by Siobhan | Mar 26, 2016 | Advice, Health, Uncategorized
As I’ve developed a greater interest in health and increased my diet variety to include foods that give amazing flavour as well as nutrition, I have branched out into using a lot of new products. Many of which you will also be able to get from your standard supermarket today but over the years I have learnt a few tips on how to get the safest/best quality produce, which I’ve summarised below.
I’m still constantly learning about new brands/issues etc (as is the case in science and research) therefore this is a post which will probably be updated regularly as knowledge develops.
Cacao– buy organic, ask the brand if they test for heavy metals e.g cadmium, lead etc. If it is an EU brand then they must adhere to EU standards therefore they should already test for these.
Cinnamon- Most cinnamon sold in shops isn’t actually the real thing; instead it is cassia cinnamon with the true kind being called “Ceylon”. Cassia contains far more coumarin which can be dangerous when taken in large doses, although most people won’t eat enough cinnamon in one day to reach this level however to get the maximum bang for your buck and to ensure a better quality of cinnamon aim to purchase the real kind which can be bought from on line health stores.
(more…)
by Siobhan | Jan 29, 2016 | Advice, Health
 |
| source: daily-affair.com |
Lately I’ve come across many different people who claim that we should all eat a certain way and/or eliminate a particular food group from our diets (dairy, carbs, meat etc).
However, for every claim that there is something bad about a particular food & why we should avoid it, there is another that claims it is good for us!
So what’s going on? Here’s my view
Update July 2018: I’ve just finished reading “The diet myth” by Tim Spector which has further emphasised many of my points below but also gave me more insights into why we all respond differently to food. This has been one of the most interesting and helpful books I’ve ever read and I can’t recommend it enough.
If you are someone who often feels confused about the information on diets/foods then you should definitely give this book a read, you’ll be glad you did!
(more…)
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.
(more…)
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.
(more…)
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.
 |
| Source: Instagram |
(more…)
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!
(more…)
