Live Well Be Healthy

16/10/2023

. 🍂 I just love autumn and the change of seasons. Leaves are changing colour and trees are shedding, crops are ready for harvest and fruits are ready for picking. I love all the warming, comforting foods of autumn. Yesterday we went pumpkin picking for the first time!! It was a beautiful sunny crisp day and we really enjoyed picking out the best pumpkins! There was also pumpkins being blown out of a canon which was crazy ! Unfortunately Archie didnt enjoy that bit as it was loud ! Doesn't he look so cute in the field of pumpkins? He's definitely an autumnal dog !!
I love the foods that are in season at this time of year and we should be eating to nourish and warm our body. All meals should be warm, soups, broths, stews, and casseroles. Here's some autumnal foods: 🍂 🥕 🥔 Root vegetables: pumpkins, carrots, sweet potatoes, parsnips and turnips. These are a rich source of nutritious complex carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins and antioxidants. They will help with improving stamina and endurance. 🍂 Wholegrains: brown rice, wild rice, quinoa are all fibrous and will keep the bowel healthy. 🍂 Dark green leafy vegetables : kale, cabbage, leeks. These help to keep lungs and large intestine healthy. 🍂 Garlic. A great herb that is antibacterial and antiseptic, perfect for cleansing and nourishing the lungs. 🍂 Turmeric. One of my favourite and have done lots of research reading and writing on this one. It's a wonder spice, perfect for warming up any soup or stew with potent anti-inflammatory benefits.
Eat in season and the body will really benefit and this will keep you healthy. Also cheaper too! And if you get a chance to pick your own pumpkins you should go for it !! ❤️
# autumngirl

11/09/2023

❤️ Hello how the devil are you all doing ?! I've not been on here for a bit and I'm quite annoyed with myself that I haven't been making time! Life carries me away sometimes. Does it do that to you too ?
After recently having a birthday I've been feeling the ageing process catching up with me and decided it was wise to spend more time getting myself a bit fitter. 💪🏃‍♀️🤸‍♀️ This has made me think again about why exercising regularly is beneficial as we age. There are of course many reasons why and in one of my blogs I explain why it is in relation to my favourite subject of the gut micriobiota. 🦠🪱
I hope you find this interesting and its just a very short read as I prefer to not bore you 😴 🤣

Link is in my bio for my blog

https://livewellbehealthy.wixsite.com/home/post/healthy-eating-and-exercise

18/06/2023

Hello! This sun just keeps on shining or at least keeps making me feel very warm indeed!! I’ve just updated my blog and this time I’ve explored the topic of processed foods. A processed food is any raw agricultural commodity that has been altered from its natural state. There are four different types of processed foods:

1. Unprocessed food includes foods from plants and animals that are naturally edible. Minimally processed foods are ones that have been slightly altered for preservation but do not substantially change the nutrition content of the food. Examples of this include cleaning, removing its inedible parts, grinding, pasteurisation refrigeration, and vacuum packing. This typically allows the food to last longer and to be safer to eat. These foods are fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, meats, nuts and milk.
2. Processed culinary ingredients such as olive oil are extracted from the olive; however it is still considered a healthy option.
3. Processed foods are foods from the above category that are generally made from 2-3 ingredients and have added salt, sugars and fats. These include canned fruit and vegetables, freshly baked bread, some cheeses and canned fish.
4. Ultra processed foods or highly processed foods are the foods that belong to the previous group but also have the addition of artificial flavours, colourings and preservatives which increase their shelf life, preserve texture and increase palatability. These foods include sugary drinks, biscuits, cakes, frozen ready meals, fast foods, breakfast cereal.
In my blog I answer the question, are all processed foods unhealthy? I explain how to identify and avoid ultra processed foods and you’ll see that I’ve also shared some ideas of how to swap out those ultra processed foods for healthier options too. The link is in my bio! Happy reading and enjoy the rest of your day 🙂

One of my goals of being a Nutritionist is to help people understand food better so that they can make the right choices for optimum health. I think that the topic of processed food is worth exploring today as it can be misunderstood. We are encouraged to avoid these foods, but what does processed f...

17/06/2023

This made me so sad to read this

Rishi Sunak says it would not be fair to restrict shoppers' options during a cost-of-living crisis.

