The Most Overlooked Liquid

People simply do not get enough water in their diet. The majority of us will swap water for any other kind of drink packed with unnecessary additives and sapping the health qualities of water on it's own.

Water takes up around 60 percent of our body weight . This liquid contributes nutrients needed for cells, flushes toxins  out of vital organs and creates the perfect atmosphere for tissues in the throat, ear and nose. Every system inside your body relies on water. So what do you want your body running on? It’s funny to joke around and say “Yeah, my body runs on coffee”, but it’s an entirely different thing when your body is literally fueled by it!

Now it’s true that all liquids are comprised of some amount of water, but the problem is some drinks actually work against waters original capabilities. 

Some companies try to sell the idea that their drink product can be better than water. This is not the case! There’s a major difference between drinking water and drinking something that contains water. Some positive effects of water on it’s own are masked because of added ingredients.

Caffeinated beverages like coffee, tea and fizzy drinks are frequently chosen before water. Although it may taste better, the water contained in these drinks does not help the body as effectively as just drinking water on it’s own could. These processed liquids stimulate the adrenal glands in the body and act as diuretics. High amounts of phosphorus are found in soft drinks which could result with calcium depletion in your bones.

Does it matter if I lack water?

One of the most common conditions that people incur is dehydration due to a lack of water. Even a minor level of dehydration can leave you feeling sapped of energy since you don’t have enough water in your body to carry out it’s normal functions.

14 things water helps with:

1. Digestion
2. Weight loss
3. Kidney health
4. Headaches
5. Replaces potential food so you feel full and don’t overeat
6. Younger and healthier looking skin
7. Relieves fatigue
8. Preventing sickness
9. Exercise productivity
10. Reduces risk of cancer
11. Work productivity
12. Improves mood
13. Preventing cramps and sprains
14. Helps with regular bowel movements

Consuming an appropriate amount of water will aid your heart in pumping blood and deliver essential nutrients to your cells more efficiently. It also helps to transport oxygen in your blood.

Boosting your muscles and preventing cramps is also a helpful trait of water. This can be a fairly significant property if you find yourself always feeling tired while working out. You should be glugging back a couple cups of H2O around two hours before you exercise. Water will reduce fatigue during exercise and and activities in addition to helping you keep more alert and awake. If you tend to work often and for long hours this can be one of the single best things you can do to keep in check.

Lack of water?

Thirsty? You may already be dehydrated!

When your thirst mechanism kicks in, your body is signalling that you are already dehydrated. When exercising you ideally want to be drinking water before, during and after the exercise. This ensures that you don’t reach the stage where you feel thirsty.

Signs and symptoms for dehydration in adults and teenagers:

• Dry mouth
• Dizziness
• Weakness
• Dry lips
• Nausea
• Low blood pressure
• Dry eyes
• Vomiting
• Muscle cramps
• Lack of sweat
• Dark urine (orange/yellow coloured and an especially strong odour)
• Inability to urinate

How much water is needed per day?

You have probably heard  that you should be drinking about 8 glasses of water per day. This isn’t necessarily accurate but is at least an easy thing to remember and to have as a base amount. A better guide for men is roughly 3 litres of fluids per day. For women it is roughly 2.2 litres of fluids per day.

Every day you lose water from breathing, sweating, urinating and bowel movements. For your body to function properly it’s important to replenish this water supply. If you spend time in hot or dry weather, exercise or consume a significant amount of caffeinated drinks you may need more water!

There are a fair amount of people who don’t like drinking water because of the lack of flavour. Although it’s highly recommended to drink this precious liquid on it’s own, here are a few healthy ways to improve the taste of water if you really must:

• Add some fresh lemon, orange slices, lime or mint to your water
• Put a handful of frozen berries into your water bottle. As the day passes on the frozen berries will help keep the water chilly and infuse the fruit flavour.

Lose weight, start juicing today!

I always get asked which juicer to buy as there are so many out there.  I have just updated my old juicer that I've had for years and have bought the Jason Vale Fusion Juicer which I found on the Clifford James website for £99.  It comes with a handy blender which converts to a bottle so you can take it on the go.  Also includes wall planner and handy recipe book and DVD.  It sells for £139.99 on Jason Vale's website so grab a bargain now!  How to use it?

Juice an apple, carrot, orange, spinach & lemon then blend the juice with banana, avocado and acai berries with a big glug of linseed oil, delicious!  Enough for 2 pints of juice/smoothie.

For lots of tips and motivation on juicing follow the Juicemaster Juicing Club or follow Jason Vale.  Thousands of members all sharing their stories!

Check out the excellent wall planner below with lots of recipes, guaranteed to shift the pounds before summer!

Delicious wrap with delicious beetroot, carrot and apple juice!

A great idea for lunch that your digestive system will really thank you for.

