s notice.

• Make double portions so that you have a healthy lunch. Two healthy meals sorted without much thought at all!

• Then aim to have two to three seasonally appropriate breakfast options to choose from. Eggs are easy all year round, smoothies or chia puddings are great for summer and porridge is a no-brainer for winter.

By removing the rigidity and taking the fuss out of cooking, you’ll be nourishing your body at every meal. With no extra thought, time or cost. It’s meal planning made easy. Good luck!

Stocking The Pantry

A key part of consistently eating well is being prepared. And that starts with having a well-stocked pantry, full of all the things you need to be able to whip up healthy, yummy meals easily. Keep reading! I promised this is easier and more affordable than you’re currently thinking! I’ve broken down my list of pantry staples below and will share with you all my tips and tricks. 

So, the easiest way to get started is to do a big initial shop for all of your dried and non-perishable goods. These will become your pantry staples. Then your weekly shop will largely just be fresh fruit and veges, meat and fish.  

Quick tip: I always shop for my non-perishable goods at a bulk foods discount store, which I visit approximately once per month. That way I’m getting the best bang for my buck, especially when choosing organic ingredients. Make sure you choose a supplier that has a high turnover of goods, otherwise you can pay a lot of money for things that are rancid or at least on their way out.

Ok, now back to what to buy. I fear this list is going to seem overwhelming, which is not my intention. You don’t have to get all of this in one super shop! Start with one item in every category, and increase gradually. Explore different recipes and food groups to build up your supplies. 

MY PANTRY STAPLES:

Nuts and seeds: You’ll always find a stash of raw almonds and raw sunflower seeds at my place. Then, I also stock a loose combo of the following: walnuts, brazil nuts, cashews and pumpkin seeds. Macadamias (purchased at my local market) barely last long enough to make it home, and so don’t ever get stocked in the pantry... I also have this problem with nut butters, but if you have self control, it’s often helpful to have a good quality peanut butter or almond butter in the pantry. I also keep chia seeds and flaxseeds on hand to add to smoothies and make chia pudding. 

Sweeteners: I usually have honey and a proper maple syrup. At times, I also stock coconut sugar for making warm drinks.

Spices: Make your own decisions here, as I am obsessed! I cannot live without cinnamon, cumin and my own blend of chilli and paprika goodness (to add to stir-fry veggies = yum). I encourage you to learn to use spices more frequently. They’re incredible for your digestion and your cellular health, they make food taste rock star and aren’t as complicated as they seem. In sweet dishes or smoothies consider experimenting with ginger, nutmeg and real vanilla essence. In savoury dishes play with smoked paprika, cumin seeds, tumeric and bay leaves. But this is just the beginning!!!

Nut milks: I always have tinned coconut cream and milk, UHT unsweetened almond milk and UHT coconut water (for smoothies). I’ll also buy fresh almond milk when I’m using it regularly - it makes everything taste incredible, but is not cheap!

Dry goods: Rolled oats, chia seeds, rice flour, brown rice, quinoa are the staples.  Followed by popping corn and rice flour so I always have a gluten free flour on hand. Then I also keep lentils and chickpeas to throw into stews and salads. 

Olis: I always choose extra virgin oils, as they are as whole and unprocessed as it gets. Extra virgin coconut oil and extra virgin olive oil are musts. You can also use hemp oil and flax oil if you’re looking for variations to add to salads.

Packet foods: I always have bean pastas on hand for a super quick, protein rich meal. Check out both the Eco-Organics and Explore brands. My favourite is the black bean pastas because the protein content is super high, but I also like the edamame versions. At times I also have rice noodles or soba noodles (made from 100% buckwheat flour, which is gluten free) on hand for a quick meal.

Vinegars: Apple cider vinegar (which gets a hammering when lemons are out of season) and red wine vinegar are go-tos. As well as balsamic vinegar, and also dijon mustard.

Salt: Choose Himalayan pink salt or Malcolm Harker Sea Salt and Kelp.

I hope you have enjoyed the tour of my pantry! Remember, you don’t have to get all of this today. Start with the ingredients that resonate with you, and add more as you work through our recipes. The most important thing here is that your pantry is stocked with as many healthy, whole-foods as possible. Foods you love that will make preparing meals as simple as possible. Good luck!

A Guide To Inflammation

It’s important to follow an anti-inflammatory diet. Cool. But why? What even is inflammation? And why does it matter in regards to gut health?

We’ll make this as simple as we can. If your cells are operating in an inflammatory state they’re red, hot, irritated and clogged. In this state, your cells can’t process fuel properly. They can’t eliminate toxins from your body and their ability to operate optimally is seriously inhibited.  

