Harmony Healing - Nourish & Balance

24/09/2025

Why is our gut bacteria so important?

- it supports our immunity and nervous system by protecting our gut wall. Good bacteria help to maintain the integrity of the barrier between our intestines and our bloodstream, making sure that only the right nutrients and helpful chemicals get through. If this barrier is compromised, larger molecules and bacteria can get through in error and this is how food intolerances and inflammation start. These inflammatory chemicals can affect any part of the body and also cross the blood brain barrier.

What damages it?

- excess sugar, sweets, artificial sweeteners, alcohol, drugs, smoking, consuming food like products and refined carbohydrates in excess. It all damages the good guys and promotes the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria that produce inflammatory chemicals.

We can change our gut bacteria very quickly by changing our diet. Just a couple of weeks of eating real food - good quality proteins and fats, fruits and vegetables and plenty of sulphur rich foods like leeks onions and garlic - will make a huge difference. Including garlic and cinnamon will help reduce any discomfort as the pathogenic bacteria die off. Cravings will greatly reduce and your appetite will settle. You will have more energy and vitality. You will be calmer and start to sleep better. Bowel habits will normalise. Excess bloating and water retention will reduce. There are no downsides, only improved health and wellbeing.

Feel like you need a reset? The first few days are challenging as your body starts to adjust but this is short lived if you stick to real food. This works. Trust yourself and start to nurture your body. You are worth it ❤️

22/09/2025

Sharing this inspiring podcast with my beautiful friend Sinead, founder of Sacred Pathways Shamanism. It was a pleasure to share part of our journeys into Shamanism together. She is a true Shaman, a beautiful soul and an all round fabulous human ❤️

Hello Inner You · Episode

21/09/2025

Did you know that cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower are calcium rich foods? Also beans, pulses and nuts? Mainstream dietary information would have you believe that consuming dairy products is the only way to get enough calcium in your diet. This isn’t the case at all. If you are struggling with inflammation or hormonal issues, particularly estrogen dominance, dairy can be problematic as it contains high amounts of growth hormones. It can be a contributory factor to constipation too as it slows down bowel mobility in adults and particularly young children. This can be a sign of intolerance as the body struggles to break down one of the two types of casein (protein) present in cows milk. Goats milk may be a better choice if this is the case as it is far more digestible. Also, for the body to absorb calcium we need vitamin D. As we move into Autumn here in Ireland, our ability to naturally synthesise vitamin D from sun exposure stops, so it’s a good idea to get your levels checked and supplement if necessary. You will be supporting your immunity too as we head into the winter months.

05/09/2025

I can’t believe it was 8 years ago that I wrote this! Time flies. Please have a read. The information is very relevant today and worth a reshare. The needs of the body haven’t changed but we have even more stresses in our lives now than ever before. Stress isn’t just caused by emotional circumstances, we are also bombarded with chemicals, and electromagnetic stress that hugely affect our nervous systems. We must look after our mental health and do everything we can to support ourselves.

http://foodforlifent.blogspot.com/2017/09/how-stress-affects-body-and-what-you.html?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR6dviSFpifZ3oKF2ZeEhuipe3mACXQrIDoFw5j6yE6a3_8acCC514JAW6G0pQ_aem_tL9tu3pp5pQUE7evm99v3A&m=1

How Stress Affects The Body and What You Can Do to Help If you are depressed or unhappy it affects every aspect of your life. Ev...

03/09/2025

Autumn has arrived🥳. My most favourite season 🧡. Anyone else feeling a strong shift in energies? A shift in vibration? Not subtle at all. Like instantly tuning the radio from heavy metal music to gentle classical piano or strings? Or is it just me?😂

For as many years as I can remember, complete relaxation has eluded me. Now, with this particular change in season, I feel an innate call to stop, to breathe deeply and release. And to nurture myself like never before. For the first time in years, I am really appreciating how it feels to deeply relax without feeling like I need to be doing something. It’s been a long road to get here (photo reference ☺️)

I’m feeling very grateful and loving the feeling of this new Autumn energy🍂🧡🧡

02/09/2025

Want to know how Systematic Kinesiology can take the guess work out of finding out which foods are best for your body (and those that aren’t helping you)? I can help!

