I'm travelling the world to discover the secrets of lasting beauty,... There's snail secretion in this. ...great health... This is your pharmacy. Yeah. '...and extraordinary long life.' Better skin than I've got! (LAUGHS) Look at him! From different parts of the world, I wanna find the secrets. This time I'm heading to a place that's beautiful in itself ` the South Pacific Island of Fiji. ALL: Bula! I love it. If you wanna find the beauty secrets of any given country, look no further than their kitchens. You're genius! It's often the ingredients people cook with that ends up on their face and hair. I love enriched roots. So can I find the world's greatest superfoods and skin treatments growing wild in the South Pacific? Have I found the secret to anti-ageing in the islands of Fiji? Copyright Able 2015 All over world, people dream of a paradise like this, where gathering all you need from the land and the sea is a way of life. And today I get to live it. I'm a very lucky girl. I've come to the small Fijian village of Solevu... Bula. ...to discover how people live so close to nature. Bula. But first I'm going to experience a welcome ceremony, where I get to taste their very own national drink ` kava. It's a natural kind of relaxant made from a local tree root, so powerful it's banned in some countries. The effects of the kava are fairly quick. WHISPERS: My tongue's numb. (GIGGLES) My tongue's very numb. OK. The kava tastes like aniseed, and then kind of numbs the mouth, and then it kind of feels a little bit hairy. And, um, your tongue starts numbing, and then about` around about now, you have no idea what you're talking about. Did I make any sense just now? ALL SING IN FIJIAN It's good I didn't have too much of that stuff. Now is my first chance to discover the local Fijian diet, cooked the traditional way in a lovo pit. No butter, just herbs, chicken and some of the local produce that's seasonal. That's, like, a perfectly cooked chicken. It's so soft. It smells really amazing. This is great, and with the lime juice on it is good. For vegetables, there's taro ` the South Pacific potato. It's gluten-free, high in protein but also high in carbs. Not keen on that. Um, I don't know if it tastes like anything. It's just kind of more... there. And then there's baked vudi, a local banana. It's good. I like it. Found a new food I like. (LAUGHS) I've just had the most amazing meal, but I still have that kava taste and feeling in my mouth, so I'm gonna find something a little more to my liking. I drink coconut water all the time at home. It's a great hydrator and tastes fantastic. Climbing up an extremely tall coconut tree, and he has no problem. Good thing for me there's a Jamie Foxx lookalike nearby to grab some coconuts from a great height. So agile! He got up the tree within two seconds. That's insane! Are you`? You're gonna throw it? OK, throw us one down. If I get killed by a coconut, I will not be happy. (LAUGHS) So the green coconut, this is the youngest, right? Yeah, that's a matured coconut, which is ready for drinking. OK, so can we try some? Yeah, sure. I'm never gonna drink a fresher coconut than this. I... (LAUGHS) I drank all of it. It's amazing. I can't believe you finished it. I did. (LAUGHS) Really sweet and clear. In Fiji, we call the coconut tree the Tree of Life, cos everyone uses all parts of the coconut to keep them alive. From the root to the leaves, we use it. Drink five, six coconuts a day. I haven't been sick for more than three years now. Wow! Coconut water is good for kidney problems, lung problem and electrolytes. Oh my God. That's amazing. Spoon. Is that your invention? Fiji spoon, yeah. BOTH CHUCKLE This is good. The locals turn coconuts into just about anything. It's a ukulele. My guitar skills could get better. It's, like, bucky, like me. This is a bra made out of coconut shell. My coconuts. (LAUGHS) Thank you. Mwah! Thank you. Um, if I was ever stranded on a deserted island, this little gem would definitely be the fruit that would save me. It might also be the product that saves my skin. This country is so blessed with bountiful plants. Coconuts are being used in a variety of creams and lotions by a company called Pure Fiji. ALL SING IN FIJIAN More than 500 people from villages all over the country work here. This is beautiful. ALL: Bula! But it's a nut that you can't eat that promises anti-ageing benefits that's drawn me to the factory's back yard ` the dilo nut, spelt D-I-L-O. Our ingredients are, of course, sourced from villages all around Fiji, and we work closely together with local communities. But I saw too that the dilo plant has its own little bungalow. Can you take me to this special little nut's house? Sure. Let's go. OK. You can see these are dilo leaves right here, and that's dilo nuts at the bottom. Dilo is known as a Tree of a Thousand Virtues, just