Ok. How does one become inflamed? Eating poorly, stress, an overactive immune system and liver and kidneys that don’t want to play ball, all contribute to chronic inflammation in the body. Fatigue is the most common symptom of chronic inflammation. But there’s also joint and back pain, inflammatory skin conditions, fluid retention and irritability. Fun… Most of the time, we’re too busy to notice that this is going on, until our body throws symptoms that we can’t ignore. Then we need to sit up and take notice.  

Got it. So, what can we do to keep inflammation low? The biggest contributor to chronic inflammation in the body is the health of your gut. Get your gut right, and pretty much everything else flows with ease. This is why it’s sooo important to eat well, and put effort into healing your gut.

Thankfully, we can work to control inflammation through our diet. Gluten, dairy and sugar are the most inflammatory foods. No surprise there, right? We recommend keeping those food groups as low as possible, particularly your sugar intake. Here’s what that looks like:  

• Leave cakes, biscuits, ice creams and soft drinks alone as much as possible.

• Switch to a gluten free bread. Our favourites include the Venerdi Six Seed loaf or the Gluten Freedom Broken Black Rice and Polenta Sourdough.

• Substitute pasta for gluten free options or whole grains like brown rice and quinoa.

• Avoid dairy altogether. Simple swaps include using olive oil rather than butter, nut milks rather than cow’s milk, look for coconut yoghurt rather than normal yoghurt and leave out cheese during this period. 

• Cook as much as possible from our recipe section - all the recipes are gluten, dairy and sugar free!

And now to what you can eat! There aren’t any surprises when it comes to the most anti-inflammatory foods either. Fresh fruit and veges are the business! Include a serving at every meal and focus on veges more than fruit. Include both raw and cooked varieties. Basically try to cram your plate with vegetables at every meal - it’s the ultimate recipe for minimising inflammation in your body.

Mindful Nutrition - My Food Philosophy

If you Google what to eat when your gut is bad, you’ll get back a list of “no’s”. No onions, no creamy pasta, no red meat, no fun.

I take a different approach. I prefer to encourage people to become very mindful of what and how they are eating. So rather than feeling restricted and deprived, we learn to nourish ourselves with delicious, nutrient dense food. We listen to the natural flow of the appetite. Your body is smarter than a scientist when it comes to what YOU should eat, provided you are listening to the actual needs of your body and not the cravings of your mind.  

I also avoid a quantitative approach to food. A quantitative approach to nutrition means that every meal becomes tainted with anxiety as we wonder whether we have surpassed the imaginary calorie in-take, that some imaginary scientist has decided for us. See, if you are counting and recording every crumb you put in your mouth, on some level, you are completely distrustful of your body’s capacity to self-regulate. This behaviour quickly becomes seriously unhealthy and makes you fat and stressed, before you even sit down to eat! You may have just laughed or scoffed, but take a moment to think about your approach to food. Do you avoid certain ingredients because of their high calorie index? Or do you order dessert and then feel guiltier and guiltier with every mouthful?

Unfortunately, irrational thoughts such as this are commonplace. Such thoughts cause our body to produce adrenaline and cortisol, our stress hormones. These hormones send blood and nutrients to our brain, to our heart and muscles, and away from our digestive system, drastically reducing our body’s capacity to digest our food. So, in effect, you’re eating in fight or flight mode.

I often used to wonder how Italians could eat so much food, foods with such a high calorie intake too, at every meal. When I started to understand how our nervous system influences our digestion, it all began to make sense. Italians take 2 hours to eat a meal. They savour every mouthful, convinced that it is the very best possible meal they could be having in this moment. The concept of counting calories is completely foreign to their culture, instead they are steadfast in their commitment to sharing beautiful food with their friends and families at every opportunity. And therefore their metabolism and their gut responds positively to pasta.

What we think about while we eat is so important. When we sprinkle fear onto our fettuccine, we make food the enemy. Our digestive system and metabolism responds negatively, and we can get ourselves stuck in a loop of deprivation. The frustrating part is that this fear often comes from an attempt to be “healthy”. Or the healthy described to us in health magazines and by social media influencers.

Deprivation and control are never hallmarks of good health. Again so you remember, deprivation and control suck! Opt for mindfulness and awareness. Mindfully choose the foods that you know allow your body to shine. Eat with awareness, eat like an Italian - slowly, pausing between mouthfuls, enjoy every bite! Genuinely connecting to your body’s sense of satiation makes the need to count calories completely redundant.

