Going Bananas!

It’s certainly not news that high blood pressure and a deficiency of the mineral, potassium are linked (or perhaps more often recorded is too much sodium and not enough potassium) so it’s vital that our diet includes plenty of potassium-rich foods to get the balance right.  Many people immediately think bananas when they think potassium, but you would have to eat a lot of bananas in a day (around 9!) to get close to the recommended daily dose. 30g of leafy green vegetables (particularly swiss chard, spinach and bok choy) provide around twice the amount of potassium so in addition to the occasional banana which makes a filling and splendidly-portable snack (the greener the better to get plenty of gut-friendly resistant starch as long as you chew them really well), go leafy daily! 

Make Turmeric a Store Cupboard Essential

I have talked before about the incredible anti-inflammatory properties of the natural spice, curcumin (found in turmeric) but recent research indicates that to get the max from it, it should be married with an Omega 3-rich oil so when you are making a curry and slinging in plenty of turmeric (or ordering in a Saag Aloo or other turmeric-rich dishes), warm through a few tablespoons of flaxseed oil (don’t let it get hot or you will destroy the essential fats) and drizzle over the whole lot just before serving.

Help for Migraine Sufferers

A study on Co-Enzyme Q10 found that more than half of migraine sufferers who took a CoQ10 supplement reduced their migraine episodes by almost 50%. Even those who still suffered, saw the duration of their migraine drop by half. The dosage level for CoQ10 was 100mg three times a day.

An additional tactic is to get more magnesium-rich foods such as spinach, chard, avocados, almonds and cashews into your diet as research indicates that migraine sufferers are very often deficient in this mineral.

And... very dark chocolate is another good source of magnesium so when a snack-attack threatens, have one of those mini bars with a handful of nuts and a mug of green tea!

Don't Use Artificial Sweeteners if you Want to Lose Weight and Look After Your Health

THIS IS ALARMING TO SAY THE LEAST!

Several large-scale studies have now found positive correlations between artificial sweetener use, weight gain and diminishing health in both adults and children. Here’s an overview of just a few. Please feel free to contact me should you wish links to the studies...

• 3,682 adults over a 7-8 year period were found to have consistently higher BMIs at follow up.
• 78,694 women using artificial sweeteners gained weight compared to non-users matched by their initial weight.
• 31,940 women gained weight over an 8 year period when using saccharin.
• a positive association between diet soda and weight gain was seen in 11,654 boys between the ages of 9 and 14.
• 3,111 children and young adults had a significantly elevated BMI when their diet regularly included diet soda.

I have lost count of the number of people who tell me (and understandably believe, thanks to brilliant marketing) that because their fizzy drinks are always 'diet' or 'zero' it's all good and they are keeping their sugar consumption down. Not so fast! Sadly, the brain doesn't do a particularly good job of distinguishing between natural sugars and chemically-distorted, artificial sugars - it's all just sugar of one sort or another! And whilst too many natural sugars from the food we eat and the drinks we consume are likely to get it all charged-up and happy for a while (whilst not necessarily doing our waistlines much good if we overdose) the above studies rubber-stamp my continuing advice when it comes to sweeteners.....

If you really, really need something sweet on occasion, make sure it's 'the real thing' and leave the artificial stuff to reach its sell-by date and be trashed!