I didn’t quite wet myself (but I did come close) when I accompanied my friend Amber to her Chiropractic appointment last Saturday and as we entered the reception area I caught my first (in-the-flesh) glimpse of poo-revearing rockstar, Damian Kristof.

Damo is co-founder of the Wellness Couch with Marcus Pearce, co-host of podcast The Wellness Guys and co-host of podcast 100 not out (again with Marcus Pearce – get a room you two, honestly .. what’s that, it’s called your recording studio. My bad, as you were).

He is also a dedicated naturopath and chiropracter based in Melbourne. He even has his own cereal line called Forage which is putting mainstream cereal companies to absolute shame.

Meet Damo …

Where did your open-minded adventure begin? Was there a significant event that shifted you into gear, or did your outlook on life simply shift over time?

It was a gradual change for sure, I had studied to be an accountant and played around with things like that, but it wasn’t until I discovered naturopathy that it all started to come together. The moment I realised that health is all about supporting the body’s longevity rather than just treating symptomns was when the light bulb went off. This happened at a seminar, I was sitting on the floor, listening to James Chesnut speak and he linked the gastrointestional system to the nervous system. it was in this moment that the angels appeared. I then realised that Chiropractic care combined with gut health was the key to optimal living and I never looked back.

What drives your enthusiasm for self-care and optimism?

My wife and son. As much as I love looking after people and being in practice,if I were to die tomorrow, it would be my wife and my son that I would miss the most. They are my inspiration and living the most healthy life is all about experiencing as much as I can with them.

What keeps you goofy and ‘down to earth’?

It’s funny I always thought that I was a grounded person but then when I had my television show in New Zealand I realised that my wife Amber didn’t watch it. I aksed her why she didn’t want to see it and she replied that if she became one of my fans that then there’d be no one out there to pull me back down to earth if the need arose. Amber has continued to ground me and still to this day won’t even listen to my podcasts – she’s committed. As far as authentic, I think it’s seeing other people in my field not be authentic that has inspired me to keep it real. To not be your message is to be inauthentic and lose integrity. If someone else is being false or lying I can see that and it’s a reminder to me that if I lie then others can also see that in me.

How do you keep exercise fun?

I love Move Nat – but I’ve never done it. It’s all about functional movement, climbing trees, jumping over rocks – the movement our bodies were designed to do. I love exercise that I enjoy – kicking a soccer ball or a football, playing cricket, going for a cycle. I don’t enjoy running I find it boring but I love going for a walk and then stopping at park benches to do press ups. I’m not iinto cross fit – I’m happy with my body and don’t feel that I need to be huge, I’d rather just be fit and healthy.

When it comes to nutrition, what is your philosophy?

I believe that there are at least three main principles surrounding nourishment. Firstyly what we see – if we see visually beautiful things then our souls are nourished. Secondly what we hear – if we are listening to sounds, songs or swear words or anything with negatively charged energy then we just won’t be well nourished. Thirdly what we put into our body plays a huge role in nourisment. As far as food goes, to me, it’s not about being paleo, nor having any extreme dietary approach, but rather that anything that’s natural or real should be fair game. I really like the theory of the blood type diet – simply because of the clues it gives us. I don’t think that there is strictly one way of eating for blood type A’s, another for O’s and B’s etc. but rather that the diet gives us hints as to what works and what doesn’t. I am a blood type O and so I’m pretty robust and can eat most things – but I don’t do gluten. I actually think that gluten is dangerous for human consumption and advise people to avoid it. I do dairy, mostly cultured or fermented. The incredible thing about human beings is that we’ve evolved with an intelligence to create foods out of things that we may not have otherwise eaten. Some say that we didn’t evolve to have the milk of another animal. To that I say well we probably didn’t evolve to eat avocadoes – or any particular food for that matter. Ultimately it’s about exersising our right to make good choices – eating real foods to nourish the body.

How do you overcome limiting thoughts and rationalise negativity?

This is a classic question because yesterday I was actually reflecting on the past year and all that occured in 2014. For heaps of people, myself included, 2014 had some real challenges and there were some really tough times. Having supportive people around me definitely helps – my mate Laurence will always sit down with me and be all like “Damo, this is what you gotta do”, and of course Amber helps me to keep perspective on things too. I think that it helps to acknowledge one of the laws of physics; for every action there is an equal or opposite reaction. So for every good there is a bad, every like a dislike and so on. If we acknowledge the universal balance then we can rationalise situations in our own lives and see them as a actions or reactions to alternate occurences.

Go ahead, inspire us!

One thing the world could find is love. That doesn’t have to mean the love of a partner or a the love within a particular relationship but rather the acceptance of everyone for who they are. The acceptance of flaws and differences rather than the judgement would make the world a more loving place. We doesn’t necassarily need more love in the way of cuddles – not that there would be anything wrong with that – but we can all benefit from acceptance. In today’s society there is a lot of dogma – we see it in many scenarios; medicine, dietetics, religion etc. and this dogma where people become narrow minded and don’t acknowledge anything outside of what they believe they create disharmony and this in turn, if left unresolved, creates war. If only we could be accepting of all beliefs and get back to a place of love.

Make me drool!

Damian’s Asian Inspired Fish

• fresh lemon and lime slices + fresh lime juice
• lemongrass stalks (just the bottom part)
• fresh ginger
• fresh chilli (could use dried flakes or omit if you don’t enjoy spicy food)
• tamari sauce*
• spring onions
• sesame oil
• fresh white fish fillet – use whatever you like (wildcaught is preferable)

Method

On a piece of baking foil lay down a base of fresh lemon and lime slices. Top with some chilli and lay down your fish on top. On top of the fish place ginger, lemongrass, spring onions and a drizzle each of the tamari and sesame oil. Wrap the fish up in the foil and bake in a moderate oven for 20 minutes – it’s amazing!

*Tamari is a wheat free soy sauce available in the health food section of most supermarkets and also at independent grocers and health food stores. If soy is a problem for you then feel free to swap for coconut aminos or braggs liquid aminos. Damian emphasises that those with blood type A can be sensitive to coconut and would be better with the tamari or the liquid aminos.