Question time

I love putting together my random thoughts for the blog, but I also love answering your health questions just as much so please send them in along with any suggestions for topics you'd like me to blog on to emilie@nutritioninthecity.com

Dear NITC,
I love your zen diet, but do you think this is a good time of year for detox, as it's New Year and i think a lot of people might consider doing one?
Also do you think it's good to detoxify for a few days eating only certain foods, or drinking fruit and vegetable juices for example, or not and what do you think about detoxifying supplements and diets and using hydrocolonotherapy?
Magda

Well that's a great question for this time of year but a big one also, so I'm going to answer it in two parts!

Firstly I don't think January is a good time for a proper detox, and by that I mean anything from a strict fruit and veg juice fast for a few days, to a restrictive detox diet for a month ala Carol Vorderman. The reason is that, incase you hadn't noticed, it's still freezing outside which means your body will be naturally trying to store more fat for warmth than in spring/summer. For your body to detox properly it needs to break down stored fat where excess toxins that your liver couldn't cope with have been stored. Therefore, this is the most difficult time of year to detox as it's in conflict with your body's survival mechanism. In short, if it's cold enough to need a winter coat it's too cold to detox.

Having said that it's always good to cut down on the usual culprits post Christmas - sugar, chocolate, alcohol, cheese, caffeine and fizzy drinks. If you usually eat healthily this should be pretty easy, but if you consume a lot of these you may still get detox symptoms such as headaches and lethargy so cut down gradually.

But .... when it does warm up, come springtime, I do think a detox can do you a lot of good, either as a short strict fruit and veg detox or a longer, clean diet detox.

City lives expose us to loads of toxins, both in terms of pollution and in terms of eating processed or unnatural foods that evolution has not had time to adapt us to, so we need to give our bodies a toxin free holiday to recover every now and then. Plus it gives the body the time and energy to recover - the body has amazing powers to heal itself but only when it's not using all it's energy processing toxins and digesting heavy meals.

Out of the two I think on balance following a longer detox diet is more beneficial, than a short juice fast, but if you can do both once a year then that's going to be brilliant for you. Details on a short fruit and veg detox or my favourite longer detox diet -Dr Joshi's Holistic detox can be found in these previous postings.

As for supplements and additional therapies, I don't think these are essential to follow a detox and get benefits and I usually just stick to my usual supplement regime. Admittedly that includes a multivitamin, extra vitamin c, b complex, fish oil, antioxidant complex, cherry active (more antioxidants) and spatone (natural iron supplement) plus digestive enzymes! Which is a lot more than I'd expect most of you to be taking but a good multi containing a range of antioxidants and some extra vitamin C would be a good place to start. But there are a few key nutrients that can really help accelerate the detox process and some other alternative therapies that can complement the process, but more on that next week!

Healthonomics

I was in my absolute favourite shop Precious this evening picking up some sale bargains from their fab clothing selection and got chatting about the trends in peoples spending habits.

In a time of austerity and uncertainty it's natural for people to cut back on discretionary spending and save more money for their rainy day fund and when it comes to clothing, admittedly a weakness for most city chicks, this is translating into more considered purchasing - less impulse buys and more 'how much will I wear this' and 'does it go with the rest of my clothes'.

But don't worry, I'm not about to got all SATC on you, I know my limits when it comes to fashion advice! However it got me thinking on health investments and getting value for money.

The health industry, weight loss products in particular, is worth billions of pounds and is an easy sell - people love the idea that buying a product or taking a pill will miraculously make you model thin. But when you think about the return on your investment you may find these quick fixes aren't such good investments.

Diet meals and shakes - certainly these make dieting easy, buying all your food pre-prepared means no time spent shopping, cooking or meal planning. BUT:
Firstly it's not cheap - buying ready meals is more expensive than preparing healthy meals yourself and alot of the diet shakes are overpriced versions of protein shakes you could easily make at home with pure whey protein and fruit which would be a) cheaper and b) healthier.

