Smoothies are a favorite delivery mechanism of mine. When you see the health ads promoting eating 5 fruits and vegetables per day this can be tricky for some to achieve. Not when you are a smoothie making machine, you can achieve this target in one blend. Often in a day that starts with a smoothie I can take in anywhere between 10 to 20 different fruits and vegetables. It makes it way easier to up your intake so at least you can get to the starting line of ensuring good health – you’re eating the right stuff!
Continue reading “Chocolate + Peanut Butter Smoothie”Writing My 1st Book
I am in the middle of writing my 1st ever book. It will be a cookbook compiling and curating all my favourite recipes into one place. As I am embarking on my final year (4 of 4!) in Nutritional Therapy in a few short weeks time, I routinely provide meal ideas to my clients to help them make better choices around food and improvements in personal performance.
I am, like many of you, a busy parent, husband, employee, friend, colleague and son – so many hats! I like simple recipes that call for a handful of well chosen ingredients, which when carefully combined can get nourishing wholefoods onto the table with minimal fuss so everyone can fill up and be happy.
I personally road test each and every recipe and tweak it for my own personal twist where possible.
Continue reading “Writing My 1st Book”Covid-19
I hope everyone is doing ok out there in the world where Covid-19 still rages wildly. Here in Ireland, we are seeing cases rise now each day and have begun to reintroduce restrictions into society to try and suppress the virus once again.
It is an unbelievable time of uncertainty and for alot of people this brings new levels of heightened anxiety. I feel it too. What happens if this happens, what happens if that happens….it’s an endless spiral that does you no good.
Continue reading “Covid-19”One Year + No Beer = DONE
For many years I had a niggling voice in the very back of my mind about the booze. The little voice used to say things like:
- What would life be like if you didn’t drink alcohol anymore
- What cool stuff could you achieve in your life if you were no longer tethered to alcohol as a means to have a good time
- Could you achieve health, fitness and weight goals easier and more consistently if you did not have alcohol dragging you back down into excuses and setbacks
- Would removing alcohol help me live better, happier and more truer to myself
Are You Taking Statins?
Hypercholesterolaemia is a condition characterised by an excess of cholesterol in the blood. An alternative term is dyslipidaemia, which encompasses elevated triglycerides, low levels of HDL-C, and high LDL-C (1).
Hypercholesterolaemia is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease and arterial disease and is the leading cause of death for men, women, and people of most racial and ethnic groups in the United States (2).
Continue reading “Are You Taking Statins?”How SAD is the Standard American Diet?
America is in a troubled place right now.
Leaving aside the recent chaos that began in Minneapolis, and the leadership crisis they have in the White house, its 328 million people are under siege from their own food choices. While the temporary nature of the rioting will pass when the media eventually gets bored of covering it or it no longer stimulates clicks, likes, posts and reactions across the fickle social media world, the deep systemic problems arising from the food culture in America will be its ultimate demise in my opinion.
Continue reading “How SAD is the Standard American Diet?”Is Turmeric Good For You?
Following on from Is Resveratrol Worth The Hype? comes the mighty Turmeric. Turmeric is a plant from the same family as ginger and grows natively in the India and Southeast Asia region. It looks very similar to the ginger root, with the bright orange colour of turmeric being the main physical difference.
Continue reading “Is Turmeric Good For You?”Is Resveratrol Worth The Hype?
Much has been touted about the benefits of this little plant compound over the years with lots of claims about its protective influence against cancers, cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions. The headlines seem to always revolve around drinking wine, unsurprisingly – it’s almost as if we just want to be told to drink more wine, it’s good for you!
Continue reading “Is Resveratrol Worth The Hype?”The Mediterranean Diet: It’s Not Just the Food
While the exact mechanisms by which the components of this diet may improve cardiovascular health does require further research, the cumulative effects of higher fibre intake, antioxidants, healthy fats including the essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, protein and complex carbohydrates all appear to contribute to an overall reduction in inflammatory markers (hs-CRP, IL-6,7,18), oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction, blood pressure, insulin resistance, blood glucose dysregulation, LDL, HDL, total cholesterol levels and body weight (3, 4, 6, 7).
Continue reading “The Mediterranean Diet: It’s Not Just the Food”The Mediterranean Diet
Cardiovascular disease is a favourite topic of mine so when it comes to dietary interventions to prevent and reverse heart disease, the Mediterranean diet (MD) is right up there, alongside a whole-food plant based diet low in sugars as the best dietary choices available.
Here’s my take on this dietary approach.
Continue reading “The Mediterranean Diet”Going Dairy Free
I’ve done a lot of self-experiments over the years – gluten free, vegetarian, pescatarian, vegan, paleo, 365 days alcohol free, standing vs seating desks, smartphone vs dumb phone, caffeine free, 30 day fitness challenges. I have learnt a lot from doing these trials and testing out what works or doesn’t work for me. A human guinea pig if you will.
Continue reading “Going Dairy Free”The Gift in the Pause
I haven’t written in nearly 6 weeks which is a record for me. Why is this? Well the last 6 weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind haven’t they?
Continue reading “The Gift in the Pause”