As the weather heats up in Australia, so do our social lives. This time of year, brings with it a whole lot of holiday parties and festivities, lots of silliness (tis the season after all!) and of course, alcohol.

While a night out with the girls or throwing back a few bevvies with the boys may seem harmless, doing this for weeks straight can have detrimental effects on your body and wellbeing. Alcohol intake can have a run-on effect too. One glass of wine can lead to two bottles of wine, three packets of hot chips, twelve chicken nuggets and two meat-lover’s pizzas later. After such a big night, your willingness to exercise will probably reduce a whole lot the next day too. If you’re trying to have some balance in the holidays, this sounds like a recipe for disaster!

While I’m all about having a great time, excess alcohol, along with the excess food you consume because of said-alcohol, can inevitably upset the apple cart.  

Excess alcohol consumption can also lead to all sorts of health issues including inflammation, allergy, autoimmune diseases, liver conditions and weight gain.

Have you ever noticed after a night out of drinking that your stomach isn’t exactly your best friend? For more on gut health you might like to read my new book Supercharge Your Gut. Alcohol interferes with your ability to digest food. It also inhibits your ability to absorb nutrients, so even if you’re drinking green the next day to ‘repair the damage’, your body will struggle to take all the nutrients in.

And now for the big one - binge-drinking. Binge drinking, drinking lots of alcohol in a short period of time or drinking to get drunk, can lead to falls, mood problems, memory disorders, mental health issues, dreadful hangovers and unnecessary weight gain.

Don’t worry; you don’t need to choose between that bikini bod or pulling a sickie, lying in bed, watching Netflix and crying because you have to miss your work Christmas party (unless you want to, in which case, you have my blessing). You can still enjoy the festivities and the alcohol that comes with it but, if you want my advice, drink mindfully. It's good to let your hair down and not stress about missing a gym session here or there, that’s what new year’s resolutions are there for after all! Just remember that moderation is key.

Here are some of my tips for staying healthy and being mindful of your alcohol intake in the silly season.

Before a big night out, make sure to stay hydrated with water during the day. I also suggest eating something before you go out so the alcohol doesn’t go straight to your head before you even realise (I think we’re all been there) or make you hungry enough to overeat and eat and eat. I also suggest alternating each alcoholic drink with a glass of water to stay hydrated and keep your liver a little bit happier.

I know when you’re taking down shots that you need a delicious chaser to wash it down with, but I recommend avoiding soft drinks. Not only do they add to your overall calorie intake, they’re full of sugar and foreign chemicals and can make you feel even worse the next day. 

I also recommend at least 2 alcohol-free days a week. This doesn’t mean you need to put your social life on hold though. If you’re trying to reduce your alcohol intake, why don’t you meet your friends for a tea instead of alcoholic drinks? 

All in all, alcohol shouldn’t be feared, but, it shouldn’t be drunk by the 2 x bottle either. Alcohol can be part of your life, it just needs to be enjoyed in moderation and not in excess.

If you are trying to cut-down on your alcohol intake during the festive season or you're a tee-totaller, why not try my New Year Egg Nog? It'll nog your socks off! 

New Year Egg Nog

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 3 cups coconut milk
• 1 cup coconut cream
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla powder
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 5 eggs, separated
• For a turmeric version add 1 TBS Golden Gut Blend

Method

In a saucepan, on the stove top place coconut milk and cream, cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg and stir gently until combined and slowly bring to the boil.

Remove from heat and allow to steep.

In a blender place egg yolks and blend on high until well-combined and frothy

Add coconut milk mixture then whizz for a couple more seconds

Remove from the blender and serve warm or can be and refrigerated until cold

Serve and garnish with cinnamon and nutmeg

Happy New Year!

Lee xo

With Christmas just around the corner, I can hear the sleigh bells ringing, the summer barbeques sizzling and the Christmas crackers snapping! It truly is the season to be jolly, indulge and celebrate with family, friends and loved ones. But, one sound we don’t want to hear as we head into summer is the popping of our jean buttons!

