Tag: allergies

Posted by Christine Pope on in Gluten Free, Health Care, Tea, Travel

Finding gluten free options in the Blue Mountains in 2025

On a recent trip to the Blue Mountains I realised that my blog about Gluten Free options was a little dated as a few of my favourites had closed down so its clearly time for an update (and to try some new options). There are a few other options still worth checking out in my A tea lovers guide to the Blue Mountains such as Megalong Valley Tea Rooms and the high tea at the Hydro Majestic Hotel at Medlow Bath, unfortunately favourites such as The Bunker at Leura and Tournament at Medlow Bath are now closed. Gluten free menu options are a bit more limited at the tea rooms however its a lovely spot to sit outside under the gum trees on a balmy day.

Ates Blackheath

This has been on my list to visit however in the past they were always fully booked. They have a great range of food choices and I love sharing plates so you get to taste everything. The standout is the Szechuan Duck, which was beautifully prepared and spiced. Ideally for two people it is suggested that you order three small plates and one large plus sides. They also catered well for food intolerances and the wine list was comprehensive.

The only negative was the music which was so loud you couldn’t hear the person opposite , however staff adjusted the volume on request.

Lily’s Pad, Leura

Lily’s Pad has become one of our favourite options in Leura and we were a little disappointed when we arrived a bit late and they had already closed that day as we had both decided we really needed one of the wonderful gluten free slices. On a previous visit we had enjoyed a maple and pecan slice, however the options regularly change. This is an ideal spot for breakfast and lunch with really good gluten free options and a range of salads and main dishes, such as nachos with beef brisket. Every time I ordered at Lily’s Pad I always have to confirm that the bread is gluten free as its so light and fluffy!

Osteria 2785, Blackheath

One of my favourite restaurants in Blackheath was Cinnabar and unfortunately after operating for 17 years they decided to close (and retire). Osteria 2785 has set up in the same space and is the initiative of a local businesswoman, Mel Micheal, who now owns the produce shop, Veggie Patch and a cafe at Mount Victoria, One Tree Hill . The Mount Victoria space has a large kitchen where they also do a lot of prep. The menu at Osteria 2785 is regional Italian cuisine and they are making their own pasta which is always a great option. There are a reasonable number of gluten free and dairy free options including pasta and the servings are hearty with favourites like Fritto Misto, Saltimbocca and Beef Cheeks.

Leura Gourmet Deli

Walk through the front of this deli to the dining area at the back which has a lovely view towards Katoomba. This busy deli has all day dining which is unusual in the mountains and a hearty brunch/lunch menu which has a number of delicious options including gluten free fritters as well as traditional breakfast options. The lunch menu also has gourmet pies, curries and other tasty specials and staff are usually comfortable advising on what is suitable for various dietary requirements. It is a very busy cafe and can get quite noisy but the service is efficient. The deli also stocks a number of local specialties and its worth browsing to see what you might want to take home as snacks or souvenirs.

Dryridge Estate, Megalong Valley

This vineyard offers wine tastings ($15 a head) with a lovely view over the Megalong valley and the option to accompany it with a platter. Available options are cheese and charcuterie platters and ploughmans platters. They can accomodate gluten free options with a different cracker with the platter. It’s a lovely way to spend an hour or two on a nice afternoon. If you are feeling a little more energetic you can also walk a section of the 6 foot track to work up an appetite before your tasting.

Just walk carefully in the bush in summer. We did a section of the track from the main road towards Dryridge Estate and encountered a very large red bellied black snake on the path sunning itself. Well I didn’t get that close as my husband just said “back up, back up , back up ” and I followed instructions and watched it slither away from a safe distance.

Do you have some favourite gluten free options to share in the mountains? Please pop them in the comments below. If you like travelling (and eating gluten free) you might also enjoy these blogs;

Clearly time for a trip down south to complete the list!

