Lidia Bier - Vegan Naturopath

18/08/2017

What an incredible scientific breakthrough! Recent Australian research found that 82% of peanut-allergic children receiving single strain probiotic therapy were deemed tolerant to peanuts, as opposed to only 4% of children in the matched control group. It's so important that natural medicines are being subjected to rigorous trials and research in order to demonstrate how amazingly beneficial they can be to human health. Here's hoping for bigger trials in the future, incorporating the many other herbs and nutrients that naturopaths have been using in practice for years!

A small clinical trial of a new immunotherapy treatment has seen more than two-thirds of children with a peanut allergy cured.

30/03/2017

Hello Facebook family!

Apologies for my absence - as you can maybe see from the photo below (well, it's an obvious new addition to me!) I have found myself a little preoccupied over the last few months. I am just about halfway through what has been a thankfully healthy (vegan!) pregnancy, and very excited for what the next few months will bring myself and my little family!

Apparently babies tend to be a tad unpredictable and are quite a bit of work, so unfortunately I will have to wrap up my practice for the time being sometime in early-mid August. This means that as of May, I will no longer be able to take on new clients as I will not be able to provide the continuity of care that I'd prefer to, and that I know is beneficial for both myself and my clients. If you would like to book in an appointment as a new client, please do contact me as soon as possible, and I'll see what can be done during April.

For all my existing patients - I promise I won't be gone for long! I hope to re-introduce consults in late 2017, at least via Skype before making my way back to clinic (potentially with a new little friend in tow, depending on how well they behave themselves!)

For the moment, I'm still chugging along as normal and will endeavour to post regularly about the experience and the happy ways that my beloved nutrition and herbs are helping me through the journey.

Lots of love

03/11/2016

Apologies for being AWOL over the last month - I've been scrambling to finish my university assignments, and I can gladly report that they are finally done and finally submitted!

Being nailed to my desk was not much fun, and my meals became quite simple and quick to prepare. Every few days I would cut up a bunch of veggies, make a batch of dressing, cook up some grains and bake some tofu or tempeh so I could put bowls like the below together quickly and easily. Taking time to prepare was a life (and stomach) saver!

What are your favourite 'fast foods'?

25/09/2016

What if I told you there was more to boosting our immune systems than eating healthily and exercising regularly? What if I told you that some germs were actually good for us, helping to strengthen our immune systems from the inside out?

This article explores some pretty compelling evidence which indicates that microbes (microscopic organisms, usually bacterium) found in the environment around us can actually be very good for us, particularly in childhood. That's not to say that we should be diving headfirst into the biggest pile of trash we can find, but that we might want to consider turfing the antibacterial hand wash and relaxing a little around dirt and dogs.

Did you know that a child who is exposed to regular, puppy delivered face lickings in their first year of life may have a decreased risk of asthma and allergies? That's all the reason I need to seek out my dog for some kisses!

Could it be that we have been making our children sick by being too clean?

01/09/2016

Some pretty groundbreaking research was presented at a global conference on heart disease in Rome this week, exploring the impact of a Mediterranean diet on heart disease. This was a longterm, seven year study, involving 1200 participants, and sought to measure the influence of a Mediterranean diet on heart disease and death. The findings were exceptionally positive, indicating that those who followed a Mediterranean style diet were 37% less likely to due during the trial.

This is something we have anecdotally understood for many years, so having well conducted, evidence based research is important to making further connections.

Researchers found that the number one aspect of the Mediterranean diet which was most important to preventing death was vegetable consumption! Other vital aspects were moderate fruit consumption, nuts, seeds, legumes and good old olive oil. While red meat consumption is relatively low, fish is regularly consumed in Mediterranean regions. If you are a vegan, you should include foods such as flaxseeds, hempseeds, chia seeds and walnuts daily in order to gain those all important omega-3 essential fatty acids!

