Section 1

BEAUTY BEGINS FROM WITHIN

‘THE CURE OF MANY DISEASES IS UNKNOWN TO PHYSICIANS BECAUSE THEY ARE IGNORANT OF THE WHOLE. FOR THE PART CAN NEVER BE WELL UNLESS THE WHOLE IS WELL.’ Plato

THE GROWTH OF NATURAL MEDICINE

The field of natural medicine has enjoyed a huge surge in popularity in recent years, making it an extremely exciting area to be a part of. When I began studying nutritional biochemistry, I noticed the lack of understanding amongst my friends and family of the role that food has in making us look, feel and function better. Fast forward almost half a decade and so many more people are paying attention to the type and quality of food that they’re eating. Enormous bodies of scientific research now show us that the power to live your whole life free from modern lifestyle diseases such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes starts on your plate.

Functional medicine is about treating illness with natural therapies while focusing on promoting health and well-being. It looks at diet, lifestyle and prevention rather than cure. It sees the patient as a whole rather than as a series of organs and autonomous systems. It also treats the mind and body as connected rather than separate entities and gives the patient the ability to make their own healthcare choices.

The most powerful healing force in the universe is nature itself in its ability to restore and overcome disease. In 1995, Dr Caldwell Esselstyn published his benchmark long-term nutrition study that showed that heart disease in severely ill patients could be halted and reversed by putting them on a low-fat, whole foods, plant-based diet. It demonstrated the self-healing power of the human body under ideal conditions. Since natural medicine is so effective at preventing disease rather than just suppressing symptoms, as modern medicine tends to do, I firmly believe that there is a great need for natural medicine to become more widespread than conventional medicine. There are more natural therapies gaining respect in mainstream medicine now than ever before, as it is clear that scientific evidence of the efficiency of natural medicine is solid.

I will be approaching the body and your health in a holistic way in this book, which may be a little different to the mainstream perspective that you’re used to. I will also talk about beauty and health either together or separately, but one is not possible without the other. True beauty from the inside out comes from a healthy and optimally functioning body. Glowing skin, glossy hair and a lean, strong body for life will not be achieved without being in the best health possible.

PLANT-BASED NUTRITION

I write a lot in this book about whole foods, plant-based nutrition and eating, rather than a vegetarian or vegan diet. The word vegan in particular can be a loaded word with all sorts of associations and connotations. Vegans have often been targeted in the media and popular culture for being particularly outspoken and proactive about their beliefs. I try not to be like that and tend to only answer a question on nutrition when asked rather than questioning what’s on other people’s plates. I feel that leading by positive example is the best way to help people to change to a healthier lifestyle. I have successfully encouraged family, friends and clients to consider alternative options for commonly problematic foods like wheat and sugar, as I could see that they were harming their health.

There is so much scientific evidence to support a whole foods, plant-based diet that it could easily fill three books. I will mention the results of some of the most significant studies, which must be the gold standard double-blind and peer-reviewed to be considered of real significance to the world of nutrition and health research. Large food corporations can and have funded studies that are designed to favour their desired outcome, so it’s important to make sure that sources of information are genuinely honest and do not have an ulterior motive.

LOOKING TO EVOLUTION FOR ANSWERS

All animals are categorised as herbivore, omnivore or carnivore based on what they need to eat by their very make-up, rather than what they can eat in their part of the world. Humans are categorised as omnivores and are known to have evolved as hunter-gatherers. This knowledge is based on the evidence we have, both anatomical and historical. Indeed, our digestive systems are able to cope with meat, but evidence shows that plant foods are far more digestible than animal protein. Rather than looking at the foods we all like to eat in the modern world, it’s better to look to the animal kingdom and our evolution for answers. Our closest relative genetically is the primate, which eats primarily fruit, blossoms and leafy greens and a much smaller amount of bark, seeds and insects. We share approximately 99.4% of our DNA sequence with the chimpanzee, more than any other animal in the world.

