Marks for presentation!

You've got to laugh at this complaint letter to Virgin about their inflight food ... many thanks to my cousin for sharing it... definitely worth reading if you want some Monday cheer!!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/4344890/Virgin-the-worlds-best-passenger-complaint-letter.html

Although I wouldn't recommend reading it at your desk if you work somewhere terribly serious where laughing out loud is not de rigueur ... laughing is wonderfully good for you so it would be a shame to suppress it!

The letter is basically a very amusing rant about how unappetizing and unidentifiable the food looked. There is a serious point to this, and that is that presentation plays an important part in food selection. This makes sense - if something looks unappetizing you assume it won't taste nice and avoid it and if something looks delicious you can literally start salivating before you've even tried it.

This is why it's important to spend a bit of effort on presentation when you prepare food yourself, particularly if you're preparing a healthy meal when you'd really rather be eating pie and mash! Serving food on nice crockery and taking care over layering/placing the ingredients on the plate can make all the difference.

Using ingredients with a variety of different colours is also important. Ms Haribo, for example, has a very strong aversion to eating foods that are all the same colour (nobody ever serve her fish in white sauce with cauliflower) but actually this aversion is a very healthy one - different colours in foods signifiy the presence of different nutrients so eating a colourful diet is much better for you than eating a monochrome one.

And of course there's another lesson in this, albeit an obvious one - always pack some snacks with you when you fly long haul!

Coffee and cake

Well I was spoilt rotten over my birthday weekend including being given a gluten and dairy free chocolate birthday cake from www.healthycakecompany.co.uk. I haven't had cake in a long time so I have to confess I had a few too many slices, but it was my birthday so I'm letting myself off!

The cake was deliciously dark with 70% cocoa solids, which made for a delicious cake, but on the downside meant I had a big hit of caffeine, which my body isn't used to. It was great to keep me partying late into the night but it reminded me how sensitive I am to caffeine now that I usually avoid it. When I first started out in the city I didn't go a day without at least a couple of teas and coffees, but now I don't have any I don't miss it and actually have alot more energy.

I do sometimes miss the taste of a good coffee, which I satisfy with a detox, but one thing I don't miss is the disrupted sleep. Even having a coffee in the morning can disrupt your sleep patterns that night so if you have any problems getting a good nights sleep you should seriously consider quitting the caffeine for a couple of weeks.

If you're serious about giving up caffeine this means no tea, coffee, chocolate or coca cola although as caffeine is a drug, if you stop your intake you are likely to experience withdrawal symptoms. On average it takes 4 days to come through the withdrawal, characterised by headaches and fatigue. If you have a very high intake it is best to reduce gradually, but as your intake is low you should be able to have a caffeine free week from today onwards.

Substitute your teas and coffees for caffeine free alternatives, such as Rooibos tea, Barleycup or Symington's dandelion coffee. Avoid all chocolate, including dark, and to satisfy a desire for sweets try a palmful of prunes or figs. If you experience any bouts of fatigue, drink water, herbal tea, or a green or white tea for a mini hit.

Biological birth certificate

Whilst it makes no sense to me that I'm this old, tomorrow will be the last day of my twenties! I remember when I was in my early teens thinking how old people in their thirties were, but now I'm almost there I realise it's not old at all!

Prompted by a conversation at work about how old we actually feel (I really don't feel older than 25) I found a biological age quiz to settle the discussion.

The good thing about the quiz I picked is that the questions (there are quite a few) make you realise what you should be doing that you aren't to keep your body young and in good health.

Well it turns out I'm only 23 which cheered me up no end! And apparently if I got more hugs and did more yoga I'd be even younger!

http://www.growyouthful.com/quiz-long.phphttp://www.growyouthful.com/gettestinfo.php?testtype=quizb
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Biological birth certificate

Whilst it makes no sense to me that I'm this old, tomorrow will be the last day of my twenties! I remember when I was in my early teens thinking how old people in their thirties were, but now I'm almost there I realise it's not old at all!

Prompted by a conversation at work about how old we actually feel (I really don't feel older than 25) I found a biological age quiz to settle the discussion.

The good thing about the quiz I picked is that the questions (there are quite a few) make you realise what you should be doing that you aren't to keep your body young and in good health.

Well it turns out I'm only 23 which cheered me up no end! And apparently if I got more hugs and did more yoga I'd be even younger!

http://www.growyouthful.com/quiz-long.phphttp://www.growyouthful.com/gettestinfo.php?testtype=quizb
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When not to do the to do list

There are some days when everyone seems to be tired ... I think it happens when there is high air pressure, but I'm no meterologist so what do I know?! (answers on a postcard please). Today was one of those days and I know I wasn't the only one to cancel evening plans in favour of a night in.

