by Siobhan | May 31, 2015 | Advice, Health, Uncategorized
When growing up we’ve always been told to eat our greens, now although many of us didn’t want to do that & probably tried to feed them to the family pet instead, there really are good reasons for eating green.
1. Green food contains chlorophyll, this is the pigment in plants that gives them their green leaves. The darker the colour, the more chlorophyll the food contains. Chlorophyll is a great chelating agent, as is the water soluble form, chlorophyllin & can bind various compounds such as mercury, aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) etc and remove them from the body thus preventing the negative effects they would otherwise have.
2.
Green vegetables e.g. brussel sprouts & broccoli sprouts are high in compounds known as glucosinolates which are converted to sulforaphane (SFN). This SFN protects us from certain toxins by inhibiting the production of cytochrome P450 enzymes that activate toxins. Furthermore SFN increases the levels of important antioxidant molecules like Glutathione (GSH) and encourages the Nrf-2 pathway which is involved in antioxidant & anti-inflammatory mechanisms.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21684301
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by Siobhan | May 24, 2015 | Breakfast, vegan
This is one of my favourite breakfasts to have on a morning that I know I’m going to have a pretty busy/hectic day. The ingredients contain a mix of slow release fibre & good sources of vitamin C which differ from the typical breakfast fruit juice which is high in sugar & low in fibre so isn’t a great option for a busy day ahead. You can find the ingredients in health food stores or online.
Tip: I use baobab here as the vit C provider as on busy mornings I couldn’t be bothered to prep other fruit e.g peeling and chopping a kiwi etc but if you don’t have baobab then feel free to use another high Vit C fruit such as strawberries or kiwi.
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by Siobhan | May 10, 2015 | Desserts, snack, vegan
I’ve made a few recipes recently which have turned out quite well, they involve some great ingredients & are so simple to make so I thought I’d share them here.
I love this tea as ginger & turmeric are such good anti-inflammatory ingredients & great for the immune system, plus I personally find it hard to work turmeric into my meals so this is going to be a new regular recipe for me =)
Links to papers regarding the benefits of turmeric are posted at the bottom of this page
Turmeric Tea- 1 serving
Add approx 200/250ml plant based or regular milk to a saucepan
Add half a teaspoon of turmeric, the same for ground ginger (cinnamon optional) & then 1 teaspoon of maple/honey or whichever sweetener you like
Gently heat this mix until warm, pour into a mug & enjoy!
You can add other spices/herbs depending on your preference e.g. cinnamon, nutmeg etc
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by Siobhan | May 3, 2015 | Breakfast, Grainfree, snack, vegan
Here’s the recipe of one of my favourite smoothies to make. Now the colour of it may make some people want to run for the hills but lets not forget that old saying “don’t judge a book by its cover“. This really does taste good or else I wouldn’t be drinking it! The banana makes it sweet, the almond milk makes it creamy & it’s oh so good for you =)
Spirulina (or any dark green food) is great for your body, I’ll be doing a post on the benefits of green soon but just to quickly mention some of spirulina’s here: a source of A & E, beneficial fatty acids (LA), vitamin B12 (note: some of the B12 can be an inactive form, but some can be use-able, it varies between products, the same goes for chlorella), iron & a great source of chlorophyll which your liver loves!
Source yourself a good spirulina i.e check the brand is organic and that it tests for any contaminants before packaging (EU brands by law must do this, definitely check this if it’s not an EU one).
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by Siobhan | Apr 23, 2015 | Health, Uncategorized
“Superfoods”. A word that is used a lot lately, especially in the media to ramp up sales of certain products, most of which are from far away tropical countries with names that most people either can’t pronounce or mispronounce (quinoa is the funniest). However, a super food doesn’t need to be an expensive product, there are many right here in the UK that are available to us nearly all year round that we can make good use of, woo!
Here are some of my favourites that you’ll regularly find in my shopping basket.
Garlic
Garlic is an excellent antimicrobial and high in a compound called allicin which helps to reduce cholesterol and widen blood vessels thus reducing blood pressure.
Lemons
1 lemon contains approx 36% of your RDI for Vitamin C which is an excellent antioxidant and easy to get by squeezing lemon juice onto food or into water. Again, this food is antibacterial and anti-inflammatory as well as helping to break up fat making it easier for your liver to perform digestion processes. Lemon juice can also bind to excess oestrogen and eliminate it from the body, this is beneficial as some hormone related cancers such as breast cancer have been linked with excess oestrogen. Lemons also contain a fibre called “pectin” which your good bacteria love!
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