Now, I'm off to eat some olives ;)

Study finds people already suffering from heart problems are 37% less likely to die early if they eat a diet rich in vegetables, nuts and fish

22/08/2016

Some of you may have heard about a concept called 'The Australian Paradox' - a study published by two leading Australian nutrition experts claiming that whilst rates of lifestyle diseases have increased over the last thirty years, sugar consumption has decreased, concluding that sugar is not the culprit we have come to believe it as being.

The Dietitians Association of Australia and the Australian Diabetes Foundation have supported these findings.

However, many nutrition experts around the world are contesting this research, and rightly so. The research is based on crude data, misrepresentation of information and unreliable collection methods.

Also, one of the authors receives kickbacks from Coca Cola, and appears at Coca Cola sponsored events. Conflict of interest? What are your thoughts?

Health and nutrition experts continue to dispute a research paper by two of Sydney Universitys leading health scientists titled The Australian Paradox

17/08/2016

So, I'm going to take advantage of the final two weeks of winter by posting about soup (again) ;)

When preparing most meals, the rainbow rule of thumb is a smart one to follow. Very basically, it means you choose at least one plant based food of each colour to add to your meal. This is a basic but intuitive way to ensure you are getting a wide range of nutrients from your meal, and also enhancing maximum deliciousness and variety!

For this very unconventional minestrone (please don't show it to your Nonna!) I included leek, celery, zucchini and brussel sprouts (green), pumpkin and carrot (orange), cabbage (purple), tomato (red) and cannellini beans (white), thus ticking off almost all my rainbow boxes (need more yellows, dammit!).

What's your favourite way to add a rainbow to your meal?

01/08/2016

For anyone who has ever ridden the London Tube or any other underground public transport, you'll understand how surreal it is to have no idea about which direction you're heading in and how far away stations are from each other.

The new London Tube map is amazing! It actually tells you how far each station is from the other if you were to walk. With most stations only 10-12 minutes apart on foot, this is fantastic motivation for those who are able to, to get off a stop or two early and enjoy the (debatably) fresh air to break up your commute, and add a few extra minutes of valuable incidental exercise to your day.

On some occasions, you'll be saving both time and money!

Nice work, London transport!

Transport for London has released another alternative version of the Tube map—and it’s actually really useful. The London transport manager has created a ‘Walk the Tube’ map, which shows how long it takes to totter between stations.

01/08/2016

Okay friends, we have one more month of soup weather to go, so lets be sure to make the most of it!

Soup is the ultimate comfort food: warm (usually!), nourishing, gentle on our digestive systems, and a brilliant way to pack a whole variety of wholefoods into the one bowl! For those of us who are super busy people, soup is also a massive time saver. It keeps very well, so making a big batch and either freezing it and/or eating throughout the week is a marvellous way to get a few extra minutes in your day.

This one here was a newbie for me, but it'll definitely become a part of my regular rotations - leek, sweet potato, cannellini bean, lemon and a little bit of coconut cream blended and served with a scattering of pumpkin seeds.

So, with 31 more days of winter to shiver through, please tell me what your favourite soup is!

11/07/2016

In Australia, almost $6,500 annually is spent on healthcare, per person. That's around $140 billion in total. What proportion of this is devoted to preventative healthcare - that is, implementing methods which will assist people in staying healthy long term?

1.5%.

18/06/2016

IF ONLY! 🙁🍌

15/06/2016

Unless you have an allergy, intolerance or specific medical condition, there is no reason to eliminate grains from your diet. Wholegrains help to keep us full for longer, regulate our blood sugar, keep our brains active and our energy levels steady and - according to a recently released meta-analysis - could assist in reducing our risks of death from cancer and cardiovascular disease.

A review of 12 studies, involving almost 800,000 people found that the equivalent of a bowl of porridge per day significantly lowers the risk of all-cause death by 22% and death from cancer by 20%.

Don't like oats? You can achieve the same results from most all wholegrains including quinoa, brown rice and millet (amongst many others!)

Perfect news for winter mornings ;)

A bowl of porridge a day could protect against heart disease and cancer, say scientists