OUR PHYSICAL MAKE-UP

Human saliva contains the enzyme amylase, which begins the chemical process of breaking down carbohydrates from starch to sugars. As animal protein foods are almost devoid of carbs, this enzyme is designed for digesting plant foods. Moving down the body, our long digestive tract further favours plants. Our stomachs are created by nature to best digest plant foods, as they have a far lower concentration of stomach acid than that of a carnivore. Lions, tigers and other meat-eaters have at least 10 times the level of stomach acid that we do, enabling them to easily digest the high amount of tough meat fibres that comprise their diet. Our liver, an extremely important organ for detoxing our blood, processing the food we eat and synthesising vitamins, is not well able to tolerate uric acid. Uric acid is produced when animal protein is digested and is one of the reasons why animal protein foods are said to be acid-forming when we talk about the acid-alkaline balance for optimal health.

Carnivores’ livers, on the other hand, contain urate oxidase, an enzyme needed for the breakdown of uric acid. The carnivorous liver is 15 times more able than a human’s liver to break down the uric acid produced from protein metabolism.

Our intestines are about 12 times as long as our trunk. Since plant foods move through our gut much more quickly than meat due to their high fibre content, we need plenty of area for absorbing all of those beneficial vitamins and minerals for our health and beauty. The gorilla, also a natural plant-eater, has a similarly long intestine. In contrast, carnivorous animals have a much shorter intestine. It’s only about three times the length of their body so that the meat they eat can speedily move through their system, avoiding toxic build-up and poisons. Just imagine the heat in our intestines and what must happen to the meat a human eats as it slowly moves through that long digestive tract. It begins to putrefy and rot, allowing harmful toxins and acidic by-products to leak into the bloodstream. Nature cleverly designed the gut of lions and tigers to avoid such problems.

Vitamin C helps to build up our immune system, preventing colds and flu. That’s just one of the many essential jobs of the vitamin that we all associate with oranges, strawberries and kiwis. Humans must eat enough vitamin C daily for good health. As it’s a water-soluble vitamin, it isn’t stored in the liver or tissues. While humans must eat plenty of plants daily for their vitamin C, carnivores are designed to make all the vitamin C they need daily in their own bodies.

THE IDEAL HUMAN DIET

Leading nutrition expert and author Dr T. Colin Campbell, who has decades of scientific research behind him, summarised the ideal diet for humans: eat whole, plant-based foods that are as natural as they can possibly be, to include a wide range of vegetables, fruits, beans and legumes, raw nuts and seeds and whole grains. Your body will do the work for you once you’re feeding it the most nourishing foods, and the more plant foods you eat, the greater nutritional punch they will pack. There are absolutely no nutrients found in animal products that are not found in abundance in plant foods.

You don’t have to become a full vegetarian to enjoy the many benefits of plant-based foods for your beauty, energy, weight management and general health. Your reasons for including meat, poultry and eggs in your diet may be for the taste, convenience, traditional or family reasons. My role is simply to explain why we’re designed by nature to favour a diet high in whole plant foods, beginning with our digestive system.

A HEALTHY DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

‘Digestion is one of the most delicately balanced of all human and perhaps angelic functions.’ MFK Fisher

The phrase ‘beauty begins from within’ may be mentioned a lot in popular culture, but it couldn’t be a more truthful statement when it comes to building the most beautiful you. Achieving clear and glowing skin, strong nails, glossy hair, bundles of energy and your ideal body weight are all deeply dependent on the health of your digestive system. Your intestines form a barrier between the outside world and your blood, cells, tissues, systems, brain and bones. Your entire body is dependent on the nutrients absorbed through the walls of your gut. To gain the best nutritional benefits from the food you eat, it’s essential that it’s properly digested, absorbed and eliminated. You could eat the best-quality food in the world, but if you’re not absorbing it properly, much of it will be wasted.

You’re not what you eat – you’re what you absorb! The nutrients from your food must reach every cell in your body to build healthy new cells. The primary job of the gastrointestinal system is to break down and absorb nutrients from food. This process is efficient in humans, as our gut is lined with millions of tiny villi and microvilli contained in circular folds, which are responsible for absorbing the nutrients we eat and enabling absorption by the bloodstream.

