It’s not everyday you attend a master class with a naturopathic doctor at a whisky bar, but then again The Roadhouse isn’t your archetypal Byron Bay watering hole.
Partners Ruby Thomas,Duane Eddy, Liam Flanagan and Adam Coates have created an environment that successfully strikes a balance between style and substance.
Using 95% organic and seasonal ingredients sourced through suppliers like Byron Bay Organic Wholesalers, The Roadhouse menu is designed to nourish the body as much as it does the palate.
“Consuming foods that are laced with chemicals, or have been genetically modified, change your cellular structure and this has proven to be carcinogenic even in Western medicine,” Adam says. “Organic farming not only benefits people but also the land in which it comes from. Farming sustainably gives nutrients back to the land, which in my mind is most important.”
It is this drive “to be in control of my friends’ and my own wellbeing” that led Adam to Dr Sherrill Sellman, one of the world’s leading practitioners of integrative medicine and genomic testing.
“I came across Sherrill on the web through my usual network of mentors,” he explains. “We got chatting about the test and I enticed her to the Bay with the promise of good food and clean air.”
While most of us acknowledge the correlation between the foods we eat and the affects they have on our health, Dr Sellman takes it further by looking at how food components interact with our genes.
“Nutrigenomic eating is a specific practical application of learning how we can directly influence and optimise gene expression through personalised nutrition,” Dr Sellman explains. “Gene expression is referred to as the software of the genes that can be influenced by everything in the environment including thoughts, foods, toxins, stress, meditation, and so on.
“We are in constant dialogue with our genes, which are responding to everything we do, think, feel, eat, and are exposed to.”
Dr Sellman says nutrigenomic testing provides the ability to “hit the bulls eye” when it comes to the key nutrients, supplements and lifestyle needed to optimise our individual health, healing, and healthy ageing.
“By individualising your nutritional protocol based on your unique gene expression, you can more effectively support your health and healing for your entire life,” she says. “It is the ultimate in preventative diagnostic testing and only needs to be done once in a lifetime. When accompanied by a nutrigenomic-targeted protocol, you are able to create a core program for life.”
Available for anyone at any age, the test is done through a painless, non-invasive saliva collection that targets the critical genes that have the most profound impact on the root causes behind all chronic illnesses and ageing.
“These typically include inflammation, oxidative stress, liver detoxification, methylation, fat metabolism, vascular function and vitamin D metabolism,” Dr Sellman explains. “What the test doesn’t address is the risk of specific diseases such as cancer, nor does it enable practitioners to treat specific conditions.”
Supporting our genetic idiosyncrasies with the right nutritional support not only leads to a healthier lifestyle but helps us better understand our genetic make-up.
“We live in such a ubiquitous, toxic world that has never really been part of the human experience before,” Dr Sellman says. “It is not just a matter of supporting our health and healing by assisting all the detoxification pathways to be functioning optimally but also allowing us to pass on healthier genes for future generations.”
For Adam, hosting events like Dr Sellman’s master class is part of a grand plan to “to lift the bar in food and culture in Byron”.
“Byron Shire Council has given all food operators in the Bay an advantage by keeping out fast food chains, which have created a mentality that ‘food is cheap!’” he says. “Let’s take this advantage and thrive on good food with conscious minds. Let’s move forward as a clan and take our health back.”
facebook.com/TheRoadhouseByronBay
instagram.com/roadhousebyronbay
Nutrigenomic Testing
Dr Sherrill Sellman
