A week of hiking, reading and sunshine on the gorgeous island of Gozo has left me reinvigorated but a little baffled. Here’s why… The island gets an average 3000 hours of annual sunshine, more than double that of London. So no Vitamin D deficiencies here. The high level of sunlight might also help explain the…
SHOULD YOU EAT LESS SALT? LEBANESE BAKED BEANS
Salt is back in the news. I’m sighing as I write this because salt has been one of the most difficult-to-investigate and complex chapters of our upcoming book (so far). Picking a path through the mountains of conflicting research has left my head reeling. Salt, it seems, is an emotive and contentious subject. We need…
VITAMIN D – TO SUPPLEMENT OR NOT TO SUPPLEMENT?
As readers of this blog will know, I take no vitamin supplements. Except in December when I normally take a vitamin D supplement for a few months. But this year I didn’t. Until yesterday, when I did. Confused? I was too. And that’s the point. We are bombarded by constantly changing and often opposing information…
CHRISTMAS STRESS – AND HOW TO BEAT IT
Right now I’m sitting at my laptop thinking I can’t possibly find time to write a blog post: I need to order the turkey, work out what to give my impossible-to-buy-for brother-in-law, get the dishwasher fixed, wrap presents, find the tree decorations, actually buy a tree….you get the picture. It’s Christmas stress time and we’ve…
THESE NUTS COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE (YES, REALLY!)
Sometimes it is the simplest things which can make the biggest difference – like eating a handful of nuts each week. New research published this week revealed that eating 28g of nuts each week can reduce the risk of heart disease by up to 23%. I got the kitchen scales out to weigh 28g of…
THREE AGE-WELL FILMS TO WATCH ON NETFLIX NOW
Netflix isn’t just all about Stranger Things 2, or The Crown or whatever your particular binge-watch bag is. It’s also home to a raft of documentaries about healthy living. As a TV producer, and healthy ageing blogger, watching health docs is where my much-loved day job meets my passion project. The films on Netflix are…
THE POWER OF A NAP & VENISON WITH BLACKBERRY AND APPLE SAUCE
It’s that time of year when thoughts turn to fending off the inevitable coughs and colds of winter. Already my son is back from school with a streaming nose and a rasping cough. I’ve not caught it yet, but I’ve had a week of poor sleep, and in my experience, tiredness is a short step…
GET THEE TO A FOREST (ON FOOT) AND HERBY COURGETTE/ZUCCHINI SOUP
Now is the time to boost our immunity, particularly given recent predictions that this winter may see a severe flu epidemic. In addition to the usual dietary advice (more on this next month), there’s something very simple we can do – take advantage of these glorious autumn days and hit the woods. There’s a new…
HOW TO LIVE HAPPILY EVER LAUGHTER & FARRO SALAD WITH EGGS AND SMOKED MACKEREL
A few weeks ago I had dinner with one of the UK’s kings of comedy. Charlie Higson, writer, producer and comedian in shows like Saturday Live, the Harry Enfield Programme, Reeves and Mortimer and The Fast Show, had us all in stitches. After a while, we were laughing before Charlie even opened his mouth, almost…
WHY A LINE OF FLOSS WILL KEEP YOU IN GOOD HEALTH – COURGETTE, LEEK & GRUYERE FRITTATA
As I reclined in the dental chair yesterday (jaws forcibly widened, blood drooling from my mouth, metal implements clamped to my molars), my dentist decided it was time I learned about the growing link between gum health and – er, death. Gum health, she informed me, is now thought to be a trigger for heart…