Food stays in the stomach from about 45 minutes to four hours, depending on the type of food it is. Fruit takes the least time to digest, while fats and heavy proteins take much longer. No absorption happens in the stomach, apart from simple sugars, alcohol and drugs. That’s why booze hits your system so quickly after drinking it and why certain people develop ‘beer bellies’.

DIGESTIVE ENERGY

Most of the energy produced in your body each day goes into breaking down your meals and snacks so that you can absorb their nutrients and make more energy for tomorrow’s activities. Have you ever felt suddenly woozy and tired after a large, heavy meal, so much so that you needed a short nap? Christmas dinner is notorious for it! Digestion is what can cause your body to age faster and your beauty to diminish, but if treated properly, it can also help you to reach your highest state of beauty and health for life. The Eat Yourself Beautiful plan is designed to maximise your digestive ability, but also to minimise the amount of energy that is used to digest your food so that your energy is free to be used in healing your body and regenerating your cells.

The cells in your body are literally made from the food you eat, and how well you absorb your food and the efficiency with which you digest it makes a big difference to the speed at which you will age. Your facial cells, for example, are completely renewed about every month and a half to two months. Most of the cells in your body are totally regenerated within the space of a year. Some cells, such as bones, can take a lot longer to renew themselves, but every seven years we are completely new people, from the top of our heads to the tips of our toes. That’s pretty extraordinary! Luckily for us, it also means that if we have had less than ideal health habits in our lives, we can still reverse much of the damage done and heal our body. Years of unhealthy food choices, environmental pollutants, chemicals and preservatives and other toxins gradually build up over time and contribute to the ageing process. Unfortunately, time simply passing also makes a difference to the speed our bodies work at and the ease with which we can maintain weight. As children and teenagers, and even into our twenties, it seems that we can eat what we please and never have to worry. But as time moves on, toxicity and waste can build up in our bodies, making it increasingly difficult to manage our weight, metabolism and energy levels.

Excess weight, puffiness around your eyes, spots, dry skin and hair, brittle nails, poor sleep, low energy and even wrinkles and fine lines can all be rectified when you move towards a more nourishing and healing way of eating and living. There are no magic fixes for optimal health, and perfection is not what should be strived for all the time. You need to live a little too! But moving consistently in the right direction is what will make the biggest difference to how you look and feel. It’s a lot more cost effective to eat well now than to spend a fortune on treatments, supplements and even doctor appointments in the future.

THE ALKALINE-ACID BALANCE

Following the principles of alkaline eating and maintaining a favourable balance in your cells, tissues and organs is an important aspect of good nutrition and avoiding early ageing, weight gain and disease. Acidity and alkalinity are measured according to the pH scale, which ranges from 0 to 14. With a pH of 7.0, water is neutral. The human body prefers a slightly alkaline pH of between 7.35 and 7.45. All of the food that you eat, when digested, leaves either an acidic or an alkaline residue in your bloodstream, depending on the type of minerals it contains.

It can be hard to know which foods are acidic and which are alkaline because their taste doesn’t give much away about what they’ll leave in your body once metabolised. Acidic-tasting lemons and limes actually become alkalising once they are broken down in your body. A glass of cow’s milk will show up as having an alkaline pH if tested, but when it is digested in your body it leaves a high acidic residue. In fact, all animal products, including dairy, meat, eggs, poultry and fish, leave an acidic residue in your blood. That’s just another of the many health risks of popular high-protein diets like Atkins and the Zone Diet.