because it has a lot of properties to it that make it such a high-prized nut oil. And the local Fijians use it for all kinds of treatments. Anti-ageing, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial. Any skin condition, from eczema, psoriasis, sunburn, sun rash. Treating acne as well as post-acne scars, dilo oil can actually assist with that, because of the calophyllic acid that's in it that allows it to regrow healthier, newer skin for you. Calophyllic acid? Whatever. But if it's anti-ageing, I'm in. Can I touch this? Yeah, of course. On top of here, that's where the oil's coming out. That's it right there. This little green pimple. Pure dilo oil. To discover more about dilo oil,... Is this our transportation here? ...Austin is taking me far out to sea. Come on, then. Show me what you got. (LAUGHS) I mean` I didn't mean it like that. So, Rachel, I'd like to show you somewhere special, way better than the middle of the ocean. < The dilo is a drift nut, so it sort of gives you a little visual of how the dilo travels across the waters of the Pacific. And what it is about it that makes it so special is that it goes into your skin and it signals to your body that it needs to make new skin cells and repair where it's damaged, so it actually helps regenerate new skin cells and tissues, so that's what makes it so good for anti-ageing properties. Mm. Maybe this explains why so many Fijian women have glowing wrinkle-free skin. They've known all along what I'm just discovering. It's incredible. What a brilliant little nut. I mean, I just wanna jump in that bowl, to be honest. You can put it in your hair as well. He has too much oil on his hands, so we have decided to put it in my hair and not waste it. It's not going to turn my hair yellow, is it? No, it won't. Not that its not yellow already but... It'll rinse right off, but what it does, this will enrich your roots. I love enriched roots. (LAUGHS) Quite a brilliant little piece of Mother Nature's magic. That's it. Exactly. There's not one skin condition... ...you can't use it for. Yeah, you can't use it for. Exactly. Now, Austin is one who practices what he preaches. Before I have my shower in the morning, I lather it on my body, cos it's really good, < so I don't use any aftershave balm or any of those products. What I do is I actually use dilo oil as well as the coconut oil. You do? Yes. We've made a little special oil for you, using the dilo oil, and added in as well a little bit of essence from around the tropics. And I can put this on my face now? < Yes, you can. < Beautiful for your face, your body, your hair. So you can do face, body, hair, everywhere? < That's it. And it has those properties that you need for your skin. Mm-hm. Imagine having an entire bath in it. How amazing would that be? Thank you so much. So there we have it. The little nut that comes from the Tree of a Thousand Virtues, who just might be our little secret to anti-ageing here in the Fijian Islands. And according to Austin, there are many more natural remedies Fijians have been using for years. One of them that you may be interested in is the noni fruit, so I think you should go and look for it. Thank you. I like smelling things. (COUGHS) That's just insane. But it's not only beauty treatments that grow on trees here. In the space of just seeing two plants, we have cures for a dengue fever, malaria, high blood pressure, diarrhoea and a liver cleanser. UPBEAT MUSIC In Fiji, I'm discovering that great health and beauty products, along with the freshest food, can be found in the backyard or the roadside. Just so happens to be a pawpaw tree here. Ginger? Yeah, ginger. Beautiful. And coconuts? Kumquat. Or you call them small lemons here, right? Yep. Do you grow these fruit and vegetables? All over Fiji. You have a beautiful store here. Thank you. I think I'm just gonna take the, um, pineapple. But is it really true that Fiji has botanical and herbal remedies that can cure just about anything? I'm driving into the interior of Fiji right now. The roads are fairly rough, and we have to be very careful. OK, so now I've been on the road for an hour, and I have not seen one person. This road is relentless. Again, I am definitely one for an adventure, so it's all good, but I definitely 'are we there yet' moment. (CHUCKLES) I'm heading to a village that's so isolated that for hundreds of years the people relied mostly on their gardens or forests for medicine. Until recently, they had no power. Super exciting, cos after two hours of rolling around in here, I think I see the village. PEACEFUL MUSIC The village has its own healer, old lady Felo, a guardian of traditional cures and remedies, which were once illegal, because they were thought to involve witchcraft. Felo and her friend Pedro are taking me through her magnificent garden of treatments, many of which are still