Movement & Nutrition

Movement & Nutrition Movement & Nutrition - A sustainable approach to living a strong, healthy and active life. For regu

Good movement, strength and nutrition - the foundation of health, quality of life and longevity
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A week of global action on Non-Communicable Diseases begins today. How does Scotland measure up?A Non-Communicable Disea...
06/09/2021

A week of global action on Non-Communicable Diseases begins today.

How does Scotland measure up?

A Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) is an illness that can’t be transmitted from one person to another like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, liver disease and lung disease. And they are the leading cause of death and disability in Scotland.

10 health charities estimate that 1 in 5 deaths could be prevented with coherent public health policies and action.

Health is a devolved issue and our Holyrood government has made big promises to act but failed to deliver.

Last year Non-Communicable Diseases were responsible for nearly two-thirds of all deaths in Scotland. And NCD related disability and ill-health is estimated to have cost the Scottish economy £6-9 billion. But what was the personal cost to the individuals and families affected?

Scotland’s NCD burden is why we Scots have one of the lowest healthy life expectancies in Europe.

At an individual level, the causes of these long term illnesses are a complex combination of environment, lifestyle and genetics. We can’t change the genetic hand we were dealt, but we can choose to change our lifestyle to benefit our health.

Or can we?

Not unless we live in an environment that allows lifestyle change. Much of the burden of illness in the Scottish population is carried by our poorest communities where lifestyle change isn’t an option.

The difference between the healthy life expectancy of our least and most deprived communities is almost 20 years of good health.

NCDs are both the result and cause of social and health inequality.

Charities call for policies to tackle smoking, alcohol consumption and obesity, and they are important in the fight to reduce NCD. But they’re sticking plaster policies. Our government must tackle the social environment that is the root cause of Scotlands ill health.

And what does our government say?

“We are committed to ensuring that people in Scotland live long, healthy and active lives, regardless of where they come from. We are focused on… blah, blah, blah”

How about some real action instead of repeating tired rhetoric and empty promises?

Chimichurri is a South American condiment similar to salsa that adds a flavour punch to any grilled dish. Here I’ve used...
20/07/2021

Chimichurri is a South American condiment similar to salsa that adds a flavour punch to any grilled dish.

Here I’ve used chimichurri to transform plain old grilled chicken and green beans from wallflower to party extrovert. But you can pair it with whatever grilled meat or fish you like - and it will spice up any barbeque, perfect for the current Scottish heatwave!!

Chimichurri is easy to make and you can get it ready ahead of time in under 10 minutes.

Prepare it the day before and the flavour will only improve. But if you’re keeping the chimichurri overnight don’t put it in the fridge (or the olive oil will set). Just leave it somewhere cool.

And when your food is ready, just spoon it liberally over everything.

Great when you’re short of time and looking for a meal packed with flavour to light up your taste buds!

Recipe
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and leave to stand.
♦︎110 ml extra virgin olive oil
♦20 ml red wine vinegar
♦10-15 g cup finely chopped flat parsley
♦1 finely sliced spring onion
♦3 cloves crushed garlic
♦1 red chilli deseeded and finely chopped
♦1/2 tsp dried herb de Provence
♦1/2 tsp salt (level)
♦Ground black pepper to taste

Enjoy!

How much strength training should you do if you’re over 40?If you don’t strength train in middle age you’ll lose the mus...
19/07/2021

How much strength training should you do if you’re over 40?

If you don’t strength train in middle age you’ll lose the muscle, bone mass and mobility you need for a long and independent old age.

But middle age is tough for the would-be weight lifter.

The emotional side of your brain struggles to accept the logical decline in your physical capabilities. It hurts to watch “kids” effortlessly pump out the reps as you struggle just to breathe between sets.

What the hell happened?

When did you become the old guy fighting to keep the weight off your waistline instead of adding more to the bar?

The intuitive answer to declining performance in middle age is more training.
But that’s a mistake.

The reality is if you’re over 40, managing your training recovery is more important than time spent in the gym. Give your body adequate time between sessions or injury will stall your progress completely. Accepting the reality of ageing is the first step to slowing years of decline.

As your body’s tolerance of strength or endurance training decreases, accept and manage the decline or the fall will be faster and harder.
In middle age strength training is essential, but fewer sessions a week will yield better results.

Without 48-72 hours between lifting sessions, your body won’t recover and increasing systemic fatigue will block your progress. A 4-day-a-week split routine focusing on the upper and lower body might delay the inevitable but it won’t prevent it. And if a 4-day-a-week routine is sustainable, it’s not hard enough to stimulate the strength gains that matter.

Over 40, three strength training sessions a week is the maximum for long term gains and health. And two sessions a week are better than four.

