Sarah Hawkins Nutrition

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Sarah Hawkins Nutrition

I am a Belfast based Registered Nutritional Therapist & Herbalist offering 1-2-1 consultations.

I am a Belfast based Registered Nutritional Therapist with private consultations available in both Belfast and Comber from January 2018.

01/01/2026

2026 INS & OUTS✨️

Every January I see the same thing - women feeling pressured to “fix” themselves before they’ve even caught their breath.

So for 2026, I’m continuing to advocate a different approach — one that’s calmer, more sustainable, and actually supportive of the female body.

INS: eating for nourishment and joy, understanding your hormones, supporting your nervous system, evidence-based nutrition and herbal medicine, and habits you can realistically maintain. 👏

OUTS: restriction dressed up as discipline, hustle-until-burnout culture, fear-based wellness marketing, demonising carbs or sugar, and quick fixes that don’t last. 👎

Healing doesn’t need to be extreme to be effective.
Save this for the days wellness culture gets a bit too loud.

21/03/2025

🍃 Wild Garlic season is officially upon us!🧄

I absolutely LOVE this time of year as all my favourite things to forage like nettles, cleavers and dandelions begin to appear! 💫And the star of the show is of course, wild garlic! What an absolute gem! 💎

However, unlike nettles, cleavers and dandelions, wild garlic is much more of a rarity to find, especially these days. Therefore, sustainable foraging practices are KEY! 🗝 I cannot stress this enough as people begin their annual trips to gather as much of the stuff as they can, often leaving with their bags brimming with it! 🥹 If this is you or someone you know PLEASE 🙏 stop decimating this mighty little plant friend! ✋️

So the basics... rule no 1 of foraging, only pick plants you can 100% identify. Wild garlic should smell like... garlic...there's a surprise! No smell, its not wild garlic! 👀

Rule no 2 is never harvest more than 10% of an established herb. If you only see a few plants, move on and check back next year.

And rules 3 & 4 when it comes to wild garlic is NEVER EVER pull it out by the roots and only take 1 or 2 leaves per plant. Uprooting it, kills the plant so it won't return next year. Yes the roots are edible but please leave them in the ground. Taking all the leaves off the same plant also kills it! The leaves generate enough sugar through photosynthesis to get the roots through winter till next year. So carefully take only 1 or 2 leaves off each plant. The total you take should only be enough for 1 or two meals. Don't take more than you can use as its just a waste and more than a little bit greedy! 🤪

My favourite way to use wild garlic is as a pesto! Simply blend wild garlic 🍃, ground almonds🧅, parmesan cheese 🧀and quality olive oil 🫒with a pinch of salt in a food processor. It is delicious with fish, meat and pasta.

Bon appetit xx 👩‍🍳

08/11/2024

My immunity soup is a golden, silky based delight that magically combines 2 traditional foods for colds & flus: lemon & ginger tea + chicken soup!🥘

Honestly, this is one recipe to save to your favourites, ready for when you feel that ni**le at your throat or that stuffiness in your nose!🤧

INGREDIENTS
2 carrots, chopped🥕
2 sticks celery, chopped fine
1 red onion, diced 🧅
1 leek, sliced
6 cloves garlic, crushed🧄
Heaped tbsp ginger, grated🫚
8 mushrooms, roughly chopped🍄‍🟫
Handful kale, chopped🥬
150g orzo or rice
1.5L hot chicken stock/broth
1 lemon, juice only 🍋
2 egg yolks
Leftover cooked chicken🍗
Flat leaf parsley, chopped (optional)

🔹️ Heat a large saucepan with a little olive/coconut oil and cook the carrots onion, leeks and celery for 3-4 minutes until softened. Season with salt.
🔹️ Then add the garlic and ginger and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
🔹️Add the mushrooms and orzo/rice and hot chicken stock and bring to a boil, then simmer for 10-12 minutes until the grains are cooked.
🔹️Add the kale the last few minutes of cooking.
🔹️ As the kale cooks, separate 2 egg yolks into a bowl and add the lemon juice, whisk with a folk to combine. Then slowly add a ladle of the hot soup broth to the lemon + egg mixture as you whisk.
🔹️Turn off the heat for the soup and add the lemon and egg mixture, stir to combine.
🔹️Place shredded cooked chicken into soup bowls and ladle over your golden soup. Garnish with the chopped parsley if using and Wall-ah! 👩‍🍳

20/10/2024

SPOokY SEasOn is here! How you like them apples?👻 🧙‍♀️🍎

Setting boundaries and learning to advocate for our bodies, our wellbeing and even our sanity is sadly the reality faced by women today. We have no choice but to navigate both the healthcare system and social dynamics that still think its OK to downplay and even dismiss how we feel without thorough and proper investigation and to openly pry into our fertility status and plans. Yes, Aunt Sandra, we're looking at you! 🙀

BUT the good news is, things are changing, albeit at a snails pace. 🐌 YOU don't have to put up with hormonal and/or digestive issues that interfere with your life. Nor do you have to put up with nosey parkers who ask things you don't feel you need to answer.

