Walk..................................................Don't run.

School Sports day indoors!

Those unforgettable shouts from across the corridor in that horrible school, and all l was doing was running to the toilet to save the school cleaners some time and money, but alas it seems those educational masters of doom and gloom may have been on to something if a recent report is anything to go by.




New research that brings together 40 years of studies into the benefits of exercise and health reveals that it only takes 30 minutes a day of exercise to cut your risk of many illnesses, including, hypertension, obesity, depression, osteoporosis and potentially many forms of Cancer, as Dr Rachel Thompson, deputy head of science for the World Cancer Research Fund, points out-

"There is now very strong evidence that being physically active can reduce risk of cancer. For example, we estimate that about 12 per cent of bowel cancer cases in the UK could be prevented through people being more active. "The evidence also shows that physical activity also probably reduces risk of breast cancer and cancer of the womb lining."

It may be that a simple, brisk daily walk around your local park, beach, country path, hilltop lookout could do the trick just as good as taking up running like Usain Bolt or Paula Radcliffe, or simply just me legging it to the toilet during Geography class at secondary school!



The Report taken from the International Journal of Clinical Practice, found being fit, active and healthy ranks alongside not smoking in our personal choices to reduce the risk of illness and disease and stay healthy.

Make use of whats around you

5 days a week of 30 minute walk's around the Royal parks of London (You can't beat Greenwich or Regents park in my eyes), the Malvern hills or South Downs, the South West Costal path, along Hadrians wall or up and down the Glens of Scotland, the benefits are universal to men and woman of all age groups, and importantly in regards cancer, physical activity after diagnosis can aid recovery and improve survival chances.







The author of the study, Physiotherapist Leslie Afford from the school of physiotherapy at the University of East Anglia, England, pointed out that living a healthy, long life and avoiding the pitfalls of ill health and disease were a complex mix of factors because of the individual nature of human beings, but pointed out that-

"Individuals have an element of control over some of these factors, including obesity, diet, smoking and physical activity."

Best foot forward

He went on to highlight that it's not always easy to make many lifestyle changes all at once, but 

"they can still gain health benefits from increasing the amount of regular exercise they take."

Luckily for all of us, the report points out that it's never too late to start those brisk walks, that cycle on one of the country's many cycle routes or putting yourself forward as the UK's next Ironman or Triathlete, older people will also see the benefits of regular activity or exercise.

So many Parks....let's use them.

And though exercise and activity may not necessarily affect weight loss unless accompanied by dietary control, exercise and activity will have many other beneficial affects, one of those which could be to lift mood, anxiety and depression in someone normally inactive, providing them the catalyst to make wider changes that will look at food intake and diet that could help with weight loss...........opting out of that vicious Circle, instead,  being a nice circle to jump into!

I say, if you can Jog, swim, cycle or gym 3 times a week, or on the other side, a good walk 5 times a week, which for some may just mean giving up public transport (a lot easier when the Unions go on strike in London leaving you stranded with no option but to walk), or getting of the bus a couple of stops early, or making use of a canal tow path or cycle path or riverside walk.

Keep going on strike.....less obesity!

I gave up the Gym nearly 5 years ago, and as long as you make cleverer more informed choices in regards your food intake, finding what you as an individual needs (and what you don't need most of the time), being aware of Blood Sugar Balance/Control and controlling the amount we eat, the portion sizes, which we in the West are not used to, well, ever since the 1940's, then it maybe a lot easier to find exercise and activity which we as an individual enjoy and benefit from instead of believing an unused Gym membership is the answer......it is for some, but not the many.

So get out of the house and find that activity that's right for you....and if you get fired because your late for work....either blame the unions....or Health reports like this!

What do you mean Halloween has come and Gone!!!

I enjoyed writing this so much last month for production.....but no production came about.....So l decided to post it again, mainly because l was so proud of the Organic pumpkins we produced on our Co-Operative allotment in the heart of the Midlands, and the fact that l produced so much nice food and meals out of the subsequent cooking jaunt!


Foods Of the Week:  Halloween. (Ok, it's over, but lm still stuck in summer mode so give me a chance!)

Don't throw away all the flesh please

                                  
Foods of Halloween week (Autumn has almost been and gone but who cares)....could only Pumpkin and Apples...or Carving lanterns and apple bobbing if your American (lm not....No comment!)

 An apple is for life...not just for bobbing

So you have your Pumpkin lanterns at the ready and the apples ready for Bobbing...but how good are these scary but delicious foods and just how easy is it to cast the spell that turns them into wonderful healthy treats!



Pumpkins:
Coming from the Greek word "pepon", today’s Pumpkins, not just a Halloween Candle Holder, but a wonderful Seasonal vegetable for the Autumn months.