Pause your cynicism for a moment. I appreciate “mindful eating” sounds a bit on trend, but it works. It will take time to switch your mindset, so start by simply viewing every meal as an opportunity to nourish yourself with food that is clean and easy to digest, full of anti-inflammatories and nutrients that create bountiful health!

The Not So Sweet Stuff...

Sugar has been the nutritional topic on everyone’s lips for the last couple of years. So, is it as evil as we’ve been lead to believe?

Short answer - yes. 

I’m not a fan of highly restrictive diets as a general rule for the majority of people, but I recommend that everyone focuses on keeping their sugar intake seriously low. Especially during this gut health program. 

Here’s why.

Gut Health - sugar is the ultimate fuel for all the nasty gut bacteria that seriously affect our gut health. Candida, parasites and a lot of bacteria absolutely thrive on sugar. To ensure a healthy microbe balance in the gut, we have to starve the nasties out.

Blood sugar imbalance - the regulation of insulin (the hormone that helps transport sugar into the cell) is a key driver in hormone production in our body. This leads many people to experience the uncomfortable ups and downs of blood sugar imbalance or even diabetes. Read our article on balancing your blood sugars a deeper look at this.  

Immune system - in the two hours following a processed sugar binge, our immune system sees a 50% reduction in the production of white blood cells, which help fight infection and regulate inflammation in our bodies. If you’re getting colds and flus frequently, take a serious look at your sugar intake - especially for sugars hiding in your favourite sauces or drinks. 

Nervous system -  sugar is a major stimulant to our nervous system and is known to contribute to anxiety and depression. If you’re struggling at the moment, it’s worth reducing your sugar intake substantially. 

By now you’re probably considering a sugar detox… And it’s easier to do than you may think. Start by setting a specific period of time, maybe 10 days or two weeks. Commit to no processed sugar during that time. Restrict fruits and natural sugar (honey, maple syrup, agave etc) to reasonable levels. Make an effort during this time to hydrate well and eat 3 protein-filled meals per day as well as protein-filled snacks. Most importantly, give yourself a reward at the end of the detox (not sugar!), that you’re only allowed if you stick to your guns!!! That way you’ll get two rewards, the prize and a serious improvement in your health and sense of wellbeing!

Your Hero, Vegetables...

The single most important thing you can do for your health is to eat more vegetables. Not fruit, but vegetables. It’s really that simple.  

Full of nutrients and fibre, we’ve been fed the message that we need 5+ servings a day. But I encourage you to aim for more than that. Try to make vegetables the star of the show at breakfast, lunch and dinner. I know, it seems absurd but it’s often very easy to achieve. Even at breakfast! Try eggs on toast with some spinach, mushrooms, sauerkraut or even a salad on the side. Add spinach, cucumber, carrot or beetroot to your smoothie. By making a few small adjustments that help us prioritise vegetables as the key ingredients in every meal, our health changes radically.

At the moment, there is a strong trend toward vegetarian or vegan diets. But it’s very easy to be an unhealthy vegetarian - picture lots of dairy, heavy grain based carbs and fried foods. These diets can also tend to be quite low protein. Combined, these factors are a recipe for digestive chaos and blood sugar imbalance. 

I prefer to encourage people to move towards a diet that is heavily based on fresh, vital vegetables. With some fruit, whole grains, good quality fats, meat, fish and eggs on the side. Do what feels right as far as your protein choices are concerned, but be sure to focus on fresh vegetables. Salads, soups, casseroles, steamed veggies. It doesn’t matter what form they take, the more varied the better!

If possible, try to predominantly eat seasonal fruits and veggies. Eating foods that naturally grow and ripen in the current season means that not only will those foods have the highest possible nutrient content, but they’ll also be most appropriate for the balance of your body during that season. For instance, salad greens that grow most easily in summer are most appropriate for us to eat in summer too! They are cooling and cleansing and therefore suited to our bodies when the heat from the sun balances out the cooling nature of these foods.

Eating seasonally is often more cost effective - especially when you shop from markets or if that’s not possible, shop from your local fruit and veggie shop (see our article on eating organically). Always buy from NZ suppliers. Anything that is imported is likely to have been picked before it is ripe and is usually quite old before it reaches our shops, making it’s nutrient content much less than optimal.  

So, start planning your meals with veggies as the base. It will quickly become second nature and before long, every meal you have will be packed with vegetable goodness.

Falling In Love With Leftovers

I’ve always wished to be one of those people who say “I just find cooking sooo relaxing”, but sadly I’ve not hit that point yet. For me, cooking is an exercise in maximum bang for minimum buck. Maximum nutrients, maximum taste with maximum digestibility for minimum effort.  

