Seven tips to boost your energy levels!

One of the biggest symptoms clients ask for my help with is lack of energy.

However time and time again when these same clients are asked to keep

food diaries the story is the same, erratic eating, over consumption of

caffeine, soft drinks and often alcohol and a heavy reliance on processed food

in the form of sandwiches, ready meals and quick food.

In order to feel energetic you have to ensure that you are fuelling up on

nutrient rich unprocessed foods.

1. Eating regularly 5 times a day, in an ideal world you would eat breakfast,

snack, lunch, snack then dinner.

Eating every three hours can help keep

blood sugar levels even and this in turn can help keep energy levels even too.

2.Ensure you drink 8 glasses of filtered water every day; dehydration can often

impair the ability to concentrate.

3. Eat plenty and fill up on non-starchy vegetables, these are high in vital

vitamins, minerals and fiber.

4. Eat oily fish 3 times a week, salmon, mackerel, sardines, fresh tuna as well as

containing essential fatty acids they are also a good sources of protein.

Eat 25g of nuts a day and 25g of ground seeds; these again are full of the

good fats, fiber, vitamins and minerals.

5.Limit your tea and coffee to one per day and ideally have two days free from

them a week.

6.Avoid alcohol or restrict your intake to 2 units a week

7.Don’t eat sugar or add it to your foods, opt instead for low glycemic load fruit

such as pears, strawberries, raspberries and fresh apricots

A sample day could be.

- Porridge made with almond milk topped with ground linseeds and fresh berries

- 2 oatcakes and almond butter

- 2 egg omelette filled with feta and vegetables of choice and a green side salad 

- hummus and chopped vegetables 

- Roast chicken breast, new potatoes and large green salad with rocket,

spinach and watercress

Rhubarb - The Vegetable that thinks its a fruit.

RHUBARB

Rhubarb is the deliciously coloured vegetables that thinks its a fruit! Forced grown in the dark has yellowish leaves usually appears in January. The field-grown variety replaces it around April and is less tender but often more flavourful.

Its packed to the brim with minerals, vitamins, organic compounds, and other nutrients that make it ideal for keeping our bodies healthy. 

Some of these precious components are dietary fiber, protein, vitamin C, vitamin K, B complex vitamins, calcium, potassium, manganese, and magnesium. Rhubarb makes a nourishing and comforting puddings, it also tastes nice in salads with goats cheese and it sharpness also works well with meat dishes too making it very versatile.

Weight

Rhubarb is high in fiber which could help encourages a healthy weight. Fiber can be a weight loss weapon, because it gives you a feeling of fullness that helps stave off hunger.

Blood pressure

Another benefit that come from eating fiber is may help lower blood pressure. In another small study, researchers put 233 volunteers on a high-fiber diet They found that after 12 weeks, participants had a drop in blood pressure and pulse pressure.

Alzheimer’s Diseases 

Vitamin K often does get very much attention as some other vitamins, however vitamin K is one of the most prominent vitamins in Rhubarb and it plays a significant role in brain and neuronal health. It is believed it helps prevent the oxidation of brain cells and helps stimulate cognitive activity, thereby helping to delay or possibly even prevent the onset of Alzheimer's disease.  

Blood Circulation

Rhubarb contains trace amounts of copper and iron which stimulate the production of new red blood cells, increasing the total red blood count in the body which in turn increases oxygenation of essential areas of the body, helping improve the function and boosting the overall metabolism of the body

PREPARING

Wash and trim both ends of the stalks, and discard the poisonous leaves.

Under active thyroid - why raw kale may not be for you.

Kale

January seems to be the time everyone vows that its a new year so they will become a new person, make positive changes to their diet and over hauling their health. Detox diets have become increasingly popular these days along with a whole host of other diet trends. However I think January is a time to go gentle on yourself. A time to remove all the indulgent treats you may have consumed over the festivities and go back to basics. Eat whole foods and get back in touch with local seasonal ingredients.

Kale is a very nourishing ingredient for seasonal eaters as it is one of the few green vegetables that is abundant during January in the UK. I use as substituted for cabbage or spinach, it makes a decadent side dish when blanched and sautéed with a little oil and garlic, served with a splash of tamari (a wheat free soya sauce) and a sprinkling of chopped, roasted almonds. Kale helps your body detox naturally - so you don't need to buy expensive powdered supplements.

Liver health

Kale plays an important role in liver health. Kale increases the amount of glucosinolate in the body which helps add enzyme production in the liver. These natural enzymes help flush toxins out of the body. Kale and other leafy greens are one of our most powerful allies in cleansing the liver, leafy greens can be eaten raw, cooked, or juiced. Kale is also extremely high in plant chlorophylls,which help suck up environmental toxins from the blood stream. Its argued that they can neutralise heavy metals in the body as well as chemicals and pesticides. 

Calcium

When many people go on detox diets they often cut out dairy and worry about having low levels of minerals such as calcium. Thanks to the Dairy Council milk is renowned for its levels of calcium however gram for gram kale has more calcium than cow’s milk. Although it is important to know that Kale does losing a substantial amount of calcium when it’s cooked, so if you’re eating it for its calcium content it’s best to eat it raw in salads or added to smoothies for the most benefit of calcium.

Anti-Inflammatory Benefits

Kale is considered to be an anti-inflammatory food, Research has also shown that kale contains 45 different flavonoids with a variety of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects! On top of that Kale is an excellent source of Vitamin K, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, fibre and carotenoids.

Air of caution for those with a sluggish or undertake thyroid.