When you feel particularly tired you need to listen to your body and take a break, but when you're tired you can easily procrastinate your evening away until you end up having a late night, despite the fact you really needed an early one. You don't have the energy to do anything on your to do list ... laundry, preparing food for work, the washing up, emailing your friends ... but you feel like you can't go to bed until you've ticked off half of it.

When this happens there is only one answer and that is to accept that nothing on your to do list will get done and go to bed!!

So this evening I've canned the gym, will be buying my lunch tomorrow and will have to rummage around in my wardrobe for something that doesn't need ironing to wear to work in the morning! If you're a bit OCD you might have trouble doing this, but believe me if the washing up has to wait til tomorrow the world isn't going to end and if there's something that really needs doing then set your alarm half an hour earlier in the morning and do it when you wake ... honestly you'll thank me for it.

On that note it's time for bed ... goodnight!

Naughty but nice

The NITC reader who brought as 'Haribo & Special K' for breakfast seems determined to have some sugar to start her day, today asking me about the virtues of the Nutella. To be fair, the actual question was:

"Does Nutella really release energy slowly? (saw advert last night) I know it has nuts in it but it just seems to be such crap (albeit delicious crap)"

Beautifully put!

Well I think she pretty much answered her own question but to be fair to nutella there is some truth in their claim. The high fat content (from palm oil and hazelnuts) slows down the rate of digestion of the sugars content, giving it a low glycemic index of 30. The glycemic index is a measure of the rate of release of sugars from the food into the blood stream, and at 30 Nutella's GI is lower than the GI for jam and honey (around 40-60 depending on the variety). So yes Nutella does release sugar slower than other sugary breakfast spreads.

But in an ideal world we wouldn't be adding any refined sugar to our breakfast, as these sugars have no health benefits at all (other than for intensive sports recovery). And anything that has sugar listed as the first ingredient just isn't going to be good for you:

Ingredients: sugar, palm oil, hazelnuts, cocoa, skim milk, reduced minerals whey (milk), lecithin as emulsifier (soy), vanillin: an artificial flavor.

To be fair reading between the lines of Nutella's own marketing bumpf makes it clear they don't believe it to be a healthy food:

"When used in moderation with complementary foods, Nutella can form a part of a balanced meal. It is a quick and easy way to encourage kids to eat whole grains, such as whole wheat toast, English muffins, toaster waffles and bagels. With the unique taste of Nutella, kids may think they are eating a treat for breakfast while moms are helping nourish their children with whole grains."

So basically it's a way to bribe children to eat wholegrain bread - Nutella mothers obviously don't come from the same school of parenting as my mum! (No tasty bribes were offered to get us to eat healthy food!)

So if you want to liven up your toast in the morning what's a healthy alternative?

For jam lovers I still favour the St Dalfour brand, sweetened with grape juice rather than sugar, particularly their blueberry jam - delicious.

As for nut spreads, the wonderful Montignac café used to sell hazelnut spread made with just nuts and pure cocoa and it was totally delicious but is sadly no longer available since the café shut down.

There are plenty of no sugar nut butters available (I love Meridian cashew or almond butter) and these could probably be 'nutellad' by warming them and then stiring in some cocoa powder although it's not an experiment I've tried.

I will confess to having melted a couple of squares of dark chocolate with some whole-earth peanut butter - but that didn't make it onto any toast - I ate it straight off the spoon!

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Is it Spring yet?

I'm sure I'm not the only one who is getting very bored with the cold weather - for one I'm dying to be able to put all my winter clothes away and get into some spring fashion. Plus I'm getting bored of my winter food, but it's still too cold for me to enjoy salads.

This winter has felt colder and longer than previous ones, and it usually snows in February so there's a chance it might get even colder before the weather starts to warm up ... great!

This isn't just bad news in terms of my wardrobe. The low temperatures make it harder to lose weight as your body naturally stores more fat to stay warm ... which is why it's still too early in the year to be thinking about a detox.

It also means most people won't be getting sufficient sunlight exposure to make Vitamin D in their skin, an essential vitamin for immune health, bone density and also linked to mood (low vitamin D is one of the possible causes for SAD). You can store Vitamin D in the liver, so can build up suppliesover the summer, but of you haven't had a sunshine holiday since the summer it's likely your stored vitamin D will now be running low.

So whilst it's still wintery and you might not feel like venturing out make sure you still get outside for at least 30 minutes fresh air (so ideally not next to a road!), not only to see some sun but also to get some more oxygen into your lungs (office air con air isn't quite the same)!

Unfortunately our winter sun also isn't particularly strong so I've been taking Vitamin D drops throughout the winter to make sure I don't get deficient. Fish and eggs are also good sources of Vitamin D, so make sure you're eating these regularly ... at least until the sun starts shining!
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Is it Spring yet?

I'm sure I'm not the only one who is getting very bored with the cold weather - for one I'm dying to be able to put all my winter clothes away and get into some spring fashion. Plus I'm getting bored of my winter food, but it's still too cold for me to enjoy salads.