So to me, leftovers are a lifesaver. Prepare one meal per day, make double the portion, and have plenty of nutritious food for lunch the next day too. People seem to find lunches the hardest. Mornings are too often rushed, leaving no time to throw together a healthy sandwich or salad. Then your options for buying food in the middle of the day are often challenging - especially if you work in an area where your typical kiwi, white bread bakery is the only option available.

People, it’s time to rethink leftovers as an effortless, nutritious gift. Maybe this is an oversell, but let leftovers be your life hack. Simply start preparing dinner as though you had double the guests attending, don’t forget to double your portions of protein too. Cook the meal, and when you’re plating up, immediately serve at least one other portion into a reusable container (I prefer using glass so even if it goes in piping hot you don’t have to worry about chemicals leaching from the plastic). That way you won’t be tempted to keep eating beyond your appetite and your extra portion will be protected from greedy family members! 

The next day you’ll have an amazing lunch that simply requires reheating. To mix it up add some salad greens, a grated carrot, and any other veg you have floating around to make a quick salad. Add a little container with one of our salad dressings, and some extra nuts and seeds to make things a little more exciting. Or throw in some corn chips or gluten free bread with delicious dips, if you feel like a more substantial snack. 

Cooking meals with the intention of creating leftovers is by far the easiest way to ensure you are getting maximum nutrients, taste, and digestibility for minimum effort. 

Is Organic Worth it?

For a long time I struggled to answer this question. I already spent a fortune on food, and it felt like the added cost and inconvenience of eating organic fruits and veges was just one step too far.  

Enter Zach Bush MD, an amazing doctor from the States who developed the life-changing digestive supplement Restore. Zach specialises in gut health and soil health, exploring the connection between pesticide residue in commercially produced food and the terrible state of the microbe populations in most people’s guts. Read more here.

That was all it took. I was ready to invest in organic. Conscious of breaking the bank, I was put in touch with the organic supplier at my local Farmers’ Market. Life changing.

Picked fresh that morning, I have quite simply never come across such incredible fruit and veges. Crisp, flavoursome, seasonal and organic, creating an ever changing menu that comes at a phenomenally reasonable cost (equivalent to that of my local supermarket). If I purchased the same amount of organic produce from a local organic store, the price would be almost double for quality half as good.

Quality. Tick. Nutrients. Tick. But then there are the benefits I didn’t expect. Firstly, there is no middleman. I’m interacting with the people who actually grow the produce, so I know that they’re the ones getting the profit from their hard work. That feels good. Then there’s the fact there’s very little or no plastic on the veggies. More good feels. It’s such a different shopping experience to the supermarket.

Now for a dose of reality. I haven’t become holier than thou. Not everything that passes my lips needs to be organic. When eating out I don’t think twice about where the food has come from, but instead enjoy it with gusto.  But my market ritual has become one of the best parts of my week, so by default 70% of the time I’m eating organic. And within just a few months of eating this way, I can feel the difference in my body. A subtle lift of energy, a greater feeling of satiation after eating meals and better digestion. A welcome surprise for this organic sceptic.

So you’re convinced but with an already busy life it can be hard to find the time to get to the Farmers’ Markets. I hear you. Check out ooooby.org or bountybox.co.nz, organic vege boxes delivered fresh to your door each week. I love this cost effective way to eat organic or spray free seasonal produce, and it takes all the hassle out of shopping.

The Benefits of Eating Seasonally

When you eat seasonally, you also tend to eat locally grown food. Both factors have a huge impact on the nutrient content of food.

• Food that is picked seasonally is more likely to stay on the tree until it is ripe. That way it reaches its full nutrient potential. And that's why just-picked produce tastes so good.

• The longer the time between picking and eating, the fewer nutrients are left. Refrigeration and storage all increase the lifespan of produce, but as soon as it's harvested it begins losing its life force and nutritional value.

• Eating seasonally means the food is more likely to be grown conventionally, within the natural life cycles. It's likely to have fewer pesticides, fertilisers and sprays to make it grow. All of these chemicals decrease the nutrient value of our food and we need more vitamins and minerals to deal with them.

• Modern transport and food preserving techniques are new. Our bodies are made to eat different foods in different seasons. For instance, in summer many fruits are ripe. These are cleansing and cooling, and help us to deal with hotter temperatures. In winter many of the root vegetables are in season. These are warming and building, and help protect us from winter cold. Staying within natural life cycles makes sense to our body.

• Seasonal foods are cheaper. They're grown locally and usually in plentiful supply. It's not often that the better option is less expensive!

The Tricks:

• Buy fresh produce regularly, not just in your fortnightly shop.