So how can we indulge without overdoing it? Is it really possible to have healthy Christmas meals that are fulfilling and still kind to our bodies? Well, you can probably guess my answer to that question is a big fat yes! While some people can’t wait to get stuck into that huge roast ham or enjoy a plateful of prawns, others have mixed emotions about sitting at the family dinner table or heading to the office parties at Christmas. For some, holiday seasons can cause feelings of fear and guilt around food. But, the good news is, it doesn’t have to be that way!
With the right ingredients, scrumptious recipes and a mindful approach to food, Christmas can be enjoyably satisfying and guilt free!

Here are a few tips to Supercharge your food this Christmas:

• Don’t be afraid to get extra spicy this Christmas. Rather than turning up the heat, create a sizzle by using flavoursome and fragrant spices like cumin, turmeric and ginger. These have an abundance of anti-inflammatory properties and help to ease digestion.
• Skip those white potatoes and reach for root vegetables like sweet potato, parsnips and turnips instead. These have more nutritional value as they are loaded with vitamins and have fewer calories per serve!
• Opt for natural, organic, wholefood ingredients. Instead of buying pre-made desserts or packaged chocolates, try baking your own treats from scratch.
• Recipes like my pumpkin pie or fudge brownies are simple to make and better for our bodies than any of the store bought stuff!
• Eating mindfully is a great way to refrain from overeating and overindulging. Really pay attention to the flavours and textures of what you’re eating. Instead of mindlessly gorging on food, try to slow down and enjoy every bite of every meal. Focusing on the look, smell, taste and feel of your food will help you to listen to your body more. So, you can let go of any anxiety or guilt around eating and really celebrate the food and the people you’re with!

This Christmas I've created three recipes - a main of spiced leg of lamb roast and two sides, a tray of roasted root vegetables and pan-fried toasted greens. These dishes look delightfully festive and taste super scrumptious…even Scrooge wouldn’t be able to help but smile! Whilst they are full of nutrient-rich ingredients, these recipes are simple and straightforward to put together. You won’t need a Christmas miracle or any elves to help this year!

The great thing about these recipes is you can do a lot of the preparation the day before. So when your friends and family are over you’ll have more time to spend with them, instead of prancing and dashing around in the kitchen.

I like to marinate a leg of lamb overnight so it really soaks up all the flavours of herbs and spices. But also, to ensure the only thing I have to do on Christmas day is just pop it in the oven #sneaky. I do the same thing with the veggies too. Wash, chop and prepare everything the previous day or night, then just place it under meat when ready. This makes for a super simple and stress-free Christmas lunch!

Leg of Lamb Roast with Spiced Marinade
This leg of lamb recipe is packed with a variety of herbs and spices that will have your taste buds singing and your insides glowing. Combining lamb with aromatic sprigs of fresh rosemary adds flavor and fragrance to the meat, whilst also offering numerous health benefits to your digestive system. Since it's rich in antioxidants and contains anti-inflammatory properties, rosemary eases indigestion and naturally relieves tummy pains that often accompany festive fare.

What I love about the spice marinade is that it doesn’t just season the lamb and enrich the taste, but it also combines nutrient dense ingredients like garlic, ginger, turmeric and cumin that boost the immune system and help your overall well being. These herbs and spices smooth the ingestion of food by lowering inflammation in the intestinal tract and stimulating the activity of digestive processes. This makes it easier for our bodies to digest and absorb the iron, protein and other vital nutrients in the lamb. It’s like a match made in Santa’s workshop…after just one bite, everyone will be oohh-ing, ahh-ing and tra-la-la-la-la-ing!

Ingredients:
Lamb

• 2kg leg of lamb with bone
• 4 garlic cloves, whole
• 2 fresh rosemary sprigs, chopped
• 1 fresh chili, seeded and chopped
• 150g of truss vined berry tomatoes
• Sea salt and black pepper, freshly ground, to taste

Spiced Marinade

• 2 tablespoons sheep’s milk yoghurt
• 3cm piece of ginger, grated finely
• 4 large garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tablespoons of cumin, ground
• 2 tablespoons of paprika, ground
• 1 tablespoons of tumeric, ground
• 1 tablespoon of coriander seeds, ground
• 2 lemons, squeezed to juice

Method:

