Tag: food intolerance

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 .

Are you missing out on ways that you can start ageing outrageously well ?
Posted by Christine Pope on in Ageing, exercise, Healthy Ageing, Multiple Sclerosis, Sleep

Are you missing out on ways that you can start ageing outrageously well ?

70 may be the new 50 but its possible that it won’t be that enjoyable if you haven’t looked after your physical health. Over the last decade through global challenges, like the Covid pandemic and personal challenges like three rounds of surgery I have been researching how to age well and there are some common themes.

In 2016 I was able to do the training on the Recode protocol, which was developed by Dr Dale Bredesen. The training was run in San Francisco (which was a very good reason for enrolling as well as the content) and involved looking at thirty six points of intervention based on the five major triggers for Alzheimers. Dr Bredesen has subsequently completed two case study series and more recently a clinical trials for his protocol and it is showing improvement in over 80% of cases who had been classified as having mild cognitive impairment (1). For more information on the protocol have a look at the blog on Delaying Alzheimer’s .

In Melbourne in 2018 Dr Terry Wahl’s presented her strategies for managing Multiple Sclerosis and neurodegenerative diseases and I have followed her work extensively after that symposium. Her focus in clinical practice is on using food rather than supplements primarily as well as looking at specific types of exercise that can support recovery. Dr Wahl is a neurologist who was in a tilt wheelchair with her advanced MS and is now back to riding her bike. Her programs have been implemented at the Iowa City Veteran’s Affairs Hospital and she has conducted four clinical trials on the program. To date the trials are showing significant improvements in fatigue scores and quality of life. Key features of her program involve balancing blood sugar and flooding the body with nutrients from whole foods, in particular up to 9 cups of vegetables and fruit a day plus good quality protein. Her program really encourages the use of organ meats, like liver, for good levels of key nutrients which are quite expensive as supplements. In particular CoQ10 which is essential for energy production in your cells.

There are six key areas that you need to consider in order to age outrageously well.

  1. Eat your vegetables! Flooding your body with nutrients in a form that you are best designed to absorb. Make sure you are eating the rainbow with vegetables and including at least one cup of green leafy vegetables, one cup of brassica vegetables and one cup of brightly coloured vegetables daily. If you are trying to add more vegetables to your diet it is always helpful to increase gradually and to look at adding them to snacks, soups and smoothies as well. It can also be a good idea to prepare extra vegetables with dinner and have them ready to add to lunches or soups the next day. Roast vegetables are a particularly tasty way to improve the vegetable content of your lunch and you can add them to spinach leaves in a salad or blend them with bone broth for an easy and quick soup.
  2. Balance your Blood Sugar ideally by including protein with every meal and minimising your intake of sugary foods and simple carbohydrates like bread and cereal. You do not need to be eating large quantities of protein but rather a palm size amount at each meal over the day. Adequate protein for most people would involve 2 eggs at breakfast, a small can of tuna with lunch and a chicken breast fillet at dinner. At the same time it’s important to include some carbohydrate in the diet as well but optimally it’s from whole foods and provides a slow release of glucose and a good serve of fibre as well. If you struggle to add enough protein then adding a protein shake or smoothie can be a good way to up it daily. Usually I do recommend clean brands, whey protein if you can tolerate it or plant protein for those who like variety. The plant protein options that I find useful at the moment are Nuut, Amazonia and Vital Protein. Nuut is offering sampler packs which is a good way to try a few different flavours. The other two brands are usually available in health food stores and the fermented split pea protein from Vital Protein is one of the better vegan options as its not grainy.
  3. Exercise regularly and mix it up. Ideally including both strength based training as well as cardio will really assist in maintaining good bone health as well as improving balance and energy levels. Start low and build exercise levels slowly to minimise the risk of injury and setbacks. The simplest and easiest way to start exercising is to walk regularly, starting with a five minute lap of the block and then building up over weeks by adding five minutes each week and then multiple walks per day. On e of my favourite quotes about exercise is from JIm Rohn “Take care of your body its the only place you have to live in”.
  4. Identify the sources of inflammation and manage them as well as possible. Key areas to consider are a history of infections, such as recurring sinusitis, food intolerances and allergies, heavy metal toxicity, sedentary lifestyle and chronic pain from old injuries. There are a wide number of sources of inflammation in the body and dealing with those assaults can be challenging. That’s why quite a number of “anti-ageing” programs remove common allergens like gluten and dairy as anyone with gut problems will have challenges digesting and absorbing nutrients from them. Lactose intolerance is increasingly common as we age as we were really designed to have milk in our diets only as babies and small children. Generally we should be able to absorb small amounts if our digestion is working well. Removing allergenic foods can really assist you in feeling better however test first to make sure its the right foods. For ten years I removed dairy from my diet and whilst it helped a little removing gluten was the game changer for my brain and energy levels.