being used by Fijians today. So this is her pharmacy. I mean, the backyard is her pharmacy. Yeah. That's incredible. Yeah. That's another medicine for this old lady Felo. This is we call it in Fijian vasili. You wring the leaves, then you squeeze it in a bowl of water, and then you strain the thing, and then you drink the juice. So what purpose is that? It clean` It washes the liver. Oh, the liver. Yeah, I used to drink this. You did? You feel better now? (LAUGHS) Yeah. Some of this herbal medicine can cure several sickness. With no hospital for miles, this garden was once the villagers' only medical centre. In the space of just seeing two plants, we have cures for dengue fever, malaria, high blood pressure, diarrhoea and a liver cleanser. That is absolutely gorgeous. It's` I imagine, like, a little fairy would sit in that. Really? Yeah. Like most of the plants here, this one is ground up and mixed with oil to make medicine. What type of oils do you guys use? Uh, coconut oil. Of course the coconut oil! LAUGHTER How could I be so stupid? Yep. So if you've got back pain, foul breath, fish poisoning or impotence, maybe old lady Felo's got something for you. Felo's pharmacy. LAUGHTER Even though these remedies haven't been scientifically proven, they are a huge part of life here, and it's fantastic to see traditional medicine surviving in the modern world. I think I'm pretty much set for this trip. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Mwah! It seems the whole of Fiji is like an outdoor supermarket. You just have to know where to look. Oh my God. There's Alex. (BEEPS HORN) Alex! God, he's so good-looking, isn't he? Amongst all the exotic beauty here, there's a tree Austin told me to look out for. It's the noni plant. It's known for its amazing medical benefits. Not great to look at, but appearances can be deceiving. Now I'm about to meet a woman who's life was completely changed by its unique powers. Lemba, how are you? Bula, Rachel. Lemba is the daughter of a traditional medicine woman, and she says she owes her life to the medicinal powers of the noni fruit. In 2003, I had a boil on my ankle, and then I went to Savusavu Hospital, and then they put me on medication, and when I woke up, I couldn't stand up. I was completely paralysed. That's shocking, and just from a boil, and the next thing you were paralysed? She was hospitalized for a year, but doctors were unable to find a cure. My grandmother, who lived up to 97 years old, she used to drink noni juice every morning. She made it part of her life, and then my mother suggested if I could try the herbal medication. So I started to drink the noni juice. After three days, I was able to move my fingers, and every day on the noni juice, I was improving. Another year, then I was able to walk around. So your back garden became like a cure to you? Yes. < This is how it's fermented. I like smelling things. (COUGHS) That's just insane. (LAUGHS) That's strong. People say it tastes very yucky, and I always say, 'You know what the doctors always say, "The more yucky the medicine is, the better."' That was a good hit at the end there. And Lemba also bottles her own coconut oil, which she claims is good for relieving asthma and heart and back problems. Is there anything the coconut can't do?! The same oil can be used for the hair, for the skin. That's good. It's smooth. Good health for you, Rachel. Oh my God. That's amazing. Thank you so much. And thank God you're still here. Yeah, thank you. (LAUGHS) Mwah! Aw! Wow, what a day. I think I might have found some of the best natural health and beauty secrets on just one island. Bula. Bula vinaka. Could, um, you take me to Castaway? But according to a top chef, I've only just got started. We've got a dish now that you and I, as we age, our bodies are just going to go, 'I've just knocked a year off. There you go.' ALL CHEER 1 Today my search for Fiji's secrets to superior well-being and long life is taking me to Castaway Island. ALL SING IN FIJIAN Welcome home. Thank you. Where do you get a better welcome than this? CONTINUE SINGING IN FIJIAN After travelling all over the world, Australian chef Lance Seeto says he tasted the local food here and was won over. Well, I got lost five years ago and never went home. Oh, you didn't? No, I came here and that was it. Decided to stay, so yeah. Now, as Fiji's culinary ambassador, he wants to convert us all to a new way of thinking about food. Lance, this looks unbelievable. This is paradise. This is Fiji. This is their traditional food. This is their traditional diet, and then embedded in their diet is medicine. Lance is a big believer in the idea of eating our ancestral diet, a theme I keep hearing about on many of my journeys. It's what we all should be turning towards, cos that's how we're engineered. Here in this region, the Polynesian, the Melanesian, the