This morning I spoke on BBC Radio Scotland with Stephen Jardine on the rising popularity of collagen supplementation and where the research stands in terms of the potential benefits of taking collagen. As a woman in my forties, I am always looking for ways to optimise my skin health and appearance, increase hair thickness, bone health and overall wellbeing. My daily staples for skin health include a high-quality omega-3 fatty acid, zinc, magnesium complex and for the last ten years, a daily scoop of collagen peptides. Collagen supplementation is a hot topic at the moment and much of the large ..read more

As we sit on the brink of 2023...here are three of the lessons I will take forward to the new year. Life is never linear Have you ever noticed how life has a habit of throwing challenges our way at the MOST inconvenient time! Sometimes it can feel SO relentless...we find ourselves looking to the skies, hands thrown up...Really?! More...? This year, the first lesson I am taking forward is that life is never linear and if we expect it to be that way...we will suffer! When we expect life to be linear...we essentially prepare ourselves for disappointment and suffering! If we expect life to be fu ..read more

Have you ever wondered why the biscuit barrel is so hard to resist at the end of the day...? Why is it that you can be super disciplined all day and then come the evening...it all goes out of the window?! Well, will power is like a muscle...the more will power we exert through the day, the more 'fatigued' that will power can become as the evening approaches. This is why will power alone is not enough to make lasting change. To create change that sticks we need new beliefs, new habits AND an understanding of WHY we make the choices we make...particularly when it comes to food choices! Are we ea ..read more

Co-founder of Sow & Arrow, Gary Lewis is no stranger to sampling foods from across the world. Having spent 15 years as part of the Royal Family, Gary Lewis, aka Gaz, experienced foods and cultures from across the globe. He recalls, "in one of my most memorable meals, I sat next to the late Queen for Christmas lunch, where we discussed her passion for horses and her dairy farm in New Zealand. Whilst the food served was always delicious, it was the whole experience that made it so special." It is reported that the late Queen was a fan of a low-carb diet. Which is ironic as many years later ..read more

Do Supplements work? Should you be taking a supplement? As a Functional Nutritionist, one of the most common questions I am asked is, should I take a supplement, and if so, which ones?! When it comes to supplements, there are some key points to take note of… 1. You can’t out supplement a bad diet No supplement will beat the benefits of a balanced diet. Food is fundamental to our health and wellbeing, simply put, we cannot out supplement a bad diet. For optimal mental and physical health, we must see food as more than simple fuel. The food we consume is creating every single cell and system wi ..read more

Are you serious? No bread?! I don’t eat Jaffa cakes or Doritos and now….what, I have to give up bread?! I’ll be starving!! What will I eat?! The brat inside my head was having a field day. Throwing all her toys out of the pram. The stories I was telling myself didn’t last long. I had read the science, I reasoned with myself that in order to make massive impact on my health I had to make big changes. OK, I was ready. I put together a plan. I knew bread was out…but was there an alternative? Surely there must be! I had been eating rye bread for lunch for…well…ever!! So…what now? I trawled the Int ..read more

As many as 16 million adults in the UK suffer from sleepless nights, with a third of UK adults experiencing regular disrupted sleep. This is likely to increase as many feel the increased stress of the rising cost of living. With poor sleep linked to increased anxiety, low mood, increased blood sugars, weight gain, increased levels of stress hormones cortisol, disrupted gut bacteria, increased sugar cravings and poor concentration…we need to get Britain sleeping again! Supplements to Optimise Sleep... Turn off ‘Excessive Thinking!’ Many of us know that familiar feeling of running over and over ..read more

It's in our human nature to make sense of a situation, to understand and assign fault, to direct blame for why something isn't how we would like it to be, how we expect it to be. That may be our weight...the way we look, our desire to stop eating certain foods...our energy levels, our body shape. "Why can't I lose weight....Why can't I stop eating these foods I know are not good for me..." We seek answers to the questions we regularly ask our selves, and the answers are often pointed directly at ourselves. "I have no self-discipline, I have no will power...it's my metabolism...I just have no m ..read more

As a Functional Nutritionist, I am deeply passionate about helping people to optimise their health, quality of life and longevity. This passion is coupled with a love and awe of nature and the deeply rooted relationship we have with the planet. With continuous scientific breakthroughs and increased public awareness, surges in demand for supplements and ‘superfoods’ pose an environmental threat. One such nutrient that has seen a large increase in demand is omega-3 fatty acids. With fish oil sales rocketing, seeking out a plant-based alternative source of intelligent omega-3 fatty acids could o ..read more

to avoid or not to avoid, that is the question...Soybeans first took root in the 11th century in China, where they were considered to have both nutritional and medicinal properties. Three cultured soybean foods became staple foods in Asian cuisine, Tempeh, Miso and Tofu. 80% of soybean crops are used for livestock feed and soybean accounts for 27% of the worldwide vegetable oil production, a highly processed and inflammatory oil best avoided. Industrially grown soy is highly sprayed with pesticides and can be an irritant for digestive health. However, when grown organically, non-GMO soya offer ..read more