Meal delivery services such as purepackage and bodychef offer much healthier options but definitely aren't a cheap option.
Secondly, most diet meals are highly processed reducing their nutrient content. Shakes and bars usually have a high milk content and sugars or artificial sweeteners to make them palatable, all of which are positively bad for you.
Thirdly, this way of dieting doesn't teach you how to eat properly in the long run. Do you really plan to spend the rest of your life drinking slim fast?
Investment value: low
Better alternative: Invest in some education - give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he'll have food for life - the same goes for healthy eating. Books by The Food Doctor and Michel Montignac are good sense places to start and secondhand copies can be picked up very cheaply on Amazon.

A nutritional therapy consultation is a more expensive way to get educated but after a couple of consultations you'll be able to navigate your way through the supermarket or restaurant menus and pick the foods that work best for you for the rest of your life, instead of vexing over the calories or weight watchers points in everything you eat so in the long run it's money well spent.

Gym membership: Let's face it, city gyms aren't cheap, even if you get a corporate discount so the cost per wear clothing principal is very prescient - if you're only going once a week your gym could be costing you up to £25 a pop. But saying that exercise itself is a great investment, helping prevent diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis and a host of other debilitating diseases. Whilst keeping you in shape and your energy levels up.

Investment value: Unless you have a free work gym or go several times a week this may be a poor investment. If you are already a member make the most of the classes and free services. Most gyms will offer free or heavily discounted personal training sessions when you join which you should take up. Go armed with questions and pick up as many new tips and exercises as you can then there's no need to commit to weekly sessions, although having a PT session every couple of months can keep your training varied and targeted.
Better alternative: exercising outdoors is almost free, bar buying appropriate shoes, and certainly running and cycling are great cardio workouts. For toning and equipment based exercise pay per go gyms and park based boot camps are usually good value for money. Your local council gym may also be surprisingly affordable even if it doesn't have the luxury spa facilities!

Can't afford a personal trainer? Don't worry, just pair up with a buddy and take it in turns to train each other picking different exercises each week. Running and fitness magazines are cheap good sources for training inspiration.

Natural supplements:
Vitamins and minerals are certainly good for you but there's a totally vast range out there from the basic vitamin C to the latest natural diet craze such as colon cleanse tablets or goji supplements. Good supplements can help keep you in good health, encourage fat burning and get your skin, hair and nails in great condition, whilst a bad one can be a total waste of money but is unlikely to cause you harm.
This is where sticking to reputable brands is a good policy. I mainly recommend Biocare, Eskimo, Solgar and Higher Nature products (all available from nutricentre) as these brands base their products on research and feedback from qualified practitioners. In some cases they may be more pricey than the supermarket version but if you look at the actual amounts of individual nutrients in each tablet you'll find that per microgram you're probably paying more in tesco or boots and just swallowing a load of unnecessary fillers. In addition if you call up the manufacturers they can give you some guidance on the best supplements to take for your requirements or send you their informative catalogues.
Investment value: poor to excellent depending on your selection
Best option: go for reputable brands and long-standing formulas rather than the latest fad product. Ask for advice either from the supplier or a nutritional therapist, to make sure your taking the best supplements for your needs.

Once you've applied some health investment common sense you should have some money spare to invest in some rewards - Ms Haribo is the expert on self-incentivizing as a means of motivating, but in essence just plan a reward for when you hit your goal, whether it's losing a few pounds or giving up chocolate for two weeks. I've certainly got my eyes on a new season dress from Precious as a reward for losing my Christmas pounds through my January zen diet!

Brain bars

As my zen diet is focussed on maximizing the healthy foods in your diet it's a good time for me to look up some new recipes and dig out some old favourites focussed around some superfood ingredients.

One such ingredient on my hit list this month is the humble walnut. Packed with vitamin E, omega 3 fats and antioxidants it is a superfood for the brain helping protect the brain's delicate fatty tissue. Infact a recent study based on feeding students with banana bread with or without ground walnuts in it, found that daily walnut consumption over eight weeks increased their results in mental reasoning tests by 11per cent - pretty impressive.