I asked my body what it wanted for breakfast this morning and this is what it said 😊. It wasn’t the breakfast I had in mind but I know that for this morning, this is the perfect start to the day for me and all the cells in my body are very happy 🥰.

When we can remove the foods that drive inflammation and provide our bodies with the nutrition it needs, the healing process begins and EVERYTHING gets better. The body does not heal in isolation 🥰

23/08/2025

Greek Yoghurt with organic blueberries, almonds, cinnamon and grated raw cacao.

As well as supporting my body with amazing nutrition this morning, I’m also saving on the washing up by using the pot as my bowl 😄.

Nutrition snapshot - just a short overview of the main ways that these foods support us - there are many more benefits.

Cinnamon - blood sugar regulation, cardiovascular support, healthy cholesterol production, anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial - helps neutralise unhelpful gut bacteria.

Blueberries - super high in antioxidants and polyphenols which protect our cells and reduce damage, High in vitamins C + K, supports brain function, won’t spike blood sugar and high in fibre.

Raw Cacao - High in antioxidants and flavonoids, protects against cell damage, promotes blood flow and blood pressure, cardio protective, boosts mood, contains amino acid tryptophan - precursor to melatonin and serotonin our sleep and happy hormones. Great source of magnesium, iron, potassium and zinc.

Almonds - high in vitamin E, calcium, magnesium, b vitamins particularly riboflavin (B2) which supports the production of many enzymes and metabolic co factors. Healthy fat source. Also high in essential amino acid tryptophan (see cacao above)

Greek Yoghurt - high in protein, essential for whole body maintenance and repair, high in essential amino acid Leucine, which is part of a group of special branch chained amino acids that repair and build muscle after exercise. Also promotes stable blood sugar and contains probiotics for a healthy gut, calcium, and potassium.

❤️Food is Medicine❤️

22/08/2025

Beautiful watercress salad with broccoli sprouts, beetroot, celery, cucumber tomatoes and a lemon and olive oil dressing.

This is perfect paired with lamp chops, a steak or chicken. The bitterness of the watercress and the lemon juice will stimulate the release of digestive enzymes and the lemon juice will also aid the absorption of iron and other minerals from the meal as it’s high in vitamin C!

Broccoli sprouts contain enzymes and the nutrients sulphurophane and indole 3 carbinole that help the body make non inflammatory hormones and destroy cancer cells. Beetroot is high in antioxidants, potassium, manganese and other minerals as well as folic acid. Celery is a prebiotic food that feeds our good gut bacteria and it also contains many trace minerals that perform hundreds of functions in the body. Cucumber is loaded with electrolytes which help to maintain proper hydration and also calms inflammation. Cold pressed extra virgin olive oil is an extremely beneficial fat source high in antioxidants and polyphenols that are cardio protective and anti inflammatory. Food is Medicine ❤️

21/08/2025

Said no Nutritionist ever 🤣

19/08/2025

Here I have Organic Beef Bone Broth jelly and tallow. Pressure cooked organic beef bones and stock vegetables and garden herbs (onion, celery, carrot, oregano, chive, rosemary, tarragon). Gut healing and great for supporting bone, tendon and ligament health.

17/08/2025

Cashew Nut and Blueberry Bliss Balls

These are so healthy and tasty and really satisfying for a sweet tooth.

Cashew nuts contain niacin (vitamin B3) which is super supportive to our nervous system and ‘happy’ hormone production.

Dates are high in fibre and iron and other minerals and trace minerals.

Blueberries are extremely high in antioxidants which help repair and reduce damage to our cells.

Recipe…

200g raw cashew nuts
150g organic pitted dates
75g organic blueberries
Few drops vanilla extract
Desiccated coconut for coating

Throw everything except the coconut into a food processor and blend until mixed but still has texture, as photo illustrates

Put desiccated coconut into a bowl

Spoon out mixture and create 12 medium sized balls, and roll and coat each one in the coconut.

Keep in the fridge.

You’re welcome 😊