Pearls of wisdom from a day with nutritionist Cyndi O’Meara
On the weekend, I flew down to Brisbane to see one of my long-time inspirations and affiliate partner, nutritionist Cyndi O’Meara.
I first encountered Cyndi about six years ago and found her books pivotal in my health journey. The thing I love about Cyndi is that she is down to earth, doesn’t rest on her laurels but keeps learning and investigating, is not afraid to speak up, does not sugar-coat things and doesn’t have a celebrity/ego thing going on! Her passion is infectious.
The seminar was a whole day event and there were so many lightbulb moments and pearls of wisdom. Things that shocked me, inspired me, educated me and geared me to action! I know I wasn’t alone – the whole room was lapping up these gems.
I am sharing some of those pearls with you today. Now, obviously I am only able to give you snippets here and can’t fully expand on these concepts and explain them all (you will need to go to one of Cyndi’s seminars for that) but if something catches your interest, research it further. Ask your holistic practitioners, get a book or check out Cyndi’s website.
Keep learning and educating yourself!
♥ “The population will become split between the smart and the dumb. The smart ones will begin taking their health into their own hands because they’re already seeing that what we are doing now is not working”. Dr. Dwight Lundell
♥ At the MINDD foundation conference, experts predicted that 1 in every 2 children born will have autism by the year 2032.
♥ Just because it’s common, doesn’t mean it’s right or the truth.
♥ We can heal a nation by going back to our kitchens and cooking. “It is our empowered, divine honour to be in the kitchen, to feed our family, to heal a nation.”
♥ We are living a modern life with an evolutionary body. Look to traditional cultures for answers.
♥ You might think that cut up apples in a bag are a healthy choice, but they actually contain a nasty preservative to stop them going brown!
♥ Fructose makes peptides which make amino acids which make serotonin. Don’t be so quick to stop eating fruit!
♥ Eating fat, sugar and salt is not necessarily bad! It all depends on the quality. Choose unprocessed forms as these elements all play a part in our wellness.
♥ Dulse is a great source of natural iodine ( a mineral many of us seem to be lacking )
♥ Sea salt can contain a lot of pollution from the ocean. Pink Himalayan salt is pure.
♥ Cyndi uses coconut oil to brush her teeth!
♥ It can take 17 years for current research to reach students. Don’t just rely on what your doctor tells you.
♥ We are made up of 90% bugs! The microbiome is where it’s all happening. The microbiome will influence so much in your body from the immune system, to absorbing nutrients, to protecting us from heavy metals, to your mental health. It’s so important to get your microbiome sorted!
♥ To establish a good microbiome for your baby, the absolute best things you can do are: have a natural birth, have skin to skin contact straight away and breastfeed.
♥ Things that destroy the microbiome include antibiotics, antacids, the contraceptive pill, some supplements, processed foods, artificial additives, pesticides and municipal water.
♥ “Genes do not control us they respond to what we do, and our microbiome allows adaptation and robustness of the individual, rather than the species”.
♥ Five Steps to Healing the Microbiome
1. Remove parasites and offending foods
2. Rebuild with broth, spices and herbs
3. Replenish with ferments and pre and probiotics
4. Retain your individual food needs
5. Review what’s working and what’s not
♥ The wheat we eat now, the way it is grown, harvested and processed and consumed is so different to how it used to be. Go back to basics, choose a good wheat with as little possible processing and chemicals. Emmer Wheat is an ancient, traditional wheat.
♥ Did you know that wheat can be found in our medications and vitamins?
♥ Many vitamin and mineral supplements are made from synthetic ingredients. Vitamin A can contain acetone, Vitamin C can contain glucose, Vitamin B can contain a by-product from the petrochemical industry and fish oils may be topped up with soybean oil and other fillers like propylene glycol.
♥ Inca Inchi oil can be used as an effective face moisturizer.
♥ Use green stevia, not white stevia!
♥ Did you know that most dates you buy can contain sulphites, rice flour and/or oil as well? Dates are sometimes also pollinated with wheat. Cyndi has sourced dates that are just pure organic dates without anything added.
♥ Aim to have single ingredient products in your fridge and pantry.
♥ Waking at 3am with cramps could be a sign you have a parasite.
♥ Some probiotics contain GMO bacteria.
♥ Eat your cheese with figs – there is a component in figs that will help you digest cheese. (Well I don’t need to be told twice…. yummo!)
♥ Rewild yourself!! Connect with nature, get good sleep, decrease screen time, get your circadian rhythms in sync.
♥ Connect with the sun and moon. As soon as you wake up, get out and get some sun on you. At night, go outside and look at the moon.
♥ Follow the FOSET principle of eating. Foods that are Organic, Sustainable, Ethical and Trusted.
♥ Don’t get overwhelmed. Make changes on step at a time and make those changes solid and sustainable.
♥ Don’t beat yourself up for what you used to do. We can only educate ourselves and start doing things better now.
Some people and resources suggested by Cyndi:
Dr Sarah Ballantyne – The Paleo Approach
In conclusion:
I really do trust implicitly the information and products that Cyndi provides. I always knew the Changing Habit’s food products were great but listening to Cyndi talk about how she sources them was incredibly impressive. Thorough research and testing is done on all products so you can be really sure you are getting the best quality product out there! Cyndi will not introduce a product into her range that she would not eat herself.
