A few weeks ago, the World Health Organisation cut its recommendated daily sugar intake by 50%. Whoa! If that’s not an acknowledgment of the dangers of sugar, please can someone tell me what is? The WHO now recommends no more than 6 teaspoons (25 g) of sugar a day. To put this in context, a…
WHY COFFEE IS YOUR NEW BEST FRIEND – COFFEE & CHOCOLATE BRAINIES
Coffee. To drink or not to drink? That is the question. 2015 kicked off with another spate of headlines on the benefits of coffee. Once demonised, coffee is increasingly proving to be the good guy when it comes to healthy ageing. Yes, one more of those irritating u-turns that makes us want to give up…
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…
WHY TEA AND CAKE WILL IMPROVE YOUR MEMORY AND HELP YOU LIVE LONGER
No doubt you’re dieting, detoxing or drying out – it is, after all, the month of penitence, atonement and resolutions (read ours here and here). But it’s dark n’ cold out there and my body’s begging for sugar and carbs. To top it all, my eldest daughter is mid-exams and comes home starving and exhausted. And…
HOW TO GET YOUR CHILD EATING HEALTHY FOODS – AND RECIPES FOR KALE CRISPS
For those of you who think the off-spring of Ms’s Kale and Cocoa happily munch on spinach and lentils, let me put you right. They (mostly) don’t! Like mothers everywhere, we cajole, bribe, threaten and despair. But after sixteen years of feeding multiple children and reading multiple books and reports on the subject, I’ve made…
OATS, GLORIOUS OATS – AND A RECIPE FOR SUPER-SPEEDY NO-BAKE GRANOLA
I’ve always longed to be the sort of girl who wafts around making her own granola. Yes, I know making granola is neither arduous nor complicated. But it often seems a faff – you have to turn the oven on in advance, then you have to hang around while it’s baking, gently prodding and turning….
WHY EATING WELL NEEDN’T COST A FORTUNE – SARDINE AND WATERCRESS PÂTÉ
As I stood in line at a supermarket checkout recently, I overheard a young couple in front of me querying the cost of their weekly shop. The checkout lady confirmed her till was working properly and she hadn’t put any items through twice. Then the young woman’s face crumpled. “We were just trying to be…
BOOST YOUR BRAIN HEALTH – BEST-EVER BLACKBERRY MUFFINS
Not only is it blackberry season but it’s also World Alzheimer Month (bet you didn’t know that!). Last week saw the publication of the 2014 World Alzheimer Report from London’s King’s College. Encouragingly, the report says the risk of dementia can be reduced if we control diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and heart disease. Diabetes…
The Power of the Mediterranean Diet, picnicking Kale-and-Cocoa-style and a frittata.
On holiday? Dreaming of holiday? Chances are many summer holidays – whether dream or reality – involve a Mediterranean country, blue skies, the scent of lavender, a chilled glass of rose and a table under the trees laid with platters of grilled vegetables, freshly caught fish and, of course, a bottle of fruity olive oil….
