Health & Fitness

The Institute Of Medicine (IOM) suggests that male’s consume around 3.7 L of fluid daily and women consume 2.7 L of fluid daily.

Fluid, of course, can be ingested in various forms including water (the most likely candidate) as well as tea, coffee, other beverages as well as modest contributions from the foods we consume regularly – particularly fruits and vegetables.

As you might imagine, these recommendations could vary greatly based on individual factors but at the very least provide a useful reference point.

Which leads me to the the subject of today’s article, the relationship between water intake and various daily mental functioning considerations like mood, focus and energy levels.

Let’s dive right in (pun intended).

Water & Mental Functioning – Insights

“When dehydration reduces body mass by more than 2%, it has been consistently reported that mood is influenced, fatigue is greater, and alertness is

Today’s article is inspired by the recently published results of a 15-year long study out of The Journal Of Investigative Dermatology which found that in men and women aged 45+ a diet higher in antioxidants reduced skin photo-aging by ~10% as compared to individuals in that demographic with diet’s low in total antioxidant content.

Translation: Eating more antioxidant rich foods has the potential to significantly slow the skin aging process.

I’ll be the first to admit that the word “antioxidant” does get thrown around quite a bit and perhaps is misused or misunderstood in some circles, but even so the fact of the matter is that the antioxidant content of someone’s diet is considered a pretty reasonable indicator of diet quality and correlates well with other scales that measure this type of thing.

The goal of today’s article is to introduce you to a few foods that have an above

The popularity of plant-based diets is growing exponentially year on year, with half a million Brits signing up to Veganuary in 2021. There is also an increase in the ‘flexitarian diet’ which involves eating mainly plant-based foods but still includes meat/fish occasionally. It’s thought those following a vegan and vegetarian diet will make up a ¼ of the British population by 2025! I’m excited to know how many of you joined Veganuary this year?!

A well planned plant-based diet is associated with improved health outcomes, helping to optimise cholesterol levels and lower blood pressure, reducing the risk of some non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, certain cancers and type 2 diabetes.

So, how can you add more plant-based foods into your daily diet?

Cook a vegetarian meal one night a week – Start with something simple, a meal that takes less than 30 minutes to cook, with few ingredients that

As some of you may already know, having worked in the NHS and privately, I specialise in weight management, so I often get many questions at this time of year asking for support with sustainable weight loss to support health, after having been on various unsuccessful diets. If this resonates, then this post is for you!

Remember, you do not *need* to lose weight to improve your health, however, if you want to make a change, then it’s important to choose the right approach that works for you.

Below are 5 common factors that may be hindering weight loss! Remember that our bodies work differently sometimes.

1️⃣ Irregular snacking i.e. Grazing! – It’s easy to unconsciously eat more than we realise, however – a food diary can help to encourage mindful eating. Write down what, where & why you ate and how you felt before/after. Try to eat without distractions

Have you ever been worried about the prospect of deciding what to eat? Anxious and eaten more/less than usual? Or have you ever been nervous and choose foods that you know will make you feel better?

You aren’t alone if you answered yes to any of these questions. Food can be a coping strategy for many of us (and this isn’t necessarily a bad thing!).

Stress is an unavoidable aspect of our lives. When we’re stressed, our bodies produce cortisol, which is an important hormone for our ‘fight or flight’ reaction. In the short-term, stress can also help to focus our memory, however, it’s chronic stress that can negatively impact our lives.

Chronic stress can have a detrimental impact on our mental health and increase the risk of gastrointestinal (gut) disorders, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, and also suppress our immune function. Stress can also disturb your sleep, which

Did you know that almost 60% of our bodies are made of water?

As a result, staying hydrated is one of the easiest and most beneficial things you can do for your body. Drinking enough water boosts your energy, keeps your skin in good condition and may help to prevent headaches, constipation, and UTIs (cystitis).

Drinking enough fluid can also help to keep hunger at bay if you find yourself grazing between meals. Often, the body can confuse hunger and thirst signals. So, the next time you’re hungry, try a glass of water first to be sure you don’t just need to drink more!

Aim for at least 6-8 200ml glasses or 1.4-1.6 litres of fluids every day. However, these are only estimations and you will need to drink more if you are exercising/ it’s hot outside, i.e. if you sweat more.

I must confess that I’m not a great

If you live in the U.K, it’s very likely that you’ve heard about the “5-a-day” campaign, which a is public health recommendation to consume at least 5 portions of fruit and veggies a day.

It can be all too easy to think if you have 5 different fruits or veggies a day or 5 portions of a couple of different fruits then bingo – you’ve hit the goal. However, there are a couple of things we need to be mindful of to ensure we’re reaching that recommendation and obtaining a variety of nutrients, too!

Why is it important to have 5-a-day?

Diets rich in fruits and vegetables can help to reduce the risk of high blood pressure, helping to prevent against heart disease and strokes. They’re also vital for good gut health as they contain fibre (especially in the skin!), which helps to optimise blood cholesterol and prevent constipation. Did

Have you heard of the low FODMAP diet? Are you wondering if it can help with your IBS?

Read this blog post to find out what it is all about and to see if it can benefit you. 

What is the low FODMAP diet?

The low FODMAP diet is a 3 stage diet which enables you to pinpoint your specific triggers and to help you to eat food without fear and debilitating symptoms.

The 3 stages of the diet are restriction, reintroduction and modification of your long-term diet depending on what your reactions were. You can read more about it further down the page.

Evidence suggests that around 57-72% of people get symptom relief through this diet (2). However, it is complex and restrictive so needs to be done under the supervision of a

As a nation – we LOVE to demonise certain foods and food groups! Over the past few decades, there’s been a trend for ‘cutting carbs’ fuelled by diets such as Atkins, Keto, Dukan to name a few, as well as phrases such as ‘no carbs before marbs!’ or ‘carbs make you fat’.

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Many of these phrases and diets have confused people with the importance of carbohydrates, making them out to be ‘bad’ or a driver of weight gain. But in fact, no food is inherently ‘good’ or ‘bad’ – it depends on the portion and frequency in which we eat them (+ of course how we cook them and what we add to them!)

Carbs also contain the SAME amount of calories per gram as protein (4 kcal/g), in comparison to 9 kcal/g for fats!⁣

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𝗪𝐇𝐘 𝐃𝐎 𝗪𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐃 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐁𝐒?⁣

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1️⃣ Energy – Carbs are the body’s