Food Bloggers

There are loads of food bloggers out there if you just want recipes, but these each have a useful focus to their posts.

Deliciously Ella (deliciouslyella.com). In 2011 Ella Woodward was struck down with a debilitating illness  that was eventually diagnosed as Postural Tachycardia Syndrome, a relatively rare illness triggered by an abnormal heart rate. With conventional treatments not working (there is no single medication) she looked into alternative methods, included diet based methods. She decided to adopt a vegan plant-based diet, free from dairy, gluten and sugar, and gradually her symptoms subsided. For motivation she started a blog on which to post new and tasty recipes that she could eat. By January 2015 she had been off medication for 18 months and was healthy.

A Girl Called Jack (agirlcalledjack.com). Jack Monroe started this blog (in 2012?) to detail how she and her young son lived on a budget of £10 a week. Her recipes are now handed out by foodbanks.

I Quit Sugar (https://iquitsugar.com/blog/). Sarah Wilson eliminated sugar from her diet in January 2011. "It started as an experiment, but my energy, skin and wellness improved so much, I just kept going. And going. And feeling better and better. I stopped eating sugar because I’d been told by specialists and nutritionists for years that I should. I have an autoimmune disease (Hashimotos, a disease that attacks the thyroid and mostly affects women over 40) and sugar flares my condition terribly. Some even argue sugar causes the disease in the first place. Anyone with a compromised system simply cannot afford to have their stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisol), their neurotransmitter levels (dopamine) or their insulin levels tipped off balance by sugar. It’s a hard, cold but oddly motivating fact." Read her story here.

Dandruff

Dandruff is mainly caused by a fungus which lives naturally on most people's skin; it causes problems in about half of us.

The fungus,  Malassezia globosa, feeds off the oils on our skin and hair and then produces oleic acid, which can irritate the skin, leading to a rapid turnover of skin cells - the dead cells we see in the hair. Air pollution can make this worse, whilst UV light from sunshine can help dampen it down.

Do not add oil to your scalp – washing off the natural oils that Malassezia feeds on is more likely to help.

Some chemicals can help kill it off; the most effective anti-fungals are miconazole and ketokonazole. Some shampoos contain ketokonazole, but miconazole is currently only available in skin creams (and some pet shampoos!).

If you find the effects of an antifungal shampoo wear off after a while, try another product. Coal tar shampoos can slow down skin turnover (but may discolour fair hair). Shampoos containing salicylic acid can help get rid of the flakes. Shampoos containing zinc or selenium can also target the fungus.

BBC 2 Trust Me, I'm a Doctor January 2016

NHS Choices website - page on dandruff 

Isoflavones and Osteoporosis

Research conducted by the University of Hull examined the risk of bone loss in women consuming soy protein both alongside an isoflavone supplement and without. The six-month study showed that the overall rate of bone loss had notably slowed in those combining soy protein and isoflavone supplement. Scientists are also exploring indications that those who took a supplement also redued their risk of cardiovascular disease.

A report published by the European Food Safety Authority in Nov. 2015 states that there is no indication of harm on the health of peri- and post-menopausal women using isoflavones. "We found that soy proteins and isoflavones are a safe and effective option for improving bone health in women during early menopause ... the actions of soy appear to mimic conventional osteoporosis drugs ... supplementing with isoflavones could lead to a significant decrease in women diagnosed with osteoporosis"

Item in Lifespan Breaking News, Winter 2015.

Eco Tips for the Kitchen

Here are some tips on how to be green in the kitchen.

• Only put the amount of water you need into the kettle.
• Only use the amount of water you need to boil vegetables or pasta.
• Only run the correct amount of water when washing dishes, pots and pans.
• A small squirt of washing up liquid is usually all that is needed - you don't need masses of bubbles to get things clean.
• Use a microwave to reheat or warm food rather than the oven. [Read more about re-heating food safely.]
• A slow cooker pot uses less electricity than a conventional oven.
• Close the fridge door unless you are taking something out or putting something in.
• Fill empty space in a freezer (e.g. with crumpled newspaper) as this uses less power than freezing air. 
• Try and cook only the amount of food you will eat, unless you are deliberately cooking a larger amount to be used over two or more days.
• Put vegetable and fruit peelings, used tea leaves and tea bags, and coffee grounds in a compost bin. You can also compost left over salad and vegetables which cannot be re-used in a later meal.
• If you don't have a garden, put cooked and uncooked waste food items in the waste food bin if this is separately collected by your local council (and in the household waste bin if not collected separately).
• Recycle as much food and cleaning materials packaging (cardboard, plastic containers, bottles, etc.) as you can. Check with your local council recycling service on what can be recycled and how. 
• Don't over-stock your cupboards; although many items have a long shelf life, it is easy to forget you have something. Beware multi-buy offers which often seduce you into buying more than you need.

Various sources

Handy Portion Control

A lack of portion control is one of the main reasons people are overweight. Here is a foolproof guide to serving sizes - using just your hand.

Fist = carbs and fruit. A portion of carbs (e.g. potatoes, rice or pasta) should be no bigger than your closed fist, or a tennis ball. Fruit portions should be a similar size.

Palm = protein. Protein portions (meat, fish, poultry, tofu) should be about the size ofyour cupped palm.

Thumb = cheese and nuts. Match portions of cheese and nuts to your thumb size.

Fingertips = fats. A slice of toast should have no more than a fingertip sized amount of butter.

Hand = veg. Open your hand and spread your fingers as wide as you can - that is a good vegetable portion.

Item in Good Housekeeping, July 2015