What is the Planetary Health Diet?
The ‘planetary health diet’ has hit the headlinesthis month. This is mainly been sparked by the commission released by EAT-Lancet recently. Let’s look into what it is all about.
Why?
The world today faces a challenge of sustaining a rapidly increasing population under the restraints of climate change and declining resources. The number of people living on our planet is increasing exponentially and is expected to reach 9.8 billion by 2050. This will obviously lead to a huge rise in demand for food, and current trajectoriessuggest that this demand will not […]
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Nutrition and Fertility
Nutrition and Fertility
Can some foods make me more likely to become pregnant?
Although I’d love to give you a long list of foods which miraculously improve fertility, sadly, it’s not that simple. As with the vast majority of nutritional science, there is never a simple answer or one superhero food which is going to solve all problems.
Online it is easy to find articles which suggest ‘detox’ diets, eating only organic produce and even juicing to improve fertility. There is little evidence behind these recommendations and so it is important to seek advice […]
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How many a day?
How many a day?
5, 7, or 10 portions of fruit and veg a day?
In the UK it is recommended that we should be eating 5 portions of fruit and vegetables per day. Fruit and vegetables are a wonderful source of fibre, vitamins, and minerals. Their consumption has been shown to have great benefit to our health. These benefits include reducing the risk of heart disease, stroke and some cancers. The fibre content of fruit and vegetables also helps to keep our digestive system healthy and prevent constipation.
The […]
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How Can a Good Diet Prevent Tooth Decay?
How Can a Good Diet Prevent Tooth Decay?
#FoodandToothTalk
There are many things running through our minds when we have young children and a busy lifestyle. Important things are often missed until they become an obvious problem, especially when it comes to a child’s oral health. Oral health plays an important role in general health and wellbeing and contributes to the development of a healthy child and school readiness. One of the most common oral diseases is tooth decay, which affects children and young people in England.
As reported by Public Health England (2018) a quarter of […]
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What’s the Buzz around Honey?
What’s the Buzz around Honey?
You may have noticed that honey has made the headlines this week, ‘Use honey first for a cough, new guidelines say’ was the title of an article posted by the BBC. This is because new, draft guidelines have been released by Public Health England (PHE) which advise doctors on how to treat coughs in their patients. Let’s delve a little deeper into this headline and look at how much truth is behind it.
Why have the guidelines changed?
One of the reasons why the guidelines mentioned above have recently been reviewed and changed is […]
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Peanuts and Pregnancy
Peanuts and Pregnancy
Can eating peanuts during pregnancy cause peanut allergy in children?
Peanut allergy is one of the most common allergies in the UK. In England in 2005, it was estimated that around 1 in 2,000 people had a diagnosed peanut allergy. Peanut allergy is known as an IgE-mediated allergy. This means that prior exposure and sensitisation peanuts is required before an allergic reaction is seen. The first time an individual is exposed to peanut, their immune system makes antibodies specific to peanut. This means that if they are exposed to peanut a second time and immune response will occur, […]
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Cartoon Characters to Advertise Junk Food?
Cartoon Characters to Advertise Junk Food?
Is it responsible to use cartoon characters to target advertisement of unhealthy foods at children?
We’re all very familiar with the likes of the Milky Bar Kid and Tony the Tiger, the characters who have been promoting some of the most popular chocolate and cereal products for years. Recently, these guys have had some pretty bad press.
It is well established that marketing has a huge influence on food choice. Evidence shows that children are particularly vulnerable to marketing strategies as they ‘lack an adult’s understanding of advertising intent.’ Additionally, children have […]
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Healthy Eating for Gestational Diabetes
Healthy Eating for Gestational Diabetes
What is Gestational Diabetes?
Gestational diabetes is much like Type 2 Diabetes and is a disease of insulin resistance. This means that insulin, the hormone that controls glucose in the blood, doesn’t function as it should leading to too much glucose in the bloodstream.
During pregnancyour body requires more insulin however some women may not be able to produce enough to cope with increased demand or may have become insulin resilient. This can lead to gestational diabetes.
This can cause several increased risks such as; premature birth, respiratory problems, and low blood sugar for the infant after birth.
Gestational Diabetes is diagnosedby […]
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Vegetarianism and Pregnancy
Vegetarianism and Pregnancy
Eating a healthy, balanced diet is important throughout life but is particularly important during pregnancy. This will benefit not just the health, growth and development of your baby, but also your own health too.
One of the most important diet-related recommendations during pregnancy is to eat a wide variety of foods each day to ensure that you and your baby are getting all of the nutrients you need. In the UK it is also recommended that vitamin D and folic acid supplements are taken. Further information about supplements during pregnancy can be found […]
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The Newest “Diet” in Town
The Newest “Diet” in Town
Public health England unveiled their new OneYou “diet plan”for adults last month – widely reported in the media as Britons being “put on a diet” by the government! Recommended calorie (energy) intake for men is 2500 calories a day and for women 2000, so the plan consisted of a 400-600-600 calorie split for breakfast lunch and dinner, leaving room left for snacks.
But why are we being recommended to divide up our calories this way – and should we all be doing it?