15/06/2023

This week, 12-16th June, is the British Nutrition Foundation 2023 Healthy eating week for everyone!
Day 4 is all about staying hydrated 🫗🥤🧋🧃🍶🧊
We should all aim to drink 6-8 drinks each day. The best choice to stay hydrated is water 💦 this is because it hydrates without adding calories or sugar which could potentially affect your teeth. Fruit juices and smoothies do contain healthy vitamins and minerals however they do contain sugars that can affect teeth and add calories. Have them with a meal and limit them. Milk is a good choice as it contains protein, calcium, and vitamin B. Fizzy juices can contain sugar and no nutrients so limit these and choose sugar free versions.

Remember to keep active 🤸🏻‍♀️🏋🏻‍♀️🤾🏃

14/06/2023

This week, 12-16th June, is the British Nutrition Foundation 2023 Healthy eating week for everyone!
Day 3 is all about varying your protein 🫘🥜
Eating more plant based protein can be good for your health, your bank balance and the planet 🌏 💪 💷 💖 Plant based protein includes beans, lentils and chickpeas. These are naturally high in fibre and low in fat. Add nuts and seeds to breakfast cereals. You don't need to cut out meat protein altogether just add less meat to meals and top up the meal with beans or lentils. This saves money as well as improving health and being cheaper! 😍 Growing pulses can help to improve the planet by improving soil health and reducing the need for fertilisers! Peanut butter is my favourite snack to have on oatcakes or toast and is rich in protein! 😍 🥜💕

Remember to stay hydrated and keep active 🤸🏻‍♀️🏋🏻‍♀️🤾🏃

13/06/2023

This week, 12-16th June, is the British Nutrition Foundation 2023 Healthy eating week for everyone!
Day 2 is all about eating your five a day! 🍎🍉🍊🥑🥕🥬🧅🍆
We should all aim to eat at least five portions of a variety of different fruit and veg daily. Eating a variety means you will obtain lots of different nutrients that are important for good health. So eat a rainbow 🌈 😍
Fruit and veg have lots of fibre in them therefore they are excellent for gut health!

Eating fruit and veg can reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer. Add extra fruit to your cereal in the morning! 🍓🫐🍎 Add lots of colourful vegetables to your main meal, stews, stir fried, curries etc and add a side salad too 🥗 You can easily add fruit to yoghurt to make a yummy dessert 🍍🍑🍒🍓🫐
Remember to stay hydrated and keep active 🤸🏻‍♀️🏋🏻‍♀️🤾🏃

12/06/2023

This week, 12-16th June, is the British Nutrition Foundation 2023 Healthy eating week for everyone!
Day 1 is all about fibre 🥕🍎🥔🍌🥦🫘
Adults should aim to eat at least 30g of fibre per day. Eating fibre keeps your gut healthy and can reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer.
Its easy to include fibre in your diet. Fibre is found in plant based foods, wholegrain pasta and rice. Have a wholegrain cereal in the morning or wholemeal toast with peanut butter. Pack in as many vegetables to your sandwiches or salads at lunch. Snack on wholegrain crispbreads or rye bread with hummus. Throw in lots of colourful vegetables or lentils to your meals.
Remember to stay hydrated and keep active 🤸🏻‍♀️🏋🏻‍♀️🤾🏃

08/06/2023

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65704475

Supermarket becomes the latest to remove the dates, urging customers to use their judgement instead.

07/06/2023

I'm always curious as to the reason why one person can eat what they like without putting on weight whereas another person just has to look at a muffin and gain weight!
🔬 Until now there's a lack of scientific evidence to explain why the same foods can have different effects on individuals or on what might be causing these different responses.
🧬Some of these differences are down to genes which influence both our appetite and our weight. But research has shown that even identical twins have different waist lines despite having identical genes.
🔬I discovered a trial called PREDICT 1 trial (or ZOE study) that really excited me as it has confirmed that individuals do respond differently to the same foods and discovered that although genes do play a role, it is a much smaller part than previously thought. They also identified some other modifiable factors. 💡This is exciting as it means that the majority of our response to food is modifiable and we should be focusing on these.
Check out my new blog post and you will learn what these lifestyle factors that modify our response to food are!
https://livewellbehealthy.wixsite.com/home/post/personal-nutrition

26/04/2023

🌟It's time to act for the women of Scotland!
Women's health plan 2021-2024 Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
This has recently been published and outlines plans to improve health and reduce inequalities for women in Scotland. It focuses on areas such as heart health, menstrual health, menopause and sexual health.
If you want to read more the link is
https://www.gov.scot/publications/womens-health-plan

The Scottish Women’s Health Plan underpins actions to improve women’s health inequalities by raising awareness around women’s health, improving access to health care and reducing inequalities in health outcomes for girls and women, both for sex-specific conditions and in women’s general heal...

