It was her first book, I Quit Sugar, that put Sarah firmly in the health spotlight back in 2013.
She’s still living the sugar-free life, but these days she has an expert team to look after that side of the business and keep tabs on the juggernaut that is iquitsugar.com.
That gives Sarah more time to keep her other projects ticking along. She is usually off travelling for seminars, fact-gathering for new books, and keeping a finger on the pulse of what’s up and coming on the wellness scene.
“I go out and explore new things, which has been the anxiety stuff lately, and for a while there it was all about food waste,” Sarah says.
“I’m like the magpie that goes out, flies around and brings things back to the nest. Then I meet with my team once a month and we talk about various trends.”
Her findings range from the exciting, to the downright concerning. During a stint in London, she saw how the raw food movement had taken hold, and the range of dubious health food marketing that came with it.
“You go to health food shops over there and it’s all these ridiculous date bars,” she says.
“They are full of nuts, and a large amount of nuts can cause stomach problems for the majority of people. I have said before, the unhealthiest place to shop is the health food shop.”
According to Sarah, gut health is still a big focus of the international scene, along with a growing interest in vegetarianism.
People are shunning harsh boot camps in favour of gentle exercises like Pilates and barre class, turmeric is still in the spotlight, and infrared saunas are a popular way to ease inflammation. Meanwhile, over in LA, the juicing craze isn’t slowing down any time soon.
“These juices are now stacked with extra, ‘healing ingredients’, so the ingredients list is as long as some of the most processed foods out there,” says Sarah with a sigh. “I’m not a big fan of too many ingredients; our stomachs just can’t cope with the complexity.”
And as the wellness world gets more focused on ‘must-have’ items, and gets crowded with often meaningless slogans, Sarah reckons she can already sense the backlash.
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