If you are struggling with food intolerances or trying to manage a gluten free diet then book in an appointment with me in person at my St Ives clinic or online at www.elementalhealth.net.au

Posted by Christine Pope on in Gluten Free, Health Care, Meal Plans and Recipes, Nutrition, Travel

Finding the best options for gluten free on the Central Coast

Every year we like to have a little break before the full on madness of the Christmas season hits and this year we decided to book accomodation at Terrigal on the Central Coast. Normally I would research options on Trip Advisor however my first point of call was a couple of friends who travelled up there on a regular basis. The advice was literally it wasn’t hard to find gluten free options and most cafes at Terrigal could accomodate requirements. A couple of special night out recommendations were Yellowtail and Four Hands Pizza Bar and Grill, both of which had a good range of gluten free options.

First up its always important to find your “coffee bar”, well for me that was Bellyfish Cafe, mainly because they had decent pots of tea and a really good quality gluten free bread. The other advantage was a breakfast and lunch menu with a little more variety than bacon and eggs, with options like a loaded banana bread, crab fritters, gin cured salmon with smashed avocado and acai bowls. Gluten free lunch options included a salmon cutlet and pork belly waldorf salad. In peak periods they offer dinner on Friday and Saturday nights.

Aroma’s on Sea which is at the front of the Crowne Plaza is also a nice spot with a lovely aspect across the road from the beach. The food choices are a bit more limited for gluten free but the big breakfast is a good choice as it includes home made baked beans, which were slightly different every day. If you are coealiac avoid the hash browns due to a high risk of cross contamination.

Four Hands Pizza Bar and Grill was a good casual option with lots of tapas options as well as gluten free pizza’s. We really enjoyed the cauliflower florets, patatas bravas, lemon pepper squid, charred octopus and the beef brisket taco’s. The first night we were there they were clearly trying out some junior staff, who were fairly clueless and at one point I ended up directing them to take the orders from the table next door to us as well as ours as they had been waiting for even longer than we had. It may have been a timing issue as pre Christmas it did seem that many places were gearing up with new staff and the second occasion we ate there the staff seemed more on the ball. The food both times was good and the staff seemed to be across food intolerances.

Another good option for a casual takeaway or quick meal is Spice Noodle Bar which is a hole in the wall opposite the Crowne Plaza beer garden. It has a range of classic Thai food with lots of gluten free options and even entree options such as tod mun pla ( fish cakes) and satay chicken. The Pad Thai and stir fry with chilli jam are also family favourites.

Yellowtail has a menu with Mediterranean influences and also offers a degustation menu. We found they were excellent at dealing with allergies and food intolerances, service was good but the venue would benefit from consistent air conditioning (we were there on a very hot night). Key recommendations for the menu were duck and seafood. They do offer a degustation menu as well if you are looking for a very special evening menu.

One of the surprising meals we had was a very good value paella at Terrace Grill . The menu is modern australian with mediterranean influences and offered a good range of seafood and steak as well as pasta dishes. We enjoyed sharing a paella however we also scoped out the seafood platter as an option for the next time we dined. They also offer a locals menu mid week with two courses and a glass of wine for $59 with a choice of five entrees and four main courses.

Christine Pope is a naturopath and nutritionist based at Elemental Health, St Ives. She is also a blogger who writes about health, Ageing Outrageously and gluten free travel. Have a look at her recent blogs on Holidaying on Hamilton Island what are the best gluten free options? , Finding the best Gluten Free options on the North Coast of NSW and Gluten free Canberra .

Posted by Christine Pope on in Allergies, Nutrition, Weight Loss

What’s your metabolism blocker ?

shutterstock_559278454The first blog I wrote was about Five simple strategies to Lose Weight  was focussed on insulin resistance and how to approach weight loss for this common problem. Historically I haven’t really focussed on weight loss in clinic unless it was related to the client’s overall health. What I found was that more complex clients require more creative solutions in terms of adapting weight loss programs to suit them and their lifestyles. You need to get more specific about supporting their metabolism to really help them shed weight.