Buy some wraps - I usually get the wholemeal variety, there are also a spelt variety which is a much gentler sort of wheat.  If you are wheat intolerant try these which you can get online. Corn Flour Wraps
I have searched the supermarkets for wheat free wraps to no avail.  Please post a comment if you know where you can get them.

Now for the rest of the ingredients and the list is endless. Here are a few examples!  These ingredients also make a great salad if you don't fancy the wrap.

Chopped mange tout, courgette, celery
Grated raw beetroot, carrots, butternut squash, radishes
I like it spicy so I always add some chopped chillies (not good for IBS but great for constipation)
Alfafa and or sprouted seeds (you can get these in bags in fridge department of Holland and Barrett, cost about a £1)
Flaxseed oil and cider vinegar which I mix together with some black pepper - use good dollop of oil, our bodies need lubricating just like our cars!
Cherry or any type of tomato, cucumber, cress
Herbs like fresh parsley or coriander
Red onion and garlic (great antibiotic and anti fungal)
crumble some feta cheese over the top
I always sprinkle sesame seeds over everything as they contain loads of calcium

I either mash up an avocado and spread on the wrap like butter or I use hummus or both. Then I spread out all the ingredients over about three quarters of the wrap, then pour over oil and vinegar mixture and roll up. If you put too much on top then it's hard to roll! It's absolutely delicious and really filling.

The drink in the photo is beetroot, carrot and apple juice. Looks like red wine but won't make you feel lethargic! quite the opposite, it will increase your energy levels, instead of feeling a dip in energy that we often get in the afternoons.

Make your own super healthy raw chocolate!

There is a chocolate out there that doesn't have any refined sugar in it, hasn't got any bad fats in it, nor dairy, wheat or gluten.  In fact it doesn't have anything bad in it at all.  Sounds too good to be true?  I am by no means a culinary expert so to top all this good news, this chocolate is super easy to make, in fact it takes 10 minutes to whip up and you and your children will love it!  To get you started I would buy 500g cacao (raw chocolate powder, £11.50), 500g cacao butter £13.50, 250g mesquite powder £5.50, 250ml raw agave syrup £5.75, 200g cold pressed virgin coconut oil £3.80, vanilla extract (not essence - this is expensive but a million times better than the essence.  You will also need plastic chocolate moulds. Buy these from Cakes Cookies & Crafts Shop.  Or you could simply use ice cube trays. All other ingredients you can buy on line from Goji King. If you just wanted to literally make a small amount to try it then just order 250g each of powder and butter.  The start up cost is about £40 but I have made heaps of chocolate so far and still have lots of ingredients left.

Put 100g of the butter, 2 dessert spoons coconut oil and a good dollop of the agave syrup in a plastic bowl. Place it over a pan of boiling water until it all melts.  Make sure you don't get any water in the mixture. Add about 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Measure 60g cacao powder and 10g mesquite powder together.  Add this to the melted butter and whisk together until smooth.  Pour carefully into the moulds and put in the fridge.  In less than an hour you have mouth watering HEALTHY chocolate which I guarantee won't be in your fridge for long.

Check out the benefits of cacao powder - it is one of the most powerful antioxidant foods!

I was very proud at my first attempt at chocolate making, it really is so easy and the children loved them! Now you can have your chocolate and eat it!

Why is processed food so cheap?

I saw this quote on face book the other day and thought how true it is!  Why do people complain that eating healthily is so expensive yet often don't bat an eyelid at the cost of a large glass of wine (average price £5-£6?) or few on a night out!?

I bought some delicious chicken sausages from a farmers market on the weekend made on Clayford Farm in Wimbourme. They have been recommended by Slimmers World as they contain only 1% fat which is a lot lower than your regular supermarket sausage!  They don't have a website but you can see where they are at local farmers markets or the lady informed me that you can call their number to order anything.

Yes of course you can buy lots more sausages for the same price but ask yourself "why are they so cheap?" How can they be made and then still sold for a profit, what exactly is in these sausages?? I'm sure if we followed something like this being made from start to finish then we'd think again but is ignorance bliss? I say try and eat as healthily as you can afford, shop around. Markets at the end of the day sell lots of cheap fruit and veg!

Gluten Free Wholegrains

I am often advising my clients to try and avoid or cut out wheat and dairy out of their diets for a period of time. The gluten found in wheat and the casein found in dairy products can be very difficult to digest for some people therefore omitting it can often show a reduction in digestive complaints. I came across a really informative website that I wanted to share which is jam packed full of information. Whole Grains Council.

I am always looking at the alternatives out there for people who need to make changes in their diet rather than telling people they can't have this and they can't have that!

My favourite grain to eat is Love Life red and white quinoa and bulgar wheat. I can't seem to find it anywhere but in Waitrose. Quinoa is a fantastic source of protein and both quinoa and bulgar wheat are gluten free grains and are certainly better options than sticky gluey pasta!

