Culinary Medicine Cookshops

01/01/2026

Celebrating New Year, Greek-style! Welcoming the year with spanakopita—a cherished Greek tradition with a twist. A gold coin is hidden inside the pie, and when it’s sliced and shared, there’s always excitement around the table… who will find it? 🪙💚 Hint: it’s usually the youngest member of the family 👶😂

In Greek households, the lucky coin symbolises good fortune, health and blessings for the year ahead. The person who discovers it is said to be especially lucky—sometimes even keeping the coin as a keepsake or receiving a small gift. It’s a beautiful reminder that food isn’t just nourishment; it’s ritual, connection and hope wrapped in filo.

Here’s to a year filled with delicious traditions, shared tables, and a little sparkle of luck for us all ✨🥬

30/12/2025

Always great fun over the festive period to cook and bake with those you love 🎄🥖
So much joyful cross-pollination of ideas in the kitchen. This time it was with my sister-in-law, Linda 💛 Out bush and ran out of bread? No problem! We whipped up quick rolls using spelt flour, linseed and a mix of seeds to anchor them beautifully. Simple, creative, and delicious — just how holiday cooking should be.

25/12/2025

Sending warm wishes to you and yours for a healthy, happy festive season and holidays. May it be filled with joy, fresh air, good food and plenty of wagging tails ❤️

Our Louis and Lucy (his girlfriend!) are also sending their love 🐾🎄

🎀🐶

23/12/2025

Road-tripping the old-fashioned way 🚗💚 — BYO food.

This time it’s a sandwich on good wholegrain sourdough, packed with curried tofu and shallots, plus a side of tropical fruit 🥭🍍.

“I really like this,” my husband said… as he reached for the second one 😄

Simple. Satisfying. Feel-good food that travels well.

FoodAsMedicine

22/12/2025

A Banja (bath house) is a much-loved European tradition — places people have visited for centuries to relax, restore and heal. Warm pools, cool plunges, and time to slow down. 💦

My grandmother used to travel once a year and stay for a week with her girlfriends — it did wonders for her hard-worked knees. She never took any other holidays so her ritual stuck in my memory.

Lovely to see the tradition catching on here in Australia. While not on the grand European scale, this modern Banja in Mullumbimby is a beautiful mini way to soak, unwind and reconnect — especially if you go with a friend or partner. Pure bliss for a few hours. Maybe you can sneak away over the holidays 😜

14/12/2025

⚠️ Energy drinks: not as harmless as they seem ⚠️

I’ve warned about high–energy drink intake many times — and this case study is a sobering reminder why.

A fit man in his 50s presented with an ischaemic stroke and extreme hypertension (254/150 mm Hg). Despite multiple blood-pressure medications, his BP remained dangerously high.
Only later did targeted questioning reveal the cause: eight energy drinks a day (≈1,280 mg caffeine, which is triple the max. recommended level of 400 mg per day).

👉 When the energy drinks stopped, his blood pressure normalised and medications were withdrawn.

One case doesn’t prove causation — but it powerfully highlights the potential cardiovascular and stroke risks of excessive energy drink consumption, and the urgent need for greater public awareness.

Listen up friends - here’s what the man said: “I obviously wasn’t aware of the dangers drinking energy drinks were causing to myself, (I) have been left with numbness (in my) left hand side hand and fingers, foot and toes even after 8 years.”

📄 Paper available to download here: https://casereports.bmj.com/content/18/12/e267441

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12/12/2025

What a joy to host another of our popular Culinary Medicine Cookshops here in Sydney the other night! 💛 We always have so much fun together — great interaction, thoughtful questions, and that wonderful buzz that happens when people are genuinely excited about using food as medicine.

This session’s theme was Scrumptious & Healthy Low GI Dishes for the Festive Season — so everyone could walk out with a delicious plan for nourishing their family and friends over the holidays. And what a vibrant menu it was… full of colour, freshness and smart swaps!

