The standout gift I got this year for Christmas without a doubt was my very own copy of Sarah Lantz & Tabitha McIntosh’s, One Bite at a Time – Reduce Toxic Exposure & Eat the World You Want. Every time I walk past it on the table a strange force compels me to run my fingers over the cover, reach for it to pour over some more pages whenever I have moments to myself and show it to everyone who crosses our doorstep. This strange force…I think is called pride. I experienced a tsunami of this at the Australian Naturopathic Summit and now here is another wave.
Though I didn’t come up with the idea, contribute a single word or take the gorgeous pictures in this truly engaging and evidence-based book, I feel so proud to know one of the authors, Tabitha, to have been involved in her career over the years and to bear witness to this example of her impressive contribution to Australian naturopathy and consumer health education.
There is an ongoing discussion in our professional community about why bloggers, vloggers and generally unqualified, self-appointed ‘health gurus’ seem to be winning more of the social media pie than those of us with quals! Tabitha, is a well-known Sydney naturopath who has been flying solo in private practice for over 10 years and her co-author Sarah, has among several qualifications, a post-graduate diploma in nutrition. This is exactly the type of book we need more of and need to support in our attempt to reclaim much of this space…with all the substantiating evidence and minus the crap! Check this out for a taste of their approach:
“We all like to read books and blogs and follow funky Instagram feeds by super-cool, super-green superwomen who are living exhilarating toxic-free, hand-made lives: raising free-range kids in peaceful homes, felting colourful crafts out of alpaca wool before their children wake….but hear this my lovelies, and hear it now…These super-green superwomen don’t really exist….so my dear friends, let’s embrace the imperfection of life together.”
Ahhhhh…at last, qualified women, experts in their area women, being authentic and realistic in their advice around minimising our chemical exposure. Not playing the guilt and fear cards women & mothers so often get dealt on this topic, to damaging effect. Just empowering through education.
It may be too late for stuffing the now overstuffed Christmas stockings but what a gorgeous book to have in your waiting room or in your library that you loan to patients (or is that just me?!) or just for yourself. Packed with excellent information about how to make better food and water choices, fully referenced and told using a Pollanesque (i.e. Michael!) story-based narrative that makes you want to keep reading…this is a book that our patients seeking more information are going to love…and most importantly it uses an Australian reference point, questioning the validity of overseas evidence in relation to our food and seeking out our own homegrown evidence wherever possible.
As you may have read, I recently quit. I am still going through my annual reflection and review process but one thing I know, at least in part from my almost visceral response to this book, is that being involved in nourishing and progressing the careers of my colleagues, strengthening the knowledge base and professional standing of the naturopathic community & building better bridges with the medical profession, are ranking in the top 5 of my bucket list!
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