Coming in various shapes and sizes with many different varieties, Pumpkin is rich in Vitamins and Minerals, as well as possible potent antioxidants, with both the flesh and seeds nutritionally beneficial.

Low in Calories and fat, Pumpkins benefit from being rich in nutrients such as:

* Alpha-carotene (converted by the body into Vitamin A)
* Beta-carotene   (converted by the body into Vitamin A)
* Vitamin C
* Vitamin E
* Potassium
* Magnesium
* Panthothenic acid
* Manganese
* Dietry Fiber

High in nutrients but low in calories, Pumpkin's variety of nutrient benefits may act as powerful anti-inflammatory agents as well as powerful antioxidants that assist with a strong Immune system as part of a well balanced diet, while levels of Dietry Fibre help with Blood sugar control and healthy digestion

 

Pumpkin Recipes: Easy & Nutritious

Steamed Pumpkin, Pumpkin Soup and Spicy Pumpkin Stew

Steamed Pumpkin and Feta Salad:            

- Peel the outer skin of the pumpkin and removed flesh and seeds (keep seeds to one side).
- Cut up Pumpkin into 1inch squares and fill two desert bowls with Pumpkin
- Steam using electric or Bamboo/Stainless steel stove-top steamer for 7 minutes

With some lemon Juice and Organic Extra virgin olive oil, pepper and sea salt mix and make a dressing. Add crumbled feta cheese, fresh rosemary and sage to steamed Pumpkin on a bed of Rocket or Baby spinch, along with dressing for quick easy snack.
Adding fresh chilli and Turmeric to dressing can add extra Kick as well as highly beneficial extra elements to this nutritious meal.

 Soup             

-Adding steamed Pumpkin to a pan with 1-2 cups of vegetable stock, 3 Tbs of coconut milk (canned tomatoes as an alternative) and bring to the boil.
- Fresh Ginger, Turmeric, sea salt and pepper to taste
- Blend with hand blender or food processor
-Wait to bring to slight boil and well heated through and serve.

 

 

 

Spicy Stew          

-Add already Steamed Pumpkin to a pan with a chopped red onion (cut and leave onion for 5 minutes before adding), along with4-6 chopped Organic/home grown carrots- 

-Red and green Chillies 

-1 pint of water

- Tsp Cumin, Paprika and Turmeric
- 1 carton of Organic Chopped Tomatoes
- Separately Stem fry fresh prawns with olive oil and 1 Tbs of water
- Bring soup to boil and cook for 15 minutes and then Blend with mixer/processor for 1 minute
- Add cooked prawns (chicken or turkey as other options) to soup, along with carton of Organic Butter beans
- Add Organic brown Basmati rice or Spelt or Buckwheat pasta according to taste
- Cook for further 15 minutes

Enjoy!



Apples:           

Forget all those bobbing apples in the bowl of water from the ancient Celtic tradition, and most recent North American association, apples have so much more to offer.

Coming from the Latin word “Pome”, apples originate from the Rose family and are associated with Love and Fertility.
In their many different varieties of colour, shape and size, apples are rich in Flavonoid and Phenolic antioxidants as well a good source of Vitamin C.
Apples also contain good amounts of Dietry fiber for Balanced Blood sugar and healthy digestion.

Whether part of a dessert or salad, apples are a great snack being low in calories.
As a seasonal fruit especially around autumn time, and apart from bobbing at Halloween and your mothers Traditional Apple crumble, what else can this Super Fruit do!

Apple Sundae:  

-         2 Apples cut into quarters and cored, add chopped almonds and grated coconut

-         In a small bowl, add home made almond butter to 3-4 Tbs of Organic Honey

-         Drizzle almond/honey sauce over apples and chopped nuts for quick easy dessert.

Add Homemade Granola and cinnamon for something a bit different.

Breakfast apple:             

-Diced apple, Organic Natural yogurt, chopped almonds, walnuts and Pumpkin seeds, raisins and Honey. Great as a Snack taken to work!

To bake apples in the Oven will means beneficial nutrients such as Vitamins, Antioxidants and enzymes can easily be destroyed.

So keep it natural, quick and easy.

And Eat such foods anytime of the year, just replace Pumpkin if not available, with Butter nut squash and steamed sweet potato. 

Tom, Barbara, Jerry and of course Margo!

Try Growing your own on your own allotment or prepare a patch of garden...or a friends garden....just ask them first, Im not Jerry and this is not the Good Life.

It's a Great Life!                            

Enjoy!