Check out this great video to learn more about gluten.

Coconut sugar as an alternative to processed sugar

I was sitting in the dentist today reading one of the magazines and I came across an article about coconut sugar as an alternative to sugar.  I am always trying to find out alternatives rather than say to clients, don't have this, don't have that!! So please check this out for yourself..

Enjoy the heavenly taste without worrying about sugar content!  Coconut sugar - A guilt free sugar replacement

Use as a normal sugar, great in tea and coffee

Pulsin Bars with no hidden nasties!

I came across these bars when I was in Holland and Barrett in Bath. The sales assistant was giving out free tasters and I've been buying them ever since!  These bars are a great healthy snack, very filling, dairy free, gluten free, no added sugar and far fewer calories than a regular chocolate bar. They come in different flavours and I buy them from the  Pulsin website.  Check out the Great reviews on Amazon. Yes they are more expensive than a normal chocolate bar, average cost is approx £1.40 per bar compared to probably 60p for a chocolate bar but you can't put a price on your health! 😄😄

I also buy the Pulsin protein powders which I add to my smoothies. Check out My smoothie receipe.

Delicious breakfast!

This is a really delicious breakfast full of soluble fibre to get your bowels moving in the right direction!

You can buy raw honey here.  It is expensive but well worth it and full of nutrition.

Linwoods Health foods make a great sprinkler over the top alongside any sort of seed mix.  The fage yoghurt you can buy at most supermarkets.

Flora vital, great source of iron

I took my 16 year son for a Health Screening Test with Debbie Watkins yesterday and one of the things that came up on his test was that he was low in iron which could attribute to his low energy at the moment. Debbie recommended Flora Vital which is similar to Floradix but is gluten and yeast free.  It looks like a great product.   It is a liquid iron food supplement and I bought it today from Boots.  It is £16.49 for 500ml but Boots are offering a buy 3 for 2 at the moment so works out at £10.66 per 500 ml.

Health Screen Testing

I recently went for a Health screening test using the Asyra machine. It is fascinating and I would highly recommend it.  The test will be able to tell you where your body is out of balance, food sensitivities, vitamin/mineral deficiencies, emotional disturbances and much more. I also took both my children as this testing can be used on anyone from babies to the elderly. The lady that does this testing is called Debbie Watkins. She is very informative, friendly and passionate about helping people take care of their health, looking at the whole person to help them restore balance.  You can find out more information about Debbie and the Asyra machine at debbiewatkins.com.

Super fibre - Glucomannan

Choose GM. (Glucomannan)  My favourite kind of soluble fibre is glucomannan (GM), or konjac.  Wellbetx is a great product. You can take 2 to 4 capsules with a glass of water, 30 to 60 minutes before eating. Don't take any medications within 1 hour before or 2 hours after taking it because the fibre may absorb the medication.

Imagine eating 12 pounds of food a day -- and still staying thin and healthy. That may sound crazy, but it's exactly what our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate for millennia! And they didn't have any obesity or chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, or dementia.

Of course, I wouldn't advise anyone today to eat 12 pounds of food, because the food in our society lacks one major secret ingredient that our ancestors ate in nearly all their food -- fibre!

Fibre has so many health benefits.  I'll explain some of its benefits and give you nine tips you can begin using today to get more fibre in your diet. I'll also tell you about a "super-fibre" that can help you increase your total fibre intake overnight.

But before I tell you about what fibre can do for you, let's a look a little more at the history of fibre.

Why Bushmen are Healthier than the Average Westerner

Dr. Dennis Burkitt, a famous English physician, studied the differences between indigenous African bushmen and their "civilized" western counterparts. The bushmen seemed to be free of the scourges of modern life -- including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and obesity.

Dr. Burkitt found that the average bushman had a stool weight of 1 kilo and the "civilized" men had a stool weight of only 100 grams  - that's 87.5 percent smaller! The difference was in the amount of fibre they ate.

Today, the average westerner eats about 8 grams of fibre a day. But the average hunter and gatherer ate 100 grams from all manner of roots, berries, leaves and plant foods. And the fibre is what helped those ancestors of ours stay healthy. Just take a look at all the good things that fibre can do for your body.

You need fibre to keep you healthy from top to bottom, as well as to provide food for the healthy bacteria that work within you to promote health.

In fact, fibre can actually prevent obesity and all the chronic disease of aging. This is because fibre slows the rate at which food enters your bloodstream and increases the speed at which food exits your body through the digestive tract.  That keeps your blood sugar and cholesterol in ideal balance -- and quickly eliminates toxins from your gut and reduces your appetite.

It's clear, fibre is a great ally in the battle of the bulge.

Now that you know how beneficial it is, let's look at how you can begin taking advantage of fibre's health benefits.

