There has been quite a backlash on Twitter and I think many people feel this is a step too far in promoting sugary cereals. An occassional treat- maybe. Cereal for breakfast and snacks- definitely not in my opinion. Try some snacks based on the Change4Life recipe book instead…

And here’s a lovely little video aimed at promotion of a different kind – getting children interested in eating more fruit and veg – a  simple and effective way to support your child’s health. Be careful, it’s a very catchy tune. You might end up singing it for the rest of the day!

I often use Twitter to post links to recipes and have been asked to put some here on the blog for those who don’t use Twitter so here they are – do as I do and adjust the ingredients to your taste and to meet your dairy/gluten free requirements. This is usually quite easy in savoury dishes – substitute in cake recipes at your own risk…I have had many disasters this way. But this is how we become creative recipe converters so my work continues! Even the puppy turns up his nose at some of my gluten free disasters.

Here are a selection of some of the recipes I’ve tweeted over the last few weeks:

Roast Barramundi in honour of Australia Day today (Barramundi are produced in our very own New Forest)

Pasta with Walnut Sauce (contains dairy and wheat as it stands- try substituting silken tofu for the ricotta and gluten free bread and pasta)

Andean Bean Stew with Squash & Quinoa – you can use canned beans or chickpeas for this for a quicker preparation time.

Nigel Slater’s Beetroot Seed Cake – tastes amazing & much better than it sounds! Remember your reaction when you first heard about carrot cake?

Mark Hix Tomato Lentil Soup Quick, cheap,nutritious and tastes really great. Mark Hix is a master at simple cooking with great ingredients.Try it.

Jamie Oliver’s Andy the Gasmans Stew (lamb) – I tend to substitute sweet potatoes instead of white ones, double the vegetables and reduce the meat.Throw in handful of spinach at the end for extra nutrients!

Rainbow Superfood Salad – lovely with fish.

Fuss free fajitas From the MyChild website

Vietnamese Turkey Salad – very very quick and simple. Good for leftover chicken . Use herbs and spices to your taste.

Almond Milk (video). This recipe uses dates as a sweetener. Easy when you know how…

Anjum Anand’s Goan fish curry – I like this with some spinach or watercress thrown in at the end for contrast

Squash and Chickpea Soup – lovely winter warmer

Enjoy!

There was an interesting article in Community Care in November last year raising awareness about the levels of Anxiety and Depression amongst social work staff. The Unison survey it cites suggests that a third of council social workers here in the South East are on anti-depressants or other medication.  I hope that all that is happening with the reforms proposed by the Social Work Taskforce will help the plight of social care staff in the medium to long-term but in the short-term there are many social workers out there struggling to manage the stress inherent in front-line social work systems and they need our support.

Thinking back to my days on the front line, I wish I’d known more about how I could have chosen better foods and drinks to help manage my stress at that time –  nutrition is not a miracle cure but it can certainly make a difference and I have seen people beginning to cope much better with their lives simply by eating better , feeling physically stronger  and ‘calming down’ the biochemical stress response we can experience in response to certain eating patterns and foods.  That coffee and croissant in the morning is a classic example but can be hard to give up without some help finding realistic alternatives – after all, the visit to the coffee chain for a latte can be about so much more than just having a drink … a chance to leave the stressful office for a few precious minutes, a welcome distraction from the stress of hearing about dreadful abuse or trauma and an opportunity to enter into the ‘luxury world’ of the upmarket coffee shop, a milky comforting drink reminding us of childhood and warming us up on a cold day, a caffeine and sugar ‘hit’ to keep us going after being up all night writing court reports. The list goes on.

Maybe one day nutrition will be included in the ‘wellbeing’  services for social work staff. Real change can be achieved by helping people learn more about food and how it affects their body and their situation. After all, if it was as easy as saying  ’just cut down the coffee’ we’d all be a nation of herbal tea drinkers already!

In  the meantime, I’d encourage social workers to consider nutritional therapy as one way of helping to manage anxiety, depression and stress alongside therapeutic support and any prescribed medications.

To find a  nutritional therapist near you check the BANT website and always ask:

1) What are the therapists qualifications and level of study in nutrition – this varies enormously so do ensure your practitioner has a Degree or recognised Diploma

2) Are they professionally insured and First Aid trained .

3) Are they competent in checking drug-nutrient interactions

4) Are they registered with the Nutritional Therapy Council (NTC) or CNHC

5) Will they offer a free initial consultation – as with any other therapy, it is vital you feel you can ‘get on’ with your Nutritional Therapist and feel they can help you make food and lifestyle changes. Ask to meet up before you commit.

And for the rest of us, please spare a thought for social workers and think more deeply about why absence rates may be so high. They are doing their best for vulnerable children and adults in a world where resources are scarce and difficult decisions have to be made every day. Could you do their job?

