Iron Absorption

Iron is a mineral needed by our bodies. Iron is a part of all cells and does many things. For example, iron (as part of the protein hemoglobin) carries oxygen from our lungs throughout our bodies. Having too little hemoglobin is called anaemia. Iron also helps our muscles store and use oxygen.

Iron is a part of many enzymes and is used in many cell functions. Enzymes help our bodies digest foods and also help with many other important reactions that occur within our bodies. When our bodies don't have enough iron, many parts of our bodies are affected.

The best sources of iron in our diet are:

• Red meat
• Egg yolks
• Dark, leafy greens (spinach, cabbages, kale, broccoli)
• Dried fruit (prunes, raisins)
• Iron-enriched cereals and grains (check the labels)
• Molluscs (oysters, clams, scallops)
• Turkey or chicken giblets
• Beans, lentils, chick peas and soybeans
• Liver
• Artichokes

And here's a tip: If you eat iron-rich foods along with foods (e.g. sweet peppers, orange juice, tomatoes) that provide plenty of vitamin C, your body can better absorb the iron. Conversely, avoid tea and coffee with meals as they lower iron absorption.

Ironing Tips

Avoiding shine
Often ironed garments can end up looking shiny, which is not a good look. Shine may be removed by steam pressing with a damp cloth. Too avoid getting shine, iron garments on the wrong side.

Baggy seats on skirts?
Press with a damp cloth, working towards the centre from the outer edge of the bagginess on the right side of the item. Then iron with kitchen paper.

Get rid of creases
Iron both sides at once. Slip a few layers of kitchen foil beneath your ironing board cover to reflect the heat - then wathc creases disappear.

Good Housekeeping

Probiotics

Probiotic yoghurts and drinks are marketed as aids to improve health and digestion. They contain high concentrations of digestion-aiding bacteria. However there is no evidence that they offer any real benefit unless you are unwell.

Within your bowels there are huge numbers of bacteria (about 100 trillion) that feed off the remnants of your last meal. They help digest your food, absorb nutrients and keep your immune system in tiptop shape. The types and amounts of different gut bacteria species are kept in a continuous balance. Occasionally, due to illness or a long course of antbiotics, the balance of gut bugs can be upset; some harmful types of gut bacteria can 'overgrow' and predominate, which can make you unwell. So for someone suffering diarrhoea due to antibiotics, probiotics, which contain high numbers of good bacteria, are proven as a useful treatment for replacing lost bacteria.

For pretty much everyone else, the balance of bacteria is likely to be fine, and adding extra from a probiotic will do nothing - though it won't do you any harm, either.

Dt Stuart Farrimond in the Wiltshire Times, 28 March 2014

Bright White

White coloured garments should not turn yellow if you keep them in a cool, dry ventilated place away form direct heat.

For sweat stains, soak in an enzyme pre-wash detergent, then scrub with a nailbrush and machine wash with biological detergent.

For stubborn stains, rub with White Wizard (from Lakeland).

Good Housekeeping

Springform Cake Tins

Springform cake tins have a detachable base. Because of their structure, they are not easy to line in the traditional way, so try the following.

Remove the outside ring. Cover the base section with baking parchment or greaseproof paper, leaving a wide margin around the edge. Then clip on the outside ring. Next  trim off the excess paper from the outside. Finally, line the sides of the tin in the usual way with parchment or greaseproof paper.

Dry Cleaning

More and more garments are labelled 'dry clean' on the care instruction label, but not because more fabrics actually need to be dry cleaned.

Manufacturers are labelling clothes as 'dry clean' because they haven't tested them in washing machines. So have a look at the fibres listed on the label.

Plain, unlined cottons: should be safe to wash at a low temperature with a slow spin speed, but always check first for colour fasness and be aware they may shrink.

Polyester and mixed fibres should be ok too.

Good Housekeeping

Sports Supplements - Protein

Protein supplements (shakes, powders and confectionery bars). Unless you are an elite athlete or seriously mal-nourished, a protein supplement is unlikely to give you any kind of boost. Why? Whenever we exercise, we are triggering our body to adapt to the strains we place on it. Our body builds muscle, improves heart strength and circulation and enhances lung capacity over many weeks and months. Between workouts, the body repairs and strengthens muscles, using nutrients, especially the protein, in our diet to do so.

For many years it was thought that eating high levels of protein would enhance such muscle development, but new research shows this is not true and eating too much protein simply overloads the system. Eating more protein than needed forces the body to expel the excess in our urine. Research also shows that too mcuh protein could increase cancer risk and lower life expectancy.

All we need is a balanced diet. A male athlete needs 90g of protein a day (slightly less for a woman): easily achieved in a normal diet with a cup of yoghurt at breakfast, some tuna at lunchtime and a chicken fillet for dinner.

As well as being unnecessary, pre-made protein bars and drinks often have sugar added, so adding unwanted calories to your day's energy intake. So you easily end up piling on the pounds.


Dr Stuart Farrimond in Wiltshire Times, March 2014

Wasps

Wasps can be a nuisance, especially if you are eating outside.

