The Healing Post.x

Hi everyone!

First, let me apologise for the length of time that has passed since my last post..Over a month. Shocking.

I have been pushing myself a bit too far I guess between working my normal job and as an actress, studying to prepare for my first day at uni (now been and gone) and desperately trying to find a new home as me and Patch will be leaving our current one next week (still looking by the way, so should you know of any 1 bed in Crystal Palace....). A lot to take in.

The final blow hit me about 10 days ago, I had just worked non stop for 7 days, done my first weekend at uni which I found very overwhelming and then flew to Rome the morning after for an acting job.

Even though I absolutely loved being in Italy, getting the chance to see my best friends and working with some wonderful people, I also managed to catch some kind of virus but still the show had to go on, so I pushed my body through 4 performances and then collapsed at the airport on the way back.

The reason why I am telling you this is because I am always very good at telling my friends to take care of their bodies, mind and spirit but turns out I obviously didn't quite listen to my own words.

Yes, I have always eaten a pretty healthy diet, unfortunately taking the time to relax and breathe wasn't as high a priority on my agenda lately as I thought I was too busy for that but let me tell you, now that my body has decided to go into reboot mode, downtime has shot up to first place in the chart.

The diagnosis at the ER was acute gastroenteritis which means I basically haven't been able to eat almost anything for the past week and since I heard that lots of people are getting sick out there, probably due to the weather or maybe the very same bug I caught..I thought I'd share with you what I DID manage to eat and made me feel better while recovering. Maybe it  might help you a little.

The first 24 hours i literally couldn't handle anything so I had one lemon tea (kindly offered to me by my ER doctor) and little sips of water throughout the day.

Then I moved on to rice and corn crackers. They literally saved me life. I couldn't even smell anything remotely sweet or with a bit of flavour and these were savoury but not too salty and the perfect consistence.

And now the Italian heritage comes in. My next stop was Fette Biscottate. I'm not sure what they'd be called here in the UK, toasted mini bread?Here's a picture to make your life easier..

The can be subtly sweet and in Italy we have them for breakfast with jam or Nutella or dipped in our caffelatte...Mmmmm..

 I bought mine from an Italian deli here on Northcote Road and they fed me for the next couple of days, first two every couple of hours (my stomach has shrank ridiculously, so a bit of food at regular intervals...), plain or maybe dipped into a camomile to make them mushy and easier on my stomach.

then when i felt a bit bolder, i had them with some mashed avocado on top.

And a couple days later I added some smoked salmon on the avocado. So good.

It felt incredible to finally have something tasty after all these days..

Now, avocado has played a big part in my recovery as it was easy for me to digest and full of nutrients and good fats and since I have lost a lot of weight that it exactly what I needed.

Just make sure you get ripe ones because there's nothing worse than a hard tasteless avocado.

Here's how I quickly prepare my Magic Avocado Mash:

1 ripe avocado

Juice of less than half a lemon

Pinch Himalyan or sea salt

1/2 tbsp extravirgin olive oil

A little ground pepper to taste (optional. i didn't have it while ill but on a regular day I'd definitely have it on top)

Spoon the avocado flesh in a bowl, add the remaining ingredients and mash with a fork till smooth.

Spread on Fette Biscottate or Dark German Multi seeded bread (another of my favourite things when on a normal diet) and add toppings of your choice or just eat like that.

As for keeping hydrated, I could only take little sips of room temperature water for the first couple of days, then I started with slowly sipping on a cup of hot water with a squeeze of lemon in the morning and if I felt that food wasn't going down too well or started to give me pains I would quickly prepare my Healing Ginger Tea. This fresh tea has helped me through cold and nausea so far so here's the recipe:

1 thumb size piece of fresh ginger root

1 tsp manuka honey

1 squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Peel and slice the ginger and boil it for 15-20 minutes. 

Pour it in your favourite mug (leave out the ginger bits!) and add honey and lemon. Stir, breathe and enjoy.

A few other things I built up to after all the dry foods were steamed spinach with a little olive oil and a pinch of salt or boiled courgettes with that same dressing. Everything back to basics in order to give time to my stomach to heal.

I'm still on the mend but slowly and surely moving towards full recovery which makes me oh so happy. 

Before I leave you though, please make sure you understand that everything in this post is what worked for me and that everybody is different so these are ideas you could try but it doesn't necessarily mean they are going to have the same effect on you.  

The main thing is for you to listen to your body because nobody knows it better than you.

Have a beautiful weekend everyone!

Love, 

xxx

Valentina

Meet my new best Friend: D'Mix

This past weekend I was in Uni and during our lunch break we always head over to Planet Organic which we are lucky enough to have just around the corner from our school.
On both days, after finishing my meal, my classmates have looked at me slightly confused as they saw me munching on a small teaspoon of  mixed seeds with a satisfied look on my face and started asking questions about what exactly I was putting in mouth and why.. So this post is for them and for anyone out there who has ever suffered for any type of digestive problem.

