Today we step into a conversation that’s far more than nutrition, wellness, or superfoods. We’re entering the world of Peruvian plant medicines, traditions carried through families, protected by communities, and rooted in thousands of years of Andean and Amazonian wisdom.

To speak about Maca and Cacao with integrity means acknowledging the people who have tended these plants long before the modern wellness industry existed. My guests on Belly today are from Seleno Health Australia, who work directly with farmers who follow ancient ancestral traditions. They know that these plants are not commodities, they’re teachers, healers, and cultural treasures.

Seleno Health is a specialised New Zealand based natural health company which now has an Australian base on the GC and Seleno fuses ancient plant wisdom with modern scientific research. In collaboration with two indigenous farming families in Peru, they share ancient shamanic teachings and substantiate them using modern day biochemical research. They hope to educate people on the importance of connection to their foods, indigenous plant wisdom and how to enhance their own health and well-being naturally.

We'll be talking about the properties and powers of Maca and Cacao throughout the show.

Both Maca and Cacao are inseparable from the people who grow them and the people joining me on the show this morning as they live and breathe the ancient ways, in a modern world, so that people like me and you, can understand and appreciate the traditions, benefits and stories involved in these plant medicines.

My guests who are in this morning representing these two medicinal plants and Seleno Health Australia, are co-director Gavin Storkey and Sales Manager Jane Lee, who I have the absolute pleasure of welcoming onto the show very soon.

They work alongside Seleno Health Co-founders in NZ: Dr. Corin Storkey a biochemical researcher and Sally Huapaya whose cultural lineage ensures these plants are shared with integrity, not exploitation.

This type of work carries with it responsibility - to protect the plants, the land, and the communities who have safeguarded these medicines for centuries.

This conversation is not about trends or products. It is about relationship - with the plants, with the land, and with the people who have carried this knowledge forward.

Maca and Cacao are gifts. And today, we honour the cultures that have protected them, the wisdom that surrounds them, and the responsibility we all share in keeping their stories alive.

MUSIC: Andes folk, afro-peruvian, jazz infused, flute inspired combination of sounds!