This winter has felt colder and longer than previous ones, and it usually snows in February so there's a chance it might get even colder before the weather starts to warm up ... great!

This isn't just bad news in terms of my wardrobe. The low temperatures make it harder to lose weight as your body naturally stores more fat to stay warm ... which is why it's still too early in the year to be thinking about a detox.

It also means most people won't be getting sufficient sunlight exposure to make Vitamin D in their skin, an essential vitamin for immune health, bone density and also linked to mood (low vitamin D is one of the possible causes for SAD). You can store Vitamin D in the liver, so can build up suppliesover the summer, but of you haven't had a sunshine holiday since the summer it's likely your stored vitamin D will now be running low.

So whilst it's still wintery and you might not feel like venturing out make sure you still get outside for at least 30 minutes fresh air (so ideally not next to a road!), not only to see some sun but also to get some more oxygen into your lungs (office air con air isn't quite the same)!

Unfortunately our winter sun also isn't particularly strong so I've been taking Vitamin D drops throughout the winter to make sure I don't get deficient. Fish and eggs are also good sources of Vitamin D, so make sure you're eating these regularly ... at least until the sun starts shining!
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One step closer to being normal!

Warburton's must be commended for bringing out a new range of gluten free bread. I enjoyed their wholemeal slice brown loaf for toast this morning and it was up there with the best of the rest (plus it doesn't contain any millet or buckwheat for anyone who can't tolerate those grains either). I was also treated to dinner at Carluccio's last week where they now have a separate gluten free menu with a whole section for their own brand of gluten-free corn pasta!

Every time I see a new gluten free range appear it makes me feel like one day we'll get to the point where following a gluten-free (or dairy free diet) won't be strange and might even be the norm. Companies such as Warburton's and Carluccio's wouldn't be launching a gluten free range if there wasn't the demand for it so I'm guessing alot of people are cottoning on to the fact that wheat really isn't that good for you.

Gluten can be harsh on the digestive system and is one of the more common allergens so it's definitely worth trying a couple of weeks without it to see how you feel. If you do decide to go gluten free it's so much easier now than it used to be. When I first gave it up 6 years ago all that was available was gloopy pasta and bread that crumbled as soon as you picked it up ... so I just stuck to eating naturally gluten free foods. Now you can have a sandwich lunch, a full high tea or enjoy pasta to your hearts content, with foods that actually taste nice!

I don't recommend going too crazy on the gluten free substitutes, particularly the breads, as they are still processed foods and there are lots of great naturally gluten free foods out there, but they do make gluten-free living a hell of a lot easier, especially if you have to eat on the run.

My favourite gluten free substitutes are:

Tesco gluten-free pita bread

Tesco gluten-free brown rolls

Warburton's gluten free brown sliced bread

Honest brown bread

Livwell gluten free hot cross buns for an Easter treat

Dietary Specials corn pasta, corn spaghetti and lasagne sheets

Neal's Yard Gluten free muesli

Costa Coffee gluten-free chocolate brownie for a bit of indulgence (sadly not dairy free)

Full details of the Warburton's range:

http://www.glutenandwheatfree.co.uk/our_range/our_range.html

Carluccio's Gluten free menu:

http://www.carluccios.com/menus/menus/valentines-menu/CA468_GlutenFreeMenu_131210_V4%20FINAL.pdf

Experimental eating

Last night I was treated to a birthday surprise of tickets to see Totem by Cirque du Soleil. For anyone who hasn't seen one of their shows, Cirque du Soleil is a circus group of human acrobats who perform amazing tricks ranging from the mind-boggling feats of strength of the russian strongmen to the beauty and grace of the trapeze artists.

If you ever needed inspiration to get in shape going to one of these shows is it - all the performers are amazing physical specimens, in peak condition with total body control. They must dedicate a lot of time to physical training to keep themselves in such good shape.

Through some ear wigging I also discovered that the performers all like to eat their native cuisine, so the shows caterers have their work cut out providing authentic chinese, russian and native american food.

There's definitely some truth in the idea that eating the food of your ancestors is best for you. The Italians seem to thrive on pasta, whilst us Britons are prone to gluten allergies and are much better on a wheat free diet. Indian's are prone to develop type II diabetes if they switch to a western diet, whilst westerners can develop gastric problems when switching to the seemingly healthier asian diets.

This is why I just don't believe that there can be one diet that is right for everyone and that finding the exact right diet for each person actually requires a fair amount of experimentation. I am regularly tweaking my diet to find out what makes me feel in optimum health.

Obviously I'm in a better position than most to know what changes to try so here are some suggestions for some changes to try for two weeks (one at a time). See how it makes you feel, how does your skin look, how is your mood and energy. If you feel better keep it up, but also if something makes you feel worse - particularly cutting out a food - it may be the sign of an underlying issue that needs further investigation.

