Posts tagged “Diet”

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High salt diets and high blood pressure, is it really that simple?

Posted on 27th April 2022 at 07:38

We live in an age of sound bites. Pieces of information – or advice – easily encapsulated into a few words, which appear to simplify a potentially complicated – and confusing – matter into one that’s easily understood. Although it doesn’t automatically mean the information or advice is correct, let alone put into practice!

The one we’d like to look at today has been a mainstay of conventional health advice since the 1960’s, particularly for those with high blood pressure and other heart related conditions. To adopt a low salt diet. And, with the part salt plays in helping the body regulate blood pressure, it sounds like a very sensible – and scientific – piece of advice. We wrote about salt back in 2017 and the part it plays in helping regulate blood pressure. If you’d like a quick reminder click here.

Yes, chocolate really can be good for you

Posted on 13th April 2022 at 07:16

With the chocolate fuelled madness that marks the first bank holiday weekend of the year rapidly approaching (!), we thought this blog post would get your attention. However, as so often is the case, it isn’t quite that simple.

True, cocoa beans do have a myriad of health benefits, as confirmed by many different studies. More on this in a moment. Hurrah!

Unfortunately, the majority of these are lost during the manufacturing process, to produce the chocolate we’re so familiar with. And not forgetting the huge amounts of sugar most chocolate products contain.

Intermittent fasting

Posted on 30th March 2022 at 07:42

We’ve talked a number of times before about the rocketing rates of Type II Diabetes, particularly in teenagers and young adults. The part poor lifestyle choices play in this AND how insulin is about so much more than simply controlling blood sugar. If you’d like a quick reminder, our most recent posts can be found here and here.

The good – and potentially bad (!) – news is that Type II Diabetes is a Lifestyle Condition. In other words, it’s the result of poor lifestyle choices being made over a long period of time. And we would emphasise the last few words. Over a long period of time. The effects of poor lifestyle choices cast a very long shadow, with the seeds usually being sown many years – or decades – before…

However, despite how it appears, this is good news; although we appreciate it may initially sound like very bad news too. The good news is that lifestyle choices are entirely within our control, even though many people will try to convince themselves – and us too (!) – this isn’t the case. However, it is. Full stop. End of story. They’re the choices we make every day – usually without thinking – so we’re the only ones who can address them. It can’t be done by anyone else for us.

Yet another reason to clean up your diet and do a detox this year

Posted on 16th March 2022 at 07:37

With the days starting to noticeably lengthen – hurrah (!) – this is the time of year when we start looking forward to the warmer months ahead. True, the temperatures are still a little on the nippy side to start stripping off some of the layers, but it’s the perfect time of year do a little bit of spring cleaning. Or, put another way, a detox.

While it can sound a little daunting, detoxing is really very simple. Cleaning up your diet. Drinking more water. Taking regular exercise. If you’d like a few more details and a quick reminder, click here.

The simplest way to think of detoxing is as a spring clean for your body and, if you’re feeling inspired, you can also give your house a little extra tlc too. Throw open the windows, give it more of a clean than normal (!) and “rehome” any junk you’ve been meaning to get rid of for ages. However you do it, the end result is the same. Clearing old and stuck energy, making room for the new in your life. Not only will you feel much better for it – and your halo will shine (!) – but it brings new energy and momentum into your life. Hurrah!

You are what you eat

Posted on 16th February 2022 at 07:43

You’ve probably heard this maxim before. You are what you eat. Or one like it.

While we may prefer to ignore it, what we eat has a direct effect on our bodies and health. It really is that simple. Full stop. End of story.

Sometimes in the short term, more often far down the road. Regardless of the timing, it’s still there. Perhaps the effects are not easily measurable beyond feeling less energetic or ageing less well than those around us. All too often, it can be measured – and seen – as a chronic health issue, particularly degenerative diseases such as Arthritis, Cancer or Heart Disease. Whether we’re able to join the dots is another matter, particularly when the seeds were sown many years – or decades ago – as many conversations with Clients over the years have shown…

Are supplements a necessary part of modern life?

Posted on 8th December 2021 at 07:38

Supplements are big business these days and much more than the traditional multi vitamins and minerals. Just about every vitamin and mineral is available along with herbal extracts and proprietary formulas for every possible health concern. Here in the UK, it’s estimated that £1.3 billion will be spent on them this year – 2021 – with the market growing every year.

However, from conversations with Clients, it’s clear there’s still a huge amount of confusion about them. It’s a subject we’ve touched on before but one well worth revisiting.

The first question which comes up is obvious and guaranteed to polarise people into two opposing – and usually vociferous (!) – camps.

The continued rise of vegetable oils, do they really live up to the hype?

Posted on 24th November 2021 at 07:33

In recent years the consumption of vegetable oils has increased dramatically while that of butter, lard and other animal products have shown a marked decline. As so often is the case, no single factor is responsible for this change, although the popularity of the Mediterranean Diet in the 1960’s and 1970’s probably helped kickstart this trend.

The logic behind the diet was simple, trying to emulate the health benefits from the diet of those living in and around the Mediterranean. In other words, a wholefood and locally sourced diet centring around fresh produce. Fresh vegetables, salad, fruit, nuts, beans and grains with smaller amounts of protein, predominately fish, along with unsaturated fats, such as Olive Oil. And it’s these last two foods which are key to what we’re talking about today, as you’ll see in a moment. Fish and Olive Oil. Other meat and dairy products were only occasionally eaten. Oh, and don’t forget plenty of red wine (!).

Osteoporosis - also known as honeycomb bone

Posted on 27th October 2021 at 07:47

Traditionally, Osteoporosis was thought of as a “woman’s disease”, affecting ladies of a certain age (!), with little that could be done about it. Whether proactively or reactively. Not an encouraging picture and one which is now proving far from true on both counts.

Sadly, Osteoporosis is now affecting many more people. Not only younger women, but children and men too. At the same time, research has found that it’s not simply a hormonal issue but, once again, lifestyle factors play a large part.

Why it takes a lot of energy to be ill

Posted on 29th September 2021 at 07:41

Having had similar conversations with a number of Clients recently – which is always a gentle hint that it’ll make a good topic for a blog post (!) – it seemed like a good time to share our rather different perspective on illness. One most people have never considered. And that is the amount of energy it takes to be ill.

Confused? Then read on, it’ll all make sense in a minute. Yes, it will!

If you’ve been unlucky enough to have Flu – or something similar (!) – the one thing you’re likely to remember above all others, was how exhausted you felt. As one Client so eloquently put it, if someone had offered him a £50 note to get out of bed and go downstairs, he wouldn’t have been able to do it.

Why is that?

Looking ahead to the cooler months

Posted on 15th September 2021 at 07:45

There are some things which never seem to change. The schools go back and, right on cue, Summer finally arrives. Or, at least, an Indian Summer. Which, after the very traditional English Summer we’ve “enjoyed” this year, seems even more poignant than usual. Then, quick on their heels, come a spate of calls and emails from Clients looking ahead to the colder months of the year.

Each year, our advice is basically the same. To focus on the small things you do every day; the majority of which, dare we say, are down to good old fashioned common sense. These help support both your long term health AND that over the coming Winter. Then, having got the basics right, add any necessary top ups. Supplements, tinctures and the like.

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