Tuesday 22 September 2009

Foods for your moods

What, two posts in one day! Well I thought I'd spoil you a bit! I wanted to talk about stress and depression. I often speak to people who stopped smoking on their own for weeks, months or even years and then started again because of stress (as if smoking would reduce stress!!). I often speak to people whose lives are so stressful they drink too much and eat badly(as though that's going to help!). Here's a few ideas about how you can use food to help you feel better and reduce stress (and depression).

Eat (or take as a supplement) omega-3 Fats: These fatty acids are essential to your brain but we don't tend to get enough from food. More omega 3 in the blood means more serotonin - which makes you feel happier! You need a regular intake of oily fish or flax seed if you're a vegetarian.

Get more Vitamin D - and that means get out more! Sunshine is the best way of getting vitamin D so get out there for as long as possible, as often as possible.

Get enough B Vitamins: Vitamins B6, B12 and folate also help to produce serotonin - yes, the "feel good" stuff.

Get more selenium - one brazil nut a day will give you your daily intake and low levels of selenium are associated with increased depression - so go nuts!

Eat your five a day - antioxidants in fruit and vegetables keep you healthy - and happy!

Make sure you're getting enough tryptophan because it helps produce... yes, you guessed it! serotonin. You get it from turkey, eggs and beef - or if you're vegetarian spinach, beans and dark leafy greens. (Interesting..when I spell checked this the checker wanted me to change tryptophan into trepidation - completely the opposite!)

Reduce your sugar intake and eat low GI carbohydrates - brown rice, brown bread. Sugar actually uses up your B vitamins and chromium stopping them from helping you feel good!

And as I add to all my "hints and tips" : Drink more water!

Look after yourself - and have a good day!

HRT and Lung disease

I felt I needed to share this information that's been in the press in the last few days - just incase you missed it.
Research has shown that women taking HRT are more likely to die of lung cancer than those not taking HRT. This doesn't mean that if you take HRT you are more likely to get lung disease - but if you do get it then you are more likely to die from it.
This of course has tremendous implications for menopausal women who smoke.
You have two choices. Stop HRT or Stop smoking. Actually, you have a 3rd choice - die young.
I already have concerns about HRT so if you can live without it then I'd recommend this anyway (did you know HRT was derived from the urine of mares? How did they get that?!) But of course, there is no doubt about the one thing you can do to save your life - stop smoking. How much more information do you need?
For October only I will give a £20 discount off my stop smoking session to all women between 45 and 55 - whether they take HRT or not. As Tesco would say "every little helps"!

Sunday 6 September 2009

more in the news

To add to my last blog here's a few other things that have been in the newspapers that some of us already knew!

I read an article the other day that said that sweeteners can make you fat. We've been saying it for years and now, it seems, the "traditionalists" have finally caught on. In simple terms insulin reacts to sugar in food. But it seems that the body really doesn't know the difference between sugar and a manufactured sweetener. So the sweeteners you use in your tea, or the aspartame and saccharine in so called "diet" drinks actually work to kick in the insulin and make your body crave more sugar! If you really want to be frightened into giving up your diet coke check out aspartame on google!

Stop drinking diet, fizzy drinks now and replace them with water and I guarantee you'll feel better in a week!

If you're finding it difficult to kick your eating habits; if you've got stuck in "diet" mode; if you still think low fat will make you thin: Call me - let me show you how to eat well, lose weight and stay healthy.

Friday 4 September 2009

It's in the news!

Do you ever feel frustrated reading the newspapers? Do you ever long for some good news?

In the past two or three days I've read some very interesting things in the newspaper. Articles about research that confirms something that the paper thinks is new and exciting - and we've been talking about for years!

A couple of days ago the news was that that binge drinking makes you fat! Research has now proven that binge drinking (as opposed to regularly drinking too much!) actually adds 2 - 4 inches to your stomach! Your stomach is 2 - 4 inches bigger because you binge - regardless of how much you drink over a year!

Yesterday's news was that 1.2 million kids go to school without breakfast - they have a fattening snack or a cigarette instead! Could this be anything to do with the obesity issues we are seeing in young people?

Today's news is that eating earlier in the day can keep you slim.

I also heard on the radio that the number of children born with spina bifida in the Scotland had doubled this year on last. This can be avoided by women taking folic acid. If you are even thinking about getting pregnant start taking folic acid now. The first 4 weeks of the pregnancy is when the folic acid is most needed so waiting until you get pregnant is too late.

Sometimes the press reminds us about things we already knew.

Are you eating healthily? Sensibly? Early enough? Cutting your drinking? Making sure your kids eat well and healthily too? If not, why not?