Emilie's experiments:
Avoid any of the following one at a time:
Alcohol
Caffeine
Dairy
Gluten
Sugar (added)
All soft drinks other than water and herbal or green tea
Meat
Nuts
Vinegar

Other experiments:
- have a fresh mixed vegetable juice every day
- go to bed an hour earlier (if you can't afford the time get up an hour earlier)
- eat within an hour of waking
- eat small meals every three hours
- eat larger meals every five hours
- increase your volume of protein rich foods to starchy carbohydrates to 1 to 1
- drink a glass of water 10 minutes before each meal or snack
- get half an hour of fresh air daily
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Experimental eating

Last night I was treated to a birthday surprise of tickets to see Totem by Cirque du Soleil. For anyone who hasn't seen one of their shows, Cirque du Soleil is a circus group of human acrobats who perform amazing tricks ranging from the mind-boggling feats of strength of the russian strongmen to the beauty and grace of the trapeze artists.

If you ever needed inspiration to get in shape going to one of these shows is it - all the performers are amazing physical specimens, in peak condition with total body control. They must dedicate a lot of time to physical training to keep themselves in such good shape.

Through some ear wigging I also discovered that the performers all like to eat their native cuisine, so the shows caterers have their work cut out providing authentic chinese, russian and native american food.

There's definitely some truth in the idea that eating the food of your ancestors is best for you. The Italians seem to thrive on pasta, whilst us Britons are prone to gluten allergies and are much better on a wheat free diet. Indian's are prone to develop type II diabetes if they switch to a western diet, whilst westerners can develop gastric problems when switching to the seemingly healthier asian diets.

This is why I just don't believe that there can be one diet that is right for everyone and that finding the exact right diet for each person actually requires a fair amount of experimentation. I am regularly tweaking my diet to find out what makes me feel in optimum health.

Obviously I'm in a better position than most to know what changes to try so here are some suggestions for some changes to try for two weeks (one at a time). See how it makes you feel, how does your skin look, how is your mood and energy. If you feel better keep it up, but also if something makes you feel worse - particularly cutting out a food - it may be the sign of an underlying issue that needs further investigation.

Emilie's experiments:
Avoid any of the following one at a time:
Alcohol
Caffeine
Dairy
Gluten
Sugar (added)
All soft drinks other than water and herbal or green tea
Meat
Nuts
Vinegar

Other experiments:
- have a fresh mixed vegetable juice every day
- go to bed an hour earlier (if you can't afford the time get up an hour earlier)
- eat within an hour of waking
- eat small meals every three hours
- eat larger meals every five hours
- increase your volume of protein rich foods to starchy carbohydrates to 1 to 1
- drink a glass of water 10 minutes before each meal or snack
- get half an hour of fresh air daily
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A lesson in the nervous system/why there is always a queue for the loo after yoga!

There's always a queue for the bathroom after yoga in the women's changing room, which isn't the case after other more active fitness classes. If you don't do yoga you may have noticed the same thing at night, when you get into bed and then suddenly need to pee.

So what is it about being relaxed that wakes up our bladders and why would it warrant blogging about?!

Well it's to do with our nervous system which has two modes of operation - sympathetic (fight and flight) and parasympathetic (rest and repair). Depending which mode your body is in will suppress certain systems and processes and up regulate others.

In fight or flight mode, which is the mode we're in when we're stressed or physically exerting ourselves, our body suppresses the digestive, immune and excretory systems and invokes the stress response - elevated heart rate and blood pressure and stress hormone production and blood flow directed to the brain and muscles. Great for helping you escape a tiger, not great for digesting your lunch or fighting off infection.

In rest and repair mode, when we're relaxed or asleep, the systems shift to detoxifying, immune function and repairing any damaged cells. This includes excreting toxins, so when you're relaxed you're more likely to go to the toilet and when you're stressed your more likely not pee until you're bladder is totally full and also more likely to be constipated.

It's intuitive really - when you're running away from a tiger the last thing you need is to have to stop for the loo. Unfortunately due to our hectic city lives a lot of us are in fight or flight mode for most of the day and this continuous suppression of immune, detoxification, digestive and repair functions can have a serious impact in our health.

If you find you're getting frequent infections, having difficulty getting over injuries or have digestive issues it's likely you're spending too much time in fight or flight mode and need to make a concerted effort to get more R & R ... time to book a trip to the spa!
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Have a break...

I imagine I'm not alone in having an over active mind and a tendency to over-think everything. Unfortunately having a constant stream of thoughts is actually a stimulus on the body that can actually be a source of stress on the body and be quite draining.