• Start with the marinade, mixing all the ingredients together in a large bowl.
• With a sharp knife, make some deep cuts evenly across both sides of the lamb leg.
• Rub a generous amount of salt and pepper into the meat. Then spoon the marinade over it, and massage in making sure it gets deep into the incisions.
• Scatter half of the chopped rosemary and chili over the meat, pushing them into the cuts. Place the lamb in a bowl and cover with cling wrap. Leave overnight to marinate and let the meat soak up all the flavours and spices!
• Remove the lamb from the fridge and leave in room temperature for at least 30 mins before cooking.
• Preheat the oven to 200C. Place the lamb, left over rosemary, tomatoes and garlic cloves into a tray lined with foil and roast for 20mins.
• Turn the heat down to 150C and cook for a further 1hr and 40mins for lamb that is pink in the middle.
• Halfway through roasting or once the lamb is crisp and golden on the outside, shake the tray, cover with foil then rotate and return to oven the opposite way.
• Remove from the oven, leave foil on loosely and let it rest on a lamb rack for at least 15mins.
• Slice and Serve!

Roasted Root Vegetables
While that creamy, cheesy potato bake might seem like a good idea at first. It usually leaves us feeling bloated and sluggish. Substituting white potatoes for roasted root vegetables is a great and delicious way to make Christmas that little bit more nourishing.

Root veggies like sweet potato, carrots, turnips, and parsnips are loaded with antioxidants like vitamin C, vitamin B, beta-carotene and iron. These nutrient rich veggies work to cleanse our system and lower inflammation, increasing the absorption of vital nutrients in our digestive tract. 

While white potatoes and other grains tend to cause digestive or inflammatory issues. Root veggies offer complex carbohydrates and fibre that can stay in the digestive system longer, so our bodies have more energy and can maintain a feeling of fullness. With fewer calories and more essential nutrients, these simple vegetables sure do have loads of power. They slow down digestion, help control our appetite and reduce cravings...exactly what we need when we’re faced with mountains of feasts at Christmas time!

Pairing these veggies with herbs and spices like rosemary, garlic and cumin not only gives them more depth of flavour, but also further enhances the health benefits. 

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of dutch baby carrots w skin on, whole if small or halved
• 2 parsnips, peeled roughly and cut into wedges
• 1 turnip, peeled roughly and cut into wedges
• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled roughly and cut across to make round pieces
  about 1cm thick
• 4 baby radish, some whole some halved
• 2 baby fennel bulbs, cut into small wedges
• 6 garlic gloves, whole
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of cumin, ground
• Sea salt and black pepper, freshly ground, to taste

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Add all the vegetables to a baking tray lined with baking paper.
• Toss them with cumin, half the olive oil and a generous amount of salt and pepper.
• Roast for 30mins, shaking and rotating the tray halfway through.
• Add rosemary sprigs and left over olive oil and turn up the heat to 200C.
• Roast for a further 20 - 30mins or until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.

Tips:

• Make sure your veggies are all cut to similar sizes to ensure they bake evenly.
• If you're cooking the veggies at the same time as the lamb leg, place them above the meat once it has about 45 mins of cooking time left.
• Then once the lamb is ready and removed from the oven, turn the temperature up to 200C and roast for a further 15 mins or until tender.

Pan-fried Toasted Greens with Pomegranate and Cauliflower Rice Salad

This middle-eastern inspired salad is a healthy take on the classic tabbouleh. It’s a perfect compliment to the lamb or a filling vegetarian option! Not only is this recipe super healthy, it looks like Christmas in a bowl and tastes like a flavor party in your mouth…even the not-so- health-conscious eaters will be drawn back for seconds (probably even thirds!). 

Substituting white rice or cous cous for cauliflower is a great way of sneaking in that little bit of extra veg, whilst also offering fewer calories and a higher intake of essential nutrients like protein, vitamin C, and vitamin k. These help to support various functions in our body like the formation and repair of muscles, bones and skin cells.

Loaded with green veggies like asparagus, green beans and spinach, this salad is full of vitamins and minerals that can regulate our digestive processes and protect our bodies from toxins, especially in the gut. Whilst being low in calories, these greens are high in fiber and provide a good source of protein for the non-meat eaters!

Supercharged Tip:

• Serve with goat’s cheese on the side and substitute butter for extra virgin olive oil for a substantial vegan option!