Unfortunately it's not one of my favourite nuts by a long way, but it is one of the most beneficial. Consequently, whilst I wouldn't enjoy eating a bag of them, I will add them chopped to salads, risottos, muesli and breakfast cereals as a booster. Mixed in with other foods I find I actually enjoy them.

Another great way to incorporate them is in a homemade snack bar. I've been making these breakfast bars from Elanas pantry for ages, but recently have started playing around with the ingredients and made a Christmas version with chopped walnuts, allspice and dried cranberries (see below, original recipe is on my recipe page). Even my mum, with her high taste standards, enjoyed them and will be making them as her new hiking snack!

You can pretty much subsitute any nuts/seeds for the seeds in this recipe and use any dried fruit instead of the cranberries. Just stick to the same volumes. Enjoy!

ps It appears that along with all you lovely people, Santa also reads NITC, as he delivered all the books on my Christmas list ... Lucky me! Thank you Santa :-)

Christmas nut snack bars:

1 ¼ cup ground almonds

1/8 teaspoon celtic sea salt (I used Solo low sodium salt)

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon allspice

¼ cup grapeseed oil

¼ cup agave nectar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup walnuts

½ cup flaked almonds

¼ cup dried cranberries

In a small bowl, combine almond flour, allspice, salt and baking soda

In a large bowl, combine grapeseed oil, agave and vanilla

Stir dry ingredients into wet

Mix in walnuts, almond slivers and cranberries

Grease an 8x8 baking dish with grapeseed oil (I used a 1lb loaf tin)

Press the dough into the baking dish, wetting your hands with water to help pat the dough down evenly

Bake at 180°C for 20 minutes (until firm and golden coloured)

Cut into bars and allow to cool before taking out the tin

Makes 6-8 bars

New Year, new diet

Greetings NITC readers and Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year and that you're not suffering excessively from being being back at work today.

The New Year is time for new starts and kicking off healthy habits which means the gym will be annoyingly full for the next few weeks. But I'm all in favour of using some New Year resolutionitis to kick off some healthy habits.

Last year I started off the New Year with my bootcamp which I'd definitely recommend to anyone wanting a quick post Christmas weight loss and tone up. However this year I'm taking a more zen approach .. perhaps because I'm mellowing in my old age, or perhaps it's that I know I have a busy couple of weeks ahead and don't want to put too much pressure on myself to stick to a strict programme.

But even if you don't fancy going all out at the gym, or can't be bothered with inflicting a strict new diet on yourself that you'll just abandon after a few days, there are easier less regimented ways to get yourself fit and healthy this January.

So what does the zen diet involve?

Well rather than listing a million foods that are bad for you and trying your best to avoid them it's about focussing on eating what's good for you.

So before you sit down to your next meal you just need to ask yourself these three questions:

1) Am I genuinely hungry? No? Have a cup of tea and distract yourself with a task or some tv, and wait til you are.

Not sure? Just have a glass of water, wait 15 minutes and then see, remember hunger is in your stomach and not up in your throat or chest.

2) Is what you're about to eat actively good for you?

Facing a big bowl of pasta with cheese sauce, think again ... that is not going to be good for you. You're looking to maximize nutrients - so fruit + veg (antioxidants and fibre), pulses (fibre, minerals, protein), fish + nuts/seeds (essential fats) and other lean proteins (skinless poultry, tofu, pulses) should be the basis for your meals. Base your meal choices on what would be positively good for you ... this will keep you in good health over the colder months and any spare weight will come off naturally. But at the same time make sure you choose food that tastes good to you, eating should always be pleasurable.

3) Is there anything you can add to what you're about to eat that will make it healthier?

Add some veggies to your pasta dish, sprinkle some nuts and seeds over your breakfast cereal and add some berries. Are you in a restaurant facing a plate of steak? Make sure you order a side of vegetables or a salad to start to add in some greens.

4) Finally, and importantly, have a day off, or just a meal off a week for quicker results. Eat whatever you like without worrying about how healthy it is, just pure foodie enjoyment.

and that's it ... in the words of the Meerkats ... simples!

