Sunday, March 4th, 2012
As mentioned in our January 23rd blog exercise helps our digestive system as it help reduce transit time (i.e. the length of time it takes food to move through the large intestine). The reason a faster transit time is better for us is less water is absorbed from the stool into your body and therefore your waste food won’t become dry and hard to pass which essentially is what causes constipation. Exercise along with a healthy fibrous diet may help with constipation as it will help to stimulate the natural contraction of intestinal muscles therefore ensuring the stool moves more efficiently through your digestive tract. Therefore lack of exercise may make our digestive system feel sluggish.
Why not try the below tips to help keep your digestive system nice and healthy. They are easy to fit into your daily routine and won’t cost you a penny!
- Take the stairs instead of the lift
- Use tins of beans instead of weights
- Aim to do sit-ups before bed every night
- Download a free exercise class from youtube
- Take the dog for a brisk walk after dinner (maybe aim for three times a week?)
- Go for a run or arrange to run and meet a friend nearby.
Good Luck everyone!!!
Tags: Exercise, Gut Health
Posted in Gut Health, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, February 27th, 2012
I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine’s Day; I bet that feels like ages ago now…
How was Shrove Tuesday? Did you make loads of pancakes for breakfast, lunch or dinner? I bet the children were really excited about making them…
With all the indulging coming to an end, it’s time to give your body a healthy kick start again with a healthy balanced diet, giving you a healthy digestive system!
- Eat plenty of fruits and veg – Fruit and vegetables contribute to a healthy and balanced diet. They’re an excellent source of dietary fiber, which helps maintain a healthy gut and prevent constipation and other digestive problems. They are also a good source of vitamins and minerals, including foliate, vitamin C and potassium.
- Probiotics and Prebiotics – Taking a daily probiotic will increase the number of beneficial bacteria in your gut. This will reduce the chances of the “bad” bacteria from affecting the host. Why not also have choose foods containing prebiotics in your diet? Prebiotics are foods that will stimulate the growth of your own beneficial bacteria in the gut; foods include bananas, onions and leeks.
- Exercise – Regular exercise will make you feel more energetic, especially during these gloomy days, your body’s defences will also benefit. Exercising will help you manage your weight better and keep your body in shape
Having a poor unbalanced diet may cause an environment that is more favorable for “bad” bacteria to multiply in the gut, which can cause gastrointestinal problems such as bloating, constipation and diarrhoea.
Tags: digestive health, Exercise, fruit and vegetable, Gut Health, prebiotics, probiotics
Posted in FIBRE, Gut Health | No Comments »
Monday, February 20th, 2012
As mentioned in our January 23rd blog exercise helps our digestive system as it help reduce transit time (i.e. the length of time it takes food to move through the large intestine). The reason a faster transit time is better for us is less water is absorbed from the stool into your body and therefore your waste food won’t become dry and hard to pass which essentially is what causes constipation. Exercise along with a healthy fibrous diet may help with constipation as it will help to stimulate the natural contraction of intestinal muscles therefore ensuring the stool moves more efficiently through your digestive tract. Therefore lack of exercise may make our digestive system feel sluggish.
Why not try the below tips to help keep your digestive system nice and healthy. They are easy to fit into your daily routine and won’t cost you a penny!
- Take the stairs instead of the lift
- Use tins of beans instead of weights
- Aim to do sit-ups before bed every night
- Download a free exercise class from youtube
- Take the dog for a brisk walk after dinner (maybe aim for three times a week?)
- Go for a run or arrange to run and meet a friend nearby.
Happy Exercising everyone!!!
Tags: constipation, dietary fibre, digestion, digestive system, Exercise, good digestion, Gut Health, gut tips, keeping healthy
Posted in FIBRE, Gut Health | No Comments »
Monday, February 20th, 2012
Find it hard to get your children to each their fruit in the winter? Why not try this warm winter fruit salad. This delicious dessert will satisfy their sweet tooth and is an excellent way to keep their digestive system nice and healthy due to the fibre found in fruit. The delicious recipe will also provide them with essential vitamins and minerals needed for their growth spurts.
Ingredients:
600g read-to-eat dried fruits (for example; dates, prunes, apricots and peaches etc.)
3 tbsp clear honey
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways
1 Early Grey tea bag
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Mascarpone or Greek yoghurt to serve
Method
- Tip the fruits and 700ml/11?4 pints cold water into a large saucepan. Add the honey and vanilla, scraping the seeds from the pod into the pan. Bring to the boil. Stir well, lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes until slightly syrupy.
- Take the pan off the heat and stir in the tea bag. Leave to infuse for 10 minutes.
- Discard the tea bag and vanilla pod, tip the fruits and liquid into a non-metallic bowl and pour over the lemon juice. Stir, then leave to cool. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
Tags: dietary fibre, digestion, digestive health, fruit and vegetable, Gut Health, healthy diet, healthy food, low fat, nutrition, vitamins
Posted in 5-a-day, FIBRE, Gut Health, Recipes, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, February 13th, 2012
It’s that time of the year again, where love is in the air! Whether you are in a relationship or single, everyone deserves to feel special and loved. Valentine doesn’t have to be expensive – why not try making your own treats; breakfast, cookies, muffins…here are a few you can try…
Heart-shaped Almond French Toast
Ingredients
- 6 slices of thick bread
- 244ml milk
- 2 eggs, beaten
- ½ tsp. almond extract
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 5tbsp sifted icing sugar
- Fresh strawberries
- 230g butter, softened
- 1 tsp. almond extract
Method
- Cut a heart-shape from each slice of bread using a heart-shape cutter. Save the bread trimmings for later.
- Combine the milk, eggs and almond extract in a shallow dish and stir well. Dip 3 bread slices into the egg mixture, coating both sides.
- Melt 1 tbsp. of butter in a large griddle. Place the 3 slices of bread onto the griddle and cook for 3 minutes on each side until golden. Repeat for the remaining slices of bread and place on a serving plate. Sprinkle with icing sugar.
- For almond butter: Mix the butter, 3 tbsp. icing sugar and almond extract together. Chill until firm. Place a spoonful of mixture onto each toast and garnish with strawberries, or use any other fruits you fancy.
Heart-shaped Cherry Shortbread Biscuits
Ingredients
- 100g icing sugar
- 200g plain flour
- 50g cornflour
- 50g ground almonds
- 250g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 50g glace cherries, finely chopped
- ½ tsp. almond extract
- 8 tbsp. cherry jam
Method
- Preheat oven at 180C/160C fan/Gas 4. Sift the icing sugar, flour and cornflour together in a bowl. Stir in the ground almonds and butter, rub the butter in until smooth. Stir in the chopped glace cherries and almond extract, and bring together to form a dough.
- Roll out on a slightly floured surface. Stamp out the biscuits with a heart-shape cutter. Keep re-rolling the dough until it is all used up. Carefully transfer the biscuits to the baking tray that is lined with baking paper and bake for 8-10 minutes, just pale golden.
- Use an unturned bottle and press gently into the centre of each biscuit to make a round indent. Spoon a little jam into the indent and return to the oven for a further 2 minutes. Remove from oven and place on wire rack. Dust with icing sugar before serving.
Tags: valentine's day, valentine's treats
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