Unfortunately, if you are an over-thinker then trying to stop can be very difficult. Meditation is great as is yoga but one of the most useful tools I've found is this simple exercise from The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle:

The objective is to only do/think about one thing at a time. So for example when you're brushing your teeth just think about brushing your teeth and exactly what you are doing at that moment, rather than what you're going to do next or what happened yesterday; if you're walking to the tube don't listen to music or start thinking about your to do list, just focus on walking and observing your surroundings; if you want to do some reading, or even thinking, wait til you can sit down and just dedicate your attention to that particular task, rather than trying to read whilst walking to the bus-stop or whilst eating your lunch.

In a city that prizes the multi-tasker this can be a difficult habit to get into, and not one that can easily be maintained the whole time. However giving yourself an occasional break from multi-tasking will help calm your nervous system and make you feel more relaxed and less harried.

If it's a struggle start with 10minutes a day and then build up. Once you've had some practice you'll find it easier to switch off when you need a break from your thoughts!
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Breaking habits

On the weekend I was shown the new calorie app for iPhone that let's you input all the food you eat and then keeps track of how many calories you've eaten. It also sets you a calorie goal depending on your weight and amount of weight you want to lose.

I've never been a fan of calorie counting and never set calorie goals for my clients. Firstly it's near-on impossible to calculate how many calories someone is actually burning and counting calories goes against regulating your food intake according to your appetite, which is what you should be listening to when working out how much to eat and which naturally adapts to your activity levels.

Having said that I do think the tool is a great way to keep a food diary, which is something I am totally in favour of. Infact I should really keep a food diary myself for a couple of weeks - it's always surprising how much your diet can change and evolve over the course of a year and also which nasty habits can creep in. It was hula hoops before I undertook bootcamp in the New Year and now it seems to be nuts. Not that eating nuts is bad for you, when eaten in reasonable quantities, but I seem to be eating them all the time at the moment, in particular absentmindedly snacking on them at my desk.

If you do keep a food diary, whether it's on your iPhone or the back of an envelope, and notice there's something you eat every day, or in particularly high quantities, or just a food that you eat when you're bored, whether it's nuts, bread, crisps or anything else ... then the best policy is to go cold turkey and cut it out of your diet for two weeks. This will break the habit and force you to find alternatives, and then you'll usually find that when you introduce that food back into your diet you're less compelled to over-indulge.

Are we missing the point?

As medicine continues to make great progress in the treatment of serious diseases there seems to be a disconnect with how healthy we are. Instead of living longer healthier lives we are living longer but with less years of full health.

A good illustration of this is the increase in the risk of breast cancer to one in eight from one in nine, according to recent figures from Cancer Research UK. Despite better medicine in detecting and treating these cancers they are sadly still becoming more common. I've included below the full list of risk factors for breast cancer but I think the main reason for the increased incidence is that our lifestyles are becoming increasingly unhealthy - we eat less well, get less fresh air and exercise, are exposed to way more toxins and electromagnetic radiation than ever before and assume that our doctor will cure us of any ills that they pick up as a result.

Instead we should all be cutting back on alcohol taking more exercise and eating a high fibre, low saturated fat diet. According to the World Cancer Research Fund, these simple changes could cut the risk of breast cancer by 42% and I know would reduce the incidences of lots of other serious diseases. In particular it's worth noting the statistic from Cancer Research that drinking as little as one alcoholic drink per day increases breast cancer risk by around 12%.

It's so simple and yet everyone still looks to science for a new break-through drug as the way to treat cancer .... I think this work is fantastic but there should be much more effort put into educating people on how to lead healthier lives to prevent them from contracting the disease in the first place.

BREAST CANCER RISK FACTORS

These are indicators only and how they interact is difficult to predict. Women can do all the rights things and still get breast cancer. Likewise, women can do all the wrong things and never get the disease.

Family history: A woman with a mother, sister or daughter with breast cancer has around double the risk of getting it herself than a woman with no family history.

Obesity: Being overweight or obese is thought to increases the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer by up to 30%, because excess body fat raises levels of hormones such as oestrogen and insulin - common features of cancers.

Age: the older the woman, the higher her risk. Women aged 50-69 are most at risk, particularly those who have a late menopause.

Childbirth: The younger a woman has children, the lower her risk. Having children at all cuts the risk, as does breastfeeding.

Lifestyle: regular physical exercise and a healthy diet helps reduce the risk by cutting dangerous fatty body tissues. Smoking is not advised.

HRT: women using hormone replacement therapy have a 66% increased risk of breast cancer but the risk is temporary, returning to that of a never-user within five years of stopping.

Oral contraceptives: they increase risk by around a quarter but since users are generally younger women, their risk is relatively low.

Alcohol: drinking as little as one alcoholic drink per day increases breast cancer risk by around 12%

Source: Cancer Research UK

Beautiful blueberries

I did get a few odd looks eating blueberries on the tube this evening, but I was hungry and that's all I had with me ... plus eating blueberries is way healthier than eating a bag of crisps, just not that 'normal'!

