by Siobhan | Jan 22, 2016 | Advice, Health, Uncategorized
We all want to be healthier or fitter than we were previously and to achieve this we try to follow what we’re told to do by the media/tv shows/magazines, however, this often leads to a variety of conflicting advice which then leaves people feeling confused & frustrated with trying to be healthy and therefore they simply stop.
There is no doubt that this is annoying, however as I’ve matured and taken more of an interest in studying health and wellness, I’ve learnt how to deal with this issue better than I would have previously, so on the off chance it may benefit others I thought I’d share my personal experience.
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by Siobhan | Dec 30, 2015 | Advice, Health, Uncategorized
When the holidays are over and the feasts have been had, many people will enter the new year with the intention to “detox” from all the festive food and drink, this can sometimes be dangerous and often misleading information out there makes matters worse.
As a young woman I often see other girls doing such things as this and it really scares me that this is what is believed to be “healthy” and “pretty”.
Many of these myths have been debunked already by a variety of professionals yet I still come across people who have not heard this information, so I will do my best to summarise a few of them here however, I do encourage everyone to also do your own research as it will empower you to make more informed choices in the future.
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by Siobhan | Nov 19, 2015 | Advice, Health, Uncategorized
Too often I see people (especially women) denying themselves their favourite food on a frequent basis, many of the people I know of (male & female) who have gone through a period of restrictive eating said something along the lines of “it made me miserable” and didn’t stick with it long term, which is no surprise.
When we tell ourselves that we can’t have something, that’s when we want it most! This makes dieting difficult and is why most people who diet don’t stick with it very long & also why it tends to be followed by a period of binging. I remember watching a show a few years ago in which women were asked to follow a severely restricted diet which resulted in the women “cracking” half way through, with one eating ¾ of a packet of biscuits that
she didn’t even like simply because it was the first thing she found in her cupboard.
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| Source: Instagram |
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by Siobhan | Sep 20, 2015 | Advice, Health
So what do you do when you’re out and about shopping in the city centre and you get hungry but want something nutritious or have a particular food allergy/diet yet all you can see around you are burger joints & the typical coffee house?
Well, when this happens there’s a few places I like to head to:
1) The Nutmeg (9 Lombard street-across from Dunnes)
First up is the local health food store, this small but lovely shop has all sorts of products and ingredients for the health food lover and also does speciality food such as vegan sandwiches, vegetable samosas, treats such as chocolate peanut butter balls, muffins, fifteens with most being gluten & dairy free. They also sell a few refrigerated products that you can take with you to eat on the go like coconut/soy yogurts and kefir.
This is also where I get my spelt pasta from, which I love!
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by Siobhan | Aug 11, 2015 | Advice, Health
What is it?
Acrylamide is a chemical which can be created in some foods when they are cooked in certain ways at high temperatures (typically above 120°C). It is mostly high starchy food like potatoes/chips and grain based items (cookies, biscuits, crisps, bread) that will develop the most acrylamide I’m sorry to say this as I hated learning this fact, it does mean that those delicious sweet potato chips will contain high amounts of acrylamide, although if you boil the sweet potato then it is fine as boiling, steaming and microwaving don’t exceed the temperatures required.
Other Options: I’ve tried parsnip chips myself which pair well with hummus & used boiled mashed sweet potato in brownies by heating the mix for about 1-2 hours at 80°C, you could also slice thin veg crisps (carrot, parsnip) & dehydrate these for a few hours below 100°C, plus you get to add your own seasoning e.g chilli powder if you like it spicy, so it’s not all bad =]
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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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