If you're struggling with gut and or hormonal issues and you're ready to transform your health, drop me a PM or head to my website and book yourself in for a free 20min chat where we can see if we're a good fit to work together! 🫶

🎆 Wishing you a happy Halloween

Sarahxx 🎃

#

08/04/2024

Don't get me wrong, I love a wee pamperday 💅as much as the next person, but the odd 'selfcare sunday' ain't going to get you any closer to your health goals. And until you put your own needs (note: not wants) first, your health WILL suffer. 📉
Life is about choice. You can choose to stay in the cr@ppy relationship💔, be a doormat for your boss and eat the junk food infront of the tv 📺 every night, but know that a) life doesn't have to suck on every level, b) its never too late to take new paths and c) you deserve to be happy. 🌞

25/03/2024

The amount of Netflix docuseries pushing plant based diets with less than credible research, not to mention all the kale smoothie loving influencers, it can seem like anything other than vegan is just not good enough. 🥑
Whilst its easy to fall into the belief that plant based is the healthiest way of eating, both for your own health and that of the planet, like most things, its just not that black and white!
Let me start by saying that I see a lot of clients with hormonal and/or digestive issues, and regardless of whether they eat animal products or not, nutrient deficiencies are commonplace. The difference is that its often my strictly plant based clients that have what looks like a pretty healthy diet on paper but are completely unaware of the key nutrients they might be lacking.🌱
Like it or not, animal products are a much better source of the nutrients listed above. Think eggs, offal, poultry, red meat, shellfish and dairy. Theres other nutrients often lacking too, like vitamin d, calcium, iron and iodine, which again are best found in animal products.
So why am I posting this? Its not to p*ss off the vegans, so please don't be slipping into my dms and comments with your hate for this post. The entire point of this post is to raise awareness of key nutrients you might be lacking on a plant based diet. If you are not eating animal products and have what looks like a pretty clean diet but still suffer with light/heavy/clotty/painful periods, bloating, ibs, mood changes, skin issues, low energy, brain fog, joint stiffness and/or sleep disturbances it might be some of the nutrient deficiencies mentioned above. Same goes if you eat meat tbf. 😬
If you want to be well on a plant based diet but have a lot of digestive or hormonal symptoms, you are going to have a more difficult path. And I'm saying that from both personal and clinical experience over the last decade. Its not impossible, just more tricky to get right. Speaking to a qualified health professional to guide you and run some bloodwork is often a good place to start.
Disclaimer: intended for educational purposes only.

22/03/2024

Its hard to pick just a few of my favourite herbs for tea, even now I'm looking at this post thinking of all the others that aren't included!😅 But here is why these guys made the list....
1️⃣ Camomile is well known as a 'sleepy tea' but did you know its also soothing to the gut and aids digestion because its slightly bitter? 🌼
2️⃣ Make elderberry syrup in Autumn and add it to hot water and lemon! Delicious but also immune boosting and much cheaper than buying it in the pharmacy!
3️⃣ Ginger is a warming, powerful anti- inflammatory herb helpful with nausea, painful periods and digestion.
4️⃣ Raspberry leaf tea is a really pleasant tasting tea packed full of minerals! It also has been shown to help tone the uterus making for less crampy periods when drank consistently.
5️⃣ Lemon balm is a delicious member of the mint family with a citrus taste. So many studies on this herb! Useful for blood sugar balance, anti herpetic, reduces anxiety and aids digestion. 🍋
6️⃣ Hawthorn grows EVERYWHERE in Ireland, the hedges turn white all over in May when the flowers come out. Powerfully rich in heart loving antioxidants and a soothing herb to thr nervous system!
7️⃣ Got gas? Make yourself a fennel seed tea!💨
8️⃣ Linden/limeflower is a tasty tea soothing to nervous and digestive system. A great tea before bed. Packed with antioxidants!
9️⃣ In the autumn collect rosehips for tea and syrup! Packed full of natures Vit C!
1️⃣0️⃣ A rich source of nutrients for hair, skin, bones and nails... drink nettle tea! 🦴

Disclaimer: for information purposes only, not intended to treat or diagnose.

15/03/2024

Hands up if lipbalm has actually made your chapped, sore lips even more sore and chapped than before? 🙋‍♀️ Based on my recent poll in my stories, it seems that I'm far from alone with 67% of you agreeing with me!
I knew it couldn't just be me, so I'm here to tell you why your lip balm isn't working and how to find one that does. FINALLY you can have soft lips all year long! Can I get a hoorah?! 💋
1️⃣ Essential oils and synthetic fragrances can really dry out and irritate your skin. Yes, even natural plant extracts like geraniol, citronellol and cinnamaldehyde all can cause skin reactions. One study found peppermint oil to be the worst offender! So skip fragrances if you are sensitive!
2️⃣ Topical vitamin E (dl-alpha-tocopherol) is listed by The Dermatitis Institute as one of THEE most prevelant allergens that causes contact dermatitis. Yet its in almost every single lip balm out there! Vitamin e is a skin loving nutrient, but stick to dietary sources like avocado, red peppers and seafood. 🥑
3️⃣ You'd think castor oil, beeswax and coconut oil to be some of the safest things to put on your lips! Well, not for everyone. A lot of companies use chemicals like hexane to extract castor oil which can cause skin reactions. Some people are also sensitive to ricinoleic acid in castor oil. With beeswax, in its pure form is generally good but not if mixed with the other allergens listed in this post. Some also react to any trace of propolis in beeswax. Coconut oil is good for some in its pure form but be mindful it blocks pores which can cause irritation
4️⃣ Drink. More. Water. Caffeinated drinks and most herbal teas are direutics so chapped lips can be your body's way if telling you to rehydrate!
5️⃣ Skip the chemical SPF! Source a mineral based one!
So what do I recommend as a lip balm? It can be a bit of trial and error. Try a single ingredient chapstick and check for irritation. For me I love made from 100% lanolin (sheeps wool). Some people react to lanolin so if this is you try pure shea butter or pure beeswax and see which one works best!💋

Address

1 Cranmore Park
Belfast
BT96JF

Telephone

+447746855721

Website

http://sarahhawkinsnutrition.com/

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