Where did my health-nerdism* originate?

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*noun; the distinctive practice of being a health nerd.

Marvellous question. It all began when, at 14 years of age, I was diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis.

This means that my immune system was destroying my liver cells. By the time I was diagnosed, I’d lost about 98% of my liver and was headed for a transplant. This was just before Christmas in 2010. I know, right? ‘Merry Christmas ya filthy animal (if you know, you know, Home Alone fans).

My jaundiced body (I genuinely looked like Lisa Simpson – minus the spiky hair) was prescribed immunosuppressants (and high-dose steroids – ugh, gross) and although this medicine served a purpose, it depleted my fragile system further and I only got sicker: mentally and physically. 

After almost a year of treatment, liver transplantation was still an idea that my gastroenterologist floated on a regular basis.  As such, I was prescribed an even more potent immunosuppressive drug (that could potentially cause kidney failure … Good times. *drips with sarcasm*). 

My instincts told me that I should try playing around with diet and lifestyle to initiate healing. I figured I didn’t have anything to lose – except perhaps a kidney (or two) and the 2% liver function that remained.

I believe the term we use here is YOLO?

Well fork-me-dead and bury me pregnant (not literally, you guys, it’s an expression)! As it happens, the answer to my conundrum was nutritional medicine. The more I tweaked and improved my diet, the faster I healed. After a few years, I was medication-free and in remission, and in August 2019 I received the clean bill of health: a fully regenerated liver!

Boom Shakalaka!

Altering my diet genuinely saved my life. I know this sounds cliched (though I suppose cliches are cliches for a reason?). I also appreciate that some people scoff at the idea of food being “medicine” (I think at one point I may have been one of them). To those people (and my childhood self), I say this: if we expect tiny pills to make us better, how can we NOT believe that the food we consume – in MUCH LARGER doses – isn’t going to make a (MUCH LARGER) difference?

I had always been interested in health and LOVED cooking, but after seeing the dramatic impact that food was having on my quality of life, I became a full-on “talks about gut bacteria at brunch”, “considers the health food store their happy place” health nerd. My favourite pastime quickly became addressing my hallway mirror – pretending that I was doing a nutrition segment on The Morning Show … or when I really let myself dream: Oprah – about fascinating topics such as: bananas boosting mood, green tea supporting liver detoxification, and [my personal fave]: the ways in which probiotics and slow cooked stews lubricate the bowel (the fact that this is one of my favourite things to teach people about says a lot about who I am as a person).

All I wanted to do in life was educate (with a comedic flare) so that my community could discover the power of food and habit change.

Now, before you give me the side eye and say “it’s not all about food“, please know that I certainly don’t discount sunshine strolls, laughter-filled catch-ups and regular exercise as integral pieces of of the life-sustaining puzzle. These glorious pastimes can be equally as important as what we choose to masticate – that’s not a typo for a suggestive word that seldom needs explaining btw . . . masticate literally means ‘chew’.

Anyway, all of this passion and enthusiasm lead me to earn my Bachelor of Health Science majoring in Nutritional and Dietetic Medicine upon graduating high school. To compliment this – though it certainly wasn’t a part of the initial plan – I ended up writing my first book ‘Periods, Poo & A Glorious You’ whilst completing my final year of university.

My message is simple. We can enjoy food and benefit from it at the same time. Food can sustain us or deplete us, delight us or depress us.

We all deserve to know this.

Real food is where it’s at. More produce and less packets (as well as an awareness of chemical exposure and the merits of choosing natural personal care products). Although I did fall for restrictive protocols at certain points (I feel like we all do; the internet is an overwhelming place), the most impactful and sustainable action I took was simply choosing whole foods. I don’t credit any one ‘diet’ to my results but rather an ever-evolving selection of Mamma Nature’s treasure chest.

As the blog archives reveal, I have tried different eating patterns over my lifetime for various medicinal purposes. At times, I was gung-ho and naïve, jumping in before understanding the magnitude of what I was in for. At other (more successful) times, I let my intuition guide me.

These gastronomical adventures taught me to individualise my diet and keep it enjoyable (hello gut-loving self saucing chocolate pudding from Periods, Poo & A Glorious You). We needn’t suffer deprivation on our quest to optimal health, and we have the right to evolve our diets and lifestyles as our needs and interests change. The human body is not a calculator or static equation but rather an organic and dynamic vehicle that we call home. My mission is to help you know and understand how to best nourish yours. This is how I work, teach and vibe.

I marry health with humour and science with soul.

I bring a candid lightness to serious topics and make intricacies easy to understand. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that we can find our own ways of making health fun and sustainable. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. The joy of this freedom puts us in the driver’s seat of our lives.