Tag: Detox

Posted by Christine Pope on in Health Care

What are the best functional foods to reduce your recurrence risk ?

If you’re looking to lower the chances of cancer coming back, incorporating certain foods into your diet can be a helpful step. Some foods are packed with natural compounds that can support your body in ways beyond just basic nutrition. These foods, which are known as functional foods, may help reduce inflammation, boost your immune system, and promote healthy cell function—all things that can play a role in lowering the risk of cancer recurrence. While no food can replace medical treatments, adding these healthy, functional foods to your meals can be a great way to support your overall well-being. Here’s a list of some of the best foods to consider.

Cruciferous Vegetables

Benefits: Cruciferous vegetables contain compounds like sulforaphane and indoles. These compounds help detoxify harmful substances, reduce inflammation, and may inhibit cancer cell growth.

Examples: Broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and bok choy.

A wide range of vegetables is ideal and at least three cups of vegetables a day, including one cup of cruciferous, one coloured and one green leafy. There are four major reasons why vegetables are critical to good health;

  1. Vegetables provide a wide range of nutrients including key minerals such as calcium, magnesium and potassium.
  2. Vegetables are a good source of fibre for gut flora. The benefits of adequate fibre are significant as it feeds beneficial strains of bacteria in our gut.
  3. The fibre in vegetables which assist the body in processing our hormones down a less proliferative pathway.
  4. The fibre in vegetables results in a slow release of energy, which assists in maintaining blood sugar and a healthy weight range. Being significantly overweight or obese increases your risks.

In addition to vegetables a couple of serves of whole grains daily in the form of good quality sourdough or brown rice is also useful in terms of ensuring adequate fibre.

Berries

Benefits: Berries are rich in antioxidants like anthocyanins and ellagic acid, which help combat oxidative stress and inflammation, both of which are linked to cancer development and recurrence. Berries also contain fiber, which supports digestive health.

Examples: Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries.

The polyphenols in fruit, like grapes, apples, pears , cherries and berries has been shown to be protective against many chronic diseases. Polyphenols are a component of plants that serve to protect them from ultraviolet radiation or infections. They are considered natural antioxidants.

Fish (Rich in Omega-3s)

Benefits: Omega-3 fatty acids have anti-inflammatory properties and may help reduce cancer cell growth. They are also associated with a reduced risk of recurrence in certain types of cancer, such as breast and prostate cancer.

Examples: Salmon, mackerel, sardines, and anchovies.

A small amount of protein such as fish, meat or plant protein at each meal is essential for repair post surgery and treatment but also provides stable blood sugar. Ideally a palm size , palm width portion is sufficient. Wherever possible consider including plant based sources of protein , such as chickpeas, lentils and tempeh, nuts and seeds.

Nuts and Seeds

  • Examples: Walnuts, almonds, flaxseeds, chia seeds, and sunflower seeds.
  • Benefits: Nuts and seeds provide healthy fats, antioxidants, and fiber, which help reduce inflammation and support overall health. Walnuts, in particular, are rich in ellagic acid and omega-3 fatty acids.

Nuts and seeds make an ideal snack to include daily as they are a powerhouse of nutrition with the benefit of incorporating healthy fats as well as essential minerals like zinc. A snack is considered the size of ten almonds – literally a small handful!

Green Tea

  • Benefits: Green tea contains catechins, especially epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which have been shown to inhibit cancer cell growth and promote apoptosis (cell death in cancer cells). It also has anti-inflammatory properties and supports metabolism.

The ideal amount of green tea is 2-3 cups a day preferably organic leaf tea. If you are sensitive to caffeine then make up a pot and then refresh it as the second pot will still have a good level of the EGCG but will not have as much caffeine.

For more support with your diet and minimising recurrence risk you can book an appointment in person at Elemental Health with Christine Pope on 02 80840081 or online via our app.

Posted by Christine Pope on in Detoxification, Health Care, Menopause, Nutrition, vegetables

How to support detox pathways with food

Detox is a naturopathic protocol that can be really helpful to restore effective function. Its basic aim is to assist your liver and kidneys so that they can remove toxins that you are exposed to in your diet and through your environment. Typically detox is recommended to support clients when they struggle with hormonal imbalance, find it difficult to lose weight or are suffering from allergies or poor digestive health.

The liver is responsible for processing food and a range of substances that we are exposed to through our diet and lifestyle. There are three phases and six pathways that support our ability to remove toxins from the body and in this blog you will find out how to support them with food. These processes convert toxins which are usually fat soluble into water soluble substances which can then be excreted through sweat, urine or stool.

