Discover Health Blogs

Vitamin D; it’s free! With all of these sunny, warm, November days, we remember Vitamin D; an important key nutrient to consider for your health, and the most amazing thing is that it is readily available and free for all!   You may wonder why Vitamin D is so important, well Vitamin D supports muscle strength, a healthy immune system, healthy skin, and is essential in the absorption of Calcium from our gut, therefore enhancing bone health.   Not getting enough Vitamin D, or having a Vitamin D deficiency, can lead to significant health outcomes, such as developing soft, weak or fragile bones and therefore lead to falls or fractures, osteoporosis, and can increase the risk of having altered immunity and other autoimmune diseases.   So, where do we get Vitamin D? Well as you might have guessed, the main source is Sunlight, with it not being possible to meet our requirements through diet alone. We are able to get small amounts from some foods, such as oily fish (salmon, h

Bread; getting a bad rapt – which bread to choose? There is a lot of conflicting information out there regarding what you ‘should’ and ‘shouldn’t’ be eating, and bread often gets a bad rapt in the middle of it all!   As a dietitian, one of the more common questions I get asked is; ‘what bread is the healthiest?’ Or another common question is; ‘Should I even be eating bread?’   Bread contains a number of key essential nutrients, a major one being Carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are our body’s main source of energy, as they get digested and broken down into glucose, which is used by our muscles as the energy source. Different types of bread contain different types of carbohydrates, which are broken down at different rates and therefore release energy at different rates.   The term to describe how quickly or slowly this happens is called the Glycaemic Index (GI), which is the rate at which carbohydrates affect our blood glucose (or sugar) levels.   High GI carbohydrat

Post Commonwealth Games hype: Recovery Nutrition after Exercise                                                Did watching the Commonwealth Games this month inspire you to get back into training or begin a new form of exercise? Read up about the importance of nutrition, particularly recovery nutrition for after you exercise.   Whether you are training once a day, a couple times a week, or doing two sessions in one day, recovery nutrition is important for all, however importance does depend on the type of training, the duration, along with your personal preferences and goals.   Recovery nutrition can assist in; ·          Muscle repair and growth ·          Refueling and rehydrating the body ·          Support immune function   When do I begin my recovery nutrition after training?   As soon as you have finished training, drinking and rehydrating should begin. However, eating after exercise does depend on how long you have until you will be training again.  

Winter Warming Mealtime June is here, it’s officially winter, and with the cold weather that comes along with it, what better time of year to get your slow cooker out and make some hearty, warming meals. Don’t have a slow cooker? That’s absolutely fine, grab a casserole dish or a heavy, lidded pot and cook slowly in the oven on low for 4 hours or more.   And a hearty meal doesn’t have to be based on a meat component alone. You can include all components that would ensure a nourishing, balanced meal, including some protein, carbohydrates and vegetables to fill you up.   So what should you add to make up this delicious warming meal?   Whether it is a stew, a soup, a casserole or a risotto, you can make them all on a slow cook, letting the aroma’s fill your kitchen.   Pick a protein – beef, pork, lamb, chicken, etc   ·          And who says you need to buy expensive cuts of meat. It doesn’t matter if you pick the cheaper cuts, it just means that these cuts might

Winter bringing on that runny nose? It’s that time of year where the weather can be pretty cold and miserable, and bring along with it that runny nose and run down feeling. Ensuring adequate nutrition and hydration is key to assist with the running of a healthy immune system, and can be just what you need to look at during this time of year to fight off that cold or flu. Aiming to include foods from each of the five main food groups is important to ensure we are getting the range of nutrients we need each day. These food groups are; ·          Fruit ·          Vegetables ·          Grains (particularly wholegrains) ·          Dairy or alternatives ·          Meat or meat alternatives   Along with eating a variety of foods each day, there are certain foods and vitamins which play a key role for maintaining a healthy immune system.   Vitamin C is good for your immune system and research tells us that this can reduce the severity of a cold. -           Fruit in

Postnatal nutrition – what to eat after pregnancy?  As a dietitian involved in Women’s Health, including nutrition in pregnancy and also seeing new mums post delivery, a question I often get asked is ‘Is what I eat once I’ve delivered the baby important?’ In short, whether you are breastfeeding or not, the answer is yes! Understandable that being a new mum brings about different challenges, and worrying about what you are going to eat might seem overwhelming on top of it all. However, a poor dietary intake can increase stress levels, tiredness and those overwhelmed feelings, particularly when added on top of this new mum business. So what can be done? Well, here is some insight into the importance of nutrition during this time, looking at key nutrients, and what foods to try and include throughout the day. Postnatal Nutrition is important for many reasons. After giving birth your nutrition is important to assist with the healing process Whilst breastfeeding, eating a nutritious diet i