SJ Health

22/09/2024

BANANA 🍌 BLUEBERRY 🫐 PROTEIN 🍞 BREAD….
This is so easy to make - most of the work’s done in your blender. Super healthy full of fibre, protein & healthy fats to keep you feeling fuller for longer. We love this for breakie & I know I’ve given my kids a good start to the school day with v little refined sugar ✔️
🧠 I pull this out when school exams are lurking, as research suggests the frozen blueberries can help with memory & focus 💫
💙
Ingredients:
1.5 cups oats (gf optional & blended) - you could use regular plain flour, but I prefer this for extra fibre
2 tbsp seeds - eg. chia or flax
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp nuts of your choice
4 eggs
3 ripe banana
6 dates (a few more if desired for sweetness)
1 cup blueberries - I prefer frozen
100g cottage cheese (Extra points & when this is blended you can’t taste it at all)
Pinch sea salt

Recipe:
1. Heat oven to 180 degrees. Line a loaf tin with banking paper & prepare some muffin cases for any leftover mixture.
2. Put the oats & chia seeds in a blender & whizz until you have a fine powder. This is your ‘flour’. Then add in the baking powder, cinnamon, salt. Pour mixture out of the blender & Set aside.
3. Then add in the other wet ingredients to the blender eg. Banana, dates, eggs, cottage cheese plus your nuts & whizz it up. When smooth, add in the dry ingredients & whizz up in the blender for a few mins until well mixed.
4. Pour into your loaf tin & then add your blueberries, pushing some down through the mixture.
5. Bake for 30-35 mins until golden & a skewer comes out clean.
Voila & enjoy! It’s so moist & delicious. 💙 Best served warm with some butter or nut butter. Keep in air tight container & eat within 3 days.
❤️ Let me know if you try this & pls give me a ❤️

12/08/2024

H O L I D A Y 🌞 H E A L T H 🌞 While my head’s in the sand about the new school year in Sept, I’m already thinking about pre-school immune modulation which is more than just what you eat. Our non negotiables for my family on holiday are:
🌞
1. Some travel supplements. We love immune formula which my kids also have, which has been proven to reduce coughs and colds, magnesium glycinate which helps with everything from nervous system & sleep to pms & blood glucose regulation.

2. Eat seasonally & locally. The big joy of travel for me - I love exploring the local markets & stocking up on rainbow veg & fruit full of polyphenols to keep our gut biomes & taste buds happy.

3. 4. Balance eating in & out. Helps the hol budget & ensures we keep up plenty of veg & fibre which can sometimes go by the wayside on holidays. It’s easy to eat beige when having fun in the sun so a delish salad is good for balance.

5. Prioritise sleep. Lack of sleep can increase chances of regular colds & viruses so even if your usual routine is a bit different on holiday, try to get 7-8 hrs sleep each night.

6 Hydration. We all know we need more water in the heat, but also think about watermelon, cucumber & unsweetened coconut water which help replenish electrolyte balance too.

7. Movement. Whether it’s swimming or exploring on foot where you can. Exercise causes changes in antibodies and white blood cells to circulate more rapidly thus fighting illnesses earlier.

8. Hugs. We know that a 10 sec hug can boost feel-good hormones like oxytocin. Oxytocin can destress and restore the body’s balance, improving immune function and your odds of fighting off viruses and infections.

9. Vitamin d. Take off your shades 😎 & Expose your retina, forearms to daylight sans sunscreen for 15 mins for light skin and 30-40 mins for darker skin in am to boost vit d & circadian rhythm balance. Mushrooms, eggs, oily fish like sardines are great sources if on the menu.

