In the late 90s, I got heavy metal poisoning (predominantly mercury, lead, and arsenic) and I was extremely ill. Most systems of my body were adversely affected and I felt compelled to find a way back to vibrant health.

This was my dark night of the soul—a long, arduous journey and one of trial and error.

As I slowly worked my way back to health, I learned a huge amount about the impact of food, nutrition, toxins, emotional baggage, relationships, thoughts and beliefs, and external (environmental) influences on health and wellbeing. Most importantly, I learned to engage in a magnificent partnership with the deepest part of my being and follow the voice within.

Together, we work towards putting the power back into your own hands—guiding you to take ownership of your health and wellness, with knowledge and intuition, in a way that is multidimensional, sustainable and empowering. Learn to read the signs of your body and to know what works best for you in supporting your optimal vitality. Become your own health expert, the alchemist of your own life.

(…and more on why keto works for me)

There is a glut of information available regarding diet, nutrition and health, and much of it is conflicting and contradictory. So what should we be eating?

I am not a fan of the conventional concept of “dieting“ and believe that it is far more about our lifestyle as a whole, rather than an eating fad for a period of time.

Think of the food you eat as the nutritional building blocks your body needs for every cellular process to take place. What you put in your mouth today is who you are becoming.

Nutrition shapes everything from the consciousness of who you are, to the metabolism in which you create health and upregulate gene function, or create inflammation and chronic disease. It is also important to remember that life, health and disease is a dynamic process, which means that food and treatment recommendations need to be assessed on a continual basis and changed accordingly.

When it comes to diet, there is no one-size-fits-all, and it is really important that each person chooses a diet that matches their individual physiology, their gene profile, geographic location and their particular disease (if they have one). There is also no diet for all seasons and our diets can change based on the seasons and what is locally available—as has been the way that humans have evolved over millenia, and how we are hardwired to eat. Quality is everything, and what we eat should be clean, whole, unprocessed foods (especially green leafy and cruciferous vegetables), and mainly plant-based.

My own personal experience has shown that overall, a low carbohydrate and/or ketogenic diet offers the most health benefits. A ketogenic diet is one that has high amounts of healthy fats (good-quality fats are vital), low to moderate amounts of high-quality protein, and minimal amounts of carbohydrates (20-50g of net carbs). We are in “ketosis” when we switch the body’s fuel source from burning glucose/sugar to burning fat.

What are the advantages of ketosis? Some of the main benefits include rapid weight loss, boosts in energy, mental clarity, less hunger, less cravings, calming inflammation in the body, and often experiencing a much more stable emotional state.

Ideally we are aiming for metabolic flexibility, which means your body uses whatever fuel is available with the capacity to easily switch between burning carbs and burning fat.

Hippocrates, the father of western medicine in 400BC, says it best: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”