• Only choose produce that is grown in NZ, or as close to home as possible.

• Choose fruits and veges that are in season. You'll know this by the greater availability of the product, its relative cost and its taste.

• Buy organically if you can. Organic foods are always seasonal as they are spray-free and are not plied with chemicals to help them survive out of season. They are easiest to find at your local farmers market. The benefit is that they will have been picked the day before and so will be much fresher than what you typically get in the supermarket, and therefore packed full of taste and nutrients.

A Gut-Loving Guide To Food

Since you’re here, you’re no stranger to the relationship your poor gut has with what you eat. It’s a complicated relationship to say the least. That’s why we’re going to strip things back and give your awesome gut a chance to heal.

Now before we get into it, I want to start with your approach to the next six weeks. Take what I recommend seriously, but don’t live or die by it. 80/20 rule guys. It’s much better to do the best you can than stress out over one sneaky coffee (fun fact, the stress is more damaging to your gut than the coffee).

And remember, we’re all going through withdrawals and cravings together, so lean on this community for support. 

Now, what to eat.

Your focus wants to be on the following:

• Copious fresh vegetables. And then more veggies!

• Eggs

• Beans and legumes. However, be aware of these if one of your issues is excess gas. Chickpeas should be completely avoided by anyone with gut problems. Yes, that includes hummus. 

• Nuts and seeds. Avoid excessive amounts of peanut and peanut butter though.

• Extra virgin oils, such as olive and coconut.

• Whole grains such as brown rice and quinoa. Enjoy oats in moderate quantities.

• Some fresh fruit - maximum of 3 servings per day

• Fish and seafood

• Some meat and chicken - organic and/or free range where possible

And then, how to eat. 

Focus on what you’re adding in. 

Rather than focusing on what we shouldn’t or “can’t” eat, focus on enjoying as many foods as possible that promote cellular repair and enhance gut integrity. Fill up on all the delicious gut-loving foods and soon forget all the things you’re giving up. 

Eat a varied diet

I’m sure you’ve heard the term, “eat the rainbow”. Well, when it comes to your gut, diversity is everything. Aim for a minimum of 10 different types of vegetables every week, particularly those that are currently in season. Doing so will fill you with a range of vitamins and minerals that will heal your gut.   

Water

Drink a minimum of 2L of water or herbal tea per day - preferably 2.5L. This is very important to start detoxifying your gut. 

Tips: The gut needs fire to fire optimally. So drink warmed water where possible, with a squeeze of lemon. Good quality herb teas are also wonderful. Now, the quality of your water can have a huge impact on the microbial balance in your gut. You may want to consider getting a very good water filter, or buying alkaline pure spring water. This has a surprisingly powerful effect on balancing gut bacteria.  

Avoid coffee, black tea, juice, all soft drinks and kombucha (yep, it’s not the party for your gut the marketing suggests).

Minimise caffeine!

If possible, and it’s totally possible, consider eliminating coffee and other caffeinated drinks completely during this 6 week program. Before you run away, it’s only six weeks! 

By all means use decaf coffee as a way of getting off the real stuff, but only as an interim measure. If you’re an obsessive tea drinker or green tea drinker, rest assured you are still addicted to the caffeine rush, and should look to reduce your intake as a way to help nourish your tummy.

Minimise Alcohol

You knew this was coming… Alcohol has a very detrimental effect on the tight junctions involved in the gut, making it increase inflammation for people with gut problems. During this program, I recommend no more than 2 glasses per week. Beware of the mixers you drink as they are often very high in sugar. Check the type of wine you drink too, as they can often contain a lot of chemical sulphites.  

Eating “clean”

Buzz word. But what does clean mean? It’s as simple as eating real foods and avoiding foods that have been processed in any way. Processed foods, including processed meats, often contain chemicals, colours, flavourings and preservatives which wreak havoc on your gut. You have to eat real to heal. 

Sugar is your greatest enemy 

By now we all know the dark side of sugar. But how does it impact the gut? Well, sugar feeds all of the microbes that you don’t want populating your digestive system. We want to starve them out and feed your good bacteria instead. 

So this is the time to avoid all sugary cakes, biscuits, ice-cream and all soft drinks. Also limit your fruit intake to no more than three serves per day, focusing on low sugar fruits such as berries and melon. 

Veggies, Veggies, Veggies

If you’re serious about improving your gut function, you have to get serious about the amount of vegetables you are eating. I’m talking vegetables at every meal, as a significant part of your plate. And we want mostly steamed or cooked vegetables, as they are more readily digestible.

