I’ll confess right away: my life has become increasingly sedentary. The life of most writers is a sedentary one. I walk every day, regularly clocking up between 10 and 20,000 steps. But this, it turns out, is not enough. According to recent research from America’s Brigham Young University I might as well be slouching in…
WHY STRESS MATTERS – FREEKEH WITH ARTICHOKES
It’s been a stressful time in British politics. Our political elite appear to have disintegrated in the space of a week. As I’ve watched Tony Blair, David Cameron, Barack Obama and a host of other politicians on screen, I‘ve distracted myself with close scrutiny of their appearance. And I’ve been struck by how quickly they’ve…
BOWIE, BOOZE AND TOMATO & COCONUT CASSOULET
I shed a tear for Bowie this week – for him, for his family, for my lost youth. Iconic, fearless, creative, brilliant, he spoke to so many of us with his endless reinventions. His death seemed untimely and unfair. Then Husband and I toasted him with a glass of bubbly – which was both more…
HEART-HEALTHY NUTS AND CHRISTMAS GRANOLA
We’ve made no secret of our passion for nuts – many of our recipes include a sprinkle of toasted nuts or a slug of almond butter. We’re not alone: our almond butter dipping sauce is one of our most shared and pinned recipes on social media. When it comes to ageing well, nuts are one…
CHOCOLATE CAN HELP PREVENT DEMENTIA? AND CHOCO-MATCHA COOKIES
We called our blog ‘Kale & Cocoa’ for a reason – while we love the health benefits of kale, we love a bit of chocolate too. So yet more evidence that chocolate is good for us is a bonus! Early in the summer it was widely reported that around 100g of chocolate a…
WHY MUSTARD IS A MUST-HAVE, AND MUSTARD-MAPLE SALMON
As a kid, I hated mustard. I couldn’t understand the pre-Sunday lunch ritual of mixing bright yellow powder into a paste with a teeny tiny spoon (does anyone still own a mustard spoon, I wonder?) or the fervour with which my parents would seek out good Dijon on trips to France. But now I get…
SALMON: LET ME COUNT THE WAYS, AND THE EASIEST AFTER-WORK SALMON SALAD
If someone says ‘brain food’ what’s the first thing you think of? My guess is that it’s going to be fish – and probably oily fish. And if it’s oily fish, it’s got to be salmon. It’s become synonymous with healthy eating in recent decades. And it’s not just the brain that salmon can help….
ONE YEAR ON – COOKIES FOR KIDS (AND ADULTS!)
Happy Birthday to us! Kale & Cocoa is a year old today and we’d like to thank our 1000 followers for all their support. You’ve made all the hard work worthwhile! But our first birthday has got me thinking. During the last twelve months, we’ve immersed ourselves in hundreds of research reports, medical studies, blogs,…
GET FAT TO BEAT DEMENTIA, REALLY? VITAMIN E AND A CRUMBLE RECIPE
This is bonkers, but fat and obese people are less likely to get dementia. Yes, really. Recent research published in The Lancet suggests that being overweight has an 18% reduction in dementia risk and being obese a staggering 24% reduction. It’s brilliant news if you are overweight of course, but it flies in the face…
THE MIND DIET, BLUE ZONES AND EASTER LAMB
There’s nothing we like better at Kale & Cocoa than more evidence that a healthy, plant-based diet significantly reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease. And when that diet includes a daily glass of wine we’re even happier! Researchers at Chicago’s Rush University have revealed a pattern of eating – christened (rather brilliantly) the MIND…