First up what are the three phases and what do they do? The first phase uses enzymes called Cytochrome P450 to modify substances which produces free radicals. The second phase detoxifies these substances so they can be removed from the body. This relies on the six pathways known as Methylation, Glucoronidation, Sulfation, Acetylation, Glutathione Conjugation and Glycination. These are the pathways we can support with either food or supplements.

The third phase reduces our toxic load within the Small Intestine and supports the elimination of xenobiotics (hormone like substances).

Supporting these six pathways for detoxification requires a range of nutrients so lets focus on what foods are most helpful for you.

  1. Methylation

This process involves adding a methyl group made up of Carbon with three Hydrogen atoms. This makes the substance water soluble. The process requires B vitamins but in particular folic acid or folate. Good sources of folate include dark green vegetables such as leafy greens and asparagus.

2. Glucoronidation

This pathway is particularly important as it metabolises about 35% of the drugs prescribed and it requires the body to produce glucuronic acid. Fish oils and limonene which is found in citrus peel may activate this pathway. Ideally oily fish are a good source but the preference would be to use small oily fish like sardines. Green tea is also a good promoter of this pathway ideally try and use organic options as much as possible.

3. Sulfation

This pathway is critical for detoxifying steroid hormones, bile acids and neurotransmitters. Sulfation requires sulfur containing amino acids which are usually found in protein containing foods. In addition an adequate level of molybdenum is required. The best sources of molybdenum are found in legumes such as chickpeas, lentils and beans. For some people who don’t tolerate legumes, nuts and liver are other good quality sources.

4. Acetylation

Vitamin B1, B5 and Vitamin C are essential for this phase. Good quality sources of Vitamin C include citrus fruits and in particular oranges. Brightly coloured vegetables, such as capsicum, and berrries such as strawberries are also good Vitamin C sources.

5. Glutathione Conjugation

Glutathione is an important antioxidant for the liver as well as supporting conjugation through the liver. Glutathione is made up of three peptides glutamine, cysteine and glycine. It is also activated by sulphorophane which is found in brassica vegetables, like cabbage and broccoli sprouts. Cabbage is also high in glutamine.

6. Glycination

This process involves the addition of amino acids to aid in the process of conjugation. Diets low in protein often result in a reduction in our ability to eliminate toxins. Good quality protein sources are important to assist in this pathway and this does include both meat based protein as well as vegetarian options such as legumes, tofu and eggs.

Ultimately supporting effective detoxification requires good quality protein sources, green leafy, multi coloured and brassica vegetables as well as legumes and fruit like berries.

If you would like more information on detoxification, or simply to understand if it can assist you and would like to make an appointment you can book in on (02) 8084 0081 or online . Plus there is a free webinar with more information on this link and you can also join me on my Three Part Series to develop your own plan.

For more blogs on detoxification you might like to read the following;

  1. Getting ready to detox
  2. Detoxing is it for me?
  3. What are the best vegetables for feeding your gut?
Posted by Christine Pope on in Detoxification, Fasting, Minerals, Nutrition, Weight Loss

Is Fasting for me ?

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Fasting is a time honoured Naturopathic tradition although its not really taught as part of main stream courses anymore. It is still a really useful protocol for some people. There are now a wide range of options with fasting,  Juice Fasting, Five Two, Elemental Fasting, Six One and Intermittent Fasting, just to name a few . So what are the current options?

  1. Juice Fasting – this is usually a shorter fast such as a weekend or a few days and limits your intake to mainly vegetable juices, with a small amount of fruit. It floods your body with nutrition and hydration but can sometimes provoke extreme hunger on day 2. This is often used as a cleanse or weight loss starter and the usual feedback is about half the weight lost is water you do become more concious of what you eat after a juice fast.
  2. Five Two – a popular adaptation this allows you to eat on an unrestricted based 5 days a week whilst restricting calories to 25% of your normal intake on two of those days. This diet was popularised by Micheal Mosley a few years ago. Ideally to really minimise side effects and benefit from this approach you need to eat nutrient dense foods the other days and ensure that you are getting enough protein and micro-nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals on your non fasting days. Proponents of this approach suggest starting with a 12 hour fast overnight for a few weeks to make it easier.
  3. Elemental Fasting – this is used therapeutically for a digestive reset for those with serious infections such as parasites or severe SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth). This fast needs to be run under supervision and comprises shakes which contain adequate amounts of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. The approach is to starve out the problematic bugs.
  4. Six One – A slight variation to the Five Two it involves completely fasting on one day a week whilst eating normally on the other days.
  5. Intermittent Fasting – Routinely fasting for twelve hours overnight – basically eating dinner by 7.30 and then breakfasting at 7.30 – can be an effective way to improve your response to glucose and insulin. As part of the Bredesen protocol I studied in 2016 it is recommended as part of a strategy to improve blood sugar as well as specific sensitising nutrients if levels are elevated. In addition its recommended that people with the specific gene for Alzheimer’s known as APO4E fast for up to 16 hours a day. For more information on this protocol see my blog Delaying Alzheimer’s 

