Avani Natural Health - Nutrition & Yoga

30/11/2021

Give the gift of health 🤍

Here are my top picks for your loved ones this holiday season 🎁 because when your loved ones feel good, you feel good 🥰

Kiki eye mask. This is made from beautiful silk for the sensitive eye area with a unique pattern
butti Copper tongue scraper. This is the gift that keeps on giving. Once you start, you’ll wonder how you lived without it!

calming jojoba moisturiser. This works for all skin types. It’s 100% natural and effective. Unscented so a safe choice for everyone.

what is better than a good nights sleep? I have found this sleep tracker to be pretty darn accurate. Help your loved one be in a good mood everyday!

A consult with a nutritionist/ naturopath/ acupuncturist. What is better than the gift of empowering someone to take control of their own health

10/11/2021

A couple stretches for your hump day 🤍
These 3 are particularly juicy if you’ve been sitting at a desk all day. Tight hips are necks are all too common!

The beauty of all of these is that you can do them while winding down in front of Netflix if you need 📺

22/09/2021

Have you ever thought about the time between your last meal and when you go to bed?

The timing of your last meal can affect how quickly you fall asleep.

In the evening, our body prepares itself for rest and fasting. Consuming large/heavy meals too close to bed can delay & affect these processes, resulting in increased sleep latency (time to sleep).

Here are 3 reasons why eating close to bedtime can disturb sleep:

* Digestion of food increases our core body temperature by approx. 2°C. This conflicts with the need for our body to drop 1°C in order to fall asleep. So long as our body temperature is elevated, falling asleep is going to be difficult. Having fully finished digesting our last meal before bedtime allows our body to cool down & enter sleep easily.

* Having a greater distance between your last meal and laying down decreases your risk of reflux/ GERD. Undigested food is more likely to cause gastrointestinal discomfort, which can stop you from falling asleep.

* Our gut is often referred to as “the second brain”. The two are connected by the gut-brain axis (vagus nerve). On an energetic level, whilst the gut is active (digesting), the brain will also stay active. It may be harder to quiet the mind while the gut is hard at work.

Ideally, we’d finish eating our last meal at least 2 -3 hours before bed. This allows enough time for our stomach to empty, which can take up to 4 hours.

If you’re having trouble falling asleep, or waking up tired, it may be worthwhile to consider how your meals are timed throughout the day.

In the morning / afternoon we are more active, therefore our body has a greater opportunity to digest and burn off the calories that we have consumed. Therefore, having larger meals earlier in the day, and a smaller/ lighter meal in the evening can alleviate pressure from the digestive system & improve sleep outcomes.

If it’s not possible to finish your last meal 2-3 hours before bed, consider eating easy to digest foods that will spend shorter periods in the stomach for your last meal.

For personalised nutrition/ sleep support, please reach out

Sleep well

13/09/2021

Let’s get our sleep basics right.

Here’s 5 reminders to improve the quality of your sleep:

⏰ Be regular. It’s unrealistic to expect that sleep will just happen if you go to bed. Your mind/ body need time to wind down, which is best achieved when we consistently wake up and go to bed at the same time (even on weekends😱). I suggest having a “sleep alarm” approx 90min before bedtime to start winding down.

🏃‍♀️ Sweat. Sitting down all day can leave you with too much energy stores. Esp if you’re now WFH, your incidental exercise(eg. making your way to work, stepping out for lunch, walking over to your colleagues desk) may have all but disappeared. Schedule movement every single day.

☕️ Watch how much and when you’re consuming caffeine. Feelings of languishing or monotony in lockdown might have you reaching for some extra stimulation in the form of caffeine. Get real with how much you’re consuming and when.

📱 Get👏off👏your👏phone! Easier said than done, I’m guilty myself. Ideally we’d get off our phones when our wind down alarm goes off, but if you must, reduce anxiety driving content, and pleaaaase get some high quality blue blockers 😎

🚿 Cool down. Our core body temperature needs to drop in order to fall asleep with ease. Take a hot shower about 90min before bed. I’ll explain this further next week!

