By Abbey Cannan
The Covid lockdown blues left a lot of us feeling sluggish after spending too much time checking the fridge, and now the Noosa community have jumped on board the gut cleanse train to get back into shape.
The Noosa region has a reputation for its healthy lifestyle, with stunning coastal tracks, sporting events and an array of new health food restaurants popping up on the streets.
Cookbook author, gut-health specialist and nutritionist Vladia Cobrdova said the health food trend was here to stay.
“It’s inspiring to be in this industry because this is where the world is moving anyway. It’s not a trend, we do need to look after our plant, eat seasonally and eat well,“ she said.
The Jungle & Co owner said there had been a steep rise in the number of locals taking their shot at a juice cleanse.
“During lockdown, we all had a little bit too much chocolate, too much wine and too much everything. But that’s what we had to go through and people cope with things differently and that’s okay,“ Vladia said.
“Rather than beating ourselves up, it’s looking at what we can do now to get back into shape and feel good.
“It’s a really great way to reset your body and we’ve had great feedback.
“There’s a lot of probiotics and prebiotics to really nourish your gut flora and once you start feeling good, you start making better choices for yourself.“
From her early childhood in Czechoslovakia, Vladia was immersed in wholesome fresh cooking stemming from her grandma.
“My grandma had a not so healthy schnitzel house and my dad has three restaurants still. We came from a hospitality background and so cooking good food was always part of our upbringing,“ she said.
“Growing up in communistic Czechoslovakia, the food was always seasonal and we ate the whole plant, so there was no wastage and no takeaway fast food.“
After being told by her mother to leave the country to be free from the communistic era, Vladia headed for London as an au pai.
“I got to London and I was cooking for families and the way that we cooked was just opening up something from a packet and putting it in the oven.
“Being an 18-year-old I thought, this food tastes amazing. It was my first time tasting McDonalds and things like that.“
Once she moved to Sydney in the year 2000, Vladia said she was blown away by the fresh produce on offer in Australia.
“I had never tasted avocado, mango… it was incredible,“ she said.
“I got interested in whole foods and started studying nutrition in Sydney and then I started working in a small beautiful whole food store.“
For the next 18 years, Vladia grew with the company, eventually self-publishing her own cookbook.
“I got noticed by Murdoch publisher who approached me after seeing my work and asked me to do a cookbook,“ she said.
“The cookbook is for everybody, whether you are vegan, paleo, vegetarian, meat-eater, I think it’s a really nice way to include everybody at your own table.“
Vladia said her recipes were inspired by her time spent travelling the world.
“The publisher asked me for 100 recipes and I gave them 200,“ she said.
“I went to Mount Everest, so there is a Himalayan Roti Bread. I was living in Greece as a young girl, so there are a lot of Greek dishes, but they have a really healthy, whole foods twist. I’m all about real ingredients.
“Food is joy rather than restriction and I think that’s what I want to really promote.“
After holidaying with her sister in Noosa for 18 years and desiring the lifestyle, they eventually made the move and followed in their families hospitality footsteps.
“We’ve been here for two years now and we saw this cute little shop and thought we should open up something that we’ve always been working with,“ she said.
“This is apart of us, it’s not something that we go to for work then go home, this is our lifestyle.“
