With this week’s news focusing on the link between junk food (ultra processed food) and cancer, diabetes, heart disease and … death, we thought the best thing we could do was provide a recipe that’s almost as simple and convenient as a ready meal but brimming with nutrients, fibre and anti-oxidant-rich spices. I was introduced…
THE HEALTH CHECKS – AND FOOD – YOU NEED NOW
Are you up to date with your health checks? A report last week revealed that fewer than half of those eligible for a free NHS over-40 check up actually take it. So, if it’s not too late for another New Year’s resolution, now’s a good time to make an appointment and get checked over! It’s…
HOW TO COMBAT AIR POLLUTION & LENTILS IN A LEMON AND TOMATO SAUCE
The most difficult chapter of our book to write (so far) has been the chapter on air pollution and what it’s doing to our bodies and brains. Why so difficult? Not because of the lack of research (oh no, plenty of that!), or the complexity of learning about PM2.5 (relatively simple compared to grappling with…
MAKE YOUR 2018 RESOLUTION TO CUT CANCER RISK
How are those new year’s resolutions going then? Just a few days into 2018 and mine are already feeling a little shaky. But my resolve has been bolstered by a new report – published with immaculate timing – that shows our most common resolutions could save our lives. The research shows that a healthy…
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…
FIGHTING BACK AGAINST CANCER, AND A FAMILY RECIPE
It was World Cancer Day on Thursday so this horrible disease has had a lot of attention this week. The good news, according to Cancer Research UK, is that the number of people in the UK dying of cancer is decreasing: 284 out of every 100,000 people in the UK died from cancer in 2013…
LOSE WEIGHT, FIX BRAIN FOG AND COOK LENTILS
I really overdid it this festive season, and a wobbly Christmas-pud-tum is the result. After Annabel’s post last week about the brain benefits of ping pong I’ll be dragging out our table tennis. But I suspect it’s going to take a little more than that. We’re anti-diet at Kale & Cocoa but the latest wonder…
WHY WE SHOULD SIT LESS AND FIDGET MORE – WARM SQUASH SALAD
If you sit for more than six hours a day, you need to get up – yes, right now! And yes – that’s six hours in total. And if you think you’re off the hook because you’ve spent an hour in the gym, you need to think again. New research shows our sedentary lifestyles are…
YES, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THE MENOPAUSE, AND DELICIOUS DHAL
As middle-aged women, writing a blog about healthy ageing, we have to face up to the fact that the menopause looms large on the horizon. We’re almost a year into Kale & Cocoa and, so far, we’ve skirted round the ‘M’ word. But feeling pretty ignorant on the subject, and inspired by Christa D’Souza’s great…
RUSHING WOMAN’S SYNDROME AND THE PERFECT LENTIL SALAD
Just over a decade ago, I turned up at my Doctor’s surgery in tears. I had two toddlers, was six months pregnant, had a cold I couldn’t shift and was working a sixty hour week – all on four hours of sleep a night. As I sobbed into a tissue, my mobile phone blinked and…