I’m delighted to report I’ve just opened appointment bookings for my new programme ‘Change Nutrition,Change Health‘ to help those of you worried about ‘fat around the middle’, high blood pressure, cholesterol and risk of diabetes and heart disease. I was originally going to run these as small group sessions but following some feedback I am now running the programme on an individual basis – this will make it more accessible for those of you with hectic lifestyles and who prefer one-on-one support and flexible appointments to manage your health. You can find out more here or give me a call to book your free appointment to see if the programme is for you.

I may still run some group sessions later in the new year so if this is something you are interested in drop me a line as I’m always keen to make sure I offer the best service.

In the meantime, I hope you had a wonderful New Year and very best wishes for a happy, healthy and fun filled 2010.

Juices: If you have a good juicer (and don’t mind the washing up!) this can be a great way of getting 1 of your 5-a -day…which by the way should actually be more like around ‘8-10 a day’ for really optimum health. A juice can only ever count as ‘1 portion’ as it is the fibre in fruit and vegetables that contains many of the healthy compounds so whole fruit and vegetables should make up the rest of your daily intake. There are some great juicing recipes and books out there so take your pick and experiment. An important thing to remember is that although fruit contains many nutrients, it is also often very high in fruit sugars. A glass of freshly squeezed orange juice might contain as many as 7 oranges with accompanying fruit sugar- you would never eat that many pieces of whole fruit in a sitting and without the accompanying fibre, this kind of pure fruit juice can give a real ’sugar hit’ and add to blood sugar imbalances. Instead try vegetable juices or mix fruit and vegetables together. I find most people enjoy apple,carrot and ginger as this is quite a sweet juice. Or try adding a beetroot for an amazing red juice with an earthy flavour. Here are some more ideas for recipes

Smoothies: I generally prefer smoothies to juicing as you can add in so many ‘extra bits’ for added nutrition and by blending the whole fruit the fibre is included so you don’t lose out on nutrients. ‘Smoothie Makers’ are really just blenders with a tap. I think a goblet style blender is just as good and more versatile – I’d say these are generally the best for making smoothies though some of my clients tell me they can achieve some great results with a good old stick blender so give it a try. There are some amazing goblet style blenders on the market, some so powerful they can make soups from scratch and heat them at the same time, but these are beyond the range of most of us (I am saving up for a Vitamix…long wait!). I currently use a Philips HR2094 which isn’t the cheapest but  is glass and quite sturdy so it can manage some heavy blending and can be used to make nut milk with its additional filter- it’s also very easy to clean.  This style blender has an adjustable speed dial which is great when adding large objects like quartered apples or soaked whole nuts as it can gradually break them down before turning up to full speed for a finer blend. I’m putting it through it’s paces at the moment so I’ll report in future blogs what it can and can’t do! (let’s hope I don’t kill it!)

Anyway, back to smoothies – there are many recipes out there for amazing smoothies. As a principle, I always try and add a protein food and sources of essential fatty acids to smoothies. Try adding a tablespoon of peanut or almond nut butter (available in health food shops) or if your blender is powerful enough, soak some cashews or almonds for a few hours then throw them in. Nuts really are a great source of protein, minerals and essential fatty acids. You can also add 3-4 tablespoons of whole fat plain yoghurt- additional protein and also contains some low levels of ‘good bacteria’ to support the gut.  For something more filling like a breakfast, add in 1/2 cup of porridge oats and blend away or pour a smoothie mix on your muesli for added spice. Blueberries make lovely purple milk- kids love it.

Here’s the smoothie I had as my mid morning snack today. I make them up as I go along adding whatever is handy and might add to the taste and nutrient content…

The smoothie with no name

1 apple- cored and cut into quarters

1/2 a greenish banana ( too sweet if allowed to brown)

3 medjool dates- stoned ( xmasleftovers)

4 strawberries

3 tbsp whole fat live yoghurt

1 tbsp almond nut butter (or any other nut butter)

1/2 tsp of Maca powder (optional – from health food shops)

1 tbsp organic cacao powder (optional)

Method

Put all of the above into the blender. Add a little water for the ‘first blend’ then, once a smooth paste has formed, add more to preferred consistency or top up with ice and blend until crushed

This is quite sweet and a moreish pick me up so a  good ‘not too wholesome  tasting’ smoothie while you are still in festive spirits. But don’t add real festive spirits…. not in the morning anyway  :)

Enjoy.

It’s a real credit to medical science that we now have so much information about how things may ‘look’  when people are starting off on this road to chronic illness. I think what is needed now is more targeted support to enable people to understand better what may be happening in their bodies and take practical steps to make a u-turn and get on a different road to better health. My plans for 2010 include some brand new Nutritional Courses for men and women who have Metabolic Syndrome & those who don’t have the diagnosis but are worried about an expanding waistline, high blood pressure or other important symptoms (see below) . I’ll be working individually with everyone on the course to make sure the nutritional programme is tailored to them as well as providing weekly group sessions where we learn more about the science behind some of the recommended nutrition and lifestyle changes. I think successful long term change is so much easier if we actually understand more about why it’s important for us as individuals. I’m in the middle of writing up the programme at the moment -it’s very exciting and I can’t wait to get going when the new year hits!