I'm going to be similarly zen on my approach to exercise, but more on that tomorrow.

Tip or Treat #4 - Keeping Cozy

I got chatting to a super trim lady in the sauna the other evening (as you do) about why sauna's are so good for you. I use them in the winter to keep colds at bay, as a warmer body temperature helps your immune system fight bugs more effectively. But what my companion suggested was that a regular sauna can help you keep off the winter weight.

It wasn't something I'd thought of before but it actually makes sense. It's well known that it's natural to put on a bit of winter weight in the colder months, your body trying to keep you warm with a fat blanket, so if you make an effort to stop yourself getting too cold you could reduce your bodies desire to store fat.

Sauna's can also help you detox, particularly useful during times of higher booze and processed or sweetened foods, so there's lots of reasons to have a weekly Sauna in the lead up to Christmas, just make sure you drink plenty of fluids afterwards to avoid dehydration.

Personally I find lying in the sauna for 5 minutes pretty relaxing and a great antidote to the winter blues so this one's a Tip or a Treat depending on how you see it!

Tip #3 keeping the bulge at bay

It's tough, pre-christmas, to not let yourself turn into a christmas pudding before the day itself. With all the tempting treats around the place and christmas drinks and parties it's easy to just give in to the whole thing and let yourself go.

But even if you can't say no to a mince pie or a pig in a blanket you can minimize the damage by squeezing in some exercise.

Christmas is generally a quieter time in the city, this usually means post-work drinks starting early, but it's also a good opportunity to fit in a workout before you go out. Your friends will still be in the pub when you're finished and you'll have missed out on at least a couple of drinks in the process. Plus, even if you're tired, a quick gym session can really perk you up and give you a bit of personality for the evening.

Even if you just do 20 minutes of interval training you'll feel better for it and you'll have burnt off some calories built up an appetite that means you can to tuck into the pub platter knowing that you've earnt it.

Treat #2 Pick n mix

In our office we have what we call the 'tuck shop' - a corner where people take it in turns to leave biscuits and sweets - usually when they come back off holiday, but sometimes just for the hell of it. Currently it's stocked up with old school sweeties ... strawberry laces, foam bananas and milk bottles ... treats I used to love as a kid but just don't appeal to me now - perhaps because they taste too synthetic.

Still having something sweet to nibble on is always pleasant, so here are my alternative sweeties which would also make great healthy stocking fillers:

Bear yoyos - a healthy alternative to strawberry laces, you can get these in Holland & Barrett and some Boots

Dried mango slices - chewy and supersweet, I get mine from the Camden Food Company

Dried strawberries sweetened with apple juice - I get a small scoopfull from Cranberry when I feel I need a sweet treat but they also sell them and also dried cherries in my local tesco.

Dried fruit and nut mixes - sweetness with the added crunhc, these mixes are sold pretty much everywhere. Natural is best but for a treat I love the savoury sweet combo of salted peanuts and raisins.

Dark chocolate brazil nuts - way healthier than yoghurt or milk chocolate covered nuts (less sugar and no dairy) but still have the whole Christmas snackiness about them! Add dark chocolate covered apricots to that too.

On the theme of dark chocolate I just discovered Thornton's mini dark bars. I've always loved the Green & Black mini bars, but these are also super tasty and are mini versions of their new dark chocolate blocks. They had plain, mint and ginger available in my local Thornton's but the larger blocks come in even more tempting flavours and are all gluten free and vegan. I've always found Thornton's chocolate too sweet but these have just the right level of sweetness, plus they're a bit more substantial than the G&B mini bars.

Feeling lazy ... sign up to Graze - they do the most adorable little snack boxes with amazing dried fruit, nut and chocolate combinations such as mayan mocha (dark chocolate coated coffee beans, blanched almonds, physalis and jumbo raisins) or jaffa cake (roasted hazels, orange infused sultanas and dark chocolate buttons), plus healthier chocolate free versions.