Portfolio: Food & Nutrition
Are vegans really healthier than meat eaters? Would you benefit from going gluten-free? Which foods will boost your mental health? What’s the most effective way to lose weight? How much do you really know about sugar and sweeteners?
I love food, and I love writing about it too. I’m married to a chef and we love planning what we’re going to eat for dinner, but I’m also fascinated by how our diet affects our health, and how we can use it to improve our physical and mental wellbeing.
Is veganism really good for your health?
There are many reasons to turn vegan – but is better health really one of them? Giving up animal produce and loading up on plant-based foods… It’s good for the planet and great for your consc...
What can your face reveal about your health – and how can your diet improve your looks and wellbeing?
If you want to know what’s really going on in your body, take a good long look in the mirror… Your face reveals all sorts of secrets about your health according to the nutritionist and naturopa...
Are you thinking of giving up gluten?
Gluten-free is all the rage – but is it a food fad that you really need to follow? This blog is adapted from a feature I wrote for Woman’s Own magazine. Know your enemy Think back to the last t...
What’s causing your high blood pressure?
Hypertension – high blood pressure – is a subject that I often find myself writing about. It raises our risk of stroke, heart disease, and dementia and is something we should all be taking se...
When is the best time of day to moisturise your skin?
Morning, night, or both? Does it make any difference what time of day you apply your moisturiser? Yes! So says Dr Michaela Arens-Corell of the skin care company Sebamed. In this fun health feature ...
Cancer myths – sorting fact from fiction
Can your tight bra cause cancer? Will dyeing your hair put you at risk? Is sugar really fuel for cancer cells? In this feature I explored the truths and myths about cancer. One fact is sure: 50% of...
Is tiny handwriting a warning sign of Parkinson’s disease?
Take a look at your old diaries and letters… Was your handwriting once much bigger than it is now? If so, your shrinking scrawls could be an early sign of Parkinson’s disease. So I was told by ...
Can diet help you reverse type 2 diabetes?
Interviewing Dr Michael Mosley recently, I was inspired to discover that he has reversed his type 2 diabetes with a fairly simple change of diet. Michael, whose best-selling book The Fast Diet (wri...
Are you at risk of osteoporosis?
Fifty is the magic number… After this age you have 50-50 chance of developing osteoporosis. Your genes, lifestyle choices, and medical history can all contribute to your risk. After your menopaus...
Could olive oil lower your blood pressure?
It’s a common belief that a Mediterranean diet rich in olive oil is good for you, but what do the experts say? Karen Evennett writes the health news pages for Candis Magazine and she has recently...
The poison on your plate
Last night we tucked into a meal of fish curry with Basmati rice, ooh-ing and aah-ing because it had been two weeks since we’d last eaten rice and we’d forgotten how much we loved it. “Slimmi...
Have your cake – and drink it!
A large glass of wine contains the same number of calories – 200 – as a doughnut. Will this information, if displayed on our bottles, A) have more impact on reducing your alcohol consumption than t...
Peel the fear…
In an excellent feature in yesterday’s Daily Telegraph – Short Cuts to Self Help – Victoria Lambert gave us a quick run through of the most enduring self help books on the market. I was pleas...
Portion control
In the 1960s my dad worked for BP, and a Sunday family treat was to go to the company’s sports club for lunch and a swim. I don’t remember much about the lunch’s main course – I suspect it ...
Oh I do like a little bit of butter on my bread…
I was raised on AA Milne’s The King’s Breakfast. I, like the King, preferred plain butter to marmalade on my bread. I still do… spreading it thickly on nasty old crusts to make them more pala...
Is it faux depression?
Where I live, the Thames riverside is gorgeous at the moment, lined with golden leafed trees. But let’s not forget that these are also a sign that we are in the season of melancholy – the time ...