For some reason I haven't been able to get enough of them this past fortnight, but fortunately both Tesco and M+S have offers on them at the moment, and theirs seem to be particularly tasty (despite not being in season right now).

Blueberries are great with breakfast, as a pudding, in a smoothie or just on their own as a snack. Admittedly carrying them around in your handbag isn't that practical (it could end in a big blue mess) but they're a great desk snack and also worth freezing at home for the days when your cupboards are bare.

The pigments in fruit and vegetables are what contain the different antioxidants - the amazing blue pigment in blueberries (eat enough and you'll have a black tongue like we used to get from eating black jacks!) is particularly cardio-protective. This is why it's important to eat a variety of different coloured fruit and veg to get the full range of antioxidants, each of which protect against different toxins and can help prevent different diseases.

So whilst they're taking my fancy, I'll keep on snacking on blueberries ... just maybe not on public transport!
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Marathon moderation

A couple of interesting columns in today's Evening Standard. The first was on the pitfuls marathon running, or more accurately marathon training, and the second on the prevention of injuries.

The first article, by Dr Christian Jessen, explains how training for a marathon can put your body under so much stress that it starts to breakdown. As with most things in life too much of anything can be bad for you including exercise and running for an hour a day is pretty punishing on the body.

I've always said I'm not going to run a marathon, and I remind myself why not by watching runners at the 20 mile mark of the London marathon each year!! It is a totally amazing achievement to run that far, but I know that putting in the right amount of training for such an event would actually put way too much stress on my body. As my objective in life is to keep myself as healthy as possible, running a marathon just doesn't make sense for me.

Dr Jessen quotes research from the Heart and Stroke Foundation that for runners who hadn't been undertaking long-term training, undertaking a marathon actually damaged their hearts. This damage was reversible but could take over three months. This is why it's so important to build up to something like a marathon by starting with shorter races and building up your training and distance gradually - however impressive it is to go from a non-runner to marathon man in a year it may be making invisible damage on your heart without you realizing.

The second column on preventative training was written by David Higgins, co-founder of TenPilates. His position is that more focus should be placed on 'prehab' - a preventative approach to fitness training - because it's so much easier to prevent an injury that to repair one once you have it. I'm all in favour of a preventative approach to health, which is why I think it's so important to start eating a healthy diet when you're young and healthy, rather than changing your diet as a reaction to falling ill.

This approach clearly also makes sense when it comes to your musculoskeletal system, which is why making time for proper stretching and core strengthening, such as pilates and yoga, in your exercise schedule is important, as is making sure you're using proper technique in the gym. Booking a personal trainer for a couple of sessions to check your technique and/or getting an Osteopath to check your alignment now whilst you feel fit and healthy may help correct minor issues that could have you hobbling and keep you out of the gym for months if left unaddressed. If you are planning on taking on something like a marathon this becomes even more important - you don't want to pull up with a hamstring injury two weeks before the race which could have been prevented.

Bedtime benefits

Following on from yesterdays blog, I'm inspired to stay on the topic of sleep after reading an article in today's Evening Standard on the health risks of not getting enough. Apparently having less than six hours uninterrupted sleep a night increases the chance of developing or dying from heart disease by a whopping 48 per cent and increases the chance of having a stroke by 15 per cent.

These are pretty staggering increases in risk and are not based on some flimsy study. The study involved 470,000 individuals and was undertaken by researchers at the University of Warwick medical school.

Cutting the risk of these conditions aren't the only benefits of getting more sleep. Sleep encourages repair in the body to damaged tissues, organs and muscles. It also helps counter ageing, improves mental and physical function and allows proper detoxification.

I love my sleep, as anyone who's woken me up early well knows! But I don't think a lot of people place enough importance on it in relation to their health, especially in the city where work, social life, commuting and fitting in the gym all get in the way.

And that's before you add kids into the mix - I guess children should come with a health warning as getting 6 hours uninterrupted sleep can be quite a challenge with babies and young children at home. Mother of twins, Jennifer Lopez, says in this weeks OK! that she tries to get eight hours a night, but sadly most of us won't have access to the same arsenal or nannies, housekeepers and personal assistants that give her the time to be a working mother and get her sleep!

If, like me, you just need apply a bit of self-discipline to get to bed earlier than this study really should be all the motivation you need.

If, however, you've got kids at home a bit more planning may be necessary - at least making sure you share getting up duties with your partner so that you have a couple of nights uninterrupted sleep a week, and standing firm in establishing sleeping patterns for your kids (admittedly easier said than done!).
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Supernap!

In case any of you wondered where my blog was this morning, apologies for not sending one. I was going to send one last night as usual but was hit by a wave of tiredness at 7pm. Instead of reaching for a coffee I decided to have a power nap, fell asleep instantly and woke up 12 hours later!

