Transformational Nutrition

How many of us find it difficult to stick to our healthy regime when eating out?  Yes, it is a rhetorical question...yet the key to any successful weight loss programme is consistency! So if every time you go out for a meal you are breaking that, you are setting yourself up to fail.   That does not mean that you have to become a recluse and never socialise, you absolutely can!  Let me share with you my top tips for finding a balance that suits your life without ruining your nutrition and ultimately your body goals. 1. Don’t take an all or nothing approach This is by far the biggest and yet the most common mistake people make; oh I have been so good all week, I deserve a blow out meal this weekend!!!  Come on, the majority of us have at least thought it.   We seem to think that because we can’t control exactly what is going in our food, we can go totally off plan and literally ‘park’ our healthy regime!  But this can lead to massive overeating that will ruin the c

Diet and cancer; two very loaded and controversial words.  Put them together and BOOM!!!  No wonder they create so much media frenzy!  Nutella, red meat, our weight; apparently they  can all cause cancer.  But what is the truth behind some of these claims and is there actually anything you CAN do to reduce cancer risk?   Does Nutella cause cancer? Let’s start with Nutella.  In May 2016 a European food safety agency reported that carcinogenic compounds can be found in refined palm oil which Nutella contains. Three compounds were highlighted; GE (Glycidol Ester), 3-MCPD and 2-MCPD.   The worst of these is GE which can damage DNA and lead to the development of cancer cells.  But GE isn’t confined to palm oil as this chart from Examine demonstrates: It is important to note here that the report wasn’t actually about Nutella like we were led to believe; it was about GE which we can see is contained in many other cooking oils and fats.  Furthermore,

It's horrifying to imagine that any good parent would ever knowingly harm their children. The harsh reality, however, is this is distinctly possible and it's happening all of the time. Sadly, it is possible to harm our children by consistently feeding them low nutrition food, junk food, throughout their essential formative years .   As we are facing a global epidemic of obesity, “globesity”, there has therefore never been a more appropriate time to start considering what and how we are feeding our children.   We all know how hard it is to change our eating habits in adult life so the most logical way to help prevent further obesity is by instilling good habits at an early age.   Simple right?   If only …. Why aren’t children eating healthily? Bringing up children to eat a healthy, varied diet is not a new concept; I don’t know about you but I certainly remember my mother and her mother before that trying to get me to eat more fruit and veg so what went wrong?

We all know how important drinking enough water is to our health and wellbeing.   In fact, the human body is composed of two thirds of water so it is essential to life!!   Lack of it can cause fatigue, headaches, reduced concentration and dry skin to name a few. But did you know that children actually require more water than adults?   Furthermore, they don’t always recognise initial signs that they are thirsty which can leave them vulnerable to dehydration. How much water should my child be drinking ? The amount for each child will vary depending on age, gender, how active they are and the weather.   The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has put this together as a guide that may help you: Gender Age group Amount of fluid from drinks and food (litres/day)1 Amount of fluid from drinks only (litres/day)2 Boys and girls 4 to 8 years 1.6 1.1-1.3 Girls 9 to 13