P.S It's Christmas soon so l have been told, though l was till hoping for summer sun until the reality of shop front Christmas lights and That's What l call Christmas Music Vol. 76 playing everywhere.....

So soon will come our run up to Christmas, Good Food, good nutrition, good health that will be happy and healthy for all...

Except maybe for people like me who still wish it was Summer!

Food of the Week: Avocado......And no, it does not (NOT!) make a Snowball.

Avocado, a culinary delight, from the bay and cinnamon family of trees was brought over to Europe after the Spanish conquests of central and southern America, yet it took us Brits the last half a century to experience it's like, a like......like no other it has to be said.

A rich, smooth fruit, distinctive taste and buttery texture, they are great sources of many Vitamins such as Vitamin C, B6, Vitamin K, as well as Potassium, Folate and the mineral copper, as well a great source of dietary Fibre....yet to many they fear it's 30% fat content more than the many positive elements this wonder holds.

 Healthy Fat or Unhealthy fat?

30% fat this wonderful fruit maybe, but while a majority of it's calories do come from fat, almost two-thirds of the fats they contain are monounsaturated fats that are good for heart health, as found in Olive oil, so not to be sniffed at on any occasion!
As l don't count calories with my patients unless they are underweight, then neither should you....yes, YOU!

The Mediterranean diet so lauded by health experts, Nutritionist's and researchers alike, and rightly so for it's monounsaturated-fat-rich foods it promotes (all in moderation of course) will heavily feature the benefits of the green giant that is the Avocado, and it should be eaten similar (in moderation) to help promote a well balanced, healthy approach to eating.....and a very tasty one considering the fruits many wonderful uses.

Guacamole:
1 Ripe avocado, juice of half a lime, dried or fresh chillies, a good handful of coriander, chopped fine, black pepper, dash of sea salt, mash well or blend for a few seconds. Great with slow cooked meats, fish, the list is endless, but Mexican dishes with the chillies and limes and possibly the addition of finely chopped tomatoes bring out the classic dip to it's fullest.

Slow Cooked Turkey and Avocado Salad:
With Christmas just around the corner, get into the taste of good quality turkey, slow cooked, with organic salad leaves, watercress, spinach, 1 whole ripe Avocado sliced and mixed in with the semi hot slices of Turkey, and try finishing it off with a spicy tomato and cranberry salsa, with tomatoes, fresh cranberries, coriander, red onion (diced), 2sp fresh, grated ginger, Juice of 1 whole lime, black pepper and sea salt to taste. Great at Christmas, but with the great health benefits of Turkey, a must for all year round.


Fresh Berry & Avocado smoothie:
1 Ripe Avocado, 1 large organic banana, hand full of ice, fresh frozen mixed berries, or in summer, organic or garden berries, juice of 1 pomegranate.
Blend up, smooth, drink. Great!





Is it the same as........

So the fattiest of healthiest fruit, a wonderful addition to any diet (in moderation as always) but as pointed out often has to overcome an identity crisis, not only because it's fat content causes many to run away in fear from this stunning piece of natural gold, but an identity crisis in the sense that for some people, they just get dammed right confused of what it actually is!

Hence a conversation l have had with quite a few people in the past when happily eating away on my fat filled nugget of green loveliness......which left me not knowing whether to laugh, cry, or choke on the stunning fruit l was enjoying so much....in turn, it usually goes;
             "what's that....
             It's Avocado..
             Oh, is that the yellow drink stuff you have at Christmas with a cherry on top.....!
             No..........that's a snowball.....made from..............................ADVOCATT!"

Big Difference......

The Fruit

The Christmas Drink!

  

    

                              Vs    











What l don't tell them is that when Dutch colonies of South America first invented the delightful Christmas drink it's main ingredient was.....yep, Avocado, that delight of our Guacamole, Summer salad's, nutritious, beautifying smoothies and even face packs......a far cry from the eventual main ingredients when developed and processed back in Europe of Eggs, sugar, cream, vanilla and Brandy!

Oh well, win some lose some.
Enjoy (in moderation) of course!

Garlic-A Vampires best friend.... if they have High Blood pressure!