Now, it’s not possible to see Cyndi for one on one consults anymore. But, in order to reach and help more people, there are several ways you can get assistance and benefit from the amazing knowledge and widsom of Cyndi O’Meara!
♥ Check out the Changing Habits’ website. There are loads of free blogs and articles to learn from.
♥ Read the book, Changing Habits Changing Lives.
♥ Do the 21 Step Reset – it’s a great place to start for all the basics.
♥ Do the Hunter Gatherer Protocol – learn how to restore your body back to optimal health.
♥ Do the 4 Phase Fat Elimination – get back to your natural weight, eliminate toxic fat safely with real foods and support drops.
If you are not sure which one of these things is right for your particular issue, then you are able to get a consult with the resident nutritionist, Sheridan to point you in the right direction.
If you get the chance to see Cyndi live, then don’t hesitate to go – you will enjoy every minute of it, learn a lot and be inspired to get your health sorted!
Great post on “Pearls of Wisdom” Sonia. A lot of commonsense advice that people do not put to practise. It seems that our fast paced lifestyle has made us ignore the importance of quality food and good eating patterns.
I will read this post often ;-).
Hey Lindy. It’s true – we have moved away from traditional foods without realizing they were there for a reason! Hopefully the tide is turning back. x
The other great quote I loved from the day was “If you don’t stand for anything, you will fall for everything”. Cydni was great to listen too. She speaks so well….I could sit and listen to her for days! Glad you enoyed the day too. xx
Oh yes Vicki!! I think I had that written down too. So many gems!
Oh indeed, what a bunch of gems. I heard Dr Natasha McBride say those powerful words at the MINDD conferenceWe can heal a nation by going back to our kitchens and cooking. “It is our empowered, divine honour to be in the kitchen, to feed our family, to heal a nation.”It’s like I was struck my lightning! Cheese and figs, mmmmmmm!
It’s incredibly powerful. I also think as mums we have a lot of that power. Exciting times!
Thank you for the great summary. I attended Cyndi’s seminar a month or so back. Great reminders. This will be a great post to refer to every now and again. Love the way Cyndi puts everything in an easy to understand way with common sense,,
It was so easy to understand! Even the science stuff that usually makes my head hurt was easily explained! 🙂
Sorry I did not learn anything here that I did not find out myself from my own (free) research. Just another so called ‘guru’ raking in the money whilst telling people things that are easy to find for free. Reads all paleo to me too,I will never understand the push on using broth, when all research for a healthier life is plant based diets. Otherwise all her pointers are good but are all common sense really. Go back to wholefoods. The autism quote is a bit unreal, unless they change what goes in vaccinations it could end up being true.
Hey GoVego, you are certainly entitled to your opinions, however I don’t necessarily agree with them. There is a lot of evidence for healing properties of broth. Unfortunately a vegetarian diet is not a one size fits all health solution. I certainly don’t call Cyndi a guru, but she is a very qualified and experienced nutritionist who keeps up to date with current research. I am happy to pay for her advice and teachings. At $127 for her seminar, she is cheaper than a ten minute appointment with most doctors these days. The depth of information I learnt was significant. Bear in mind that these are just a few notes I jotted down from an entire day’s seminar!
Perhaps you could find all of this info for free, but it would involve a lot of time on the computer to do so and unfortunately a lot of the stuff on the internet is hard to verify as creditable. Cyndi is not paleo but yes, does encourage whole foods as you mention. I think a lot of eating well is common sense however information regarding gut health particularly is quite in-depth and specific. Thanks for stopping by.
I was actually talking about a vegan mostly raw diet, where people have been healed from debilitating long term health problems, see website Forks over Knives. A lot of my personal research is gained from reading a lot of books from the library and weighing it all up. It all depends on where you get your research from and what you believe, but I tend to go with what I keep reading over and over again. Another good book is The China study, they did a lab test and found cancer cells will grow with animal protein but not vegetable protein. I would be interested to see the research you talk about with broth and who has funded it, more likely the agriculture industry. Sorry don’t mean to be sarcastic but it worries me so much that everyone is jumping on the broth thing, time will tell if it really is a good or bad thing. But not for me, how many people will actually kill and gut an animal for a food source, very few.
Nourishing Traditions is a great book with info about broth as a starting point. Broth has been used for centuries as a healing and nourishing food. It’s not really a fad, it’s just that we seem to be recognising that these old traditional ways of eating and cooking are the way to go. It’s funny because a lot of people think that raw vegan is also a trend! I also read a lot of books and information and I really have become to believe in bio-individuality. Yes, I have friends who thrive on raw vegan diets and other people who get very sick on them and thrive better with animal protein. I think we all need to listen to our bodies to find out what is working best for our own unique makeup but as a general rule unprocessed, whole foods are good for everyone. I don’t think it’s necessary to kill and gut our own animals to be a meat eater but choosing ethical, organic meat from a reputable source and consuming that animal with respect and gratitude is important.