If you find a nest or want to keep them away from you while eating outside, try placing a 2 litre bottle a quarter full of ginger beer with the lid off in a nearby location. They will be attracted to the sugar in the drink and will investigate, and some will drown.

If you notice wasps settling somewhere, try a wasp killer based on bendiocarb (not on pyrethrum). Wasps will get this powder on themselves and take it back to the queen. Once she dies, the whole of the nest will also die soon afterwards.

Plants that act as wasp repellants

• Wormwood, also called Artemisia, is a boxy shrub that was used as a medicine until people found out that it was poisonous. It can grow in full sun or partial shade. However, it contains a natural form of absinthe (an intoxicating and poisonous substance) which is water-soluble and can wash off the leaves in dew or rain, killing small surrounding plants and flowers. This plant can also make humans sick if it is ingested.
• Mint and mint oil both repel wasps. Mint is ideal for this because it not only looks nice and smells pleasant, but it is also used in cooking. However, mint will take over your entire garden if you let it, so either keep it in pots or prune it back often. Mint likes sunshine but will grow in almost any environment.

Various sources

Medical Testing

There are so many tests and screening programmes these days for medical conditions and diseases, so it can be helpful to know what each involves, and what information it can give.

Lab Tests Online-UK is written by practising laboratory doctors and scientists to help you understand the many clinical laboratory tests that are used in diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of disease. The 'about this site' page describes how the site can help you. Search under conditions and diseases and find information on laboratory tests used for particular diagnosis and/or management or alternatively, if you know the test name, just search under test.

Skip Breakfast or Not?

People looking to lose weight are often advised not to skip breakfast. The problem with studies on eating habits is that they ask people about their eating patterns and then base their results on that. For example, the talk to people who don't eat breakfast then make them eat breakfast, and get those who do eat breakfast to stop, and then take their evidence from these studies.

However, the problem with making non-breakfast eaters eat breakfast is that it makees them want to eat more during the day, and so they actually put on weight. So if you don't like eating breakfast, just don't eat it.

Michael Mosley in the Radio Times, October 2013

Aspirin and Health

On the Plus side
Aspirin is great at preventing heart attacks, especially if you've already had one. And a 2012 study suggested that there's a 37% reduction in cancer risk, particularly colon and prostate cancer, for those who take a therpeutic low dose of aspirin (anything from 1/4 of a 300g tablet to a shole one) once a day over a period of five years.

On the Minus side

• A side effect of taking aspirin is that it may make your stomach bleed. This internal bleeding can be catastrophic.
• As people are self-medicating, they often take too much.
• No-one can quantify the risks.

Your decision for or against taking aspirin will depend on medical advice, your risk factors for either heart attack or cancers and whether you are more afraid of these conditions or the risk of internal bleeding.

Michael Mosley in the Radio Times, October 2013

Alcohol Intake

Wine
There is no evidence to support drinking wine for medicinal purposes. Anything more than a quarter of a glass is drunk for pleasure rather than health reasons. The level of resveratol in red wine is so tiny there is really no health benefit of red over white wine, or wine in general at all.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D plays an important part in maintaining health in the following ways:

• Calcium absorbtion and forming strong bones
• Joint, heart and brain health
• Immune system
• Appears to reduce risk of developing type 2 diabetes and some types of cancer

It is formed by the action of UVB rays from the sun on the skin when the UV index is greater than 3, so exposure to the sun is an easy way to keep levels up. However, the required UV index levels are only reached in the UK in the spring and summer, so supplements may be needed in autumn and winter. Vitamin D is found in small amounts in some foods.

• Oily fish, fish liver oils, animal liver.
• Fortified margerine, eggs, butter and fortified milk.
• Avocado is a good source, and  can be used in salads, sandwiches and mashed on toast.
• Mushrooms are able to make vitamin D when exposed to sunlight; leave them in good sunlight for 15 minutes, gill side upwards to expose the greatest surface area. Flat mushrooms can make more vitamin D than button mushrooms. 

Supplements

• Supplements of vitamin D3 are more effective in maintaining blood vitamin D levels than vitamin D2.
• The EU recommended daily allowance if 5mcg (200 IU) per day; however a daily intake of 25mcg (1000 IU) is usually recommended during winter months.
• Vitamin D supplements are best taken with fatty foods (e.g. milk or yoghurt) for more effective absorption as it is a fat soluble vitamin.
• Excess can lead to side effects associated with high calcium levels, such as demineralisation of bone, kidney stones, headache and weakness.

From Healthspan magazine Lifespan, winter 2013 issue and Trust Me, I'm a Doctor, BBC2 February 2017.

Fluid Intake

It is often said that we should drink two litres (nearly four pints) of water a day but there is no scientific study to support this. (Your actual fluid intake includes all drinks and most foods contain some water.)

You need to monitor your urine. If it is dark in colour, then you are not taking in enough liquids. If it is straw coloured, all is fine.

Michael Mosley in Radio Times, October 2013