

Irish Organic Botanical Products, Workshops, Herb Walks & Clinical Consultations.
Inspired & ran by Registered Herbalists

Foraging Workshops
Have you ever wondered what wild Irish plants can be used as food, herbal medicine and for craft?
We run seasonal foraging walks & herbal workshops throughout Ireland.
Interweaving our local folklore and legends with plant lore, let us immerse you into the fantastical world of our native flora.
Start your journey of herbal discovery!

Herbal Medicine Clinic
We run Herbal Medicine Clinics in Belfast, Louth & Kerry. We are Registered Medical Herbalists trained to specialise in the use of medicinal herbs to support various conditions.
Is a condition affecting your Quality of Life or have you been disheartened by your current treatments? Why not find out about the clinics or book a consultation?

Organic Products
We are releasing a range of Organic Herbal Products inspired by our Local Irish Plants.
Superfood Powders, Herbal Cosmetics, Herbal Teas and Animal Care Products.
We’ve decided to focus on developing a small range of products so we can optimise their quality by using our in-depth knowledge of Herbal Medicine.
Our Upcoming Events
Have your ever wanted to learn about the uses our local flora have to offer as food and herbal medicine?
Treat yourself to a foraging walk or workshop. Below are our 5 next events. Click here to see all events for the year.
Our Instagram Feeds
》》WHY EAT EGGS? 🍳
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Eggs are an absolute stable in my house and I freely recommend them to most of my clients.
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One large egg will provide around 8g of protein, so 2-3 at breakfast gives you a decent protein boost to start the day. They are also like a little multivitamin with decent amounts of vitamins and minerals including vit A, D, E, choline, folate B12, iodine, phosphorus and selenium. They also are a source of omega 3.
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Eggs have gotten such a bad rep over the years for "increasingly cholesterol" but this simply isn't true. It is now estimated we only get 10% of our overall cholesterol from our diet. Most of it the body makes itself. Also low cholesterol is not necessarily a good thing, cholesterol is needed for memory, brain health and helps the body repair itself. Theres a potential link with chronically low fat diets and dementia!
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Also if you are someone who is using only egg whites and discarding the yolks....stop! The yolks have so much more nutrition. I recommend you stop counting calories and start counting nutrients! Your body will thank you!🙏
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The best eggs are pastured (ie the chickens roam around a paddock and eat a lot of insects, weeds, grass and other foraged food as opposed to grain). A much more natural diet and better for the chickens too! I get organic, pastured eggs from @helensbayorganic either at the farmshop on Friday between 10-4 or St George's Market on a Saturday! 🐓
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And finally, if you are eating porridge with fruit/syrup for breakfast, you aren't getting off to the best start to your day, but more on that later.... watch this space!
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#eggs #breakfast #egg #breakfastideas #belfast #poachedeggs #protein #porridge #eggwhites
》》JUST EAT REAL FOOD 🍉
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Yup, fruit is healthy, eggs are healthy and even grass fed butter is a superfood. As are steaks!
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Green smoothies, huge salads and oat milk lattes are not what they are cracked up to be.
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Tofu is not a healthier option over steak or tempeh.
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Nut butters are not great additional protein.
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And if you eat honey buy it from a local beekeeper. The jars in the supermarkets are 50% fructose glucose syrup from China even if it says 'organic' - a legal loophole for anyone willing to write 'a blend of EU and non EU honey' on the label. Chuck that junk out! 🍯
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Your kale is best served steamed with butter not raw, liquidised and with ice.
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Basically, just eat real food and stop overthinking it! Source local, organic and seasonal where you can. 🥕
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#kale #eggs #steak #justeatrealfood #nutritionireland #offal #icecream #keto #nutritionaltherapy
》》WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF? 👻
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If you are someone seeking better health and are jumping from one diet or supplement to the next looking to feel better, then this post is 💯% for you!
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All too often I see women in clinic thinking they have extremely complex health conditions that no one has been able to fix, and they even admit I probably won't be able 'solve them' either. They've spent hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds on specific food, supplements, therapists and functional tests only to find they are feeling the exact same, if not worse than when they started off in their pursuit for health.
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If you are stressing over every aspect of your life, your career, your weight, your skin, your fertility, your energy, your sleep, your toxin exposure... then I'm sorry to be the one to break it to you, but you won't fix your health by going keto/vegan/paleo/low carb or taking extra NAC, adaptogens, magnesium or Vitamin C.
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If you're sick of feeling sick and want to find a more sustainable and enjoyable approach to diet and lifestyle that is tweaked to your own unique needs with all the support you need from a registered professional, drop me a PM or book in for a free chat using the link to my calendar in my bio. Its time to stop living your life in fear.
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And whatever you get up to this Halloween, have a great one! 🎃
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#halloween #nutritionaltherapy #magnesium #nac #keto #herbalmedicine #spookyseason #fertility #pumpkin #belfast
》》STUCK STRESS 🌌
Always hustling? How many of these symptoms have you got?
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If you take anything away from this post let it be "You can't heal in the same environment that got you sick"
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#stress #hustle #womenempowerment #strongwomen #nutrition #stressrelief #herbalmedicine
It feels like the trees only just got their leaves a few weeks ago, but here we are, almost a third of the way through Autumn already!🍁
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Fresh, seasonal foods typically have the highest nutrient density. Autumn is a time of abundance on the seasonal food calendar and has so much fertility/hormone supporting foods to offer.