Ingredients:

• 200g of green beans, halved
• 100g of asparagus, halved
• 1/2 large cauliflower head, chopped roughly
• 1 cup of baby spinach, chopped
• 1 pomegranate, seeds
• 1 cup fresh herbs - parsley, coriander and mint
• 1 tomato, seeded and diced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 2 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 lemon, squeezed to juice
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1 tablespoon of goats cheese, chopped

Method:

• In a large bowl mix the spinach, herbs, tomato, onion and pomegranate.
• Place cauliflower in a food processor and blitz until the consistency resembles rice. Briefly steam over boiling water for a couple minutes just to soften and warm the cauliflower rice
• Heat a frying pan over a medium high heat. Add butter and garlic, stirring continuously. Once browned, add the green beans and asparagus, toasting them for about 3-5 minutes. Squeeze half the lemon juice over the veggies while cooking. You want them to be cooked but still crunchy and green.
• Stir the cauliflower rice into the salad adding the rest of the lemon juice and tossing together.
• Place the green beans and asparagus on top of the salad and crumble the goat’s cheese across.
• Sprinkle sea salt and black pepper generously across the dish and serve!

You know that old saying: ‘happy life, happy wife’? If you want my personal opinion, I think it should be changed to ‘happy tummy, happy mummy’.  As many of you know, the gut is the cornerstone to health and linked to many other bodily systems and parts. It can affect your hormones, immune system, your emotions and mental capacity and of course the way that you absorb and digest food. If your gut isn’t happy, there’s a fairly good chance that you won’t be happy either.

Today I’m sharing six of my favourite tips to improve your gut health, so you can get on with life!

Include Fibre

When considering the health of your gut, consider fibre! Getting the right type of fibre into your diet will help you to create a healthy and diverse community of gut bacteria and regulate your digestion. There are two types of fibre. Insoluble fibre this is the one that doesn’t dissolve in water and helps speed up the passage of food and keep you regular, like some grains, nuts, seeds, beans, fruit and vegetables. The other type of fibre, soluble fibre, dissolves in water and helps form a gel in the body. Foods rich in soluble fibre include oatmeal, psyllium husks, berries, lentils, fruit and vegetables. Insoluble fibres are wonderful for flushing out the body but an excess of these fibres can be irritating. Soluble fibres on the other hand, are the ones you can also focus on for improved gut health.

When you eat the soluble fibres from whole plant foods, your gut bacteria ferment these fibres into short chain fatty acids which act as prebiotics to feed the good bacteria in your gut. When you eat adequate levels of soluble fibre, they pass through the stomach and small intestine and land up in the large intestine where they help grow your probiotic bacteria.  This helps maintain the lining of the gut, improves digestion, increases absorption of minerals and can even increase immune system function.  You can read more about probiotics and prebiotics here or learn abut it in my new book Supercharge Your Gut.

Some foods rich in soluble-fibre include sweet potatoes, carrots and root vegetables, green leafy vegetables, berries, nuts and seeds, grass fed, organic butter and ghee. Some of these delicious prebiotic and probiotic-rich foods can be found in my Marrakesh Casserole below!

Glowing skin is an inside (and outside) job

The skin is the largest and arguably, one of the most important organs in your body, it’s the barometer to measure and notice what is really going on inside. Dry skin brushing is an easy and calming technique that looks after your skin, stimulates the digestive and lymphatic systems, liver and adrenal glands, and assists these organs in decongesting. It also helps to give the body a gentle internal massage to stimulate circulation. Whenever I suggest dry skin brushing to someone when they’re suffering from gut health issues, they often look at me as if I’m crazy – how does brushing my skin make my stomach work properly? Well, by performing this technique you’ll actually be assisting the gut, by stimulating the digestive system, nutrient absorption and detoxification!

All you need to do is invest in a long-handled bath brush which contains natural bristles. Use long strokes, in a circular motion towards the heart. Before you dive straight in to brushing, ensure both your skin and your brush are dry. Begin with the soles of your feet and continue brushing upwards on both sides of your legs, then move to your back, then around to your abdomen where you can work in a clockwise direction following the direction of your colon and then head up towards your heart being careful with the chest region. Then, have a shower to remove debris and dead skin cells. Turns out you CAN brush your way to good gut health – who knew? 