5. Meditate like a Buddhist monk! Research is showing that twenty minutes of meditation can reduce levels of anxiety, depression and pain (2). Meditation is a relatively inexpensive tool with many apps which can be helpful like Gaia and Calm. Recent research undertaken at a VA hospital in the States showed that twenty minutes of meditation twice a day reduced PTSD symptoms (3). The Wellness experience provide a free thirty day meditation series in either ten minute or twenty minute increments which you can do through the website themeaningoflife.tv . One of the most essential attributes of meditation is its ability to increase grey matter in the brain and assist with clarity and focus.

6. Add appropriate supplements as needed. Look at the key symptoms and determine what is needed for you. For those who are experiencing significant inflammation for example it can be useful to look at supplementing with Tumeric and good quality essential fatty acids. If your issues are more around cramping and low energy then consider adding a magnesium supplement (preferably a powder for better absorption) and a multi vitamin. Just make sure that you do check the use of any supplements with your medications. Your pharmacist or practitioner can advise you on the right dosing and minimise the risk of any interactions.

Interested in more information on Healthy Ageing ? Click on this link https://www.christinepopenutritionist.com/ageing-outrageously for more information on my eight week program.

Christine Pope is a naturopath and nutritionist based at Elemental Health at St Ives and is available for consultations online and in clinic.

1. https://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-alzheimers-disease/jad215707

2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7287297/

3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29921143/

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 Dairy Free, Detoxification, Gluten Free, Nutrition, Skin

Bio-compatibility Hair 500- What’s Right for your Body?

allergen photoItchy skin, rashes, unhappy stomachs, headache, insomnia, fatigue.

Any of these sound familiar?

These symptoms can be really frustrating and options are often limited to managing symptoms, but they all have one thing in common.

They can all be caused by food intolerance/sensitivity!

So how can you get to the core of the problem and get REAL RESULTS?

Even if you have a healthy, balanced diet this doesn’t mean you will be symptom free as it may not necessarily be the right diet for you! That is why food compatibility testing can help you get results as it can help to explicitly identify what does and doesn’t work for you.

shutterstock_5227150661.jpgOver my 12 years in practice I have tried a number of approaches based on my training and subsequent study. Initially I would try and find the perfect homeopathic remedy which really didn’t work as much as I would have liked. Then I tried the Naturopathic detox approach – identify and remove allergens (usually through an IGG test) and then heal and seal the gut. Lots of products and a reasonable success rate but quite expensive from the point of view of the testing and the supplements.

It is also important to remember that particularly with skin cases it can often be external factors as much as the diet that can be triggers. Sometimes you need to be a bit of a detective . I always remember seeing a client who had puffy eyes for 10 days where nothing was helping. On questioning her the new curtains in her room from China had gone up 2 weeks earlier. Knowing that these materials are often packed with chemicals I simply got her to remove them for a few days and it cleared the problem.

In previous blogs I have covered the options available for different forms of testing however currently I am recommending the Bio-compatibility Hair 500 foods and household chemicals for six main reasons;

  1. Its SIMPLE AND EASY – It only requires a hair sample!
  2. It is MOST COMPREHENSIVE – It covers 500 household foods and household chemicals. Including all food groups, bathroom, laundry and kitchen products and even local brands found in supermarkets and health food stores!
  3. It is the BEST VALUE – $259 for 500 foods vs the same or higher cost for only 40-90 foods
  4. It’s NOT INVASIVE – No blood sacrifices required! (Trying to get a blood test from a toddler is not fun!)
  5. It is EASILY UNDERSTANDABLE – The results come like a shopping list so its easy for you to see what works and what doesn’t for your body.
  6. FREE INITIAL CONSULT – I am currently offering a free 15 minute consult to see if Bio compatability hair 500 is right for you!

shutterstock_350919050.jpg

In the past skin cases were one of my groan cases – I knew it was a long process and most people want quick results and they often didn’t see them fast enough. Sometimes these cases even get worse before they get better. This process has really helped achieve some great results for clients where they have tried other options, particularly with eczema cases but also with some more complicated auto-immune conditions. In most cases clients who are compliant would see some reasonable progress in 4-6 weeks and sometimes earlier.

If you are interested in using it I do offer a FREE 15 minute consultation to see if it is suitable for you. This is not a quick fix but rather a focused process with some dietary changes required based on your individual results. You can call my clinic reception on 8084 0081 to set up a time or email me at christine@elementalhealth.net.au for more information.

If you are not based in or around St Ives then please email me at Christine@elementalhealth.net.au and I will find a local practitioner for you.

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