Introducing new holistic dentist Dr Ian Hedley!

For many of you who follow me on social media or have had health coaching sessions with me you will know that Dr Aushi Patel of Anokhi Dental (formerly known as Bio Compatible Dentistry) in Pitt Street Sydney, has been my holistic dentist of choice for over 15 years. Aushi has extensive knowledge of the work of Dr Weston A Price who himself was a dentist and did some ground breaking research in the early 1900’s regarding oral bacteria and general health. She believes that a healthy mouth requires good nutrition. Needless to say, we are on exactly the same nutritional and lifestyle page.

Aushi has reached full capacity and is not taking on new clients for at least 6 months. As a result Aushi is proud to introduce Dr Ian Hedley who joins the Anokhi Dental team from London where he was working as a holistic dentist. Like Aushi, Ian received his dental training at the world renowned Kings College Hospital and also has extensive knowledge about the work of Dr Weston A Price and its significance in dental and general health. Ian also follows these principles in his daily life. In fact, the pregnancy and birth of his first child was seen through following a Dr Weston A Price diet and he and his wife continue to follow these principles during the pregnancy of their second child! 

Ian brings with him great expertise and a unique approach to dentistry in treating both children and adults. He initially trained as a physical therapist in San Diego, California where he operated his own private practice for almost 10 years. During this time he developed a special interest in jaw joint (TMJ) dysfunction, headaches and neck pain. This inspired him to train as a dental surgeon, allowing him to provide a more holistic treatment approach for his patients.

Ian is passionate about early intervention orthodontic and orthopaedic work for children. His special interest is to guide facial growth and enable the development of a broad wide smile, well developed face and healthy breathing patterns.  He has been fortunate to have been inspired and mentored by some of the most progressive thinkers within this field.

Ian will be available to see patients on Mondays and Thursdays.

Learn more about Dr Ian Hedley and Anokhi Dental if you are looking for a more holistic approach to your dental care. Please let them know I referred you!

What I’m currently reading and listening to….on my bookshelf!

Over the past few months I've been enjoying reading the insights of my traditional wholefoods gurus Chris Kresser (www.chriskresser.com), Chris Masterjohn (blog.cholesterol-and-health.com) and  Mark Sisson (www.marksdailyapple.com). If you are enjoying my blog and want to get into some "meatier" stuff I recommend you look at their websites and subscribe to their daily blogs which are a wealth of great info. I’m listening to Chris Kresser’s podcasts in iTunes when driving in the car, walking or working away in the kitchen. On your i-phone go to iTunes, search for Chris Kresser and start listening to various nutrition and health related topics in 25 different podcasts (no downloading required)! Of course you can never go wrong with the www.westonaprice.org website which was my introduction into ancestral eating (just be weary of overdoing the grains/legumes though). I know we live in a world of information overload and it’s impossible to read everything on any given subject (and why would you want to?) but these sites are at the top of my list.

Reflect! ...on Nora Gedgaudas

Last November I went and saw Nora Gedgaudas, the author of Primal Body Primal Mind, during her Australian tour. It was an all day seminar at UNSW. While I have the utmost respect for her as an author, and I found her book very insightful, I couldn't help but feel a tad disappointed when I later reflected on the seminar. I was disappointed that she was not very specific in answering my friend's question on the need for supplements. Nora said that she thought that supplements "have a role to play" but didn't specify the circumstances in which they have a role ie in all circumstances or only some? I was disappointed that she couldn't answer my question on dairy consumption. I asked whether our ice-age ancestors consumed dairy to which she answered no, so when I asked her whether we should be consuming it she skirted around the issue saying "well there's a big question mark around that". I'm sorry but I think that's a bit of a cop out answer on such a significant issue for someone who holds themselves out as knowledge in the field of nutrition. She really avoided dealing with the whole dairy issue. (For what its worth I actually couldn't agree more with Chris Kresser's view on dairy that simply because something wasn't eaten by our hunter gatherer ancestors doesn't mean that we shouldn't eat it- we can PROVIDED 3 conditions are met: (a) its nutrient-dense - which whole unprocessed pastured dairy is, (b) its non-toxic - and whole unprocessed pastured dairy is not toxic- unlike grains/legumes which do contain toxins in the outer husk and (c) you body has the enzymes to digest it. And I'd probably add a fourth being (d) you like the taste of it and enjoy eating it.... if so then BRING IT ON!! She also couldn't answer my question on what proportion/percentage of macro-nutrients (fat, protein and carbs) a typical meal could comprise. She took a hard line on 100% avoidance of grain consumption (ok, I get that) but didn't state what the consequences were  if you very occasionally consumed it if you are not showing any untoward symptoms of grain consumption. Try as hard as you may it is virtually impossible to raise a child on a completely grain-free diet in modern society (the minute they step foot outside the house its basically the main staple of what is given to them eg at restaurants, friends houses, preschools, birthday parties etc). Nora doesn't have kids of her own so this explains her "there is no room for error"/ "you cant be half pregnant" approach. We are all human and as a parent in particular I make mistakes or bend the principles on my journey all the time, and wont the consumption of nutrient-dense foods 99% of the time compensate for the consumption of properly prepared grains the other 1% of the time? For those who saw Nora too- what were your thoughts? (Leave comments below!) Despite my above disappointments it was awesome being immersed in a community of people aspiring to raise consciousness and I made some new contacts and connected with others I hadn't seen in a while.