Garlic may be useful in addition to medication to treat high blood pressure, an Australian study suggests, as recently reported in Maturitas, An international journal of midlife health and beyond

Australian doctors enrolled 50 patients in a trial to see if garlic supplements could help those whose blood pressure was high, despite medication.
Those given four capsules of garlic extract a day had lower blood pressure than those on placebo, they report in a scientific journal.
The leading UK Heart Health charity, The British Heart Foundation said more research was needed.
Garlic has long been though to be good for the heart.
Garlic supplements have previously been shown to lower cholesterol and reduce high blood pressure in those with untreated hypertension.
In the latest study, researchers from the University of Adelaide, Australia, looked at the effects of four capsules a day of a supplement known as aged garlic for 12 weeks.
They found systolic blood pressure was around 10mmHg lower in the group given garlic compared with those given a placebo.
Researcher Karin Ried said: "Garlic supplements have been associated with a blood pressure lowering effect of clinical significance in patients with untreated hypertension.
"Our trial, however, is the first to assess the effect, tolerability and acceptability of aged garlic extract as an additional treatment to existing antihypertensive medication in patients with treated, but uncontrolled, hypertension."
Experts say garlic supplements should only be used after seeking medical advice, as garlic can thin the blood or interact with some medicines.
Ellen Mason, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said using garlic for medicinal purposes dates back thousands of years, but it is essential that scientific research proves that garlic can help conditions such as raised blood pressure.
She said: "This study demonstrated a slight blood pressure reduction after using aged garlic supplements but it's not significant enough or in a large enough group of people to currently recommend it instead of medication.
"It's a concern that so many people in the UK have poorly controlled blood pressure, with an increased risk of stroke and heart disease as a consequence. So enjoy garlic as part of your diet but don't stop taking your blood pressure medication."

The study is reported in the journal Maturitas, highlights once again this amazing culinary delight, as grown by myself and my dear friends on our Organic allotment this last year.
A previous study reported in New Scientist magazine, and Journal Nutrition and Cancer, highlighted the important work of New Zealand husband and wife research team, Rex and Christine Munday whose work concentrated on key ingredients in Raw garlic called diallyl disulfide and it's potential role in staving off cancer.

I say, one clove, grated, raw, left to stand for 5 minutes then add to food. For the same effect when cooking garlic, try 3-4 cloves.
Yum, smelly, healthy Yum........but don't ask me to star in any Twilight Saga movies!

Obesity, children and their different eating habits.

Shock Norwegian Study Finds:

Overweight Children Have Eating Patterns Different from Those of Normal Weight Children.

Well.....tell us something we don't know!

But look closer......some interesting issues!

It is the case that overweight children reported more frequent intake of healthy foods such as fruit, vegetables, fish, brown bread and potatoes as well as low-energy cheese and yoghurt compared with normal weight children, so says a recent study from researchers at Telemark University College and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, the 4th largest University In Norway, in the South-East of the Country.

---

The report highlights some interesting areas when we consider child and adult obesity and the affects on public health. The study showed:

• Overweight children drank juice and artificially sweetened soft drinks more often, while the normal weight children drank carbonated drinks and ate unhealthy foods and processed foods such as burgers, sausages, biscuits, processed pizza and sweets.

• The results suggest that both parents and children have increased awareness of food choices when children are overweight.
• The study also showed that overweight children were less physically active and were more likely to have obese parents than normal weight children.

"It is positive that parents and children emphasise healthy food choices. However, it is important to note that the amount of healthy foods must be adapted to a child's activity level to limit further weight gain," said researcher Anne Lise Brantsæter at the NIPH.

"Obesity is a growing problem that can have unfortunate consequences for the children both physically and mentally. There are many contributing factors to obesity and it is important that both parents and children are given good guidance and support early on," added Brantsæter.

How was the study conducted?

The study of eating habits and obesity included 924 fourth graders (9-10 year olds) in the county of Telemark. Nearly half of all fourth graders in the county of Telemark participated when the survey was conducted in 2007. This study has been followed up with new measurements and questions in 2010, and the results from the latest study are now being analysed.

Children's eating habits were assessed by asking how often the child had eaten a variety of foods, both for meals and snacks. The researchers used this to identify eating patterns that reflect which foods are often eaten together. This way of studying diet provides a more comprehensive picture than investigating the intake of individual foods separately.

Public health nurses at the schools weighed and measured the children, while their parents answered questions about their own weight, education and occupation in addition to their children's eating habits and activity level.

The analysis takes into account other factors relevant to children's eating patterns and weight, i.e., parents' educational level, income and employment, and if the parents themselves were overweight.

So, what do l think of this. Well, it may seem contradictory that both sets of children, normal and obese were eating similar foods that were not perceived great for them, but obese children, with potentially a higher number of obese parents are fully aware of what they were eating, but not necessarily how much they were eating, and how activity and exercise would help with a healthy, happy lifestyle, not just consuming healthy foods!

Hence the importance of children learning about food, cooking, health, fitness and lifestyle choices from a very early age, which may influence parents, whether obease or not, but will hopefully have an effect as these children grow up and it's influence on future generations.

Here is hoping!

Hello Healthy World........Potentially!

The start of the Journey....well, sort of.

Peace & Good Health.