Different diets work for different people so whilst I generally recommend a low carbohydrate ketogenic diet I have had clients do well on a range of other programs. How do you know when you are on the right diet for you? Generally you find your weight stabilises. So my top tips regardless of which diet you are using are as follows;

  1. Food Intolerances – find out what foods you are reactive to and cut them out! Regardless of the diet you are following this will often result in a 2-3 kg loss and usually a smaller waist line due to the reduction in bloating. Often the side benefit is you feel better and are more energetic and better able to follow through on exercise and food preparation. Using Bio Compatability 500 Hair Test to determine what foods are compatibile with your body often speeds up this process.
  2. Hydration – Drink 6-8 glasses of water a day and at least one litre for each hour of exercise. Nothing works well when you are dehydrated.
  3. Herbal Teas – Support your liver with some herbal teas which assist with metabolism. This can include green tea, dandelion and ginger. Have a cup of hot tea with a squeeze of lemon on rising it really helps your liver function.  Herbal teas also increase fluid intake and may reduce consumption of tea and coffee which often involve milk and sugar!!
  4. Fat Burning Exercise – Dietary changes will often produce slow and steady weight loss but if you really want to boot it up walking an hour a day is the key. The first 20 minutes you burn up the glycogen in your muscles and then your blood glucose but around 30-35 minutes you start burning fat. Consistently I have seen a significant improvement in results with adding regular walks to the program – in one case the client walked every morning and lost 7kg in 6 weeks.
  5. shutterstock_146334503Get enough protein  – how much is enough? To maintain your weight you need about 0.8g per kilo daily. BUT for weight loss you need to increase it to 1.2g per day. The protein is based on the desired weight so if you want to get to 60kg you need to eat 72g of protein a day. That is the equivilant of 2 eggs, a small can of tuna and a small chicken breast. Generally animal products are about 20-25% protein whereas plant based sources are around 10% so effectively you need to double up.
  6. Main meal at lunch  eating your big meal in the middle of the day gives you a chance to really fuel yourself well for an afternoon of work but also plenty of time to really digest the meal.
  7. Fasting  – this can be a good way to give your program a  boost. Usually I would recommend starting with a 12 hour fast between dinner and breakfast. For details on who would do well with longer periods of fasting have a look at my recent blog Is Fasting For Me .

I have had a few other tips from friends and colleagues – one of my favourites was to diet when your partner was away and empty the fridge so you can’t snack on unhealthy options. Do you have any tips on weight loss? Please share in the comments section below.

Christine Pope is an experienced Naturopath and Nutritionist based at Elemental Health at St Ives. You can make appointments on 02 8084 0081 or through the website at www,elementalhealth.net.au .

Posted by Christine Pope on in Allergies, Detoxification, Health Care, Skin, stress

Why is my skin like this?

skin problems

For many years skin problems were one of the more difficult conditions that I saw in clinic. Whether it was tinea, rashes, acne or excema often treatment can be lengthy and involve significant dietary change. Also I find it can often flare up as you are detoxing and this requires careful management.

Skin is the largest organ of the body and performs an important role in detoxification, so if you are eating badly it will show up on the skin. Even when you improve your eating patterns it may take 4-6 weeks to show changes as it takes time to work through your system, to reduce inflammation and ultimately to heal.

So what you say, I have a really good diet but I still have skin problems ? Well fabulous that you have sorted out diet but ideally this comes down to identifying the underlying triggers for your skin issues. Usually I find it comes down to one of the following ;

