MY HEALTH EXPERIENCE:My life has focus. It is really extraordinary
PEOPLE KEEP asking me about my diet. To me it’s a lifestyle change, not a diet. All the family are involved. Even the animals eat what we eat. My dogs have porridge in the morning, with grated carrots and apples.
It has just been fantastic – this change in lifestyle. I started 14 months ago. I would not go back. I was one of those people who loved nothing more than a beautiful cappuccino – with cinnamon on top. And, of course, I had sugar in it. I remember years ago doing a television show with the three tenors. I had to be up on the road early in the morning and I got home late at night, so it was coffee all day long. I was zinging. I had palpitations. My head was throbbing. My whole body was affected.
There was a time when I would have coffee if I needed a lift, if I had a headache or was feeling exhausted. Now I have a few jumps on the trampoline or I go for a walk or do five minutes of step-ups and I feel great. Honestly.
The more I get into this lifestyle, the better I feel. I used to get overwhelmed. I suppose I was wound tight. I was finding it hard to cope with all the things I had to do. I was not physically strong and I had a problem with my back.
I think people start to feel creaky because of the build-up of toxins in their system. Now I am calm. I can get everything done. I am also easier in my relationships with other people. I can see them more clearly now. My life has focus. It is really extraordinary.
And in terms of singing, it has helped my voice. All the gunge you eat can affect your voice. You need to be fit when you are singing. And the older you get, the harder it is on your body. They don’t tell you that.
All my life I had a funny relationship with food. I would binge eat and then I would not eat at all. I suppose it was the nature of what I was doing, the travel, the late-night performances.
I spent 17 years in London. Most of my work was in Europe, so I was travelling all the time, staying in hotels, snatching food as I went, living on takeaways.
Joe, my husband, is from Clare and now here we are, living in west Clare on our two acres with seven dogs, six cats, two donkeys and 5,000 bees. We don’t have television and we don’t drink alcohol. I am from Dublin, but now I find that being part of a community is such an important part of our lives.
I had my baby, as they say, late in life. I was 44, had given up hope of having a baby. I thought I was going through the menopause. My hormones had gone crazy. And then I had Jessie. We had been dying for a child for years, so when I found out I was in total shock.
When I was pregnant, I was doing Madame Butterflyin Germany. It is very physical and I was heavily pregnant – six weeks to go – but the singing was fantastic. You are in touch with all your muscles when you are pregnant. And then when Jessie was about four months old and I was trying to get her to sleep, Butterflycame on the radio and it was unbelievable the way she jerked her body in response and then went fast asleep.
I got a lot of advice from a nutritionist called April Danann. She calls it “The Way”. We also got the bees through April. There are no toxins in the hives. Only two of the animals were planned. We got one dog from the pound, another arrived one night out of the blue when it was lashing rain and stayed, and we sort of fostered other dogs who had been ill-treated. Now they get brown rice with lentils and grated turnip and sometimes lamb or tuna.
In the beginning Joe, Jessie and myself were on a completely vegan diet – no dairy, sugar, wheat, meat nor night shades. I had never heard of that term before. Potatoes, peppers, chillis, aubergines, and tomatoes are all out – anything fungal or fermented. Alcohol is also out. Wine and beer are fermented and they add sugar to stout. Joe used to love a glass of wine with cheese and bread, but I was never a great drinker.
The whole idea is to get the body to detox, to get rid of all the chemicals and to sweat out all the toxins floating around in your body. It’s very uncomfortable when you are doing that.
Now we can eat lamb – we probably do once every three weeks. And we can have duck or goose or fish whenever we want. We eat loads of vegetables, pulses, beans in soups and stews. We make mung bean burgers, which are to die for. We use spices such as tumeric and cumin, which are anti-inflammatories.
April has taught me about the value of herbs, how to pick dandelion leaves and put them into soups. I hope to plant herbs and vegetables this year. I am planning to make raised beds. We love dandelion coffee.
Eating out with friends is not really a problem. I can have a lamb chop and lots of vegetables. I don’t tend to go for the vegetarian options in restaurants because they usually have the night shades like peppers or chillies.
The biggest change is the way we look at food. It is a way of life. Time in the kitchen is very precious, and the food is delicious.
Jessie is six now. She does not have Easter eggs or biscuits but her friends love her food. I make spelt bread every day – it takes 40 minutes. We melt goat’s cheese on it. It’s delicious for a snack. We make a dessert using almond butter, maple syrup, seeds and nuts. We get St Dalfour jam because there is no added sugar. We make pancakes with wheat-free flour and onion rings with loads of salt. I did not know until recently that there is such a thing as healthy salt – the more you eat, the more you build up your immune system.
My husband Joe has always been a great eater and he still is. This may not have been about diet, but I did try lots of diets over the years. I was a size 14-16 but now I am 10-12 and back into old clothes that I had not worn for years.
I have also stopped dyeing my hair. I love it. It is quite grey. They say that the chemicals used for dark hair are even more dangerous than the others. I suppose some people are surprised when they see it, but at this stage of my life I realise I have to own my own life. If it became a huge issue for a production or a role, I would put in a rinse.
It took us a few months to get rid of the TV. I used to love watching the Gilmore Girls, stuff like that. Now we get DVDs, box sets and we use RTÉ player. Did you ever see a child staring at the telly? They just go into a trance. I believe it is the waves, the emissions. It hasn't been a big issue with Jessie. I explain to her that I am doing these things because I don't want her to be sick. If someone gives Jessie sweets, she just hands them over automatically.
When Jessie was born, I was with her all the time. I remember my mother making me go into town for a few hours to get a break and I just pined. Life had been a rollercoaster. In 1992, I performed at the Point with Placido Domingo in front of 7,200 people. When I had Jessie I did not want to be away from her so I stopped travelling.
Now I am really looking forward to my next performance. And a one-woman show is being planned which I hope to tour Ireland with. It’s a new phase and I’m very excited.
Regina Nathan is soprano soloist with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra in Vaughan Williams Sinfonia Antartica(Symphony No. 7) on Friday, February 4th, at the National Concert Hall at 8pm as part of Soundtracks, an evening celebrating film music of the mid-20th century