Micronesian diet was based on the sea, protein from the fish; the seaweed, so that provided, like, specific vitamins and minerals; and then from the land was everything else. > Civilizations like the Fijians, who are still connected to the land, still connected to their ancestry, they've got a much better understanding. It just makes sense. It makes sense to me. So what we're going to make is a traditional Fijian dish of fish and coconut. It's called ika vakalolo. You're gonna squeeze the coconut milk, so I'm just gonna add some in here. OK. I'm making coconut milk by straining water through toasted coconut shavings. Do you know how many nuts I've been surrounded by all week? (LAUGHS) You're just squeezing every part of that. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh yeah. Anti-ageing, anti-ageing, anti-ageing. Oh yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. This beautiful snapper that we've got here. I'm frying the fish in coconut oil. No wonder they call the coconut the Tree of Life here. And this is the kind of meal Fijians ate before the days of refrigeration and processed food. Fresh seawater for salt and two medicinal plants ` local bush ferns and sea grapes harvested from a sandbank just five minutes away. They smell awful. Can you actually eat them? You can eat them. Eat them. Eat one. It's a bit salty. A rich source of iodine. Hell yeah. Yeah. (LAUGHS) Both are meant to be great for ageing bones and arteries. As we age, we should be eating and changing our diet slightly to have more of these good fatty foods. Avocado, bitter-sweet chocolate, cos that comes from the little seeds, from the cacao pods, the nuts from the sea ` omega 3s. So there it is ` simple cooking, embraced all that 'food is medicine' philosophy, and we've got a dish now that you and I, as we age, we're gonna go, 'Wow.' Our bodies are just gonna go, 'I've just knocked a year off. There you go.' Oh my God. Your mouth is literally having a story of Fiji in it. It's heaven. It's absolute heaven. You're a genius! Well, for me now this is Fiji on a plate. But if you think about it, this is all the lessons that we should be learning as a Western culture ` simplicity, health and away you go. That is incredible. Before I came here, I was looking for happiness, you know. And guess what? I found it here. It's here in Fiji. (LAUGHS) On my final stop in Fiji, I'm heading to an island recommended by Lance as one of the most beautiful in the world. The Castaway movie with Tom Hanks was filmed there. So naturally, I'm taking a volleyball along for company. I've also organised someone who knows this country from the top down to get me there. Here he is. Hey, Rachel. Bula! Alex! How are you? How are you? Good, good, good. Can I help you with this? Yeah, that's awesome. Monuriki is a stunning uninhabited island. Welcome to Monuriki, Rach. This is unbelievable. For many, it's the flora and fauna that make this place so interesting. It's home to the very rare Fijian crested iguana ` and coconuts, of course. Say, if I was stranded here, could I survive on this island? Yeah, you can. For how many days? For as long as the coconuts are finish on the tree. Hey, Rachel! And I've certainly learnt how important the coconut is to the people here. Bottoms up. It's the source of so much life. I really want to see an iguana. What would you do if you saw one? I'd run. (LAUGHS) Don't worry. I'll protect you. Goodbye, Rachel! Alex isn't sticking around, because of the iguana, but I'm prepared to give it a go. I'm stranded! Yay! I'm in a beautiful place, and I'm gonna make the most of this. And do you know what? I'm gonna rummage around in here and see what I got along the way. My coconut bra, fantastic. I'll probably go topless. Noni juice, coconut oil, coconut lotion, coconut doll! I mean, the coconut tree really is the Tree of Life, and to have had this experience in Fiji, there is so much soul here, a lot of heart, a lot of smiles. And so many wonderful people. Lemba's story was truly empowering. It was a privilege to be taken through lady Felo's wonderful garden of treatments. And the way Lance cooks ancestral food is the way to go for good health and sensational flavour. I think that I've been lucky enough to be touched by a very soulful experience and a very beautiful experience that only enriches the story of beauty and how just what a massive impact nature has for us, if only we could just open the door and look into it a little bit more. And speaking of nature, let's not forget one of my favourite gems from Fiji ` the dilo nut. When they come pick me up, more than likely, I'm going to be younger than when I arrived here. So tonight maybe we can have a little party, we can do a little dancing, a little singing, maybe a little romancing. What do ya think? And then we can do it all again tomorrow. Copyright Able 2015