Kale is a dietary goitrogen. Goitrogens are substances (whether in drugs, chemicals, or foods) that disrupt the production of thyroid hormones by interfering with iodine uptake in the thyroid gland. So basically Kale when raw everyday may make you more vulnerable to developing an underactive thyroid. (Eaten cooked it wont have this effect.) As with everything variety and moderation is the name of the game. Have in smoothies once or twice a week, eat cooked and add to stews to ensure you get the best out of this nutrient rich green.

Four reasons why you should drink lemon water every morning.

Four reasons why you should drink lemon water every morning!

Health is very often easier to achieve that we believe and far less complicated than we make it out to be. I believe that good health comes from the things you do everyday. Changing the things you do everyday can help you reach health goals faster . One of the healthy habits I encourage my clients is to have is a mug of warm water with freshly squeezed lemon in the morning. Simply use half a fresh lemon per mug and pour warm water and sip ideally through a straw.

Lemons are a rich source of nutrients, they including vitamin C, B-complex vitamins, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and fibre. 

Drinking lemon water in the morning could bring about a wide range of benefits.

1.Reduces inflammation.

Drinking lemon on a regular basis, may help decrease the acidity in your body. It is also believed to removes uric acid in your joints, which is one of the main causes of inflammation.

2.Aids digestion.

Lemon water encourages healthy digestion. Lemons contain citrus flavonols that are believed responsible for lemon’s traditional use as a digestive tonic. Lemon water is traditionally understood to support digestive hydrochloric acid in the stomach which helps aid digestion. 

3.Healthy Skin

The antioxidants and vitamin C in lemons may help to decrease blemishes and wrinkles too. Vitamin C and other antioxidants in lemons are believed to combat free radical damage. Antioxidant intake can help minimising wrinkles. 

4.Immunity 

Lemons are high in the antioxidant vitamin - vitamin C, which is well known for its supportive role in healthy immune function which may reduce the risk of respiratory infection. Lemons also contain saponins which show antimicrobial properties that may help keep cold and flu at bay. Vitamin C also enhances iron absorption in the body; iron plays an important role in immunity.

Drinking lemon water first thing in the morning can also help people reduce their caffeine consumption which has many benefits for the body. Not only are the benefits of lemon water endless, it’s one of the most substantial yet simple changes you can make for your health.

It is important to note that Lemon juice can damage the enamel of your teeth, so I encourage clients to sip it through a straw.

RIP Dr Wayne Dyer - The man I've never met yet who changed my life.

My friend emailed me on Monday night asking if I had heard the news of Dr Wayne Dyers passing.

I hadn't I had but as soon as I read the email, I cried.

I cried over a man I'd never met and didn't know personally, yet despite this, his work has had a profound and long lasting effect on my life.

In 2010 life as I knew it changed and I felt like I was a broken soul, I was so sad, totally lost and I vividly remember thinking I'd never smile again. Sounds dramatic but I remember laying on my bed after leaving hospital in so much pain thinking It would never be possible to heal from the sadness that seem to had swallowed me whole.

A friend one day told me you need to read this book, the book was Dr Wayne Dyers your erroneous zone - how to escape negative thinking and take control of your life.

It's the book that really did make me see the error of my thinking, I think all my life I had believed that my worth came from other people, that if people didn't like me I wasn't of value or their must be something wrong with me. I believed that my weight dictated my lovability. I had a lots of erroneous zones.

The book gave me hope, it helped me see that there was another way of thinking, and just because I currently felt that way didn't mean I would always feel that way. The book allowed me and showed me that I could change my thoughts and that I was responsible for how I viewed events and the meaning I gave them.

One of my all time favourite quotes of Dr Wayne dyers is "When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change"

I started to think that what if everything that had happened to me was for my greater good? Even the bad stuff.....especially the bad stuff.

Five years on I can say all of the pain, the sadness has dissolved. It's been healed, however I think it's so important to talk about pain and depression that took over my life because too many people suffer alone in silence feeling like there is something wrong with them.

Of course there are times when my old erroneous zones pop up but I no longer dwell on my thoughts like i previously did - I know I have the power to change them to work for me.

To many people suffer in sadness because they fear being labeled crazy, they fear being judged, they fear too many things.

For the longest time I didn't want to admit I was depressed but I was, I mean what happy person doesn't think that they will never smile again.

I thankfully no longer suffer from depression, does it mean I will never again? I can't say that for sure but what I do know is the more i feed my mind thoughts that feel good, nourish my body with whole food and fuel my soul by living my passion the less likely that is too happen. Now some may say I over simply thing, and what worked for me may not work for others, but we must be so careful of how we feed our minds, the thoughts we think can dictate and shape our life. We can limit our life out of fear.

In my darkest days the most I would do was get out of bed, I remember my sister actually clapping and dancing around the lounge once when she came to visiting me all because she saw I was up and showered! That's how bad I once was, but I'm not that person anymore.

Dr Wayne dyers book helped me realise that the thought I had been thinking we harming me not helping me or allowing me to heal.

I think one of the last book that Dr Wayne Dyer wrote was one called don't die with music still in you, for the longest time I was alive but not living, when you hear of someone's death it can shake you and make you realise that life is so fleeting.

Here are a few of the most lessons I learn from the book

Trust yourself Don't look outside of yourself for worth, self worth comes from self, it's based on what you think of yourself - if your worth it's from others it's other worth not Self worth.

When we spend too much time worrying about what other people think of us we give up our power and this is counterproductive.

We need to deeper the connection with ourself and trust that connection.

We need to step out of comfort and into growth.

Action cures fear - when we take positive steps in the direction we know is right for us good things happen.

Dr Wayne Dyer - you sure did shine your light and light up the world, you message will live on. Despite never meeting you or knowing you personally your written work helped me changed my life and for that I will always be grateful.