As I stood in line at a supermarket checkout recently, I overheard a young couple in front of me querying the cost of their weekly shop. The checkout lady confirmed her till was working properly and she hadn’t put any items through twice. Then the young woman’s face crumpled. “We were just trying to be…
BUSTING COLDS AND BOOSTING IMMUNITY
There are a lot of colds around at the moment, aren’t there? Virtually everyone I know has had the sniffles in recent weeks, including me. I’ve always been very prone to colds: in my teens and twenties I considered it a good month if I didn’t get one. Since I started eating more healthily (thank…
REPLENISHING YOUR GUT BACTERIA – LEEK, BLACK BEAN AND BACON SOUP
There’s nothing like spending time in hospital to remind you why health matters. But when my second daughter was hospitalised with a burst appendix two weeks ago, it wasn’t degenerative disease on my mind, but gut bacteria. Five days of triple intravenous antibiotics, followed by twelve days of aural antibiotics, had me straining for my…
PERFECT VEGETABLES: THE KALE AND COCOA VEG SAUTE
Eating more vegetables will help us live longer, age better and fight the risk of degenerative disease in later life. That much we know. But there’s always a risk that eating piles of veg can be a bit, well, boring. There’s a limit to how much steamed kale/cabbage/spinach I can eat. But there’s also a…
BOOST YOUR BRAIN HEALTH – BEST-EVER BLACKBERRY MUFFINS
Not only is it blackberry season but it’s also World Alzheimer Month (bet you didn’t know that!). Last week saw the publication of the 2014 World Alzheimer Report from London’s King’s College. Encouragingly, the report says the risk of dementia can be reduced if we control diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and heart disease. Diabetes…
On-the-go snacks, high blood pressure and ‘After-School Power Balls’!
I find it hard to understand diets that advocate ‘no snacking’. A healthy snack keeps us ‘on the go’, between meals, at work and after a workout. With the school term back in full swing now, our children get home from school after lacrosse/netball/dance/football/gym/drama/hockey and they are STARVING. So they need something to keep them…
EAT YOUR GREENS … BUT WHICH ONES?
Spending a fortune on blueberries? Don’t know which vegetables to buy? Take a look at this new study from William Paterson University in New Jersey, which ranked 47 fruit and vegetables in terms of nutrients per bite http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2014/13_0390.htm#table2_down Researchers analysed each fruit and vegetable for 17 critical nutrients proven to reduce chronic disease.* The findings…
BREAKFAST, HEALTHY CHILDREN AND PORRIDGE PANCAKES
Breakfast: best meal of the day, right? It sets us up for whatever lies ahead. I always think that a day that starts with a good breakfast just goes better, somehow. All the experts agree that starting the day with a mix of whole-grain, slow-burning carbohydrate, protein and healthy fats is the best way to…
INCREASE YOUR MICROBIOTA – AND PEA & SOYBEAN SALAD
Preparing to hunker down for the cooler months? Feeling gloomy about the end of summer? Stop right there! If Susan’s last post on Vitamin D and dementia didn’t get you up and out, then tune in to this week’s BBC Horizon programme (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04g507y/horizon-20142015-5-allergies-modern-life-and-me) on the explosion of allergies in the developed world. Horizon covered not…
SUNSHINE, VITAMIN D AND A RECIPE FOR COCONUT-CRUSTED SALMON
Not difficult to top up the Vitamin D in the summer, is it? All that endless sunshine, those days by the pool and drinks on the terrace (well, that’s what my Facebook feed looks like anyway – thank you friends). But this summer, I’m stuck inside, working 12 hours days with a long, underground commute…