Making positive changes to your diet can feel daunting, but it doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. Luckily, there are a wealth of free resources available to help you create delicious, nutritious, and budget-friendly meals that benefit your health. Start Your Journey with the Public Health Collaboration (PHC), a non-profit organisation started by NHS GP, Dr David Unwin and...
Easy, tasty, real food recipes
Many of us often struggle to eat a healthy diet and with the high cost of living, this is becoming even more of a challenge. However, eating a nutritious diet can help to prevent many long-term conditions plus improve overall physical and mental health. Yet around 66% of the UK population aged over 16 are now overweight or obese, and...
Vitamin C Causing an evolutionary Commotion!
Previously we’ve highlighted polyphenols (colourful plant pigments), vitamin D, exercise and the vital roles they all play in promoting good health and preventing disease. Now we are going to explore vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid), another vital vitamin. What I find fascinating about this key nutrient is that research shows it to be so essential to life that...
Polyphenols: the health benefits of red grapes and more!
Last time we discussed the health benefits of blackberries and their polyphenols (or plant-colouring-pigments). These polyphenols are often seen as new kids on the block in nutrition science and offer anti-oxidant (or anti-rusting) properties. As festive seasons loom, let’s explore the benefits of cinnamon, red wine/red grapes (in moderation and where appropriate), blueberries, low-sugar dark chocolate and turmeric. We borrow...
Making time for wellness
How committed are you to making time for wellness? We all know that self-care is important to our mental and physical health and wellbeing. And we probably all know, at least in part, how to practice self-care. So, in the words of Nike ‘just do it!’ If only it was that straightforward. In fact, if looking after our body and...
D for Defence and the Sunshine Vitamin!
Our body’s own health protection system hasn’t ever seemed so important as now, has it? Fortunately our powerful friend VITAMIN D seems to have been in the research headlines recently and you may have heard about it too? Dr. John Campbell has also kindly put an easy-access video on YouTube to explain this vital vitamin’s key role in supporting our...
The health benefits of blackberries
The abundance of blackberry bushes in our local fields inspires this piece on the health benefits of blackberries (well, many berries really, read on …) These little blackberries for example contain natural colour pigments called anthocyanidins, they give fruit that dark purple, blue or blackish colouring. These colourful pigments in plants are types of polyphenols which are seen as the...
Just eat real food!
OK so you’ve heard from me already about the colourful polyphenols in real food such as fruit and veg, nuts and seeds, herbs and spices. These colour pigments have been shown to play a role in ‘anti-rusting’ or other health-promoting functions, though only when taken in balanced context with other vital co-factor nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, adequate...
Which healthy diet could be right for you?
The Mediterranean Diet? Ketogenic? Pescetarian? Flexitarian? Vegetarian? Vegan? Lower-carbohydrate real food? An internet search can easily provide the description and claimed reasoning behind this so-called ‘healthy diets’. Which healthy diet would most probably be the right one for YOU? Since the pandemic there has been a welcome focus on diet, health and eating to promote health and wellbeing. It’s good...