Using the Eat Yourself Beautiful recipes, your body will naturally become flooded with a huge amount of alkaline minerals to cleanse your blood and tissues. But nobody can be perfect all the time, and occasional treats are part of what makes healthy eating more enjoyable. If you do end up eating a large amount of very acidic foods, such as dairy, meat or refined sugar, then your body will be faced with a race against time to maintain its favoured alkaline blood pH before it drops too low. It must prioritise dealing with the sudden rise in blood acidity, which can cause alkaline minerals like calcium to be leached from your skeleton to act as a buffer and return your blood pH back to its preferred alkalinity. Other alkaline minerals, like potassium and magnesium, that help to keep you healthy and beautiful can also be lost or reduced. It’s okay to eat some acidic foods, as it can be difficult to always maintain the balance, but your health will flourish and your detoxification system will work best under alkaline conditions.

HEALTHY BONES NEED EXERCISE

Fruit and veggies help to sweep toxic material from your intestines, build clean, nutrient-rich blood and healthy skin, nails and hair. But what actually matters even more for bone health is exercise. Some of us are crazy about all things fitness, while others may have successfully dodged PE throughout school and have no intention of breaking into a sweat these days. But I promise you that one of the single best things you can do for your bones and your overall health and beauty is to move your body. A huge number of studies have clearly shown that physical fitness is a primary determinant of bone density. Just doing one hour of exercise three times a week prevents bone loss and can even increase bone mass in women postmenopause.

Walking, which is simple and free, is one of the very best types of exercise for maintaining healthy bone mass. Others include tennis, dancing, weight lifting and aerobics. I personally love Pilates, weight training and cardiovascular exercise like running and cycling for staying healthy and in shape. The news for those who don’t love to exercise is pretty grim, however. A sedentary lifestyle has been shown to result in a significant negative calcium balance through urinary and faecal calcium loss.

RAW FOODS ARE BEAUTY FOODS

When I first changed my entire approach to food and began eating a whole foods, plant-based diet, I included a lot of raw foods. These were mainly veggies, nuts, seeds, coconut, sprouted lentils and beans, and loads of leafy greens. It took some creativity and a different mindset at first, but now I naturally lean towards raw foods most of the time because I find that they really boost my energy, are easier to digest than cooked foods and I never get that heavy, full feeling after eating. I rarely eat a fully cooked meal without a green salad or some chopped raw veggies first.

Raw foods are best for weight loss, as most are low in calories, fat and sodium and high in water and fibre to keep you feeling full. Aiming to make up to 80% of your diet full of these foods will bring about the very best health and beauty results.

The best type of raw foods you can eat are those grown organically, and the ripest fruit and vegetables contain the most vitamins and enzymes. Frozen raw fruit and vegetables are the next best option if fresh are unavailable, and many of the enzymes and nutrients remain intact if they’re frozen soon after they’re picked.

SPROUTED FOODS

I’m a big fan of sprouting seeds, beans, legumes and grains in a sprouting jar on my kitchen windowsill. They’re teeming with enzymes, essential vitamins, minerals and all the nutrients needed for a plant to grow, which is why they’re so beneficial to us. Sprouts are also extremely alkaline, fibre rich and full of chlorophyll for healthy, oxygenated blood. I love to eat a big handful of them in a raw wrap for lunch or mix them into salads. Some people have trouble digesting beans, but raw sprouted beans are much easier to digest due to their living enzyme content.

LIVING ENZYMES

Many nutrition and natural medicine experts recommend including as many raw foods in your diet as possible because the living enzymes naturally present in raw food actually lend themselves to the digestive process in your body. Raw nuts, for instance, contain enzymes that help them to be digested in your body, but in roasted nuts, those enzymes become denatured and then die. Eating raw foods means that your system doesn’t have to provide all of the enzymes needed for digestion itself. This is great news for building your health and beauty. Energy is freed up to work on other areas of your body, like repairing damaged skin cells.

The foods I recommend in the Eat Yourself Beautiful plan are full of the minerals needed in almost all of your body’s biochemical processes. Enzymes are important because they act as the stimulant for hundreds of different reactions in your body, such as the creation of collagen to keep skin firm, plump and youthful. Living enzymes found in raw foods are also important for absorbing and incorporating the minerals you eat to build your glowing health and beauty.

