Love Your Gut Blog
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
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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
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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
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Monday, February 6th, 2012
Why not try this winter warming dish for a change. It’s quick, easy to make and can be frozen for a later date. Fish is a good source of protein and is low in fat. Furthermore white fish is also a good source niacin (B3), which is needed to promote healthy cells and to help eliminate toxins from the body and pyridoxine (B6), which keeps the skin, nervous system and red blood cells healthy. White fish is also rich in several essential minerals such as iron, phosphorous, selenium and iodine. To further increase our fibre intake and to add a crispy topping why not keep the potato skins and grate them on top of pie. This will ensure we have a healthy fully functioning digestive system.
Ingredients
- 400g Skinless white fish fillets
- 400g skinless smoked haddock fillet
- 600ml semi-skimmed or skimmed milk
- 1 small onion quartered
- 4 cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 eggs
- Small bunch parsley, chopped
- 100g margarine/low fat spread
- 50g plain flour
- Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
- 1kg floury potato, peeled and cut into even-sized chunks
- Grated potato skins
Method
1. Poach the fish. Put the fish in the frying pan and pour over 500ml of the milk. Stud each onion quarter with a clove, then add to the milk, with the bay leaves. Bring the milk just to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 8 mins.
2. Lift the fish onto a plate and strain the milk into a jug to cool. Flake the fish into large pieces in the baking dish.
3. Hard-boil the eggs. Peel, slice into quarters and arrange on top of the fish, then scatter over the chopped parsley.
4. Melt half the margarine in a pan, stir in the flour and cook for 1 min over moderate heat. Take off the heat, pour in a little of the cold poaching milk, then stir until blended. Continue to add the milk gradually, mixing well until you have a smooth sauce. Return to the heat, bring to the boil and cook for 5 mins, stirring continually, until it coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg, then pour over the fish.
5. Boil the potatoes for 20 mins. Drain, season and mash with the remaining butter and milk. Use to top the pie, starting at the edge of the dish and working your way in – push the mash right to the edges to seal. Fluff the top with a fork, sprinkle with grated potato skins, then bake for 30 mins. Make up to a day ahead, chill, then bake for 40 mins.
6. Assemble and bake. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6.
Tags: dietary fibre, digestion, digestive health, f, fruit and vegetable, healthy diet, immune system, vitamins
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Monday, January 30th, 2012
Where has this month gone? Can you believe its February next week?
How has January been for you? Being bac
k at work, with the festive season over, gloomy mornings, Christmas debts and failed detox regimes – it’s no surprise that everyone’s feeling miserable and low.
Why not try lifting the mood with the following suggestions:
1 Mood foods: Research suggests that omega-3 fatty acids block chemicals called cytokines that can cause low mood. Oily fish (salmon, sardines, mackerel, and tuna), flaxseed oil, nuts and seeds are all good sources. Some studies also link diets low in folate to low mood. Cabbage, broccoli and sprouts are good sources of folate.
2 Foiling the norovirus: The health protection agency says levels of infection of the “winter vomiting bug” are at their highest since 2002 in England and Wales, and that around 100,000 of us every week will go down with this horrid, though rarely dangerous, bug. The Royal College of GPs says we can do much to prevent the spread: improved hygiene (rigorous hand washing, cleaning surfaces, and loos – anything that has been in contact with an infected person) and keeping infected people away from others for at least 48 hours after symptoms end are your best bet. Looking after your gut health may also help with increasing the strength of your immune system.
3 Probiotics/Prebiotics: 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.
4 Eating breakfast: Attempts to reverse festive weight gain often involve meal-skipping. However, low blood sugar can affect energy and mood. So why not have a bowl of porridge, its low-fat and filling, the warmth provides mood-friendly B vitamins, iron and zinc, and keeps blood glucose levels steady.
5 Exercise and sleep: Regular exercise will make you feel more energetic, especially during these gloomy days, your body’s defences will also benefit. You may be tempted to eat more during the colder months. Exercising will help you manage your weight better and keep your body in shape, especially if you want to tackle the January bulge. Sleep experts advise establishing a regular pattern of seven to eight hours per night: keep your bedtime and waking times consistent to reset your body clock.
Give the above a go and see what changes you may feel!
Tags: breakfast, Exercise, fruit and vegetable, Gut Health, prebiotics, probiotics
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