This time we featured fish with a tofu option for vegans (we usually spotlight whole legumes, but fish is so much healthier than ham or red meat), along with wholegrains, vegetables, nuts and seeds in innovative, festive-ready ways. The dishes were beautiful — and the feedback from attendees was so positive and gratifying. Many even brought a friend or family member along, which added to the wonderful atmosphere in our Teaching Kitchen.

It’s always inspiring to see how much people learn — not just the why of nutrition and health, but the how in a practical setting where they can absorb the information via one recipe at a time. Step by step, event by event, we get to change lives for the better. 🌿✨

Our next Cookshop has just been announced for February 2026, and it’s already one-quarter full! If you need fresh inspiration to eat for your best life in the new year, details are here: 👉 https://nwbc.com.au/cookshops/dates.html It could even be a great Christmas present if you call early next week to arrange 🎁

A heartfelt thanks also to my super culinary team, Susan (also an RN) and Amanda (also a chef). We’ve been running these events in the purpose-built Teaching Kitchen at my clinic since 2009 — and we still love every minute. 💛👩‍🍳👩‍🍳

11/12/2025

A privilege to attend tonight’s Nicholas Catchlove Lecture at the University of Sydney, delivered by the brilliant Professor Sir Stephen O’Rahilly from the University of Cambridge. A charming Irish gentleman (who’s met the late Queen but not the current King!), Sir Stephen walked us through a fascinating synthesis of the science behind “Fat: Friend or Foe?” — a topic that could not be more relevant to global health today.

Just a few slides here to whet your appetite…

These lectures consistently attract the world’s leading lights in medical research. Last year, his former postdoc Professor Giles Yeo kept us all entertained and enlightened with his talk, “Is Obesity a Choice?” If you missed it, you can still watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQTzs6Cpc6k

Sir Stephen’s lecture will also be available on YouTube shortly — and it’s well worth the watch.

A huge thank you to Dr Barry Catchlove for his generous support in memory of his son, enabling this annual event to continue educating and inspiring the wider community about critical global health issues and scientific discoveries. With speakers of such calibre, it’s no surprise the theatre also fills with scientists eager to absorb the latest insights.

09/12/2025

Fascinating new research to make you smile! A study titled “Dog ownership during adolescence alters the microbiota and improves mental health” has found that having a furry friend at home may do more than offer companionship or reduce the risk of allergies. (The paper is open access so you can freely download it to read).

Researchers discovered that 13-year-olds who lived with a dog had lower delinquency and aggression scores compared to those without dogs. Even more intriguing—their saliva samples showed higher levels of Streptococcus and Prevotella, with greater Streptococcus abundance linked to a reduced likelihood of delinquent behaviour.

Another reminder of how our pets can support both microbiome diversity and mental wellbeing. 🐶💛

Microbiome; Psychology

06/12/2025

Some places come and some go… but this one has been a quiet force for good. I can’t help wondering what the next 20 years will hold for this little hub of positive influence.

I popped into Manna Haven today — a much-loved plant-based café in Byron Bay that’s been thriving for two decades — and look what I spotted on their blackboard… a beautiful quote from one of my books. 💚

Always heart-warming to see “Food as Medicine” messages out in the world, inspiring others to eat for their best life and wellbeing.

05/12/2025

A big thank you to Signs Publishing! Two lucky and very deserving students attending the Nutrition Society of Australia conference were awarded a free cookbook — and they were absolutely thrilled.

Congratulations Sarah and Michael — well deserved! 📚✨

04/12/2025

For something different this year, the Nutrition Society of Australia celebrated their member authors who translate nutrition science into accessible, inspiring books for the public. Three authors were invited to display their works at the NSA stand and chat with delegates about their motivations for writing — and the impact their work is making.

Dr Emma Beckett
Author of You Are More Than What You Eat.

Dr Sue Radd
Author of Food as Medicine: Cooking for Your Best Health and Food as Medicine: Cooking to Prevent and Treat Diabetes.

Sarah Gray
Author of It’s Not You, It’s Perimenopause.

It was such an innovative idea to highlight members who are turning robust research into practical guidance that supports healthier lives. Thank you, NSA, for involving us!