10. Relax and have fun. You’re on holiday to escape, so relax the rules and have fun 🍦 Life is all about balance!

11/08/2024

🇬🇷Greek inspired 5 min Summer Sunshine Salad 🌞

There’s nothing like the colours of Summer & this salad has them all. So refreshing with some nice crunchy textures & perfect when you just want a light Summer lunch. You can adapt it & use whatever leaves you have and add in any summer fruit - would be lovely with strawberries too. Or swap the feta for mozzarella or fried halloumi.
😎 Easy peasy side to serve alongside some grilled chicken or fish or add a tin of cooked chickpeas or lentils for extra plant protein. Perfect to brighten up a bbq meal.
Feeds 4 as a side. Enjoy!
🇬🇷
5 min med inspired salad
🌞
Half a red onion, sliced in fine rings
Handful of ripe tomatoes finely sliced
1 large cucumber cut on the diagonal
2 handfuls of green leaves like rocket or baby spinach roughly chopped
1 med avocado deseeded, peeled & sliced thinly
1 large peach or nectarine sliced finely
100g crumbled feta cheese mozzarella or halloumi (I like Green vie Greek style for a VG/DF version)
Handful chopped basil or mint if you have them
100g roughly chopped walnuts or pumpkin seeds for some delish crunch & added nutrition. Save some walnuts to sprinkle on top once the salad is dressed.
🌞
Dressing - season with salt & pepper as required & for the dressing mix 1.5 tbsp of the best extra virgin olive oil your budget allows, 1/2 tbsp vinegar - (red wine or apple cider vinegar), 1/2 tsp honey in a small jar & toss into the salad just before serving!
🌞
Let me know if you’ll try this!

17/09/2023

M O D E L 〰️ N U T R I T I O N 〰️ It was such a privilege to be invited to run a workshop on food, nutrition & wellbeing for
🙏🏽I love that I can use my background working as a model agent and my knowledge in functional medicine to be in a great place to educate young models. We looked at how, what, when and why it’s important to eat the right foods and bust the myths and stereotypes around what models do & don’t/should & shouldn’t eat.
➰ We covered how to use food to support mood, energy, and immunity as well as the essentials for modelling - looking & their best from the inside out & holding it together during show season.
💫Good luck to all these beauties walking the shows during 🤞🏼🍀💫
.nootropics

25/09/2021

P A I N 🍌 P E R D U 🇫🇷 or healthy French toast to you n’ me. This is great esp for busy kids & time poor parents as this takes 10 mins tops 🙋🏽‍♀️ I had a lot of positive feedback when I posted this on stories the other day & I was requested to make it again today, so thought I’d share the easy recipe. Serves 2:
Ingredients:
🌟Between 2-4 slices of bread pending on appetites & size of bread. I used gf sourdough.
🌟 2 whisked eggs
🌟 2 mashed bananas
🌟 some cinnamon & vanilla extract if you have it
🌟 1 tbsp ground flaxseed for some extra fibre, protein & essential fats
How:
🌟While you mix the ingredients above in a large bowl (apart from the bread), heat some coconut oil in a large fry pan, then soak each slice of bread individually in the gooey mixture on each sides, fry for a few mins on each side til golden then serve. ⏱ C’est tout! so quick…and naturally sweet you don’t really need anything else but you could have a tiny drizzle of maple syrup or honey if desired & serve with seasonal fruit.
🌟Yummy & an easy healthy weekend brunch or breakie for everyone that’s got enough protein & gut loving fibre to get you going for the day 🔥

16/05/2021

Incredibly proud of the clinic & team I work with The Optimum Health Clinic 👏

We are excited to announce that The Optimum Health Clinic is featured in May 2021's edition of industry leading magazine IHCAN (Integrative Healthcare and Applied Nutrition). Head of Research Claire Sehinson shares our dedication to applying existing knowledge of post-viral related fatigue, where it may be relevant, to support those with Long-COVID.

11/05/2021

It's ME Awareness week, and I want to share this blog post from one of my amazing ME/CFS clients with The Optimum Health Clinic - ME, CFS and Fibromyalgia Recovery Group who is raising money and awareness for ME with her Wild Swimming that has helped her so much. Amazing work Tamsyn Nowman

There are a variety of proven benefits from cold water immersion which I am not going to go into here, but rather I wanted to share with you how wild swimming has personally helped me. It makes me realise how strong my body can be, makes me feel alive where I've felt the opposite for so long...