For now, here are the signs and symptoms to look out for….

If you have 3 of these you may be diagnosed as having metabolic syndrome. If you have any one of these, seek medical advice for further assessment and a check on the other symptoms so you can start making changes now if you are at risk. With health, the ‘head in the sand approach’ is never a good thing- check it out so you can take some control and keep yourself as well as you can for as long as you can :

1. Increased waist circumference (≥ 102 cm in men and ≥ 88 cm in women; ≥ 90 cm in Asian men and ≥ 80 cm in Asian women), indicating central obesity (’fat around the middle’)
2. Elevated triglycerides (fats in the blood)
3. Decreased HDL cholesterol (’good cholesterol’)
4. Blood pressure > 130/85 mm Hg or active treatment for hypertension
5. Fasting plasma (blood) glucose level > 5.6 mmol/l or active treatment for hyperglycaemia

More about the New Nutritional Courses in future posts – watch this space. Or, if you want to get in early, drop me a line for more information and you’ll be the first to know when the first run of dates are released in January

Happy holidays. And remember to boost up those vegetables on the Xmas dinner!

There may be a number of underlying body system imbalances which are important in IBS – these can be investigated as part of a nutritional therapy assessment and plans then developed to support a return to function considering areas like (i) removing  gut pathogens/infections & any allergenic foods (ii) repairing the gut membrane (iii) optimising and supporting digestive enzyme function (iv) re-populating the gut with prebiotics and probiotic bacteria (v) identifying relaxation strategies as anxiety and stress can contribute to a ‘vicious circle’ of ongoing gut symptoms.

Here’s a video of Liz Lipski, a US based clinical nutritionist, explaining how lab tests and short-term food exclusion diets can help develop effective nutritional programmes for people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome:

A  recent research study in the Annals of Internal Medicine in September 2009 has added to the evidence base:

Effects of a Mediterranean-Style Diet on the Need for Antihyperglycemic Drug Therapy in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes

The study (1) looked at 215 overweight people who had just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and compared the outcomes for those eating a Mediterranean diet with those eating a low-fat diet. There is much confusion about what the Mediterranean diet actually is. In this study they define it as a diet rich in vegetables and wholegrains and low in red meat which was replaced by poultry and fish. The Low Fat diet was based on the low fat diet outlined by the American Heart Association.

The study found that the Mediterranean diet improved HDL cholesterol (’good cholesterol’), reduced blood triglycerides(fats), reduced hyperglycaemia (high blood sugar) and delayed the need for medication for a significant proportion of the people with type 2 diabetes in the trial as compared to the low fat diet.  The researchers state that this was probably due to it’s ability to induce greater weight loss and emphasise the importance of considering lifestyle interventions such as changing diet and exercise in managing Type 2 diabetes rather than focusing solely on medications. A great message and one that may save our NHS precious resources in the long term too.

Here’s a short film highlighting some of the study’s findings:

Full Reference

(1)Esposito K, Maiorino MI, Ciotola M, Di Palo C, Scognamiglio P, Gicchino M, et al. Effects of a Mediterranean-style diet on the need for antihyperglycemic drug therapy in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes: a randomized trial. Ann Intern Med 2009 Sep 1;151(5):306-14.

The other part of the programme I thought was really interesting was when the presenter decided to map her sugar intake for the day. This was a ‘health aware’ presenter with what appeared to be a reasonably well balanced diet of ‘healthy foods’ on the surface but when she mapped her added sugar intake for a day it turned out to be more than twice the recommended amount. Here’s some of the figures I jotted down….

Recommended intake for refined/added sugar – 60g ( this does not include natural sugars in milk, fruit etc)

Some of the presenter’s daily food measured in the programme:

• healthy breakfast cereal – 34g
• cereal bar snack – 10.9g    (2 eaten in the day)
• fat free yoghurt – 20.9g
• cranberry juice 5.5g
• baked beans – 24.8g
• toast  - 1.5g per slice
• chicken – none
• brown rice – none
• kung pao sauce 38.6g

Sugar is hidden is so many foods that it really is worth ‘label watching’ if you rely on processed foods in your weekly shop. As a general rule I always ask my clients to be wary of ‘fat free’ foods as many are loaded with sugar to add texture and sweetness in place of the fat. In the body excess sugar is converted to fat for storage in any case so it can be counter productive to make ‘low fat living’ a strategy unless you are very careful to read labels.

Try mapping your added sugar for the day – it can be a real eye opener.