After a pretty violent food poisoning last summer, my digestive system had been completely ruined and I was having difficulties processing almost every meal. Acid reflux, bloating, some very sexy unexpected burps...lovely. I've been seeing a nutritionist, I still am, who prescribed some digestive enzymes and antimicrobial to kill the bad bacteria in my gut and replace them with the good ones in the form of probiotics. All of that did help but being the lazy person that I can be, I was tired of taking all of these pills every day..
Around the the same time, I was looking for a flexible job that dealt with healthy food.
And searching online I discovered Conscious Food.
On top of being some incredibly lovely and positive people to work for, they introduced me to their biggest selling product : The Digestive Mix, now also called D'Mix.
A blend of delicious herbs and seeds that helps reboot your digestive system and gets it to work properly again.

All the ingredients are organic and hand blended and they are the result of a long research and collaboration with ayurvedic doctors, nutritionists and medical herbalists to find the perfect type and amount of ingredients that would work in synergy.
I read tons of testimonials of enthusiastic customers who had finally found a solution to all their digestive issues some similar to mine and some more serious so I thought I should at least give it a shot, especially as I would have to sell it and I didn't want to promote something I didn't believe to be effective.
AND I HAVEN'T LOOKED BACK SINCE.
I haven't needed any enzymes or antimicrobial pills since my first dose of D'Mix.
All I do is take 1/2 teaspoon after every meal (3 times a day), chew until it liquefies (as chewing activates the saliva gland and starts the digestive process) and then swallow.That's it.
It's not something you need to take for the rest of your life like you would do with commonly used antacids which calm the symptoms momentarily but do not get rid of the root cause.
Ideally you want to take it for two months to completely reset your system (unless you have more serious conditions like Chron's etc..in which case you need to take it for longer), after that if you want to take processed food and sugars out of your diet you can stop it otherwise you can just take it every now and then  to keep your system balanced without drastic changes to what you eat.
I personally suggest staying clear of processed food anyway as there are so many  fresh delicious products you could feast on out there, Real Food Market on the South Bank anyone?

I could go one forever to tell you about it but the best thing is to head over to their website and see for yourself, read the testimonials and see if you recognise yourself in any of them..I certainly did.

I hope this post has been helpful to at least some of you, I know how frustrating and sometimes embarassing digestive problems can be in everyday life and especially to people who really love their food like I do..
This was my own experience but I did want you to at least know there is a natural product out there that you can try should you choose to.
Feel free to leave any comments or questions you might have for me.x

PS: Genius that I am, I completely forgot to tell where you can actually buy it..Sorry!
You can order it online from their website or here's a list of shops and markets  you can go to.

Beauty Foods Face Mask

I know this is not a breakfast, lunch or dinner recipe BUT it's  made with 100% edible ingredients and it's really good for you so I thought it would be a good idea to post it.
It's a face mask suggested to me by my nutritionist, yes, I'm not only studying to become one but am seeing one too and I'm learning lots of new interesting things like this beauty tip.
I'm 100% Italian but 9 years here in England with very little sun, lots of wind and cold weather have had a toll on my skin which is now ultra-sensitive and rosacea prone. I know. Fun times.
This is a super fresh and natural mask with lovely ingredients: oatmeal is very helpful for dry skin, banana is nourishing and full of vitamins, manuka honey has antibacterial properties  and adding 1 capsule of probiotic helps fight the bacteria in your skin and as a consequence helps with breakouts.
I have tried a few masks that are out there and there's always some ingredient that ends up not being too good for you but there are no surprises in this one and my skin is still thanking me for it.
WARNING: It's the messiest mask I have ever tried. My nutritionist did say it but man, I was not prepared for this..Forget the idea of looking like one of those smiling, gorgeous models on Glamour with their mud mask on and colourful pyjamas having a pillow fight in a field of sunflowers.
This is going to be ugly. I looked like Robin Williams in Mrs Doubtfire when he put his face in cream pie and bits of it were falling in someone's coffee cup. So MAKE SURE your hair is pulled back, you're leaning over a sink and ideally alone in the house..Actually the recipe made enough for two so you can have a girlfriend over and just laugh at each other in the process..But when your skin will be soft and glowing...Who will be laughing then ah?
Anyway, enough said.  Here we go:

INGREDIENTS:

Half a banana (you can also substitute with avocado)
1 probiotic capsule (I used GI Flora from Allergy Research)
1 heaped tsp of Manuka honey
1 dessert spoon of Oatmeal (grounded oats)

Just mash the banana and add all the other ingredients

Mix well, apply to face and leave for 15 min. then remove with a hot cloth or simply warm water.
PS: I added 1 more tsp of oats to give it a bit more consistency.