Red cabbage cooked with red onion and plum - yum!

I’ve started adding fruit to cooked vegetable dishes and I have to say they taste rather lovely! During the summer I was adding lots of fruit into my salads, be they goji berries, strawberries or pears.  As the nights draw in, I’m carrying that over into my cooked vegetable dishes. So next time you’re stir-frying some vegetables or making a vegetable based casserole try adding in a little chopped apple, pear, whole lemon or plum. They add a real zest to the dish and of course with the added colour, that equals more phytonutrients with all their wonderful restorative functions in the body.

The photo is of a red cabbage dish with added plum, but try it with whatever fruits you have to hand. Enjoy!

Fabulous Nutrition is a London based Nutritional Therapy Clinic. For more information contact Angela Walker at Fabulous Nutrition. www.fabulousnutrition.co.uk.

A short history of nutrigenomics

The results are pretty impressive. They’ve found 3.3 million different genes from the samples taken, that’s 150 times more genes than in the human genome. About 40% of those are shared with at least 50% of the group, so we all have a core of the same bacteria in out guts. Each individual in the study has at least 160 different bacterial species.

One of the objectives of the study is to look at the function of these bacteria and work out which are contributing to our health and which seem to be more present in those with bowel disease or with obesity. That part of the study is on-going, but what they have revealed a functional core within the microbial genes, functions which are required for the whole ecosystem the ‘minimal human gut metagenome’. This set of functions is 3 times larger than had been previously thought. So this human host-bacterial interaction is clearly instrumental to our health yet we still have so much more to learn about it.

If you want to learn more about digestive health contact nutrition and digestion expert Angela Walker through the book appointment tab above.

Fabulous Nutrition is a London based Nutritional Therapy Clinic, addressing functional imbalance in the body with bespoke nutrition programmes. Whether you have a diagnosed condition, want to improve digestion problems, lose weight, slow the effects of aging or kick-start a new health regime, Angela Walker at Fabulous Nutrition can help. www.fabulousnutrition.co.uk.

Source :Qin et al A human gut microbial gene catalogue established by metagenomic sequencing. Nature. 464, 59-65

Angela Walker will be offering nutrition sessions at Jiva Healing retreats to Turkey in June 2011 and at the ’sassy’ Littleton Mill from 26th to 30th Jan 2010.

If you want to learn more about toxin avoidance and detoxification contact nutrition and detoxification expert Angela Walker through the book appointment tab above.

Fabulous Nutrition is a London based Nutritional Therapy Clinic, addressing functional imbalance in the body with bespoke nutrition programmes. Whether you have a diagnosed condition, want to improve digestion problems, lose weight, slow the effects of aging or kick-start a new health regime, Angela Walker at Fabulous Nutrition can help. www.fabulousnutrition.co.uk.

66 to 75% of colds are caused by 200 different viruses  which is why there is no effective anti viral for the common cold. For the Flu, a jab may be on offer, but the leading doctors only recommend those for people at high risk, given the potential for side effects and development of resistance.

What everyone can do though is boost his or her natural defences with some simple, good food and nutrition ideas:

• Drink plenty of fluids, especially warmer fluids. Central heating during the winter can make it more difficult to stay hydrated, so make sure you drink enough water. What’s enough? Take your body weight in kg, multiply by 31, that gives you the ml of water you should drink per day: Make soups and broths with fresh vegetables (batch cook and freeze), drink green tea, herbal teas, especially ginger and echinacea.
• Have a good protein source with each meal or snack. Amino acids in proteins are the building blocks of life, all our immune cells and detoxification systems need those aminos to function! Beans, pulse, seeds and nuts are good vegetable protein sources. ‘Clean’ & “lean’ are the key words for animal proteins, that means organic or wild wherever possible and cuts without excess fat.
• Season your food with garlic, onions, ginger, turmeric & cayenne pepper. All of which have antioxidant, detoxification and antimicrobial properties.
• Eat more vegetables & fruit. 5 a day is really the bare minimum, if you want to be optimally healthy then have 6 or 7 different coloured vegetables and 2 or 3 pieces of fruit. So that’s 3 veggies with each lunch and dinner, a piece of fruit as dessert or with breakfast or as a snack (with nuts & seeds). They are packed with vital vitamins, minerals & phytonutrients and your body will thank you for it!
• Cut out the refined carbohydrates and simple sugars. Research has shown that sugar can suppress the immune system for hours after eating, so sugary cakes and sweets are the worst thing if you are feeling sick. Replace refined ‘white’ carbohydrates with whole ‘brown’ ones that provide the important B vitamins and have a slower release of energy and sugars.
• Eat enough of the good oils. Fats are not all bad, we really need the essential fatty acids for optimal immune function; 3 portions of oily fish a week will do it. Plus add a handful of seeds and nuts to meals or snacks or in a dressing most days, the best choices are pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, walnuts, flaxseeds & almonds.
• Get enough sleep. It’s when the body rests and repairs so vital for a good immune system. Get into a rhythm especially for these winter nights and aim for seven or eight hours a night. Use relaxation and breathing exercises to help unwind and to keep you stress free through the day.
• Take regular exercise. Regular exercise will keep you in optimal health, but if you are run down then excessive exercise will be an added stress on the system. So keep fit but don’t push yourself when you feel a cold coming on.

