FEEL GOOD FARE

Desri Goodwin, founder of Splash About and expert nutritionist, gives us quickfire, simple advice on how we can look after ourselves when life puts pressure on us from all sides…

I am stressed out!

• Cut out stimulants – coffee, black tea, alcohol if possible – while it helps relaxation initially, it is short lived when you wake up at 2am because of it!

• Increase fresh fruit and vegetables in your diet.

• Increase intake of nuts and seeds such as pumpkin seeds, almonds, cashews, brazils – much better snacks than sugar and salt loaded snacks.

• Take a green powder mix or Spirulina and maybe a good multi-vitamin and mineral complex.

I am run down!

• Sleep more and try meditation.

• Increase the good foods – fruit, vegetables, sprouted* grain, seeds and nuts and beneficial oils such as hemp, flax, olive and coconut. A fruit, vegetable, seed and nut based diet is optimal for health but if this is too radical choose to add lean, organic meat, eggs and maybe replace some of your meat meals with fish, especially oily fish. Try to eat organic wherever possible, there are fewer chemicals to process and generally more nutrients.

• Decrease the not so good – fats, white flour, rice, pasta – stodge basically!

• Take a really good quality, highly absorbable, multi-vitamin and mineral supplement and probiotics unless you eat some probiotic live yoghurt each day.

• Drink lots of water.

What do I do for common ailments like cold/flu/ headaches/migraine?

 • Cut out dairy products to lower mucus.

• Increase intake of Vitamin C – eat lots of multicoloured fruits and vegetables, dark red berries, dark green veggies, a good absorbable multivitamin as above.

• Learn your triggers for headaches and migraines by keeping a food diary for a month or two, then avoid them! I am really overtired!

• All of the above and if not using a good multivitamin and mineral supplement, consider taking some B vitamins and Magnesium.

What should/shouldn’t I eat to help me sleep at night?

• Cut out coffee and black tea after 11am.

• Drink plenty of water throughout the day but not throughout the evening so that you don’t have to get up in the night to go to the loo.

• Eat as early as you can in the evening rather than going to bed on a full stomach but at the same time make sure you won’t wake up hungry.

• Milky drinks and puddings, chicken and bananas can help you sleep.

• Maybe try a small bowl of slow releasing oaty cereal before bed (make your own*).

• I do think milk should be cut out of our diet. Nut, oat and rice milks are much better, especially if you make your own*. Don’t worry about calcium, there are lots of better alternatives.

Any home remedies/food advice passed down through generations that are still worthwhile today?

• Drink lemon juice in water, eat your greens, an apple a day keeps the doctor away, an hour of sleep before midnight is worth more than an hour after – there are lots more I am sure – all are really good suggestions . . .

• Another good one is apple cider vinegar – it is brilliant for so many things: gout, arthritis, spots, digestion, losing weight and if you gently wipe someone down with a solution of it and water it can reduce a temperature.

• Ginger is great for inflammation as well as good to relieve nausea. It even helps morning sickness.

Nutrition – a personal experience

I overcame illness through detoxing myself completely and moving to a raw vegan diet for a period of 6 months and then very high raw vegan for about 4 years. Now at least 60% of my diet is made up of raw fruit and vegetables, nuts and seeds.

I have seen this way of eating have dramatic effects on various illnesses, behavioural and mood problems, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, insomnia, skin conditions and energy levels. PMT was eradicated for me when I ate this way, as were headaches, colds, sleeplessness, tiredness never mind the illness itself. I also looked 10 years younger!

We use powdered greens which include powdered wheatgrass juice, chrystal manna, Spirulina and barley grass juice which is a super booster to health and energy and helps also to alkalize the body. Spirulina is wonderful – full of iron and most vitamins and minerals – it really is amazing! It doesn’t taste too bad mixed into some apple juice or you can get it in tablet form.

My son, who is at college and also zooming around doing 15 hours a week of dance classes was recently feeling quite run down. He is a vegetarian and a boy living alone: “Mum, biscuits are cheaper than fruit” and “How do you boil an egg again?”! And though he eats lots of fruit he just doesn’t really use vegetables and sticks to raw cabbage, carrots and iceburg lettuce in winter. I gave him the green powder and within a week he said he was buzzing with energy again – and his spots were getting better – always a plus!

These are very general suggestions. Plenty of books are available and my further advice and information (marked here with an *) can be found on: www.equilibria.fr I do advise you take some health advice/see a doctor to have a check up if you feel tired and run down for long.

My family and I swear by Keans Supreme Greens from the Guarana company. They have kindly offered a 10% discount off their 300gm size pot to readers of my article! Please get the code from www.equilibria.fr

LINKS

Whilst running the hugely successful children’s swimwear company, Splash About, Desri Goodwin also runs Equilibria in South West France with her husband Robin. Equilibria is a place to find balance, health and peace and to take time out to “just be”. They offer total support for you in your own private space within their home, in a wonderful setting in the French countryside surrounded by vineyards, rolling hills and oak woods.

Equilbria: www.equilibria.fr 0033 (0)545625396

Splash About: www.splashabout.net