I'd had a few late nights last week but nothing that warranted going to bed that early - which makes me think I'm fighting off the second round of flu currently working it's way round the city.

So I thought I'd share my virus fighting tips for anyone else who is suffering:

Vitamin C - a potent anti-viral, I up my supplement to 3-4 grams a day if I'm run down. Make sure you don't just rely on supplements and have plenty of fruit and veg which contain live enzymes and other nutrients missing from a vitamin C tablet. I'm also a big fan of drinking fresh lime and lemon juice (diluted). Vitamin C can be absorbed on content so drinking juices will get a source of the vitamin in direct contact with the immune tissue in your throat.

Sleep - I wouldn't normally be able to stay asleep for 12 hours and you'd have to ask my mum to find out the last time I went to bed at 7pm! When you're asleep your body goes into rest and repair mode and can divert your energy into fighting off any bugs or viruses. Even when you're not asleep it's important to rest both physically and mentally, until you're feeling better.

Wrap up - when you have a temperature that's a sure sign of infection - your immune system is more active at a higher temperature so your body helps the effort by raising the body temperature. Obviously it can be dangerous to have a temperature over 38 degrees but otherwise it's important to stay warm.

Avoid the sugar - sugar competes with vitamin C for uptake into the cells so eating sugary throat sweets won't be doing you any good. Soothe a sore throat by blending up some frozen berries with water for a soothing smoothie. Add natural yoghurt for some extra probiotics if you're not dairy intolerant.

Water - I often don't feel like drinking when I'm ill but fluids are essential to wash out the debris of dead cells generated by your immune attack. If you can't face water try diluted juices or herbal teas.
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Supernap!

In case any of you wondered where my blog was this morning, apologies for not sending one. I was going to send one last night as usual but was hit by a wave of tiredness at 7pm. Instead of reaching for a coffee I decided to have a power nap, fell asleep instantly and woke up 12 hours later!

I'd had a few late nights last week but nothing that warranted going to bed that early - which makes me think I'm fighting off the second round of flu currently working it's way round the city.

So I thought I'd share my virus fighting tips for anyone else who is suffering:

Vitamin C - a potent anti-viral, I up my supplement to 3-4 grams a day if I'm run down. Make sure you don't just rely on supplements and have plenty of fruit and veg which contain live enzymes and other nutrients missing from a vitamin C tablet. I'm also a big fan of drinking fresh lime and lemon juice (diluted). Vitamin C can be absorbed on content so drinking juices will get a source of the vitamin in direct contact with the immune tissue in your throat.

Sleep - I wouldn't normally be able to stay asleep for 12 hours and you'd have to ask my mum to find out the last time I went to bed at 7pm! When you're asleep your body goes into rest and repair mode and can divert your energy into fighting off any bugs or viruses. Even when you're not asleep it's important to rest both physically and mentally, until you're feeling better.

Wrap up - when you have a temperature that's a sure sign of infection - your immune system is more active at a higher temperature so your body helps the effort by raising the body temperature. Obviously it can be dangerous to have a temperature over 38 degrees but otherwise it's important to stay warm.

Avoid the sugar - sugar competes with vitamin C for uptake into the cells so eating sugary throat sweets won't be doing you any good. Soothe a sore throat by blending up some frozen berries with water for a soothing smoothie. Add natural yoghurt for some extra probiotics if you're not dairy intolerant.

Water - I often don't feel like drinking when I'm ill but fluids are essential to wash out the debris of dead cells generated by your immune attack. If you can't face water try diluted juices or herbal teas.
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Supernap!

In case any of you wondered where my blog was this morning, apologies for not sending one. I was going to send one last night as usual but was hit by a wave of tiredness at 7pm. Instead of reaching for a coffee I decided to have a power nap, fell asleep instantly and woke up 12 hours later!

I'd had a few late nights last week but nothing that warranted going to bed that early - which makes me think I'm fighting off the second round of flu currently working it's way round the city.

So I thought I'd share my virus fighting tips for anyone else who is suffering:

Vitamin C - a potent anti-viral, I up my supplement to 3-4 grams a day if I'm run down. Make sure you don't just rely on supplements and have plenty of fruit and veg which contain live enzymes and other nutrients missing from a vitamin C tablet. I'm also a big fan of drinking fresh lime and lemon juice (diluted). Vitamin C can be absorbed on content so drinking juices will get a source of the vitamin in direct contact with the immune tissue in your throat.

Sleep - I wouldn't normally be able to stay asleep for 12 hours and you'd have to ask my mum to find out the last time I went to bed at 7pm! When you're asleep your body goes into rest and repair mode and can divert your energy into fighting off any bugs or viruses. Even when you're not asleep it's important to rest both physically and mentally, until you're feeling better.

Wrap up - when you have a temperature that's a sure sign of infection - your immune system is more active at a higher temperature so your body helps the effort by raising the body temperature. Obviously it can be dangerous to have a temperature over 38 degrees but otherwise it's important to stay warm.