• Root vegetables - kumara (different varieties), pumpkin, squash, potato (in small quantities), beetroot, carrot, parsnip - steamed, roasted or oven baked are a fantastic food group to have on a daily basis.

• Leafy greens - are the key to having cells doing a happy dance. A significant portion of these on a daily basis is one of the cornerstones to good health.  Lettuce, spinach, cabbage, rocket, sorrel, parsley, Italian parsley, mint, coriander, watercress, bok choy. You can include one raw salad with as many different greens as possible every day. Otherwise steam or saute away. 

• Non-starchy veggies - of all different colours which contain amazing phytonutrients - celery, capsicum, cucumber, tomato, fennel, eggplant, zucchini, radish, carrots, beetroot.

• Onions, leeks and garlic - are often given a bad rep when it comes to digestibility.  These foods can definitely irritate your digestion, but are a fantastic source of nutrients to heal it as well. So once we’ve reduced the inflammation, aim to include them on a regular basis.

Bread is not your friend

Not only does it contain gluten which is one of the most inflammatory food groups, behind sugar, but it also contains yeasts which help your nasty microbes to multiply like crazy. When healing the gut, cut out normal bread completely. Sourdough should also be avoided when you are trying to heal your gut. Instead opt for the Life Changing Loaf, or a good quality gluten free bread. 

Focus on protein and fats 

Protein and fats are much easier to digest for upset tummies than carbohydrates, which often feed the very bacteria in your gut that we are trying to reduce. Great protein sources include fish, meat, eggs and nuts and seeds. Great good fat sources include avocado, meat, coconut, oil and yet again, nuts and seeds. 

Warmed and cooked foods help soothe an inflamed gut

Think of your inflamed gut as a baby’s gut. We don’t feed a baby a heap of salad and raw foods. Instead we give them foods that are warm and very well cooked, because they are easy to digest. We want to strengthen your digestive enzymes rather than overwhelm them.

Fermented foods are amazing!

The most beneficial being sauerkraut and kimchi - which I recommend you eat daily.  Also coconut water kefir. I’m not fond of any forms of fermented dairy for problem tummies. The inflammatory effect of the dairy tends to cancel out the benefit of the ferment. 

So there you have it. Nope, not a meal plan in sight, just practical tips and some delicious recipes. I want you to stick to the above as best you can without it becoming overwhelming. Very soon this way of eating will become second nature. Promise.

Your Guide To Hydration

I predict that of all the people that come to see me in the clinic, particularly those experiencing digestive problems, fatigue and depression, I could solve 50% of those peoples’ problems by simply hydrating them at a cellular level.

Most of us are guilty of not drinking enough water. The standard byline is 2L per day, and most of us struggle to get to that. But is 2L actually enough? Well, one water bottle size, does not fit all. How much water you need depends on how hot it is, how much fluid you’re losing through the breath, and how much you’re sweating.  

How much you need also depends on what other fluids you’re drinking. For instance, coffee and caffeinated teas are diuretics, meaning they are beverages that stimulate your body to urinate. So for every cup of coffee you drink you need to have at least one glass of water. This is over and above your 2L daily total.  

If you’re finding it hard to keep track of your intake, the colour of your urine is probably the best indicator for whether your water intake is appropriate for your body. A very pale yellow, with not much smell, indicates that there is enough water circulating through the bloodstream. 

Hydration at a cellular level:

Unfortunately, the colour of your urine doesn’t indicate whether that water is actually reaching your cells. It’s possible to be drinking 3L of water in a day, and still be dehydrated at the cellular level. Huh? See when functioning optimally, the water we drink is absorbed through the cells of the intestinal lining and goes straight into the bloodstream. There is a very delicate balance of minerals (also known as electrolytes) in your blood, which allow water to be distributed into the cells. Often if people are low in minerals or electrolytes and they drink lots of water, it creates a very dilute concentration of electrolytes in the blood. This instantly stimulates the kidneys to create urine to rebalance the situation. This is the case for many women who drink copious amounts of water, pee all the time, and remain chronically dehydrated because the fluid that they drink is never able to be transported to the cells.  

That got a bit sciencey. Here are the most common signs and symptoms of cellular dehydration: dry skin and lips, constipation, fatigue and frequent urination.

Solution:

Sound like you? Never fear, the easiest way to solve this problem is to add electrolytes to your water (particularly if your diet is low in processed foods and you’re not so fond of salt). This means that the water will stay in the blood stream, and then have an opportunity be to transported into the cells. This will also allow water to cycle through the liver, kidneys and lymphatic system, giving the body the opportunity to move toxins out of the cells and then out of the body, either through the skin, the kidneys and bladder or the digestive system. 