15/03/2021

S T R E S S 💥 B U S T I N G 🌿 This pic from the chat I had over on last month all about adaptogenic plants and stress busting (you can catch the full chat on her grid).
💥Even though lockdown seems to be finally nearing the end, I’m continuing to see huge increase of anxiety and stress related symptoms with my clinic clients. It’s so important to address stress management before it gets out of hand. The human body cannot maintain a stress overload for very long without sometimes quite severe consequences. In addition to looking at nutrition to support our resilience, we can also use both lifestyle medicine, amazing herbs, minerals and supplements to help support our body’s stress response.

Swipe to see a few of my tried & tested faves stress busters, but I should say that you should speak to your GP if you’re taking any medications and ideally do your research or speak ta a qualified health practitioner to check the best formulas for you !

23/02/2021

⚪️ I M M U N E ⚪️ S E C R E T S 💥With both covid and the vax programme affecting us all, it’s more important than ever to support our immunity to maximise efficacy and minimise side effects of the vaccinations.
💥Supporting gut health is one of the easiest ways to do this as 70–80% of the body’s immune cells are found in the gut.
🔥How? Eat 10 varied rainbow veg a day and a diet full of the 3 P’s - polyphenols, probiotics and prebiotics. This was an unplanned day in the life of my typical simple lockdown meals to show how easy it is to get 30 plants and at least ten x 80g Portions of veg n fruit a day with no fuss⚡️
🔥My current meals have to be:
⏱ Quick n’ easy as like a lot of you, I’m currently home schooling our 7 yr old (the 11 yr old is having to look after herself) plus working an intense full time job. I don’t spend more than 15 mins on meals atm.
🌈 Full of rainbow veg as this is the easiest way to boost fibre, prebiotics and healthy gut bacteria.
💪 Plenty protein with each meal to keep blood sugars (& mood) even.
🌟 Breakie: keffir with stewed rhubarb, fig, 3 almonds and green smoothie with courgette, spinach, kale, avo, oat milk & flaxseed 😋
🌟Lunch: defrosted batch- Cooked lentil, pepper &sweet potato soup with quick chopped rainbow veg tuna salad
🌟Smart snack: Green apple and 2 Brazil nuts
🌟Dinner: quick sautéed Mediterranean veg and pan fried haloumi
🌟 Easy peasy delicious way to a gut friendly 10 a day with over 30 plants building a strong immunity & preventing disease. 💪 What are your fave healthy fast food meals?

08/01/2021

A D A P T O G E N I C 🌿 Bliss Balls 💫

These delicious bites are the perfect treat to fuel you through a busy day, and while they taste indulgent, they're packed with high quality fat, protein, and healing adaptogenic herbs. The most delicious way to take your supplements!

💫Adaptogens are plants such as particular herbs and mushrooms that help us manage stress as we experience it. They modulate the release of stress hormones from the adrenal glands such as cortisol & help the body “to adapt” in times of high stress. There’s literally never been a better time to call on this tool to help us deal with the relentless stress that the pandemic continues to challenge us with

Recipe 🍫
Makes about 20 small balls

Prep time : 15 mins
What you need:
1 cup nut butter
1/2 cup tahini
8 soaked medjool dates (cover with hot water for an hour to soften)
3 tbsp raw cacao powder
2 tbsp ground flaxseed
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Magic adaptogens: Open up & add 2 capsules of Super Me adaptogenic blend or use 1 tsp of your fave adaptogenic powder - think reishi mushrooms, maca etc.

Method:
Combine the nut butter, tahini and dates & whizz in a food processor or high speed blender until broken down.
Add the cacao powder, flaxseed and cinnamon then mix well.
Add the adaptogenic powders.
Combine thoroughly until a big sticky dough forms.
Break apart small chunks of the ‘dough’ & roll up teaspoon sized bites then coat them in chia seeds, coconut or more cacao powder with your hands.
Set aside on a plate or baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
Place in the fridge immediately for 2-3 hours to set properly.
Store in a container, with a good lid and eat within 5 days if they last that long!
sugarfree