shutterstock_513957496So what are the benefits reported from fasting ? Micheal Mosley in his 5:2 diet cites three major areas which include weight loss, improved metabolic markers and reduced inflammatory markers such as C Reactive Protein. Research published recently on pubmed is also showing that intermittent fasting or time restricted feeding is proving beneficial for weight loss and metabolic health. (1)

Intermittent Fasting can be a good way to stabilise blood sugars at the early stages of insulin resistance. The 5:2 protocol can be helpful for people who want to lose weight but have trouble sticking to a restrictive diet. Ideally your fast days are separated and you include a small amount of protein in the meals to help stabilise blood sugar.

Christine Pope is an experienced Naturopath and Nutritionist based at Elemental Health, St Ives. You can make an appointment on 8084 0081 or book online at the website .

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

Five easy detox lunch options

One of my favourite meals to eat out is lunch so before I started the detox I scoped out the local area for some good detox lunch options.

The detox is gluten and dairy free to remove inflammatory foods as well as excluding alcohol and  coffee. It’s not that challenging for me really as I am gluten free and usually only have a little cheese or yoghurt. It also excludes processed foods such as deli meats and recommends minimal deep water fish which often have heavy metal exposures.Basically the idea is to reduce as many toxins going in to your system to lighten the load. Its helpful if you make sure you also include the following;

1. 5-6 serves of vegetables a day, including at least one of cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage;
2. A small handful of nuts and seeds – great nutrients for detox and you can use raw or activated nuts.
3. Two to three serves of fruit a day – berries are a good inclusion.

4. Protein with every meal to support detox pathways. Ideally think palm size and palm thickness.

5. Gluten free grains such as rice and quinoa, 2 serves a day.

The detox is also supported with a low allergen rice protein powder which has good liver support included, plus some gently detoxifying greens. I tend to mix that all together as breakfast and that makes for an easy (but green) start to the day.

When eating out remember many meals can be adapted by asking for the sauce or dressing on the side so don’t worry about asking – the worst they can say is no! Usually if they say no it means its been pre-prepared and sitting around for a while so it might be better to eat somewhere else.

The Stanley St Cafe downstairs in our building has a great range of salads and is very accommodating so the week started with a lovely Crispy Salmon Salad with Macadamia nuts with a colleague. She is working on the weight loss program at the moment so her lunch was the chicken and haloumi salad. It was a bit tricky resisting the lovely saltiness of the haloumi.

 The following day we went round to Mischica for their Korean warm salad – Bim Bim Bap, they offer chicken, beef, pork or tofu so plenty of options. The warm salad comes with sprouts, greens, brown rice, carrots, mushrooms and other vegetables and, when on detox, grilled chicken. Delicious!

The Runaway Spoon at Lindfield has a reliable salad on its main menu which is filling and detox friendly, the Quinoa and Lemon herb chicken with avocado, pumpkin and tomato. Another great option at St Ives Shopping Centre, a Coconut Chicken salad with rocket, paw paw and avocado.

The one meal I ate at home during the week was a lamb salad my son made with mixed greens, cucumber, lamb and olives. A great range of flavours and adding more greens such as cucumbers or beans to a salad makes it filling as well.

What else would you add for lunches during a detox?

Christine Pope is a nutritionist and homeopath based at Elemental Health, St Ives. She is also a Director  and Treasurer of the Australian Traditional Medicine Society. She is available in clinic on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Appointments can be made on 02 8084 0081 or through their online booking software at http://www.elementalhealth.net.au

Alcohol free for a month – Four Reasons your body will thank you.
Posted by Christine Pope on in Detoxification, Health Care

Alcohol free for a month – Four Reasons your body will thank you.