My favourite brand of electrolytes are Biotrace Elite electrolyte drops, which have 72 trace minerals as well as the most important minerals for our fluid metabolism.  Make sure you choose a brand that has no flavourings in it, the taste will be somewhat salty. Add electrolytes to your water when it’s easy to do so, but definitely to your water bottle in the morning.  The dosage will be found on the back of the bottle. If you find the taste too strong, simply reduce the dose of electrolytes until it pleases your palette. Your palette is a good indicator of how many minerals you actually need. 

What is water:

Got it. Now, what qualifies as water? Nope, not that can of diet coke, the afternoon cup of black tea or that occasional cheeky juice. When I say water, I mean the plain stuff that comes out of the tap. Snooze? Try adding freshly squeezed citrus (a dash of lemon, lime or grapefruit) to spice up your water. You can also brew herbal teas, and drink them hot or cold, which also qualifies as part of your daily water intake. And if you’re very dehydrated and in need of electrolytes, consider drinking coconut water, which contains naturally occurring electrolytes, and is a fantastic way to cool the body and help hold water in the system.

What to avoid:

Juice and soft drinks are high in sugar -  feeding the bad microbes in your gut and imbalancing your blood sugar levels. Very often we crave sweet, fizzy drinks because we are badly dehydrated and in need of fluid, and our gut microbes are out of balance, making us crave sugar. Drinking enough plain water and hydrating properly is a very effective way to reduce our cravings for sugary drinks, and also as a way to normalise our appetite. Very often nowadays when we are so disconnected from our bodies, we eat when in actual fact we are thirsty.

Anything containing caffeine stimulates the adrenals to fire, increasing adrenaline and cortisol levels. Remember, for every cup of coffee you drink you need to have at least one glass of water to rebalance. 

Carbonated water contains water that has been infused with carbon dioxide gas under pressure. While harmless in moderation, the carbon dioxide often upsets digestion causing gas and bloating, and so is not ideal as our primary source of hydration. 

Filter it: 

Should you filter your drinking water if you live in the city? My answer to that question is an emphatic yes. Given that at least 70% of our makeup is water, the quality of our water and our cellular hydration are everything to the healthy function of our body. The water that we are delivered via the tap is a long way from what the body would ultimately use as a source of hydration. The best water for our bodies is spring water that has flowed underground where it has been filtered and mineralised by the rocks it has passed through. This water is by nature very alkaline, which aids cellular detoxification and hydration. In contrast, the water we receive via the tap is often collected in large reservoirs, where it doesn’t flow in natural patterns. It has chemicals added, including chlorine as an antimicrobial agent, and fluoride, all of which disrupt the natural composition of water, adversely affecting our bodies’ function.

Warm it up: 

Another concept around hydration that I think is really important to highlight is the temperature of the water we drink. In Chinese medicine and Ayurveda a lot of the concepts around digestion centre around supporting the digestive fire. One of the easiest ways to do this is to drink room temperature or warmer water. 

Well, there it is. A definitive guide to hydration. Now go get yourselves a big glass of room-temp, filtered water!

The Best Gluten Free Bread in NZ

When your gut is not top of the pops, one of the easiest things you can do, is look to minimise gluten in your diet.

Why?

Because gluten is one of the most difficult molecules for your gut to digest, and it can also affect the tight junctions in your gut lining, making your gut more susceptible to intestinal permeability. The less your gut has to deal with this molecule, the more capacity your gut has to heal itself. So during this gut health program, we minimise gluten to help speed your healing.

What foods contain gluten?

Gluten is found in wheat, oats, barley and rye, of which wheat is the predominant food group in our diet. and the one to be aware of.

So we need to find substitutes for breads, crackers, cakes, biscuits, pasta and any other foods that contain wheat flour on the label.

Gluten Free Breads

This is the key item to substitute. Most of us have bread once or twice per day, so if we change our rituals to simply start buying gluten free bread, we probably reduce 60-80% of our gluten consumption. One change - 80% improvement - that’s the sort of statistics I’m after!

Even better, in recent years the availability of yummy gluten free breads has increased significantly, and so it is simply about putting a different brands in your supermarket trolley each week.

Gluten Free Bread Hacks

Let go of the idea that gluten free breads are going to taste like freshly baked ciabatta. They can’t, because the flours they use are more nutrient dense and therefore not so light and fluffy. Start seeing bread as the carrier for the tasty part of the meal - the amazing guacamole, or perfectly ripe tomato, or garlicky hummus.