But to make the most of less training time requires smarter exercise choices.
In your twenties and thirties hours spent on isolation exercises to sculpt your pecs, abs, biceps or other vanity muscle groups feel like a good investment. In your forties and beyond it’s a waste of valuable gym time. Time you could use to squat, swing or press.

Concentrate on the big lifts that matter for your health and walk out of the gym when you're done.

11 things healthy diets have in common1. Plant-basedPlants are the foundation of a healthy diet. You don’t need to be ve...
14/07/2021

11 things healthy diets have in common

1. Plant-based
Plants are the foundation of a healthy diet. You don’t need to be vegan. Meat, fish, eggs and dairy all have a place in a healthy diet, but most of what you eat should be plant-based

2. Lower energy density but nutrient-rich
The modern diet, full of refined carbs and oils, is heavy on calories and light in vitamins and minerals. A whole food diet is richer in nutrients and lower in calories reducing hunger, overeating and weight gain

3. Some animal produce
Animal foods are rich in nutrients, including some that plants can’t give us. And they enrich the culinary landscape and our enjoyment of food. A diet dominated by animal products isn’t healthy. But getting all the nutrients you need without them takes more care and supplementation

4. Variety
No food group supplies all nutrients you need. Eat a wide variety of whole foods to cover all the nutritional bases

5. Carefully chosen processed foods
Every food on the store shelves is processed to some degree. Pick produce with the minimum nutrient loss and fewest unhealthy additions

6. It’s safe
If you're in the UK, buy British and European produce, we have the strictest food safety regulations in the world

7. Scratch cooking
Scratch cooking gives you complete control. It’s easy to make meals packed with far more nutrients than the manufactured and restaurant “healthy” options

8. Simple Ingredients
Healthy eating shouldn’t be complex. Keep it simple and stick to recipes using mostly whole food ingredients and you’ll not go far wrong

9. It’s enjoyable
It doesn’t matter how good it is for you, a diet you don’t enjoy won’t last. Find a version of a healthy diet you enjoy

10. It’s sustainable
A healthy diet doesn’t last a few weeks or until you achieve your weight loss goal. It lasts a lifetime. So your healthy diet must fit into your life, not take it over

11. It’s healthy most of the time
One meal won’t ruin your health or add inches to your waist. And sometimes life gets in the way of healthy eating for days. Healthy eating is about the big picture. Eat well most of the time and don't stress over the times you don't

White Bean Minestrone - a soup recipe for a Scottish summerIt’s been a typical Scottish mid-summer week – rain clouds wi...
08/07/2021

White Bean Minestrone - a soup recipe for a Scottish summer

It’s been a typical Scottish mid-summer week – rain clouds with occasional glimpses of warm sunshine.

Nat King Cole’s “lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer” don’t often apply in Scotland. Sure, we get a few hot days here and there. Days when a cool gazpacho or chilled borscht would nourish and satisfy. But for most days the Scottish climate has a more low-key approach to summer heat.

That’s why soup is a welcome (and warming) meal all 12 months of the Scottish year.

And this white bean minestrone is a perfect summer choice. Bursting with the flavours of summer, it’s healthy, delicious and easy to make.

Find the recipe here 👉 https://buff.ly/3jKf8lx

Why does exercise benefit our health?You're born to move Evolution is efficient, but change is slow. Humans evolved to l...
06/07/2021

Why does exercise benefit our health?

You're born to move

Evolution is efficient, but change is slow. Humans evolved to live a tough active lifestyle, not the comfortable 21st-century one. Our body’s design exploited the exertion of stone-age survival to cut the work of running our metabolism. When we don't move, many critical tasks are less efficient and more metabolically costly

You need physical activity to function properly

How movement helps metabolism

♦︎Flexing muscles squeeze veins to push blood back to the heart improving circulation
♦︎As joints bend the compression circulates synovial fluid to supply nutrients and wash away waste
♦︎Muscle contractions, increased arterial pulsations and breathing all boost lymph flow
♦︎Bending and twisting the torso assists and accelerates the passage of food through the gut

Physical activity tunes the body for greater efficiency

♦︎Greater demands on the circulatory system strengthen the heart
♦︎Varying energy use increases the liver’s sensitivity to insulin and overall blood glucose control
♦︎Increased stress prevents bone and muscle loss
♦︎Immune function is enhanced
♦︎Antioxidant activity increases
♦After exercise muscles relax inducing calm and lowering stress

So it’s no surprise that exercise has many health benefits. But spin classes and boot camps aren’t in our DNA

The physical activity of our prehistoric ancestors was mostly light work like walking and foraging. And they weren’t constantly active and sat around a lot of the time. But they didn’t live the sedentary lives we do. And three gym sessions a week doesn’t compensate for a life of sitting at desks, in cars and on sofas. It doesn’t come close to satisfying our body’s need for movement

Still, more isn’t always better

Too much endurance or high-intensity training is harmful including, lower antioxidant capacity, risk of cardiovascular damage, increase joint wear and reduced immune function. Overdoing exercise abuses the human design. Training for an elite or extreme exercise challenge isn’t the same as exercising for health

The real health benefits of exercise come if it's part of an active lifestyle

Why do you practice yoga?The first step in choosing the right yoga style or teacher for you is understanding what you wa...
05/07/2021

Why do you practice yoga?

