Confessions of a Naturopath

I have a guilty secret.  Once a month I go to one of the big chain supermarkets and stock up on food for my pantry.  Yes - I try to buy local, and yes - I like to support small business - but every now and then I just need to go and buy some of the stuff that is hard to get anywhere else all under the one roof!

I try to do this as little as possible for 2 reasons:

1) - It costs me WAY more than it should due to the clever way they set out their stores with things to tempt you at every turn

2) - It takes me WAY longer than it should as I am a compulsive label reader.

On my latest foray to this supermarket giant I got busted by not 1, not 2, not 3 - but FOUR of my clients!  Now there’s nothing wrong really with being caught in the supermarket - except that as a Naturopath who regularly dishes out food advice to others I immediately have to do a quick mental scan of what I’ve put in my trolley and what people might be seeing as they say hi to me…….

If you’d walked passed me in the supermarket that day -you would have noticed some things that might have seemed at odds with what I do, so let me explain myself……

- Meat.  Yes - I know I’ve told you all I’m vegetarian - that was not a lie!  But my family eats meat and I try to buy as much as I can from a place called Koallah Farms where the meat is free range, grass fed, organic and antibiotic free, but on this day the freezer was bare.

- The Natural Confectionery Company Snakes - these were actually for my son’s footy team!!  No matter how hard I try, they are just not happy to eat my homemade muesli bars or raw balls instead at ¾ time (ok - I’ll admit - I haven’t tried THAT hard!).  My compromise is to at least buy a brand with less nasty additives.  

- Taco shells - my husband is a terrible cook - so once a week when I work late he usually gets the kids fish and chips.  I figured if he has something that’s easy to cook maybe he will give them that instead!!!!! (Yet to know if this experiment has worked - I’ll keep you posted!)

- Something that appeared to look like soft drink - this was actually plain mineral water.

- Packaged snacks (popcorn, fruit crush ups, sakatas).  I definitely prefer homemade - but as a busy mum of 3 who runs a business, and whose husband also runs a business (for which I do all the bookwork), occasionally I need some snacks to fall back on that don’t require much time or effort. Because let’s be honest - sometimes as a mother sleep trumps cooking!

- Chemical ridden Veet.  For my nearly teenage daughter.  This is one I have given up fighting about :(  For all of you with teenagers or ‘tweens’ you will understand that it is important to pick your battles VERY carefully with this age group!

- You wouldn’t have seen many fruits or vegetables - but there’s a good reason (I promise!).  A massive box of fruit and veg gets delivered once a week to my house from a local supplier .  And when time permits I go to the local organic farm.

- You also wouldn’t have seen many of the foods I regularly advocate for people to use.  Coconut butter, nuts, seeds, raw cacao powder, legumes etc.  I am lucky enough to be able to buy a lot of these wholesale - and when I run out I duck up to Bulk Whole Foods and restock there.

- Sulphite-riddled pre-packaged muesli.  I have no good excuse for this one - no matter how many times I try to make my own muesli blend - I just like this one better…..!

And to top it all off - I left my green bags in the car - so if you saw me in the supermarket that day, you would also have seen me get my groceries packed into nasty un-environmentally friendly plastic bags.

Moral of the story - if you see me in the supermarket and I run the other way - I am probably harbouring some kind of contraband food, because let’s be honest - no-one’s perfect.

Rebecca Milham

Naturopath/Nutritionist

The Natural Health & Wellness Clinic