Getting Enough Daily Fibre

You should aim to get 30 to 50 grams of fiber into your diet every day. The type of fibre you choose is important too.

Most people think that bran is the best type of fibre to eat. But bran (wheat fibre) is mostly insoluble and doesn't get digested. Think of it as more of a scouring pad for your intestines. That's good for getting you regular, but it just can't help your health the way that soluble fiber can.

You'll find soluble fibre in fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds and most whole grains. The bacteria in your gut metabolizes the soluble fibre in these foods, and that's when the benefits start.

Soluble fiber can help lower cholesterol, blood sugar, and insulin, prevent cancer, balance hormone levels, remove excess estrogen and reduce the risk of breast cancer, make vitamins and minerals, provide food for the colon cells, and more. So it's easy to see just how crucial soluble fibre is to good heath!

Glucomannan: An amazing source of soluble fibre

Glucomannan (GM) is a soluble, fermentable, and highly viscous dietary fiber that comes from the root of the elephant yam, also known as konjac (Amorphophallus konjac or Amorphophallus rivieri), native to Asia. The konjac tuber has been used for centuries as an herbal remedy and to make traditional foods such as konjac jelly, tofu, and noodles. More recently, purified konjac flour, or GM, has been used as a food stabilizer, gelling agent, and supplement.  

9 Tips for Increasing the Fiber in Your Diet

1. Get the flax. Get a coffee grinder just for flax seeds, grind 1/2 cup at a time, and keep it in a tightly sealed glass jar in the fridge or freezer. Eat 2 tablespoons of ground flax seeds a day. Sprinkle it on salads, grains, or vegetable dishes or mix it in a little unsweetened applesauce.

2. Load up on legumes. Beans beat out everything else for fiber content!

3. Bulk up on vegetables. With low levels of calories and high levels of antioxidants and protective phytochemicals, these excellent fibre sources should be heaped on your plate daily.

4. Go with the grain. Whole grains like brown rice or quinoa are rich in fibre, too.

5. Eat more fruit. Include a few servings of low-sugar fruits to your diet daily (berries are the highest in fiber and other protective phytochemicals).

6. Go nuts. Include a few handfuls of almonds, walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts to your diet every day.

7. Start slowly. Switching abruptly to a high-fiber diet can cause gas and bloating. Increase your fiber intake slowly till you get up to 50 grams a day.

8. Consider a good fibre supplement. If you're have trouble getting your fill of fibre, choose a supplement that contains both soluble and insoluble fiber and no sweeteners or additives.

9. Choose GM. By now, you know that my favourite kind is glucomannan (GM), or konjac.  Wellbetx is a great product. You can take 2 to 4 capsules with a glass of water, 30 to 60 minutes before eating. Don't take any medications within 1 hour before or 2 hours after taking it because the fibre may absorb the medication.

As you can see, fibre has big benefits for your health -- from encouraging weight loss to preventing chronic diseases. I hope you'll start adding more of this important compound into your diet today!

Constipation in children

The types of natural bacteria that reside in an infant's or child's intestines are very different from the types found in adulthood. Bifidobacterium infantis and Bifidobacterium bifidum are the dominant and most important beneficial cultures found in healthy infants and children during their early years; this product contains both of these bacteria, in strains which have been tested to survive stomach acidity and bile salts.  Fructooligosaccharides (FOS), makes this product naturally high in fibre.

Having an imbalance of good and bad bacteria in the gut is thought, by some, to be related to digestion and immunity for infants and children, in particular in: formula-fed babies, babies and children on antibiotics, babies delivered be Caesarean section, children with regular colds and flus, and babies & children with digestive problems such as colic, diarrhoea, constipation and lactose intolerance, as well as those with allergies and skin irritations such as eczema.

A couple of great products are Caricol - supplement of pureed papaya and Strawberry flavour probiotics for children, comes in banana flavour too and Optibac probiotics for babies and children are an excellent product. 

Reflexology and homeopathy are also excellent therapies for babies and children.

Dr Bronner's Magic Soaps

These soaps have been around for generations and are free from any nasty chemicals and last for ages! Check out the website and buy on Amazon.  http://www.drbronner.co.uk

Great facial moisturiser!

Add a couple of drops of Clarins radiance-plus golden glow booster with 3-4 drops Rose Hip Oil to any moisturiser, rub together in the palm of your hand and then gently rub over face and neck. Great for skin and gives you a gentle glow! Don't forget to wash hands after otherwise they will look tanned too! 

I got the rose hip oil from a company online www.natr.co.uk £3.79 for 100ml, Clarins from Boots was about £18 but will last forever!

Linwoods healthy fibre

Linwoods has a fantastic range of products that are great for bowel healthy fibre. Just add a couple of spoonfuls to your food everyday!  Can buy from most supermarkets or Holland & Barratt.