Spending a month without alcohol is for many people a less than fun way to spend the month. However your body will thank you for removing a major stressor and allowing it to function more effectively. Also I would recommend that you replace the night at the pub with some other fun activities which don’t involve alcohol – go to the movies, bush walking or try a dance or yoga class. Distract yourself to make it easier to manage the changes to your lifestyle and you may find some of them stick.

Your body will also benefit from these changes in several areas.

First up your waistline will thank you! The high kiliojoule count of alcohol (27kj per gram) particularly when combined with juice or soft drink means that cutting out alcohol removes a significant source of extra kilijoules. One of my clearest recollections in clinic was seeing a weight loss client who had put on over 20kg in a year from consuming the equivilant of half a bottle of wine a night. Cutting out the alcohol and exercising regularly saw her lose the weight in less than six months.

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Secondly if you have problematic skin replace the alcohol with 6-8 glasses of water a day and watch it improve. Alcohol is very dehydrating and as the skin is a major organ of detoxification it will often show signs of the struggle on the surface – redness, flushing, blotchy skin, greasy skin and dryness even rashes. A recent UK challenge showed before and after photo’s for a number of women doing a similar challenge with quite amazing results. Have a look at Daily Mail Cold Turkey for some real inspiration. Better still its a lot cheaper than expensive skin care and facials!

Third your liver needs a break and cutting out alcohol for a month gives it a chance to work on eliminating a significant range of other toxins from your system. It may also down regulate your alcohol dehydrogenase pathway which means less alcohol to get a buzz on in future. Fatty liver can be significantly helped by removing the stress of dealing with alcohol as well. You might need to give it a little more than a month and tweak the diet as well but the liver has an amazing ability to regenerate.

Finally you may start to smell better. Skin is one of the biggest organs of elimination so bad body odor or problematic skin is often a sign that we are not coping well with our current diet and lifestyle.  We all know how bad someone with a hangover smells as they detox the next day. Removing this burden on your system will really reduce the smell factor!


Christine Pope is a naturopath, homeopath and nutritionist based at Elemental Health, St Ives. She regularly runs Detox workshops and programs. Contact her on 8084 0081 for appointments.

Posted by Christine Pope on in Detoxification, Health Care, Nutrition

Getting ready to detox!

Sick Woman On Bed Concept Of Stomachache, Headache, Hangover, SlThe first time I really detoxed was at Camp Eden. I was supposed to be studying for a nutrition exam but somehow got distracted doing “online” research and did a Blackmore’s online quiz. A few weeks later I got a phone call from Marie Claire magazine and I had won a trip for two people for a week to Camp Eden. It was an amazing week and a real turning point for me as it highlighted the benefits of just one week of healthy food and exercise.

It also highlighted how tough detoxing can be if you don’t make some preparations beforehand. I didn’t really seem to have a difficult time with it as I had already made a few changes to my diet whilst studying however I did see some quite unhappy people the first few days.

First up cut down the coffee or alcohol or whatever your drug of choice is before you arrive. With my group there were people going cold turkey from 4-6 coffees a day, several beers and a couple of other things which best stay unspecified! Just the coffee withdrawal was fairly bad, people had headaches and were quite grumpy for the first couple of days. I did hand out a bit of Nux Vomica 30c to those who were prepared to give it a try. One serious drinker left after 48 hours. So cut down significantly in the weeks before the detox. Halve the coffee for example and then reduce to one a day. With alcohol I would suggest alternating drinks with water and then making every second day alcohol free.

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Secondly start your exercise program before the detox. Ideally walking or swimming are good places to start building to at least half an hour a day. Camp Eden had a sneaky way of making you exercise as all the activities were at the bottom of the hill and the accommodation, spa and dining hall were half way up the hill. That was at least 30 minutes of intense uphill walking each day on top of whatever else you did.

The other part of the week that was a little more confronting was the group sessions which covered a range of topics from goal planning to looking at obstacles to success. If you haven’t done much counselling work on yourself you may find it a little confronting however it was fabulous to see how much other baggage people dropped as a result of this work. So perhaps a little work on yourself to see why you want to make these changes and setting yourself some goals could be a powerful addition to your motivation.

If nothing else I would love everyone to have been with us on the final day which started with tai chi on the beach at 6am, followed by an invigorating swim (it was May) and then a whole day of playing! Yep we played hours of tennis and had a lengthy water polo match. The tired stressed group who arrived at the start of the week had so much energy at the end that they could play like kids – we just had fun all day!

If you are interested in detoxing you can make an appointment on 8084 0081 or book in to our detox workshop to see what its all about.
Email christine@elementalhealth.net.au for more information