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Posts tagged “Diet”

It’s interesting the associations we all seem to have. The winter with Coughs and Colds (!), Vitamin C and a glass of orange juice. But would you associate Vitamin C with a reduced risk of heart disease, ageing or cancer? Probably not. 
 
Of all the vitamins, Vitamin C is the one most people have heard of. And yet seem to know so little about. So, this week, let’s dig a little deeper and find out why it’s important for good health. Not just Coughs and Colds. 
Just to prove that we listen to what people say (!) this week’s blog post is in response to a comment recently received from someone we know very well. (And, to avoid any embarrassment we won’t say who it is.) 
 
It went along the lines of “Why haven’t you done a blog about constipation, I’m fed up with being told to drink more water and eat more fruit and veg.” 
 
We can’t promise that we won’t mention water, fruit and veg but can guarantee that you’ll learn lots of other things as well. So, here we go (!). 
Over the last few years white refined sugar has become Public Enemy Number One, with repeated advice to remove it completely from our diets. While salt may not have quite reached that status, many column inches – and news stories – have been devoted to its impact on long term health, coupled with advice to adopt a low salt diet. 
 
At first glance this advice appears to be perfectly sensible but is it really that simple? That salt is inherently bad for us and should be removed from our diets as far as possible. 
 
While this advice makes a great soundbite – and one that’s easy to remember, if not to follow – sadly it isn’t quite that simple. 
A couple of weeks ago we looked at why we love sugar so much – and, “yes” human history does play a large part in this (!) – as well as some of the many ways sugar is “hidden” in our favourite foods. 
 
This week we’re going to look at why a high sugar diet is so damaging and how it’s associated with so many health problems. While some of these may be obvious – such as tooth decay and soaring rates of obesity – many others are less so. 
 
To do this we first need to remind ourselves of a few basic facts about sugar and how our bodies are designed to deal with it. 
Sugar – particularly the sugar “hidden” within so many foods we never give a second thought to – is a subject which has received much press coverage in recent years. It’s one we discuss regularly with clients and have mentioned many times before in this blog. And yet, despite it being linked to many long term health problems, the message still doesn’t seem to be getting through. 
 
So why is this? The simple answer is that sugar fuels one of our most basic instincts. Sweetness equating to food being good – and safe – to eat. It’s been used by humans as a basic survival tool for thousands of years. Just think of the sweetness of any fruit, telling us when it’s ripe and ready to eat. And how unpalatable the same fruit is, if picked too early. 
 
Unfortunately this association has now become our undoing, with our diets having changed out of all recognition in the past few decades. Let alone centuries. 
You may well have heard the saying “breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dine like a pauper.” But is it still true today? Our answer would always be a resounding “yes” (!) and you only need look at the word itself to see why it’s so important. 
 
Breakfast is an old english word which can be traced back to the 15th century. It’s a shortened form of “breaking the fast”. In other words the first meal of the day which “breaks the fast” of the previous night. 
 
While we may sleep during the night our bodies don’t; with many vital housekeeping and detoxing processes running overnight. This is the reason why we wake up feeling hungry – and often thirsty too – as our metabolic rate, blood sugar, energy and hydration levels all tend to be at their lowest when we wake. Not forgetting the essential trip to the bathroom to get rid of the end results of all that work (!) and freshen up for the new day.. 
Earlier this month we talked about the delights of foraging and encouraged you to make the most of the glorious autumn weather to go out in search of blackberries and elderberries. Not only is it great fun but incredibly satisfying too! 
 
So let’s now talk about two other autumn goodies which are in plentiful supply this year. The first is one you’ve probably noticed – they really glow in the sunlight at this time of year – but never thought about using, Rose hips. Surprised? Many people are, thinking of them only for decoration. 
The schools are back and, as so often is the case, we’re now being treated to a glorious Indian summer. Although having said that here in Suffolk we’ve had a great summer – almost too hot at times for the true Brit!!! 
 
To us, one of the pleasures of autumn is going foraging for all the edible goodies that can be found in the hedgerows at this time of year. Not only are they organic, but come with zero food miles and exercise built in. 
With the recent spell of hot weather – well, hot for the UK (!) – it’s easy for people to become dehydrated without even realising it. 
 
Perhaps it’s due to them not being used to hot weather and simply not recognising the warning signs. Having said that, many of the classic signs of dehydration seem so obvious – to us at least (!) – that it can sometimes be difficult to understand how people don’t seem to join the dots. 
 
So, this week, we’re going to focus on the most common signs of dehydration. And, don’t be fooled, they apply all year round and not just in the summer (!). 
Cholesterol – and statins – are subjects we discuss regularly with clients and have written about before in this blog. “Cholesterol – are statins a wolf in sheep’s clothing?” posted in September 2014 can be found in the blog archives to the right of this post. 
 
Despite the huge amount of coverage this topic has had in the mainstream press, fundamental misunderstandings remain about both cholesterol and the effectiveness of statins. So, once again, let’s have another look at this subject and shatter some of the most common myths. 
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