COOKED FOODS

Despite the numerous benefits of a diet rich in raw foods, a completely raw diet isn’t easy to maintain in colder climates and we naturally crave warming comfort foods on chilly, dark evenings. Diets that are 100% raw can also be quite high in fat, as nuts, seeds, avocados and oils are used abundantly to create dishes. These are certainly healthier choices, but they’re still rich in fat and calories and consuming too much of them will lead to weight gain. Raw food also doesn’t always agree with those with a weaker digestive system, so lightly steaming food is the better option. But it’s really important not to overcook vegetables, as they will lose important water-soluble nutrients like vitamins C and B.

There are some exceptions to the cooked food rule, as certain foods are actually better for us in their cooked form. They also provide the satiety of a heavier and more filling meal. Dinner is the best time to enjoy nourishing cooked foods like quinoa, millet, sweet potato, butternut squash, beans, lentils and lightly steamed veggies. Sweet potatoes and squash can be roasted at high temperatures, yet remain full of essential minerals and nutrients like beta-carotene for brightening your skin. Cooking tomatoes destroys their vitamin C content but increases their levels of lycopene, a powerful antioxidant. After a satisfying evening meal of cooked food, you can relax and allow the digestive process to work, whereas a heavy cooked meal in the middle of the day may compromise your energy levels for the afternoon.

THE BEAUTY OF PROBIOTICS

Literally translated as ‘for life’, probiotics like Acidophilus and Bifidobacteria are the beneficial or ‘friendly’ bacteria normally found in your digestive tract. As the name suggests, they’re absolutely essential to life. They help to digest your food properly, they prevent yeast and other ‘unfriendly’ types of bacteria from overgrowing, they create fatty acids to keep intestinal cells strong and healthy and they produce vitamin K. They’re hard-working little micro-organisms!

FRIENDLY GUT BACTERIA

There are nine times as many bacteria in your intestinal tract as there are cells in your body, so you want to ensure they’re the best type of bacteria. The number and type of bacteria in the gut really matter in beauty, health and disease. Dysbiosis occurs when the ‘unfriendly’ type begins to have damaging effects on the body because it has overtaken the levels of ‘friendly’ bacteria. It can also be caused by too much yeast, parasites or viruses. It’s an imbalance, and usually your gut bacteria keep a healthy balance of each strain, ensuring that no one strain can dominate. Some of the major reasons for developing dysbiosis include high-protein, high-fat, high-sugar or high-fat diets as well as a low-fibre diet or allergies to certain types of food. It can also be caused by stress, poor digestion, low immune system, infection or antibiotics.

ANTIBIOTICS

Antibiotics are so commonly prescribed now for all types of infections and illnesses that more and more people are developing chronic cases of dysbiosis. Problems associated with it include bloating, weight gain, acne, eczema, psoriasis and fungal nail infections as well as cravings for sugar and alcohol.

Of course, antibiotics are extremely important in certain situations, but the Center for Disease Control describes them as ‘grossly over-prescribed’. Antibiotics kill off the bad and good bacteria that keep your immune system healthy. Always follow a course of antibiotics with a course of probiotics.

PROBIOTICS FOR HEALTHY SKIN

Regular probiotic use will really help to increase nutrient absorption, smooth out your skin and clear up any pesky skin conditions, reduce bloating and excess weight, improve your hair and nails and even your mood. They’re one of the most important tools available for building a more beautiful and radiant you!

I discovered both sauerkraut and coconut water kefir, a probiotic drink, three years ago. Coconut water kefir uses the same kefir grains that are found in milk kefir, but it uses the natural sugars in coconut water to feed the bacteria instead of the sugars in milk. What you get is a slightly sour, fizzy drink that looks like lemonade. Regularly eating sauerkraut and drinking kefir remain the most powerful steps for health and good digestion that I have ever taken. They introduce a host of beneficial enzymes, minerals, vitamins and protein to your body and allow nutrients from the food you eat and digest to be much more effectively absorbed into your bloodstream and body cells to make your skin brighter, clearer and younger looking.

