If you had bumped into me at the mall this morning you might have thought I’d gone crazy. My regular readers will know that I’m a health journalist with an autoimmune disease and that, among other things, I prioritise eating well. Indeed, I regularly write about my struggles with healthy eating in this mad world which seems set against me. So upon seeing me at the mall with a shopping bag full of sweets and treats, it would have been easy to assume that I’d fallen off the wagon. But in fact my candy-buying-binge was all in the name of... Read full article »

As a health journalist who shares my story of recovery from a chronic disease in hope of encouraging others, it can be tempting to only share the highlights of my whole-health life, and to engage in the hashtag-driven, insta-world where wellness icons and lifestyle gurus post moment-by-moment mythology about their unblemished lives. And although I’d probably sell more books if I did, as anyone who’s been following my blog will tell you, that’s not what I’m about.While my message to those looking for ways to get healthy or stay healthy is that there is a solid foundation of evidence from... Read full article »

The Australian media went into hyperdrive this week after former Miss Universe Australia and healthy living advocate Jesinta Franklin was announced as the face of a new range of Cadbury chocolates. The 25-year-old model has published a book (under her maiden name Jesinta Campbell) called Live a Beautiful Life, which among other things, includes sugar free recipes and advocates eating unprocessed foods. But after her deal with Cadbury reportedly worth up to $250,000, she’s facing wide-spread criticism for having transformed overnight to being “officially a chocoholic.” Franklin defended her new spruiking gig on morning television saying “If you’re guilty having... Read full article »

I gave a talk last week to a group of lovely women who wanted to know more about what I’ve learned from interviewing dozens of scientists about the connection between our mind, body and health, and what changes I’ve made in my life in order to get well and stay well after I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. Afterwards, I invited them to ask questions and there were two things that struck me about what happened next. The first (and this is something that always strikes me when I talk at events) is that no one is safe from... Read full article »

There is something monumentally heartbreaking about having to sit by and watch someone you love suffer with health problems that they can do nothing about. It’s a palpable kind of helpless hurt that squeezes your heart when you watch them in pain, or when medicine has no solution, or when the pronouncement is that “it’s just bad luck.” Then, there’s another kind of heartache. The kind that comes when you have to sit by and watch a loved one who is plagued with health problems that they can do something about… but won’t.I’ve written a lot on this blog about... Read full article »

I recently read a piece on the Guardian website by journalist Decca Aitkenhead who wrote about her endeavours to eat a plant-based diet. She wrote that her problem with being a vegan wasn’t the diet. It was the identity. “I worry about becoming that person who thinks what they put in their mouth is important enough to merit a significant share of their time and energy every day,” she wrote, adding that she felt that it's borderline narcissistic “to care that much about the purity of one’s digestive system,” and that she felt forced to adopt a new healthy diet... Read full article »