The first step in choosing the right yoga style or teacher for you is understanding what you want from your yoga practice.

For me, yoga is one part of a mixed approach to health and wellness.

I rely on kettlebells and barbells for a level of strength training yoga can’t deliver.

I walk our dog, Molly, and I cycle to work. So that’s all the cardio I need for health covered.

As I’m not a spiritual person, I’m not seeking any level of enlightenment.

And while I know yoga is good for my health, I don’t expect it to heal me.

So neither the high tempo yoga styles nor the softer, spiritual or healing variations of yoga what I’m looking for.

I enjoy a slow, physical yoga practice that develops and maintains my natural mobility.

A yoga practice that fits into my version of health and wellness.

But that’s just me.

Why do you practice yoga?

Where to find your daily dose of dietary fibre in everyday foodsMost people don’t come close to the recommended 30g/day ...
02/07/2021

Where to find your daily dose of dietary fibre in everyday foods

Most people don’t come close to the recommended 30g/day of fibre.

A low fibre intake increases your risk of constipation and gut disease including bowel cancer. In contrast, a high fibre diet helps lower cholesterol, reduces the risk of diabetes and helps prevent weight gain. And there’s more and more new evidence supporting a complex relationship between fibre, your gut bacteria and your long-term health.

Fibre is so important to your health the recommended intake of 30g/day should be your minimum intake.

And you should look to get the fibre you and your gut bacteria need from natural food sources.

There are many sorts of fibre and they’re split into two main types, soluble and insoluble. Your gut and your gut bacteria will thrive if you feed them with a variety of fibres. High fibre breakfast cereals and fibre supplements don’t provide the essential fibre variety for gut health that natural foods do.

Instead, get all the fibre you need for health from a varied, whole-food, plant-based diet.

The best natural food sources of fibre*

Pulses
• Kidney beans, haricot beans, black beans, blackeye beans 8-18g/100g
• Lentils and split peas 5-9g/100g
• Chickpeas 11g/100g

Whole grains
• Wheat, barley, oats and rye 7-13g/100g
• Brown and wild rice 2-4g/100g

Pseudocereals
• Quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth 4-7g/100g

Nuts
• Almonds, walnuts, brazil nuts, hazelnuts, peanuts 7-16g/100g

Seeds
• Sunflower, pumpkin seeds, sesame, h**p 6-9g/100g
• Flax, chia 29-39g/100g

Root and leafy vegetables
• Potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, turnip, butternut squash, broccoli, cabbage, pak choi 2-4 g/100g

Fruit
• Oranges, apples, grapes, bananas, blueberries 1.2-1.5g/100g
• Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries 4-7g/100g

(*the fibre content shown are for the raw foods)

But a word of caution. A sudden increase in fibre can cause a multitude of digestive issues. Slowly build up your fibre intake and allow your gut and microbiome time to adapt and you’ll avoid any unpleasant side effects.

10 proven ways to lower your blood pressure naturallyLeft untreated high blood pressure can destroy your quality of life...
29/06/2021

10 proven ways to lower your blood pressure naturally

Left untreated high blood pressure can destroy your quality of life or kill you.
Heart attacks, stroke, heart failure, kidney failure, vision loss, peripheral artery disease, angina, sexual dysfunction…take your pick of life-changing illnesses. But drugs have side effects and risks and not everyone wants to take antihypertensives to control their blood pressure.

So what are the natural alternatives that work?

1. Weight loss - 6.0mmHg per 10kg lost

2. A whole-food, plant-based diet - 5.0mmHg

3. Reduce salt intake - 3.6mmHg

4. Exercise - 4.6mmHg

5. Drink less alcohol - 3.8mmHg

6. Reduce caffeine intake - 4.2mmHg

7. Drink green or black tea - 2.3mmHg

[mmHg = the potential drop in systolic (the bigger number) pressure, taken from the systematic reviews and meta-analyses]

The last three are effective but the research doesn’t yet have the depth to quantify the benefit.

