Nutrition & Health Insights
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- aging, Functional Medicine, General
As baby boomers in England, the US, and Europe age, many face multiple chronic health problems that earlier generations experienced less frequently. A recent study highlights that baby boomers (born between 1946-1959) are more likely to suffer from diseases like cancer, heart problems, diabetes, and lung conditions than those born [...]
- Fatigue Conditions, Hormones, Menopause, Symptoms
It is estimated that about 70% of women are affected by menopausal symptoms. Weight gain, sleep problems, fatigue, low mood, dry skin, thinning hair, joint pain these all sound like symptoms of menopause and if you’re a woman in your 40’s or 50’s you may assume these are all perimenopause/menopause [...]
- Vitamins
Are you often lured in by the latest health boosting supplements or maybe overwhelmed by the many choices out there? In a market flooded with promises of vitality and well-being, it’s crucial to navigate with caution. As a Registered Nutritional Therapist, I’ve learnt from experience both the pitfalls and benefits [...]
- Functional Medicine
As a Registered Nutrition Practitioner, I have access to private functional testing for clients. So, what are the benefits of functional testing? Testing takes out some of the guesswork and can help me to identify the root cause of conditions, focusing on the causes rather than just the symptoms. Testing [...]
- Symptoms
As a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, it is becoming increasingly common to come across people who are struggling with unexplained symptoms. These symptoms may not fit into any particular medical diagnosis and any testing carried out may also not help lead to any diagnosis. It can be so difficult for those [...]
- Recipe
With the recent spell of hot weather, many of us are dusting off the BBQ and taking the cooking outside. Then we spot the headline that tells us barbecued food can create harmful substances in our food. These harmful substances are known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons – I think we’ll [...]
- Foods, Gut, IBS
Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), the two main forms being Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, affect more than 300,000 people in the UK. These conditions are a result of problems with the immune system which lead to inflammation in the lining of the gut. Gut microbes and their metabolites (substances produced [...]
- General
The Environmental Working Group’s 2019 “Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen” list of fruits and vegetables with the most/least pesticide residue was released earlier this month. The best way to avoid harmful pesticides that can act as endocrine disruptors (chemicals which can interfere with the body’s hormone systems) and potentially increase [...]
- Symptoms
Humans have over 1000 species of bacteria naturally living on the skin. The species vary on different areas of the body. Most of these bacteria are commensals (non-harmful to us) and contribute to maintaining good health of the skin. They do this by taking up space, preventing pathogenic (disease causing) [...]
- Functional Medicine
I was trained to work as a Nutritionist and Nutritional Therapist using a Functional Medicine approach – so this model forms the basis of how I work. When I ask people if they have heard of this, or know what it is, most people haven’t – so here is a [...]
- Recipe
Having a healthy, balanced, microbiome is the key to good health. It has an impact on many aspects of health, not just in the gut but body-wide. When I plan meals, I always consider how what I eat will benefit my microbiome (yes, I know that is quite geeky!). So, [...]
- Foods
There is no doubt that a high sugar diet is detrimental to health. Sugar occurs naturally in many foods and is added to most processed foods, under several different guises, making it difficult to avoid and to determine how much we are consuming. Excess sugar consumption has been associated with [...]
- ADHD
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects people of all ages and genders. In past years, ADHD was most commonly associated with boys and men; in recent years, it has become more widely recognised and diagnosed in girls and women. ADHD in women may present differently than in [...]
- ADHD, Brain
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects millions of children and adults worldwide. It used to be thought of as just affecting children. However in recent years increasing numbers of adults are being diagnosed. People with ADHD typically experience symptoms such as difficulty paying attention, impulsivity, [...]
- Brain
As we age, our brains go through natural decline in cognitive function; in fact cognitive decline and general mental slowdown can begin in your 40s. However, there are things we can do to support brain health, one of the most effective of which is to promote brain health through nutrition. [...]
- Symptoms
“The growing evidence for nutritional psychiatry suggests that GPs and mental health professionals should now seriously consider including dietary counselling for patients who are at risk of depression.” Read the full article here; THECONVERSATION
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- Gut
“Gut Microbiota Composition Reflects Disease Severity and Dysfunctional Immune Responses in Patients With COVID-19” Yeoh, Zuo, Lui et. al. BMJ January 2021 I read a lot about the microbiome, an awful lot, enough to have learnt that one of the keys to good health is balanced gut microbiota – and [...]
- IBS, SIBO
Approximately 3million people in the UK are affected by irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). It is now thought that 60-70% of IBS cases are in fact due to SIBO. So what actually is SIBO? SIBO stands for small intestine bacterial overgrowth. As the name suggests this means there are too many [...]
- Recipe
Were you, like me, brought up being told to “eat your greens”? I thought I’d share a couple of my favourite nutritious and tasty green recipes. The falafel recipe is one I have scribbled on a bit of paper in my recipe folder so can’t give credit to whoever I [...]
- Gut, Symptoms
The skin is not just a kind of exterior wrapping for the body, it is a complex living organ which can often reflect what is happening inside the body. As well as being a large defense barrier to anything the body is exposed to, it is also one of the [...]
- Foods
Just recently, I’ve been using a wider variety of spices in my cooking, as I am aware many of them have therapeutic value as well as being delicious additions. Each time I incorporate a new ingredient I learn more about it and check out any research. So the spice of [...]
- Brain, Gut
It has long been assumed that the gut and the brain communicate via a slow, hormonal pathway. Now a paper that has just been published in the renowned journal ‘Science’ shows that there is a faster means of communication between gut and brain. By researching a mouse model, they were [...]
- Gut
Having just received the results of a gut microbiome test I submitted, this has made me particularly conscious of how readily microbiome composition can change depending on the foods it is exposed to. Mine is actually not too bad but there is room for improvement! However, the microbiome is not [...]
- Foods, Immune System, Inflammation
Have you ever found that there are some nights when sleep doesn’t come easily? Sleep is one of the pillars of good health. Poor sleep is associated with weight gain, poor concentration, increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, type 2 diabetes, depression, impaired immune function and chronic inflammation. Whilst reading [...]