TOP 10 WAYS TO BEAT THE BLOAT

Many of my nutrition clients and friends complain that bloating is an issue for them, with certain foods consistently triggering it. There are a number of reasons for bloating, from food intolerances to poor digestive health and even inadequate water intake, fibre and exercise. If you are switching over to a more plant-based diet rich in fruit and veggies, then it’s perfectly normal to feel bloated for the first seven to 10 days while your system adapts to the extra fibre. It’s nothing to worry about! If the discomfort and bloating continue, you may want to investigate other possible causes.

Here are my top 10 tips to beat the bloat in just a fortnight or less.

1

FOOD INTOLERANCES

First, isolate and eliminate ‘trigger’ foods. Gluten in wheat can be particularly difficult for humans to digest and can cause an inflammatory reaction in the intestinal lining, which may lead to a ‘leaky’ gut and a spectrum of health problems, such as autoimmune diseases. If you suspect that you have an intolerance, try eliminating the food completely for 11 days. On the 12th day, eat as much as you want of that food and then monitor your symptoms over the following two to three days. If the bloating and other discomforts reappear, then it may be best to avoid that food item entirely. The elimination diet is quite a straightforward way of figuring out what food causes problems and many of my clients find it useful. Refined sugar is also a common cause of bloating, as it can encourage unfriendly bacteria and yeast overgrowth in the gut.

2

CHEW YOUR FOOD

Ensure that you’re not gulping down your food and swallowing too much air or not chewing it properly. Chew your food well, until it’s almost soupy in texture when you swallow it.

3

PROBIOTICS

Take them in capsule form or enjoy them in foods and drinks like sauerkraut, raw apple cider vinegar and coconut water kefir for their huge benefits. A healthy body should have 80-85% friendly bacteria. One of the many reasons I recommend reducing or eliminating animal protein foods is because rotting heavy proteins in our guts create the ideal breeding ground for unhealthy bacteria, creating intestinal toxaemia, accelerated ageing and a whole host of other problems. Meanwhile, good bacteria improve digestion, B vitamin synthesis in the gut and overall energy, enhance nutrient absorption to improve skin and they help to get rid of bloating.

4

TAKE DIGESTIVE ENZYMES

These can really help with digestion. Simply swallow a capsule with some water before a cooked meal and an extra one during the meal if it’s particularly heavy or high in fat or animal protein.

5

EAT MORE FIBRE

Consuming plenty of dietary fibre every day is essential for a healthy digestive system and to prevent constipation, a major cause of bloating. Whole fruits, vegetables, gluten-free whole grains, nuts, seeds and legumes are the best sources of fibre.

6

WATER AND EXERCISE

Water is essential to flush out the system and improve peristalsis in the intestine. Aim to drink 2 litres of water per day, and more if you’re exercising or during spells of hot weather. Adding a slice of lemon to your water can help enhance the flavour. Regular exercise also helps to reduce bloating, boost the action of the gut and improve lymphatic drainage.

7

EAT FRUIT ON AN EMPTY STOMACH

Avoid eating fruit after a meal because it digests faster than heavier protein and fat-rich foods, causing it to ferment and produce gases that cause bloating.

8

PREBIOTIC FOODS

Certain foods contain prebiotics, which are non-digestible elements that feed and stimulate the action of those all-important probiotics in the gut. These foods include raw bananas, chicory, leek, garlic, onion and Jerusalem artichoke. Try to include one or more of these foods in your diet every day.

9

HERBAL TEAS

Herbal teas are a wonderful replacement for caffeinated drinks and can really help to soothe or stimulate the digestive system. Try peppermint, ginger or fennel and aim to have two to three cups a day.

10

BOOST YOUR ENZYMES

Low hydrochloric acid in your stomach can occur for a number of reasons, and this may lead to bloating and digestive discomfort. Before your main meal, eat a digestion-boosting garden salad or a couple of pieces of raw pineapple or papaya. They contain bromelain and papain respectively, which have proteolytic qualities that can boost the breakdown of protein foods in the stomach. The salad is a ‘bitter’, which can also boost hydrochloric acid production.