I was bought up on traditional British meat and two veg meals where meat was always centre stage on the plate, potatoes were a close second and vegetables, although important in their own right, were uninteresting and usually boiled to within an inch of their lives! Thankfully things have changed for the better, eating is far more interesting nowadays with all the amazingly diverse foods from around the world, the different cooking methods and of course there’s just so much more variety….. of everything. In our house vegetables often take...

Nutritional deficiencies can affect every single cell in our bodies and not eating the right foods long term can cause all number of problems leading eventually to chronic diseases like alzheimers, heart disease, depression, fatigue, cancer etc. But a few little changes to your diet now could really make all the difference to your future. Our bodies are so amazingly clever that even if you feed them junk, they will still work…… in the short term anyway. We have inbuilt a myriad of resources and systems to combat just...

…….and medicine be your food, advised Hippocrates over 2500 years ago and it is still as valid today as it was then, although we seem to have strayed a long was from his path. Hippocrates, the father of natural medicine, believed in good food and related ill health to poor nutrition and bad eating habits, he urged us to respect nature’s healing forces. What Hippocrates was suggesting with this is that prevention is better than cure, eating a good, healthy, whole food diet will keep you healthier in the long...

As you no doubt already know, vegetables are vitally important to our health, each one has its own set of key vitamins and minerals, but are we eating enough greens like kale, spinach, cabbage, watercress, spring greens, broccoli, brussels sprouts etc? Leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables like these are the most nutrient rich of all but are sadly, according to research, the least consumed. By not eating enough you could be missing out on the essential nutrients Vitamin C, E and K, Calcium, Folic Acid, Iron and Magnesium. Did you...

I know we’re coming to the end of winter. YEAH! But there are still plenty of cold mornings ahead so a hot bowl of porridge is the perfect breakfast to fire you up. And as long as you soak them overnight they can just as easily be eaten without being cooked, so can make a great summer breakfast too. When I was a kid my mum used to have a big pot of porridge erupting on the stove most school mornings, it was, and still is, a cheap breakfast...

It is pretty likely that most of us are not drinking anywhere near enough water and even though we are regularly advised to drink 6-8 glasses a day, more if it’s hot, most people favour tea, coffee, soft drinks and alcohol over a refreshing glass of water. I personally love a glass of fresh, filtered, unadulterated water but some people just don’t like water or find it boring and unappealing and believe that as long as they’re drinking enough liquid in general that it will be ok, but this...

Following on from my last blog, “Let water be the staff of life’ I have decided to carry on in a similar vein in the hope of persuading any hardened tea and coffee drinkers to cut down a little….. or even a lot. Reducing the amount of tea and coffee you drink, or stopping completely, can only be a good thing, no matter what the ‘experts’ say, and even they are undecided, one minute it’s good for you, the next it’s not, but in my book, caffeine is ultimately...

The other day I picked up a watermelon for the first time in ages, it shows the weather is improving, watermelon definitely signifies a hot summers day to me and we have been enjoying some really warm spring days recently so it seemed apt, besides, my boys love it and so do I! I always knew that watermelon was good but I had no idea quite how good until I did a bit more digging, I was pretty surprised about a few things. WATERMELON IS MADE UP OF ABOUT 91%...

The beauty about herbs and spices is that they not only taste amazing, they also offer numerous health benefits. I use, and recommend, herbs and spices a lot in cooking, teas and smoothies and regularly pimp my meals with them! Classed as a super food, Cinnamon is one of my favourite spices, not only does it taste and smell delicious it also gives a beautiful sweetness to food. It is a warming spice, which, according to Chinese Medicine, helps with weight loss. By warming the body, metabolism is increased...

I absolutely love soup in the winter, it is not only filling, warming and comforting it also provides me with a great nutritional hit and a perfect way to use up any stray veg I have that has no home to go to. But soup doesn’t have to be confined only to winter…. A couple of years ago I was invited out to a gorgeous hotel restaurant with some friends, as a thank you, and on the menu that evening was an in-between course of gazpacho. I instantly thought,...

In my last blog I wrote about the virtues of cinnamon, how amazing it is and how to incorporate it into your daily diet. This time the spotlight is on Turmeric, it is just as amazing as cinnamon but for many different reasons. Turmeric contains a potent yellow pigment called curcumin, which is one of the most powerful antioxidants around, it happily scavenges damaging free radicals and is particularly good for the liver’s complex detoxification process. It is anti carcinogenic and is understood to hinder cancer growth and spread. Alongside...

The best new year’s resolutions to set yourself for a really great year. Don’t set too many unattainable resolutions Try to only set resolutions that you really believe you can stick to, going over the top with too many things will almost certainly end in failure, which is no good for anyone. If you have a big goal, break it up into smaller ones and put dates next to them so you can keep tabs as you go, that way you can give yourself a pat on the back for each...

I believe we would all benefit from eating less gluten. In my ‘Are You a Bit Stuck Up?’ post I explain why, but briefly here, gluten is basically a glue like substance that can be quite difficult to digest. It is found in bread, cakes, cereal, biscuits etc, etc. And whilst not all of us are actually gluten intolerant, eating too much can create a very sluggish digestive system resulting in gas, constipation and all number of undesirable side affects. Long term it has been known to cause...