For more information on nutrition please contact Angela Walker at Fabulous Nutrition.

Fabulous Nutrition is a London based Nutritional Therapy Clinic, addressing functional imbalance in the body with bespoke nutrition programmes. www.fabulousnutrition.co.uk

A study published earlier this year looked at the microbial mass of diabetic and healthy populations and found that the level of Bifidobacterium species were significantly lower in the diabetic group [1]

What we eat affects the microbiota in the gut. A high fat diet will increase a certain type of bacteria (Gram negative) bacteria in the gut produce bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS); it is thought that LPS stimulate the inflammation cascade seen in diabetes, obesity and metabolic syndrome[2].

The Bifidobacterium are gram positive; which is why they are likely to be lower in diabetics.

More reasons why a low fat diet, with plenty of fibre (beans, pulses, whole grains) to ‘feed’ the good bacteria is a good idea.

This also means it makes good sense to look at optimising the bacterial populations and overall gut function whenever you have an obesity, metabolic syndrome or diabetic situation.

For more information on nutrition please contact Angela Walker at Fabulous Nutrition.

Fabulous Nutrition is a London based Nutritional Therapy Clinic, addressing functional imbalance in the body with bespoke nutrition programmes. www.fabulousnutrition.co.uk

[1] Wu et al (2010 Molecular Analysis of Intestinal Dominant Bacteria in Diabetes Patients. Curr. Microbiol 61:69-78

[2] Cani et al (2007) Metabolic Endotoxemia Initiates Obesity and Insulin Resistance. Diabetes. 56

The commentary by Dr Bland might sound very complicated, but the basic message is simple: there is a dynamic interaction between our environment (what we eat, what we are exposed to) and our cells. It’s all interconnected and there are numerous ways to intervene to promote optimal health.

For more information on nutrition please contact Angela Walker at Fabulous Nutrition.

Fabulous Nutrition is a London based Nutritional Therapy Clinic, addressing functional imbalance in the body with bespoke nutrition programmes. www.fabulousnutrition.co.uk

If you are concerned about mercury toxicity then the Nutritional Therapy process will be able to identify if it is a potential problem to an individual. Laboratory tests can identify levels and a detoxification programme can be introduce.

For more information please contact Angela Walker at Fabulous Nutrition.

Fabulous Nutrition is a London based Nutritional Therapy Clinic, addressing functional imbalance in the body with bespoke nutrition programmes. www.fabulousnutrition.co.uk

Fabulous Nutrition is a London based Nutritional Therapy Clinic, addressing functional imbalance in the body with bespoke nutrition programmes. www.fabulousnutrition.co.uk.

For more information please contact Angela Walker at Fabulous Nutrition on 07775 582 332 or ange@fabulousnutrition.co.uk

At Jiva, the emphasis is on empowering clients to embrace a healthier way of life as well as the fast itself. So there are classes on nutrition and healthy eating and I will also be offering tailored nutritional therapy consultations and Oxidata free-radical testing during the retreat.

Breaking the fast is as important, if not more important than the fast itself and to help clients I’ll also be preparing meal plans for when they get home, making it even easier to use a Jiva fasting retreat as the kick start to a new healthier way of being.

For more information and to book, click here. For more details on the nutrition consultations on the retreat, click here.

Fabulous Nutrition is a London based Nutritional Therapy Clinic, addressing functional imbalance in the body with bespoke nutrition programmes. www.fabulousnutrition.co.uk.

For more information please contact Angela Walker at Fabulous Nutrition on 07775 582 332 or ange@fabulousnutrition.co.uk.