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🍠Winter squash
Butternut, spaghetti, acorn….the variety of winter squashes and pumpkins are vast but they all share a few things in common…loaded with beta carotenes (a form of Vitamin A) which not only help you see in the dark, but also are super important for healthy sperm and egg formation. One serving of squash can seriously help you on your way to meeting your RDA of vitamin A!
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🍎 Apples
Bake ‘em, slice ‘em, stew ‘em, apples are a fantastic source of fibre which keeps you regular, meaning you are able to excrete old hormones like excess estrogen. Your liver will thank you for eating an apple (or a pear) a day. Also good source of vitamin c and quercetin which are radical scavenging antioxidants that may support egg and sperm health.
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🍄 Mushrooms
Even the humble button mushroom offers substantial benefits. Mushrooms are high in fertility boosting nutrients including folate, Vit D and selenium. The beta glucans in mushrooms are potent antioxidants and help fortify immune health which can lower inflammation.
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🥬Cabbage
Contains indole-3-carbinol which helps with the metabolism of estrogen and Diindolylmethane (DIM) which has been shown to protect sperm and eggs from damage. A source of fat soluble vitamin E improves sperm count and motility as well as increases blood flow to the uterus to create a thicker uterline lining. Vit E also improves the quality of cervical mucus helping sperm survive to reach the egg.
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🎃Pumpkin seeds
Think of these as nature’s multivitamins. Loaded with zinc in particular, a key mineral for sperm health.
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🍇Blackberries
Jam packed with foliate, vit c and antioxidants which help protect against cell damage and fetus development.
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What other seasonal foods would you add to this list?
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#autumn #autumnfood #fertility #apple #nutritionaltherapy #pumpkin
》》HOW IS YOUR METABOLISM?
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So which one out of your friends are you...are you the one who always wears the most layers and still complains its baltic even when its not? Or the one who can't lose weight or gain muscle at the gym but your gym buddies are knocking it out of the park, doing only half the work? Or are you the one whose fingers turn those funky colours when the temperatures drop? Or maybe you are the one shedding like crazy and panicking you'll be bald by Christmas!💔
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If any of these sound familiar and if you've got ongoing period/pms, energy or sleep issues then chances are you've got low metabolism.
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Metabolism in a nutshell means how effective your cells are at making energy or ATP and for a lot of us ladies who are chronically stressed, undernourished and lacking in quality sleep, we have key signs of low metabolism.
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A lot of doctors are sadly only trained to look at a select few blood tests and low metabolism or underactive thyroid can often go misdiagnosed.
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As a fertile woman you should feel generally warm and energised, have a regular cycle without debilitating pms, cramps or heavy flow and have a good head of hair on your shoulders. If you don't, then maybe its time to take a closer look at what's going on.
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Want to regain your glow? Drop me a PM or book a free mini consultation call via my website (link in bio).
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#hormonebalance #hormonehealth
#women
#nutritionaltherapy #herbalmedicine #northernireland #periodproblems #pms #hairloss #insomnia #weightloss
》》WHAT I OFFER🌿
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I thought it would be really useful to pop a post up covering some of the services that I offer as I get asked a lot what it is I do.
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For those new here, hi I'm Sarah 👋 and I'm a Registered Nutritional Therapist & Clinical Herbalist who is absolutely passionate about reconnecting people back to nature and their bodies through nutrition, lifestyle and herbal medicine! No fads, no trends and no BS.
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If you are interested in any of my services and want to know more information please drop me a PM or visit my website to book in. You can also drop me an email at hello@sarahhawkinsnutrition.com 💌
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I look forward to hearing from you!🙏
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#nutrition #foraging #herbalmedicine #nutritionaltherapy #wildedibles #functionalmedicine
》》SELF HEAL (Prunella vulgaris)
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This pretty little perennial is native to Europe, Asia and N.America and is a member of the mint family. It has been used for centuries by herbalists as a plant medicine for a variety of ailments, hence the commonname ''heal-all'.🌿
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One of the most popular uses for this herb is as an anti-herpetic as it has been found to be effective against various herpes viruses, including HSV-1 and HSV-2. One study by Zhang et al. (2022) found that the Polyphenolic-protein-polysaccharides in the plant demonstrated anti hermetic action against coldsores resistant to acyclovir (the main drug used against herpes)!
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It should therefore come as no surprise that it has also been used by herbalists as a general immune herb, again owing to the activity of the polysaccharides it posses. In fact there is some evidence its effective against estrogen driven c@ncer$ (Lin et al. 2020; Zhao et al. 2018).
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As the plant does appear to lower estrogen levels it may be less suited to menopausal women.
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Self heal is also considered a antidiabetic, bitter, hepatic, lymphatic, anti-inflammatory and astringent herb by herbalists. Energetically it is considered cooling and drying.
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The flowering tops are what are used medicinally and now is a great time to find it growing in your lawn as well as at your local park. It can be used as a tea, a topical coldsore cream or tinctured. I found this patch taking up residence in my backgarden!🥰
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DISCLAIMER: This post is for information only and is not intended as medical advice or to treat or cure any disease. Do not take any herbal medicine without first consulting your licensed healthcare provider. Do not pick and consume any plant unless you are 100% able to identify it and it is safe to do so.
#selfheal #herbs #flowers #summer #belfast #women