  1. “My excema is always bad when I am stressed ” In this case stress hormones are hijacking your system and simply addressing the skin isn’t going to be enough. Often the strategy here is to use lifestyle interventions to manage the stress – yoga, meditation, reframing exercises as well as using appropriate supplements to support the adrenals and manage the skin. People who are stressed are usually more acidic so alkalising nutrients such as lots of vegetables work well or supplements with magnesium and potassium.shutterstock_553662235
  2. My skin it so itchy but I really don’t know why? It doesn’t seem to matter what I eat or what products I use on it! Two big areas here – one in exposure to foods or external triggers which are incompatible with your system. In this case I usually look at the Intolerance testing to identify potential triggers and determine what is causing the reaction for that person.
  3. The skin problems only seem to happen at a certain time of year ??? Yes it could be a particular stressor (like a big family Christmas) but in this case its important to be an environmental detective. Even in dry winters its possible that the house has underlying damp and mould and this can create havoc for people who are sensitive. However it could also be a seasonal intolerance to a particular plant – apparently although wattle gets blamed for a lot of hayfever its not usually the suspect as the particles are too big. Apparently grass and dust are more common allergens. If mould is the underlying issue its important that it be treated appropriately and there are specialists in its detection and removal.
  4. My tinea flares up whenever I drink a lot! This is often related to an underlying candida overgrowth which feeds off sugar – alcohol is literally liquid sugar in many cases. Apart from sticking to spirits with lime and soda and not lemonade or coke (which is not very good naturopathic advice but it does help) its important to treat the underlying fungal picture. Foods which are good sources of anti-fungal compounds include coconut oil and garlic, however I usually find a combination of approriate herbs and essential oils is faster at cleaning up the tinea.Coconut oil and fresh coconut
  5. Not only do I have rashes constantly but I am also really anxious or down. This can be related to an excess of copper in relation to zinc which reduces your ability to break down histamine and mount an appropriate immune response. In my first consultation I always include my inhouse minerals analysis tool – Oligoscan – and this can detect these imbalances. The other option is hair tissue minerals analysis which does take a little time.img_0543
  6. My baby is completely breast fed and yet he still has excema? Well unfortunately this means Mum is probably consuming something that doesn’t agree with her system and bubs is reacting.  It probably started with a colicky whiny baby and has now progressed. If this is the case its essential for Mum to eliminate any foods she reacts to and monitoring the impact this has on bubs. Usually within 2-4 weeks you can expect good resolution if you know what your triggers are. Occassionally it may be the baby care products that could be causing a reaction but its much more common that it’s Mum’s diet. Its always a bit tough since a new breastfeeding mother has a large appetite and probably not a lot of energy for lots of cooking as well as all the other chores she now gets to enjoy, however longer term it makes for a much happier baby and Mum!

The first suggestion I would make is to ideally keep a food diary for a week and track your reactions to what you are eating. Record not only what you are eating and drinking but also whether you feel tired or energised afterwards. Keep note of what is happening with your stomach as well particularly if you have urgency or constipation after a particular meal or are suffering bloating or reflux. Note how your mood is impacted by what is happening as well. Over a week you should start to see patterns emerging that will help you detect which foods are a problem for you.

If that doesn’t shine any clarity on it for you take your food diary to a naturopath or nutritionist and ask them for help. My clinic is at St Ives in Sydney and you can make appointments on 8084 0081.

 

Posted by Christine Pope on in Allergies, Research

Are you reacting to your dinner ?

If you constantly have an upset stomach, headaches or skin problems chances are you have thought about whether something you were eating was triggering your symptoms. So what options are there for finding out whether a food is upsetting you ?

The medical testing for allergies consists of either skin prick testing to determine if a substance provokes a reaction or blood testing for antibodies to Immunoglobulin E known as RAST testing. Naturopathically there are a number of other options including an Elimination Diet,  Food Intolerance Panel or Bio Compatability Hair Testing. So what are the advantages of each of these forms of testing ?

Skin prick testing involves scratching the skin with a range of allergens to see what generates a reaction. Usually done by a specialist you do need to be under supervision if a topical reaction causes full on anaphylaxis to an allergen so that you can be treated appropriately. Understandably many parents are not enthusiastic about this option however it does accurately identify  true allergens. A blood test to detect antibodies can be done where the skin prick testing is too invasive. It detects antibodies to specific allergens such as dust, pollens and foods.

Another option for determining intolerances is to use an elimination diet. Basically you eat very simple plain foods for 7-10 days  and then gradually introduce new foods to determine if it provokes a reaction. The elimination diet generally takes up to 6 weeks but has the advantage of being focussed on real food. Ideally you would also exclude any of the foods below that triggered a reaction.

