October Focus On Home Remedies
So Autumn is officially upon us, although it has been unseasonably warm these past few days! Not that I am complaining, it’s lovely to be out and about without having to wrap up in coats and scarves yet.
September was a whirlwind of activity, I had the best time flying the flag for ferments at the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine, with my best gut buddies, Dr Sheena Fraser and Dr Siobhan McCormack, the awesome Microbiome Medics! We had so much interest in our presentation, I did a sauerkraut demo, and had so many people come up to chat afterwards and so much interest in the practical side of gut health.
What came across loud and clear was that people need practical help and support to make dietary and lifestyle changes. Just being told to eat more vegetables, reduce dairy, processed foods, sugar, alcohol, manage stress, exercise and avoid toxic substances is just overwhelming for most people.
I got to thinking that in the Wellness Hub, we practice all the pillars of lifestyle medicine, which are, Nutrition, Exercise, Managing Stress, Avoiding toxic substances, Sleep and Community. We are continually reinforcing the nutrition message, to support gut health, by eating real food, seasonal food, mostly plants, including ferments and wild food for diversity. We have so many delicious recipes on our Website, all tried and tested by myself, for diversity, simplicity, and flavour.
So on to our theme for October which is Home Remedies, something we should all be focusing on as cold and flu season approaches. Our Holistic Health and Fermenting sections have lots of ideas and recipes to support our immune system and gut health. Natural remedies work on many levels, reducing pain and inflammation while also supporting our gut microbiome, unlike over the counter remedies, which can have negative side effects and do absolutely nothing for our gut health.
Natural remedies support our bodies healing potential, reducing symptoms and they actually taste good too! Think raw locally sourced honey, lemon, ginger, turmeric, elderberries, warming teas, soups syrups and tonics. I am a big fan of Dr Sam Watts, an ayurvedic expert, and I signed up for his Master Kitchen Herbalist Course last year, so I have lots of ayurvedic recipes to share over the coming months.
I have just ordered more jars of raw organic honey from my local supplier GlenHeatherHoney for making all my healing syrups and for sweetening teas. Do check out suppliers in your local area and buy the best quality. Honey in squeezy bottles from the supermarket is just sugar, it has none of the benefits of raw honey, so don’t buy it.
Thank you, as always, for being here with me.
In good health,
Janice xx