Keeping stress levels at bay

Coming into one of the most frantic seasons this time of year, stress can be at a high. Long-term stress lingers for weeks and can be incredibly damaging to the gut. Evidence shows that our gut bacteria respond in a damaging way to negative emotions and stress out our bodies! When you’re stressed, your body produces hormones that can contribute to the proliferation of bad bacteria in the gut, sending it off kilter and this can lead to cravings, skin disruptions, fatigue and weight gain. In order to keep our guts happy and humming, keeping stress at bay is key. Obviously, decreasing stress can look a little bit different to everybody, so find out what works best for you. A few good stress-busting techniques include calming yoga, walks, ocean swims, meditation, spending time out in the sun, good talks with friends and connecting with nature. I guess it’s time to get your ‘om’ on!

Goodbye sugar-free sweeteners

Of course, there’s more to gut health than the practices we do – it’s also important to look at what you’re feeding your gut. Unfortunately for some of you, this may mean saying sayonara to sugar-free sweeteners. Sugar-free sweets, snacks and diet soft drinks can aggravate the gut and cause bloating because of all the artificial chemicals they contain. These chemicals, that our DNA doesn’t recognise or can’t digest properly, get completely swept up in the digestive tract and end-up in the colon, which is not what you want to happen when healing the gut! Large amounts of these additives can also cause flatulence; definitely another reason to stay away. There are far better ways to blow someone away.

Hydration

I know what you’re thinking, if I hear another nutritionist talk about hydration being the key to good health, I’ll roll my eyes so far backwards they won’t come back to place! But, the simple technique of staying hydrated helps flush out negative bacteria within the gut and balance out the digestive system. This helps your body undergo all the complicated biochemical mechanisms to keep your gut happy and functioning. So yes, drinking water may be simple, but it does remarkable things for your gut health.  I usually stir a tablespoon of my Love Your Gut powder in the mornings into a cup of warm water.  It helps to clean the debris and keep my insides happy.  If you want to stay hydrated throughout the day, my Golden Gut Blend is a great way to mix it up- just add a tablespoon to warm milk of choice; it makes a gorgeous and tasty golden latte!

Stop gulping!

Eating is not a race. And yet, we all tend to scoff down our food so quickly you’d think we were going for gold at the Olympics! Our modern lack of mindful, slow eating and our forever on-the-go approach has a definite link to our gut heath issues. Gulping down food, guzzling down drinks and moving while eating inhibits your body’s ability to digest nutrients properly. Chewing more thoroughly while sitting down to a meal mindfully helps you tune into your body more and send your body into rest and digest mode. You’ll be less likely to overeat when you know you’re full! Plus, when you chew properly, your food is able to mix with saliva and increase the ease of digestibility before it reaches the stomach. This means it’s less hard work for your gut and less chance of that food-baby feeling. 

Getting hungry? Enjoy this prebiotic-rich Marrakesh Casserole, from my book Eat Clean, Green and Vegetarian, slowly and mindfully. If done correctly, it'll nourish your gut, your body and your soul!

Marrakesh Casserole

Ingredients:

• 60 ml (2 fl oz/1/4 cup) cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cm (3/4 inch) piece of ginger, minced
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
• 2–3 teaspoons dried harissa
• 400 g (14 oz) tin diced tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon rice malt syrup
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup coriander (cilantro) leaves
• 1/4 cup chopped mint leaves
• 1 small pumpkin (winter squash), peeled and cut into 5 cm (2 inch) pieces
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 5 cm (2 inch) pieces
• 3 carrots, peeled and cut into 5 cm (2 inch) pieces
• 1 zucchini (courgette), cut into 5 cm (2 inch) pieces
• 400 g (14 oz) tin chickpeas
• cooked quinoa, to serve
• coriander (cilantro) sprigs, to serve
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest, to serve
• mint leaves, to serve
• 80 g (23/4 oz/1/2 cup) almonds, to serve

Directions:

• Heat the olive oil in a flame-proof tagine pot or casserole dish over medium heat and sauté the onion for 5 minutes, or until translucent.
• Add the garlic, ginger and spices and stir well to combine.
• Add the harissa, tomatoes, rice malt syrup, lemon juice, coriander and mint, bring to the boil and then reduce the heat.
• Add the pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot and zucchini, stir well so they are all well covered in the sauce and simmer, covered, for 1 hour.
• Add the chickpeas and cook for a further 5 minutes.
• Serve on a bed of quinoa topped with the coriander, lemon zest, mint and roasted almonds.