8. Stress reduction techniques

9. Better sleep

10. Better Hydration

It’s important to point out, combined natural lifestyle interventions aren’t strictly cumulative and typically reductions are between 2-6mmHg [Compared to around 9mmHg from single drug interventions]

If you have high blood pressure, any reduction is good for your health. Making lifestyle changes is most effective for controlling prehypertensive and stage 1 blood pressure (ie.

26/06/2021

Why are Carbs the villain?

Popular diet culture needs a bad guy, someone to blame for the mess we’re in. Obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic illness – our modern lifestyle is killing us. The causes are nuanced and complex and the solutions even more so. But every marketer and politician knows complex ideas and solutions don’t resonate with a target audience.

If you want people to buy what you're selling, keep your hook simple, and it doesn’t get simpler than “carbs are bad”.

Once you have a simple hook interpret the facts to fit

Nutrition is a complex science. It’s easy is to cherry-pick the research to back your message and ignore the inconvenient stuff. Your devotees won’t check.

The simple ideas spread further

With a little imagination, endless “healthy” diets can be built on the simple low carb hook. And because we like new solutions to old problems, low carb evolved into a multiheaded beast with a niche to suit everyone.

“Carbs are bad” is promoted by charismatic influencers

Tim Ferris, Jason Fung, Rob Wolf, Mark Sissons and more…all with a unique take on low carb to match their target audience and seductive on-brand logic for the carb health crisis.

There is nothing new to see

Fat was the diet culture villain of the 70s and 80s. Meanwhile, Atkins was paving the way for today’s low carb revolution. Low carb will evolve, run its course and slip from popular diet culture and an alternative diet message with a similar formula will supersede it - veganism is the current front-runner.

And, yes, I’m aware of the irony - I’m blaming a bunch of villans for the low carb mess we’re in.

The truth about carbs

➡️ Carbs are an important energy source
➡️ Carb heavy whole foods come with essential vitamins and minerals, antioxidants and beneficial fibres.
➡️ Plant whole foods are the foundation of a healthy diet, carbs and all
➡️ You can survive without carbs but you need them to thrive

Not all carbs are equal
A high-calorie diet built on refined carbs isn’t healthy. Carbs like white flour and sugar offer little nutrition except for rapidly absorbed calories. Still, as part of a largely whole food diet, they’re not bad for you.

But where’s the simple bad guy hook in that?

Homemade Beans on Toast Recipe When I was a kid, we had home-cooked meals every night, but just occasionally my mother w...
24/06/2021

Homemade Beans on Toast Recipe

When I was a kid, we had home-cooked meals every night, but just occasionally my mother would take a night off and slip in Heinz beans on toast.

And they were wonderful!

What kid doesn’t love baked beans? And because it was a rare thing, it was always a special treat.

But these days I’ve fallen out of love with tinned baked beans. They don’t taste the way I remember and no amount of nostalgia can change that. Have my taste buds changed or have the manufacturers changed the recipe?

Possibly both.

You don’t need science to know your taste changes with age. We all find ourselves enjoying foods that were unappealing in our youth. And food manufacturers are under pressure to cut sugar and salt from tinned staples like beans.

Whatever the reason, baked beans aren’t what they used to be.

So now I make my own, and it’s so worthwhile!

Bursting with flavour, healthier than the tinned variety and just as satisfying as baked beans ought to be.

This recipe makes the equivalent of 3-4 tins of beans

In a stovetop pressure cooker
➡️ Soften 1 diced onion, 2 crushed cloves of garlic, 1 diced stick of celery, ½ a diced carrot in 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
➡️ Add 15g tomato puree and cook for another minute
➡️ Add a tin of chopped tomatoes, ½ a tin of water,1 tsp salt, ½ tsp sugar, 1 bay leaf, and ½ tsp herb de Provence.
➡️ Fix the lid in place and cook at full pressure for 8 minutes.
➡️ Carefully release the steam.
➡️ Remove the bay leaf and blitz the tomatoes with a stick blender
➡️nutritionist Add 250g of soaked, haricot beans, return the bay leaf, refix the lid and cook at full pressure for 15-20 minutes.

No pressure cooker?

It takes longer but the recipe will still work. You can easily adjust the cooking times or use tinned haricot beans to speed things along.

And the toast? My Oat and Wholemeal loaf – recipe on my website

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Nutrition - Strength Training - Yoga.

Your path to healthy living.

If you’re looking for a way to long-lasting health your in the right place.

Increasing fatigue, weight gain and stiffness aren’t inevitable as you grow older. To get the spring back in your step you need a new approach to diet and exercise. One that puts your health first and doesn’t demand all of your time.

Hi, I’m Ralph