25/04/2023

I found it quite shocking to discover that current adherence to the recommendations set out by the Eatwell Guide are really poor, with only 0.1% of the UK population meeting all nine recommendations.
There has been a new extensive review of the Eatwell Guide published which provides five key recommendations for improving adherence to the Eatwell Guide. It is really important to try and improve adherence, not just for the health of the UK but to reduce the impact of greenhouse gas emissions. It is an interesting read.
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/7/6149

https://buff.ly/2WCjYoj

Background: Food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG) are a key public health tool, providing evidence-based recommendations for a healthy and more environmentally sustainable diet. Current adherence to national FBDG in the UK is poor with only 0.1% of the population meeting all of the recommendations se...

10/04/2023

Our eyes contain the most dense and intricate network of vessels and receptors that allow us to see. They are the most precious part of our bodies. I’ve been absent for the past year due to unexpected problems with my eyes. After two eye surgeries, I am now paying attention to preserving my eye health. I’d like to share with you my new blog that has some lifestyle and diet interventions that you can consider to help preserve your eyesight.

https://livewellbehealthy.wixsite.com/home/post/eat-for-eye-Live Well Be Healthy

Our eyes contain the most dense and intricate network of vessels and receptors that allow us to see. They are the most precious part of our bodies. I’ve been absent for the past year due to unexpected problems with my eyes. After two eye surgeries, I am now paying attention to preserving my eye he...

01/04/2022

🧠❤️ Did you know that your brain is 60% fat and for it to work properly it really does matter what kind of fuel that you feed it. 🐟🥜🥑💪Today in my new blog I concentrate on the healthy unsaturated fats that your body needs to function. Check out my blog (link in my bio) for more information but here's a quick three ways to incorporate these fats (omega 3's) into your diet:
🧠❤️🧠❤️🧠❤️🧠❤️🧠❤️🧠❤️🧠
1. For snacks choose fresh oily nuts and seeds that are rich in omega 3s such as walnuts, flaxseeds and chia seeds. And choose raw nuts over roasted ones as high temperatures used for roasting can destroy the delicate long chain omega 3s fats.
2. Choose oily fish such as salmon or mackerel over cod or prawns as the oily fish contain more omega 3s.
3. Use cold pressed oil such as walnut or flaxseed for salad dressing instead pre prepared salad dressing or sunflower oil as these are rich in omega 3s and have a mild taste.
🧠❤️🧠❤️🧠❤️🧠❤️🧠❤️🧠❤️🧠
https://livewellbehealthy.wixsite.com/home/post/healthy-fats

28/02/2022

🥕🥭 Hello! Next vitamin on my list that I would love to talk about is vitamin A. This vitamin is essential for normal vision, growth and the immune system. And it is not just a myth that carrots 🥕 help you to see in the dark as they are rich in vitamin A which is key for good vision! Read more about this in my latest blog. Link is in my bio 🥭🥕

https://livewellbehealthy.wixsite.com/home/post/carrots-really-do-help-you-see-in-the-dark

15/02/2022

Hello! How are you all doing? I think the weather has been rather harsh to us lately and more severe weather to come too! Hope you are all staying safe and cosy and avoiding all the nasty bugs too. This week in my blog I turn to Vitamin C which is probably one of the most well known vitamins. It is so good for our immunity and hopefully you are getting enough to help fight off these winter bugs! Link is below for you to read more about the health benefits of this vitamin.

https://livewellbehealthy.wixsite.com/home/post/health-benefits-of-vitamin-c

06/02/2022

We all know that it's important to eat healthily and exercise regularly, especially as we age. This week I'm going to explain why exercising regularly is beneficial in relation to my favourite subject of the gut microbiota.

https://livewellbehealthy.wixsite.com/home/post/healthy-eating-and-exercise

We all know that it's important to eat healthily and exercise regularly, especially as we age. This week I'm going to explain why exercising regularly is beneficial in relation to my favourite subject of the gut microbiota. Researchers from the University of Cork in 2014 and many other studies backi...

28/01/2022

The next vitamin on my list that I would love to talk about is the sunshine vitamin- vitamin D ! We make vitamin D when the sunshine is exposed to our skin but what should we do when the sunshine is lacking in these winter months... read my latest blog post to find out more.

https://livewellbehealthy.wixsite.com/home/post/vitamin-d-the-sunshine-vitamin

Unlike other vitamins, vitamin D comes mainly from sun rather than from food, hence it is known as the sunshine vitamin. We make vitamin D when our skin is exposed to sunlight. According to the Department of Health the sun's UVB rays are too weak in the UK from October to March. Therefore Public Hea...