I’d been a steady weight for most of my adult life around 65-70Kg. That was till I hit menopause.   Then it rose to 71 then 72 then…74. At that point, I stopped looking.   A few months later, I threw out my entire wardrobe which no longer fitted. This was getting expensive.   I honestly didn’t recognise the person in the mirror anymore. Who was she?   The general diet and lifestyle I’d enjoyed for years didn’t seem to manage my weight anymore and I couldn’t understand why.   I was eating a rainbow of plants every day, quality proteins from all sources, probiotic dairy ..read more

I knew I was more sedentary and eating less variety, but I wasn't prepared for this... my diversity score has slumped from a vibrant 8/10 to a mid-range 5/10. Why? There’s a saying in German that goes: “the plumber’s tap always drips”. It refers to the habit of some plumbers being so busy sorting out everyone else’s dripping taps, they neglect to fix their own. I was reminded of that phrase this week when I saw my latest Atlas Biomed microbiome stool results. As a nutritional therapist I support and motivate people to eat and live well for better health. So with all my so-called knowledge, my ..read more

As the Covid lockdowns are gradually lifted here in the UK, many of us are facing elasticated trouser separation anxiety and wondering how we will fit in our old socialising and work clothes again.  More than half of us have gained weight during the lockdowns - fuelled by a low step count, our workstations positioned by the chocolate cupboard, and 6pm wine-o-clock in place of the commute which used to transition us from work stress to home sanctuary.  If you are getting ready to shed a few kilos, here is a strategy I use to help prevent diet boredom-followed-by-binge and raise c ..read more

I sometimes meet people who have heard about time-restricted eating from someone they know, or the internet. They try this particular form of intermittent fasting, but don’t get the results they are hoping for. Here I share three of the most common mistakes practicing it. With time-restricted eating, the devil is in the detail. This is why I wrote The Ten Hour Diet - so you can get it right.    1) The harder, longer, more punishing the overnight fast, the better the results. Wrong. There is a sweet spot with overnight fasting. Most of the health benefits come between the 12 ..read more

Many people are taking large doses of vitamin C supplements daily at the moment in the hope it will help their immune system work better to protect them from Coronavirus. If only life was that simple! Yes vitamin C can be helpful to supporting the immune system, but the body can’t absorb a big dose in one go. In this article I will explain the issues with vitamin C supplementation, how to avoid problems if they are your only option, and how to trickle vitamin C foods through all your meals throughout your day for best absorption. I’ll show you how eating vitamin C-rich foods which also conta ..read more

Veganism is experiencing massive growth with the number of people following a totally “plant-based” diet quadrupling in the UK in the last four years. I would like to explain here some of the health issues I'm seeing in clinical practice among some people following this diet, and why plant-based doesn't have to mean a plant-only diet, Evidence for a plant-heavy Mediterranean pattern diet is linked with good mental and heart health and may be more do-able and beneficial to many people in the long run. As a nutritional therapist working in clinical practice in Harley Street in London, I have st ..read more

Eating Parmesan cheese can be an effective way to get probiotic bacteria into your gut, according to a new study from Italy. The authors looked at the bacteria in the guts of cows and their milk and tracked how these get into us and colonise our guts via eating Parmesan cheese. The authors found that Parmesan cheese contains beneficial bacteria including a wide range of different types particularly in the bifidobacteria and lactobacilli families. Other studies show us that these ones promote health, from better weight and mental health, to better immune system and heart. Bacteria that can ..read more

Fermented cabbage – that’s what sauerkraut is. Eaten and enjoyed across countries in Eastern Europe from Germany to Poland and Russia for centuries and now gaining popularity in British homes. With its tangy taste and crunch, you can spoon it through bagged salads, sprinkle it on soups, serve alongside stews in winter, or decant into a small bowl as a healthy snack or starter. But what exactly are the health benefits and why could it be particularly helpful to eat sauerkraut during winter? Cabbage is naturally high in vitamin C. Great. Even better is that fermenting cabbage accelerates the v ..read more

Have you given up gluten, and seen better digestive health and lost weight? I have something to share with you. Although you THINK it may be the absence of gluten in wheat which is making you feel better, I would argue that for many people it’s the absence of a nasty processed substance called carboxymethylcellulose in many commercial foods, especially wheat ones, which is the reason you are feeling much better. Symptoms that may have reversed when you chucked out the bread include no more rushing to the loo, feeling bloated and suffering embarrassing wind (which may have been mislabelled as ..read more

Certain “happy” bugs thrive in our digestive systems when we are in good mental health, and are depleted when depressed, according to a recent study on more than a thousand Flemish humans. Scientists have discovered that a subdivision of bacteria called Coprococcus is usually high in happy people and low in depressed. This means that growing this bacteria in our guts could help support our mental health. The scientists discovered the difference between happy and depressed people's guts by looking at the bacteria in subjects’ stool samples and comparing them with quality of life questionnaire ..read more