Toast it always - gluten free breads taste heaps better when toasted. So if you want a sandwich with gluten free bread, lightly toast the bread and you’ll be very pleased with the result.

Here are my top picks!

The Midnight Baker Freedom Loaf

Made with buckwheat or oats. Full of protein and tastes amazing! Purchased from The Midnight Baker or Farro Fresh Supermarkets.

Venerdi Organic Sourdough Six Seed

This is my go to everyday bread. Light and tasty when toasted, it’s the perfect substitute for normal bread and you can find it at all supermarkets.

Venerdi Black Rice and Polenta Sourdough

Another amazing variation from Venerdi. Light and tasty and readily available.

Paleo Almond and Linseed

This bread is seriously filling and packs a hefty nutritional punch. It contains no grains, so suits some digestive systems a lot.

How To Administer a Coffee Enema

Please read the entire instructions before you begin.

What you will need:

• An enema bag - check out the kits from The Happy Bum Co

• Harpoon Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate or some other Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate

• A thermometer

• An oil based lubricant - vegetable or olive oil works well or coconut oil or vaseline

• Hot water

Brief Outline 

1. Flush the large intestine with water to help empty its contents.

2. Prepare the coffee enema solution.

3. Hold half of the enema solution for 10 to 15 min and then expel.

4. Repeat step 3 with the second half of the solution.

5. Clean the enema bag and utensils.

Water Flush

1. Before beginning this process please ensure that you are adequately hydrated.  Drink a large glass of water before you start the enema.

2. Assemble the bag ensuring the tap is completely closed.

3. Fill the enema bag with 1L of of warm water, make sure the temperature of the water is approximately 42°C or is comfortably warm when you place your finger in it.

4. Undo the tap and allow the water to pass down the tube until there are no longer air bubbles trapped inside. Close the tap.  

5. Hang up your enema bag, approximately a metre above the surface where you are lying.  

6. Lie on your left hand side.  Place a generous amount of oil based lubricant (such as coconut oil or vaseline) on the tip of the enema hose, and very gently and slowly insert into the anus. At no point should this procedure be painful.  Make sure the tip goes all the way in, at least 5cm, otherwise the enema will leak.  

7. Once the tip is properly inserted, gently release the tap to allow the warm water to flow gently into your large intestine.  You can move onto your back or onto your right side to let the water move further into the large intestine.

8. Continue to let the water flow, until you feel an urgent need to defecate.  Close the tap. Remove the enema tip from your anus and empty the contents of your bowel.

9. Repeat this procedure until there is no water left in your enema bag. 

10. Wait at least 10mins, as often the flush will stimulate the need to defecate and urinate.  Use this time to get up and walk around and prepare the coffee.

Preparing The Coffee Enema

1. Prepare 500ml of warm water (approx 42°C) and then add 50ml of Harpoon Coffee Concentrate.

2. Ensure the tap on the hose is completely closed and pour the coffee into the enema bag.

Taking The Coffee Enema

1. Lie on your left side. 

2. Insert lubricated tip into the anus.

3. Gently open the tap on the enema hose and allow half the coffee (approximately 250ml) to flow very gently into your large intestine.  

4. Once half the coffee in your enema bag has emptied into your large intestine, completely close the tap on the enema hose and remove the tip from your anus.  Lie comfortably on your right hand side, or alternatively on your back with your hips slightly raised on a towel or a pillow.  It's important to be comfortable, warm and relaxed.

5. If possible, hold the coffee for up to 15mins, then empty. The longer you can hold, the more significant the health benefits are.

6. Repeat the process all over again with the remaining half, again holding for up to 15mins.

Cleaning the Enema Kit

1. Clean the enema bag and hose with hot soapy water and hang somewhere to dry.

2. The enema tip can be cleaned using hot soapy water and then sterilised in boiling water for 3 minutes, or you can throw it away and use a fresh tip for the next enema.

3. It isn't necessary to sterilise the enema bag and hose every time, but occasionally it pays to leave it in boiling water for 5 minutes.  Make sure you leave it in a dry place with adequate drainage so that it dries thoroughly.

Additional notes

• Please make sure you have enough time to complete this as it is not something to rush.  

• Lock the front door and get a magazine or podcast so you have something to occupy yourself and help you relax.

• Some people prefer to do this in the morning or late in the evening but try to be at least one hour after any big meal.  Generally doing a coffee enema in the evening will not prevent you from sleeping.

• Don't feel the need to force expel the liquid. At times it will feel as if less liquid comes out than you put in, this is completely normal. 

• Once you are more comfortable with enemas, you may wish to take all of coffee enema in one go and hold for 25 to 30 min.