Tag a friend who needs to catch some 💤 s

03/09/2021

One of the biggest complaints that I get as a nutritionist is “my digestion is not quite right”. Common complaints vary from reflux, gas, constipation, loose bowels, bloating, to simply “it just doesn’t feel right”.

All of these are valid concerns, and having constant discomfort, or fear of not knowing whether a meal is going to trigger your symptoms is really disruptive to living life with ease. This is particularly distressing to those who “eat clean” or “have a good diet”.

So what is could be contributing to these issues and can it be resolved?

Head to the blog to see one of the factors which may be disturbing your gut function.

Happy Friday! 🎉

29/08/2021

How does caffeine actually work?☕️

Caffeine doesn’t actually “wake you up”. It keeps us alert by blocking adenosine receptors, a molecule that drives sleep pressure (AKA sleepiness).
From the moment we wake up, adenosine continues to build up in our bodies, and as the day goes on, our sleep pressure continues to increase until sleep pressure signals to us that it’s time to go to bed.

Caffeine has a half life of 5-7 hours (the time it takes to halve the drug in our body), and once the caffeine is fully cleared from our system, we are not unfortunately back to where we started.
The adenosine which was not able to previously attach to its receptors thanks to caffeine is still present, along with all the extra accumulated adenosine during the time the caffeine was present.
You may have experienced the crash/ wave of sleepiness when your coffee has worn off, which is the adenosine claiming its place.

Whilst it’s tempting to reach for that second coffee/ stimulant, I would urge you to switch it over to a non caffeinated beverage, especially if it is after 11am.
To have a proper deep sleep, it is best for all the caffeine we have consumed during the day to be cleared from our body. This helps support deep / REM sleep, meaning better immune function, greater alertness (potentially less caffeine), better memory and more.

If you really can’t resist, try a non caffeinated nootropic like lion’s mane which has cognitive enhancing effects. And if you need to to fool yourself for a coffee (I love a good placebo!) try it with some

11/08/2021

Are you just “here for the Savasana”?💆🏻‍♀️

I get it, I have those days too. These days, quality rest is turning into a precious commodity. Even after a weekend of “doing nothing” we are still left feeling tired and unrelaxed. This is because true mental rest comes when we divert our attention from outwards to inwards.

What if I told you that I have a practice for you and you can lay in Savasana the whole time- yes, really!

Yoga Nidra is a type of yoga practice which helps relax body and mind by accessing deeper layers of your conscious mind, all from laying in Savasana.

Sound interesting? I’d love for you to try my free intro to Yoga Nidra on This is the first of a series of 8 classes, each of which will go deeper into the mind.
You can also find a blog post with a bit more detail on this practice, and a video on how to set up via the link in my bio.

Happy Savasana everyone! 💆🏻‍♀️ Let me know how you go!

29/06/2021

I honestly cannot imagine living without my tongue scraper 👅
First thing in the morning (before drinking / eating) place it at the back of your tongue and draw down allllll that slick (toxins) that have come out overnight. It’s really hard to unsee and you’ll wonder how you ever walked around without cleaning your tongue!
This is an Ayurvedic practice that has been around for centuries. Not only is it great for detox, it’s said to help us taste out food better too, helping us make better food choices.
Tap to grab one for yourself and maybe your partner too 😝

28/06/2021

Real food doesn’t have an ingredient list…. It is ingredients! 🥦

One of the biggest complaints that I get as a nutritionist is “my digestion is not quite right”. Common complaints vary from reflux, gas, constipation, loose bowels, bloating, to simply “it just doesn’t feel right”.

All of these are valid concerns, and having constant discomfort, or fear of not knowing whether a meal is going to trigger your symptoms is really disruptive to living life with ease. This is particularly distressing to those who “eat clean” or “have a good diet”.

So what is causing these issues and how do you get rid of them?

Head to my website to read about one sneaky reason your digestion could be off.

