Food & recipes

Health: Diet and nutrition news

By Alice Bradshaw

We’re going to cook with rapeseed oil and stock up on berries

Purple power

A study published in the journal Cell has shown resveratrol can trick cells into thinking they’re energy-deprived, causing them to increase production of energy-producing proteins. The discovery could eventually lead to new treatments for conditions such as alzheimer’s. Resveratrol, a natural phenol found in red and purple grapes, blueberries, cranberries, mulberries and lingon berries, has been championed as a key ingredient which could also help prevent damage to blood vessels, reduce bad cholesterol and prevent blood clots.

Product Showcase

Get your hands on these health-giving goodies

Little Miracles Organic Energy,£1.49 If you’re cutting out coffee but miss the effects a cuppa can have, we’ve found the next best thing. Little Miracles has a selection of organic drinks guaranteed to perk you up. The three flavours in the range are a blend of natural fruits and teas and all taste scrumptious.
Minvita Baobab Superfruit Powder, £14.69 Sprinkle some of this baobab powder on your cereal or add to your favourite smoothie and you’ll geta large dose of potassium, calcium,magnesium, zinc and a whole host of vitamins.
Fussels Rapeseeds Oil, £5.05 Low in saturated fat, and high in omega 3, this delicious rapeseed oil makes a great change to your normal cooking oil. An added bonus is that its health benefits are retained even at high temperatures so it’s especially good for cooking, marinating,baking, frying and roasting.

Oiling Up

Food scientists from the University of Maine have come up with a novel idea to get more fish oil into our diets – to fortify goats’ cheese with it!

Fish oil has higher levels and more balanced proportions of omega 3 fatty acids compared to other sources such as flax and algal oil. But with dwindling fish supplies and the nasty after-taste of supplements fishy cheese may be the way forward.Unfortunately, fishoil oxidises quickly making food fortification difficult but goats’ cheese has unique properties which seem to protect the oil.

The Taste Barometer

Going up

SERVE CHILLED Become a fan of potato salad and your large intestine will thank you. A recent study has found that chilling the veg after cooking it converts some of the starch into a more resistant form which helps to improve digestion.
FASTING FOR HEALTH The journal Science Translational Medicine, found that tumour cells respond differently to the stress of fasting and going for small periods of time without food can slow their growth.
MIGHTY NUTS Walnuts may be particularly beneficial for men as trials have found they can reduce the risk of prostate cancer. They’re rich in polyunsaturated fats and healthy antioxidants.

Going down

SUGAR JUNKIE Scientists at the University of California are calling for sugar to be regulated in the same way as alcohol and tobacco due to its detrimental effect on the body.
FRESH IS BEST Volunteers who ate soup from plastic-coated tin cans for five days saw their levels of bisphenol A, which is often found in hard plastics, levels rise by 1,221 per cent!
CUT BACKS Research has found there is an increased risk of liver disease for those who drink daily or near-daily compared with those who have a tipple periodically.

DID YOU KNOW?

Researchers found around one in 13 employees at lunch get their jogging gear on and pound the streets while their colleagues relax and eat. More than half said they felt they performed better at work after the work out.
Last year, there were 200,000 hospital admissions due to alcohol abuse, a 40 percent rise in the past decade.
Baking is a cognitive stimulation treatment and Scientists from the University of Bangor has found it can help mild dementia suffers improve their memory

Vitamin View

Expert nutritionist Alice Bradshaw explains just how important magnesium is to your overall wellbeing

Magnesium really is one of the most important nutrients the body needs. As with all minerals, the body cannot manufacture magnesium, so it’s important that our daily diets are rich in it.Known as the ‘anti-stress’ mineral, magnesium exerts a calming effect on the whole body.

Magic mineral

Magnesium also plays a pivotal role in bone health where, along with other nutrients, it helps to ensure proper mineralisation of the bones. Cardiovascular health, blood pressure and mood regulation are all dependent on magnesium as are hundreds of other enzymatic reactions that occur within the body.

In fact, the role of magnesium is so diverse that there isn’t a body system that is not affected by magnesium deficiency. Nutritional therapists often suggest a magnesium-rich diet for people with muscular twitches, stress and anxiety, premenstrual syndrome,irritability and headaches. As a supplement, it’s often effective for relieving constipation when everything else has failed.

Natural sources

If you think you could benefit from extra magnesium, it’s worth having a consultation with a qualified health practitioner who can make specific recommendations for you. Fortunately,nature has provided some tasty sources of this super mineral.Most vegetables, especially the dark green ones, are magnesium rich, as are almonds, Brazil nuts and wholegrains. Cocoa is a surprisingly rich source of magnesium, so that’s just one more reason to enjoy a bar of good quality, dark chocolate.

Best until last

Have you ever noticed how the last mouthful of cake tastes the best?
A study from the University of Michigan involved volunteers eating five small pieces of chocolate in different flavours before asking them to rate their enjoyment. The study found those with the warning that it was the last piece found it tastier than others.
“Endings affect us in lots of ways and one is this positivity effect,”said researcher Ed O’Brien, who led the study.

Article by

Alice Bradshaw

Nutritionist for Solgar Vitamins

Article by

Alice Bradshaw

Nutritionist for Solgar Vitamins