Avoid the sugar - sugar competes with vitamin C for uptake into the cells so eating sugary throat sweets won't be doing you any good. Soothe a sore throat by blending up some frozen berries with water for a soothing smoothie. Add natural yoghurt for some extra probiotics if you're not dairy intolerant.

Water - I often don't feel like drinking when I'm ill but fluids are essential to wash out the debris of dead cells generated by your immune attack. If you can't face water try diluted juices or herbal teas.
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Carb control

Having spent a week in France without eating any cheese or chocolate you might think I have exceptional self-control when it comes to food! But for all my restraint in avoiding particular foods I'm not immune to over-eating, having eyes much bigger than my stomach!

Whenever I over-eat it's always high carb foods such as chips, crisps and pasta - it's really quite hard to binge on high protein foods. Whilst I love my carbs, eating a whole bag of doritos in one go really isn't great for the waistline, so whenever my jeans are feeling a bit snug it's time to cut back the carbs.

I'm really not cut out for a genuine low-carb diet, firstly you need robust adrenals glands (good resistance to stress) and secondly it's not ideal for anyone who trains regularly (other than as a short-term strategy to increase the ratio at which you burn fats to sugars for endurance sports). Low carb diets leave me light-headed, grumpy and reaching for coffee to keep me going ... not good!

However, cutting back carbs to a level where I'm still metabolizing normally (rather than going into Ketosis) gets me back on the straight and narrow and into my skinny jeans!

I'm not one for counting carbs, calories or anything else for that matter, so my rule is simple. I don't eat a portion of starchy carbs larger than the size of my fist with any meal or snack, and add extra protein and non-starchy veg to fill me up. I also avoid all high GI refined carbs (potatoes, white bread/pasta/rice any sugar) so I'm just eating healthy wholegrains that are more filling. It's not that sophisticated but losing weight doesn't need to involve complex maths ... just a bit of carb control!
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Holding back the takeaway tide

I don't usually read the Metro on my way into work ... but this morning a story on the front page caught my eye so I did the annoying thing and read the story over the shoulder of the commuter holding the paper!

The story was that Oldham council is piloting a scheme to levy a £1000 tax on any fast-food chains that open in the borough in an effort to curb the glut of fast food joints taking over the town centre and to tackle the obesity epidemic. The idea being that the levy will deter fast-food chains from opening in the area whilst the cash will be used to fund healthy eating campaigns and cleaning up litter.

You'd think, being a nutritional therapist, I'd be all for any measures to ban fast-food outlets but my liberal bent means I don't like the idea of legislating to stop people eating fast food if that's what they want. When it comes to outlets in or near schools that's another matter, but I think that if an adult wants to give themselves a heart-attack by eating fried fatty meat every day then that's their choice.

To be honest I don't think a charge of £1000 will deter many franchises from setting up shop but I am in favour of using the money to educate residents in the danger of eating fried fast food which is carcinogenic, damaging to the heart and cardiovascular system and a significant contributing factor in the massive rise in obesity in this country.

The article didn't specify how they planned to carry out this education and I'm not sure how much impact the posters I've seen around my borough encouraging people to drink less or eat an apple actually have! If the money could be channeled into giving dietary advice to all patients as a matter of course alongside regular medical treatment in hospitals or at your GP surgery then I think that would be a huge step forward ... but after a recent discussion with my doctor on the treatment for high cholesterol in the under 30s I think this is wishful thinking for the moment!

Biscuits for breakfast...

Having seen their pretty irritating advert I checked out the packaging for Belvita Breakfast Biscuits and was surprised to see that they advertise on the packet that these were developed with a nutritionist to provide a healthy breakfast. This is despite the fact they contain 25g of sugar per 100g.

I'm not sure where the idea of having a sweet breakfast came from but it seems that, apart from a fry up, most breakfast options are laden with sugar setting you off on an energy rollercoaster for the rest of the day.

As I discussed in my Haribo blog last week there is really no need to have any added sugar with breakfast. However, if you do like a sweet breakfast adding fresh fruit should be sufficient to make it sweet whilst keeping it healthy:

- add chopped apple and berries to plain natural yoghurt instead of eating sugary flavoured yoghurts.

- add grated apple or chopped banana to sweeten up porridge

- have muesli made without added sugar such as Rude Health, Alara or Neal's Yard brands

- start your day with a fresh fruit smoothie, always tasty and great with added protein and oats (POD have started making one for anyone who can't be bothered to make their own)!

I guess one convenience of 'breakfast biscuits' is their portability, but if you're on the run then Trek, Nak'd bars with oats or Fruitus bars can provide portable carbs as can Nairns oatcakes and rice or corn cakes ('Mrs Crimbles' sells handy corn cake packs).
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