What is an allergy? Firstly, let’s address the difference between an allergy and an intolerance. An allergy is when our immune system overreacts to an allergen. For some this might be a case of hayfever of a reaction to a specific food such as eggs, nuts or shellfish. A symptom from an allergy can vary greatly, it could be sneezing and watering eyes in the case of hayfever. Or it could be itchy skin or hives all the way to difficulty breathing. In severe cases an allergy may lead to anaphylaxis and can cause death. Intolerances are often confused with allergies. however, although inconvenient ..read more

We have launched our vitamin D test. The test measures your vitamin D2 and D3 levels and gives you a result along with personalised advice. The test is a simple finger prick blood test. All you have to do is collect your sample, activate your kit and send it to our lab for analysis using the prepaid return postage. After a week of posting your sample, you’ll receive your results and your personalised advice on how to improve your vitamin D levels and overall health. What is Vitamin D? Vitamin D is essential to the body as it helps absorb calcium, regulate bone growth, maintain your immune syst ..read more

Much like gut health, yoga is popular and has been for a while. Unsurprisingly, yoga’s health benefits include flexibility, muscle strength, balanced metabolism, circulatory health, weight reduction, and more. Also, it is said to help gut health, which interests us. Specific yoga poses may help your internal organs and may help your body cope with some gut issues. The twisting and movement in poses can also improve your digestion, and the deep breathing often common in yoga is an excellent way to relax the whole body, including your gut. Gut Friendly Poses Standing forward bend –  &n ..read more

Can food really affect my mental health? Many people seek to take control of their mental health using self-help and find approaches they can use alongside, or even instead of, prescribed medication. For example, one self-help strategy is to change what we eat. As a result, there is a growing interest in how food and nutrition can affect emotional and mental health. Scientific evidence to back this up is developing. Still, there are many challenges for scientists to overcome. In the meantime, some medical practitioners remain unconvinced of the link between food and mood. Nevertheless, positiv ..read more

If your gut bacteria is less than at its best, you’re probably looking to restore the good bacteria. If you’re not, then you really should be. Multiple things can affect your gut bacteria, including being ill and doing a round of antibiotics. If you have suffered from either of these, then it’s likely your gut bacteria have taken a real hit. So, How long to restore your gut bacteria? Like many questions in life, it isn’t an easy answer. It depends on how affected your gut was and its state. Studies suggest that it can take about six months to recover from antibiotic damage. Nevertheless, if yo ..read more

No doubt, you’ve heard that fibre is important to your gut health, but there’s a chance you don’t understand why or really understand fibre at all. Well, that’s why we’re here. Read ahead to increase your understanding of why you should be keeping up with your fibre intake. Benefits There’s a reason why fibre is talked about more frequently in some circles. There have been scientists shouting out about the benefits of fibre, but for some reason it seems to be something that is coming to light a lot later. There are lots of benefits to making sure you hit your daily intake. Benefits of Fibre ..read more

Vitamin D is vital to our bodies and contributes to various functions and body parts. For example, it helps maintain our immune system, supports strong and healthy bones and helps keep muscles and teeth healthy. In addition, vitamin D regulates the amount of calcium and phosphate. There is also evidence to suggest it can support brain function and improve heart health. However, this research is still in the early stages. Our bodies can produce most or all the vitamin D we require when our skin is exposed to direct UV sunlight. This can be easy in the summer months if you spend some time outdoo ..read more

In 2017, 20.4% of people claimed to be teetotal and not consume any alcohol at all. It would probably be a fair guess that the number has risen since then, with the decision seemingly on the rise. The number of non-alcoholic beverages available appears to increase every few shopping trips, and the lack of hangovers are a selling point. Nevertheless, most of us still like to have a drink now and then. The question is, can our gut help us to avoid a hangover? So, we decided to investigate it and look at whether alcohol can harm our gut. Can we avoid a hangover thanks to our gut? Interestingly, t ..read more