Eden Nutrition NI

23/05/2025

Great night delivering another Nursery school nutrition seminar! We explored how children’s personality types can shape their relationship with food and their openness to trying new things. Loved the insightful discussion with a lovely group of parents!

20/05/2025

Brilliant night with a lovely group of parents! Thanks for having me Bangor Integrated Nursery School!

We are delighted to have Dr Natalie Lyner from with us this evening to lead a session on healthy nutrition for pre-schoolers. This is Natalie’s third year running this session in school and it’s always very helpful and informative!

10/04/2025

🍬🧠 Hidden Sugars & Your Child’s Behaviour: What You Need to Know! 🧠🍬

Recent studies now show a strong link between high sugar intake and behavioural issues in children, including mood swings, irritability, and even ADHD-like symptoms, due to its effects on the brains dopamine system. Sugar also affects the gut-brain connection, making some children more emotionally reactive.

🚨 Watch out for hidden sugars in foods. Here’s a cheat way to spot them on food labels:

1. Sugars ending in "-ose": glucose, fructose, sucrose, maltose, lactose
2. Syrups: corn syrup, maple syrup, agave nectar
3. Natural-sounding sugars: honey, coconut sugar, fruit juice concentrate
4. Other additives: maltodextrin, evaporated cane juice, barley malt

** Study: Farsad-Naeimi et al. (2020) IJPHE

09/04/2025

Is your sweet tooth messing with your mood? More and more research is showing a strong link between high sugar intake and low mood.. even depression.

Here’s what the science says:

- People who regularly consume high amounts of added sugars are more likely to report symptoms of depression and anxiety (100g/day increase in sugar intake is associated with a 28% higher risk of depression).
- Sugar can disrupt the gut microbiome- the delicate balance of bacteria in your gut. And since around 90% of serotonin (your brain’s “feel-good” chemical) is produced in the gut, this can really affect your mood.
- Imbalances in the gut can also increase inflammation and affect how well you manage stress.

Reducing added sugars can do more than help your energy or waistline—it might just give your mood a boost too!

**Sources Zhang et al. 2024 BMC psych and Reis et al. 2020 Med Hypotheses

08/04/2025

If you’ve been relying on sugar fixes to boost your energy it can be helpful to fast sugar for a few days or significantly reduce sugar intake to let your body recover. Within 72h of cutting sugar your body does some amazing things!
- Blood sugar levels start to stabilise
- Cravings and energy crashes begin to fade
- You will likely lose a few pounds of water weight
- Inflammation within the body decreases
- Gut bacteria starts to shift toward a healthier balance and bloating starts to ease
- Mental clarity and mood can improve

You might feel a bit rough at first (headaches, fatigue, cravings), but hang in there—your body starts healing fast.

07/04/2025

Monday mornings can be tough! Many of us feel sluggish or have low mood and crave sugar to get us through the day! There’s a reason. Sugar gives your brain a quick dopamine hit.. that feel-good buzz. But the more we lean on sugar for pleasure, the harder it gets for our brain to feel balanced without it. Our brain receptors can actually get desensitised if we are having too much!

In the UK, adults are advised to have no more than 30g of free sugars a day.. that’s about 7 teaspoons. Take a look at the label of any treat you have today… how much of your daily sugar intake is in that one snack?You might be surprised.

21/03/2025

Lovely to be at Glenbrook Nursery School last night delivering my seminar on children’s Nutrition!

13/03/2025

Was great to be at Kings Road Nursery School tonight and chat about our children’s nutrition requirements and how we can best provide them!

We had a fantastic evening tonight with our parent workshop from Eden Nutrition NI.

Thanks to Dr Natalie Lyner for such an informative and interesting talk, we all came away with some new inspiration! ❤️🍎🥒

07/03/2025

Another great night delivering a seminar for parents on children's nutrition at Holy Rosary Nursery School! Loved the discussions on handling food refusal and building a family culture of one meal for the whole family. Thanks to everyone who joined and shared their experiences!

04/03/2025

Back at it after a wonderful maternity year off with my fourth (and final!) little one! Am doing a little cluster of nursery school seminars this month! My new seminar looks at children’s nutritional needs, parent feeding styles, children’s personality types and practical tips to avoid meal time battles. If you want to book a seminar for your school or nursery, please get in touch!