Desk side concentration thanks to cognitive support

19/10/2020

Japanese inspired lunch on repeat with my fav in-season okra and broad beans 💚

I find people either love or hate okra for its slimey consistency. This in fact, helps soothe the digestive tract and I’ve started seeing it pop up in gut-healing supplements. A real superfood IMO.

Head to my website to find the recipe. If you don’t love okra, this will convert you. Promise 😋

12/10/2020

I’m the type of person who goes to bed excited thinking about my morning cup of coffee ☕️ There’s just something so enjoyable about the morning ritual-the aroma, the time out, the warmth. That being said, every couple of months I do the unthinkable and I take a break from coffee. Sounds horrible, right?
Well, perhaps not when you consider the health benefits.
I’ve written a blog post for any fellow addicts with my top 5 reasons to take a break from coffee.
In the meantime, I’ll be sipping on my favourite coffee replacement from Believe it or not, this actually tastes better than coffee (never thought I would say that!)

30/09/2020

Your mid-week reminder to turn it upside down and get your legs up the wall.
There’s just something so soothing about taking this posture at the end of the day.
Legs up the wall helps with
•boosting circulation to your organs
•reduce swelling in legs and feet
•relieve tired legs
•facilitates venous / lymphatic drainage
•RELAXATION
Give it a go?

17/09/2020

If you have time to Netflix, you have time to stretch!
I created a TV stretch guide for you to include some stretching into a busy day while unwinding 🧘🏻‍♀️
These postures can all be done while keeping your eyes glued to the telly so you won’t miss a thing.
What you’ll get:
A PDF with 12x screen friendly yoga postures downloadable to your device and printable.
Find it in on my website.
Happy stretching!

13/09/2020

Magical blueberries💙 just one cup a day has been shown to improve cognition in older adults, improve memory in adults and improve mood in children (juiced).
This could be because blueberries improve brain signalling, thanks to their high antioxidant capabilities- just look at their colour😍
With that, hold the milk 🤚🥛 A 2009 study showed that consuming blueberries with milk inhibited the antioxidant properties of the berries!
Yoghurt wasn’t part of the trial, but I suspect it would have a similar effect as the inhibition is due to an interaction with milk/ dairy proteins.
I usually suggest eating fruit on its own, away from other foods where possible for better digestion. If not, try using a dairy free yoghurt to get the most of your morning berries 💙

13/09/2020

As we’ve all retreated home this year, you may have found yourself practicing yoga in your living room instead of the studio. This shift has set us up to explore self practice, perhaps for the first time ever.

A self-practice is when we practice by ourselves, without a teacher guiding us through the practice. For me, self-practice is my deepest practice, when I experience true yoga, an inward journey.

Find my tips on how you can develop a self practice on my website- link in bio

09/09/2020

My go-to breakfast and snack- Banana oat cookies 🍪🍌
Now, I wish I had an exact recipe for you because they are just so darn good, but every time I make these I seem to change it up a bit (hands up if you can’t follow a recipe🙋🏻‍♀️)
So, here’s a rough idea of what I’m doing.
Ingredients:
1.5 cup oats
2-3 very soft bananas
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon chia seeds
Pinch of salt
Optional- maple syrup

Method:
Mash the bananas in a bowl.
Add all other ingredients and mix through.
Cover and let sit for 10-15mins so the chia expands and binds everything together.
Line a baking tray and shape mixture into cookies.
Bake at 160c for about 15mins / until golden
Allow to cool and enjoy 😋

08/09/2020

It’s been a while coming, but I’m happy to share with you my new website. A place where I’ll be sharing information about nutrition, yoga and general well-being 🌿 along with some products to help you with your health journey! I hope you love it as much as I do!
www.avaninaturalhealth.com.au

18/08/2020

Flow with me! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJh-70abiU4

Sweat with .butti and her 30 minute power yoga session. 🧘🏻‍♀️ ⠀ Have fun, take care and ALWAYS seek medical advice if you have any concerns. You’ve got ...