What you can eat on a food sensitivity elimination diet:

  • Vegetables, well-washed (preferably organic), eliminate nightshade vegetable (such as eggplant,tomato and capsicum) if you suspect they are a problem
  • Fruits, well-washed (preferably organic), start with berries initially
  • Meat and fish (preferably organic and free range meats and wild fish)
  • Fats and seasonings – Extra-virgin coconut oil for cooking, and extra-virgin olive oil for dressings and other low-temperature applications, sea salt, herbs
  • Drink: only water (filtered if possible)

Naturopaths often conduct a food intolerance panel which looks for an immunoglobulin G reaction. It’s useful but will usually only tell you about foods you have been eating in the past few months. So if you haven’t had wheat for a year it may not show up.

Recently I have also looked at Biocompatibility Hair Testing conducted by Naturopathic Services. It has the advantage of not requiring a blood test and covers 500 widely available foods including a significant list of health foods. The test is reasonably priced and far less invasive for young children. It also has the advantage of covering foods which the client isn’t currently consuming. Blood testing will only reveal antibodies to a food that you are currently eating.

Other practitioners I know who use the test advised that it was making a big difference in cases involving skin and irritable bowel syndrome, two conditions I see frequently in clinic. Certainly in the last few months I am already seeing some significant changes in symptoms simply from removing aggravating foods from the diet.

If you have any questions about testing for food intolerances email me at Christine@elementalhealth.net.au or you can make an appointment on 8084 0081.

 

 

 

 

 

http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/test-ige.html

Posted by Christine Pope on in Allergies, Gluten Free, Health Care, Nutrition, Uncategorized

Gluten Free Made Easy

 There are a lot of people who need to change their diet and go gluten free. Whilst approximately 1% of the population need to go gluten free as a consequence of coeliac disease another 6-8% of the population suffer from non-coeliac gluten sensitivity. Many people who suffer from other auto-immune conditions also find that removing gluten from the diet assists in managing their condition.

You realise that you need to make this change but you don’t really know where to start? This blog will help you get started with those changes. Lots of recipe ideas are contained in my page Gluten and Dairy Free Dinners and the recent blog Seven gluten and dairy free breakfasts.

The best way to start a gluten free diet is to do it after restocking your pantry and freezer. Look at what you usually eat and then prepare a shopping list to enable you to stock up on alternatives.

Ideal suggestions could include the following;

  • Replace bread and crackers with suitable gluten free alternatives. Suitable alternatives for bread could include gluten free bread from Country Life, Dovedale, Healthybake, Schars or gluten free bakeries. Choices Bakery at Turramurra has a wide range and Deeks Bakery in Canberra provides online ordering across Australia. Gluten free bread is best served toasted and should be stored in the freezer so you can use it as needed.
  • There is already a good range of gluten free crackers including rice crackers and corn cakes available in most supermarkets. Just read labels to make sure that there are no  other ingredients that are problematic particularly if you have multiple food intolerances.
  • Breakfast cereals often include gluten so its important to ensure that you have a suitable alternative. Commercial rice bubbles and cornflakes for example can contain gluten so its best to find alternatives such as puffed rice. Making your own muesli is an easy and cost effective option using a range of gluten free puffs and flakes as well as dried fruit, nuts and seeds.
  •  The porridge below is from Brookvale farms and is served with stewed plums and coconut yoghurt. Its tasty and only takes a few minutes to prepare.
  • Pasta might be a good option for quick meals and there are several gluten free pastas to choose from including Orgran who have an excellent lasagne as well as San Remo. Ideally when cooking gluten free pasta keep stirring it whilst cooking to stop it sticking together. Also make sure that you rinse it well before serving.
  • Baking is easier with gluten free options at hand such as gluten free plain and self raising flour plus gluten free cornflour. These can often be substituted in baking however generally if you don’t have gluten free flour you are better off using a mix of different gluten free flours to really improve results.
  • Stock up on a range of rice including basmati and risotto rice so that you have a few different alternatives for meals.
  • Check the Celiac organisation website for lists of foods which may have some gluten. Often it can be surprising with things such as soy sauce and BBQ sauce containing gluten which doesn’t seem quite unnecessary.

Do you have any other tips for going gluten free easily? Please post them in the comments section below.

Need help deciding if you need to change your diet? Christine Pope is practicing at Elemental Health St Ives and can be contacted for appointments on 8084 0081.