We all want to nourish our children and give them the very best start in life and to do that they need to be eating healthy foods like fruit and vegetables every day.

As a nutritionist and mummy, I often get asked about picky eating and the research in this area is extensive, there is so much you can do to help your child love healthy food, but here are some Q&A’s to get you started. 

Q) Why has my toddler got soooo picky?

Food fussiness is a normal developmental phase, presumed to arise from children having an in-built liking of sweet foods (that are likely to be a good source of energy) and a distrust of bitter foods (that may be poisonous or harmful.)

Babies at weaning age are much more open to new flavours and are more likely to accept a new flavour quicker (3-5 exposures) than a toddler who may take up to 10 exposures if they are being really stubborn!

Q) What can I do about it?

• Offer new foods regularly: the best thing you can do to encourage your child to like new foods is to offer those foods regularly. It is so easy to cook the same meals that we know our children will eat but the evidence shows that the more variety we offer our children, the more likely they are to eat well.
• Don’t pressure them to eat it: just because there are new foods on your child’s plate doesn’t mean they are going to love them overnight, remember what I said with up to 10 exposures? Pressuring children to eat anything has been associated with negative relationships with food later in life, here’s what to do instead….
• Love healthy food: has your toddler every made you laugh with their imitations of you? Perhaps they love hoovering or playing on your phone because that is what they see you do? We know that children love to imitate their parents, this is a process called modelling and it’s how they learn. Use it to your advantage and eat healthy food as often as you can in front of them. Talk about how much you’re enjoying it “what a juicy apple” “Umm sweet carrot” without any pressure that your child should try it too, unless they ask you of course!

Finally, make dinner time enjoyable: your child’s most nutritious meal of the day is likely to be served up when they are most tired. Turn off any distractions and sit down with your child when they eat, perhaps eat a small portion of vegetables with your child if this isn’t the time you usually eat your main meal. 

Use this opportunity to talk to them about the foods on their plate. Make it fun and entertaining “that broccoli looks like a tree!” “I’m going to eat the most peas!” and remember that mealtimes should be a time they feel relaxed and at ease.

When your child feels relaxed, they are far more likely to try something new.

Happy, healthy eating everyone!

When did it become socially acceptable to be available until silly-o-clock at night? Long gone are the days of home-line chats (where you would sniff at a call past 9pm). It has never before been so easy to connect, 24/7.

I’m all for progress, I rely on social media for my business and to connect to my friends but until you turn it off, you don’t quite realise how it is having an effect.

Our bodies are not designed to cope with the amount of stimulation and BLUE LIGHT that you get online or on your smart phone, at a time of the day when your body needs to relax and engage the normal physiological processes that get us ready for sleep.

Getting adequate sleep, on a regular basis is so important in maintaining health:

• When we don’t sleep well it dysregulates our appetite hormones that control satiety, meaning you can overeat if you are feeling really tired.
• Melatonin, the hormone that we release in the evening to prepare us for sleep, also has powerful antioxidant effects in the body.
• If we have a bad night sleep we are at an increased risk of mood disorders such as anxiety and depression, poor short-term memory and even a build up of amyloid beta and tau (found in larger amounts in patients of Alzheimer’s disease)

Just remember that blue light = a bad night.

The best thing you can do to help your body feel refreshed, is to set a watershed for digital detox, this could be upwards of 8pm but try and make it a time you can realistically turn off technology such as your laptop and phone and do something less stimulating like read a book, have a bath or meditate.

Tech tips

• Most smart phones have a blue light filter that you can set to come on at the end of the day – thus reducing blue light exposure!
• You can set this on your computer too, there are lots of free programmes, but I use f.lux which works in a similar way. You programme when it wakes up & turns off!

Just remember that although these programmes will limit blue light, they won’t stop your brain from feeling like a hamster on a wheel. Turn it off and give yourself at least half an hour to unwind and decompress before you go to sleep.

Make your health a priority, you will work better and smarter with a clearer head the next day.

This is what 5-A-Day looks like: 

This is a visual demonstration of 5-a-Day that I prepared for a client. You need 5 portions of 80g of fruit and vegetables – with the emphasis being on vegetables!

Fruit and vegetables are a fantastic source of important vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that help to protect our bodies from disease.

They are also a vital source of fibre, keeping you regular and your digestive system healthy.

Why should I eat this much veg? 

In short, because the nutrients we get from fruit and vegetables are essential for a whole host of biochemical processes in the body.

The World Health Organisation suggests if we do not get enough of these important nutrients we increase our risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity.

Increasing your veg consumption is the easiest way to pack in nutrients and keep hunger locked up as it is low in calories but high in fibre and water content.

Great, but how do I do it? 

Sprinkle berries on your cereal, prepare crudites to go alongside your lunch and serve steamed veg alongside your dinner! This is a habitual change but your health will definitely thank you for it

The biggest downside to Winter from a health perspective is that many people struggle to see much daylight during the working week as they travel to work and return in the dark, chilly nights.

This can play havoc with our circadian rhythm which influences our sleep/wake cycle (how alert and awake we feel during the day) but also on our ability to synthesise vitamin D with limited sunlight exposure.

This lack of sunlight exposure and limited consumption of Vitamin D through dietary sources is leading to a widespread deficiency of Vitamin D in the UK population. There are also more vulnerable groups that may have a higher requirement for Vit D such as young children, women who are pregnant or breastfeeding and the older population.

So why is Vitamin D important? 

There are so many areas that can be positively influenced by adequate Vitamin D intake, such as improved immunity, cardiovascular health and mood but here are a few of the key areas outlined below:

Bone health: Vitamin D is critically important in bone health. Studies have shown that adequate intake slows bone density loss and decreases the risk of osteoporotic fracture in vulnerable individuals.

Pregnancy: Vitamin D deficiency resulted in a significant reduction in bone mineral acquisition in infants, up to 9 years old.

Anti-cancer: Vitamin D has also been shown to work as an antioxidant, with cancer inhibiting properties. This included a study of 88,000 women, which found that higher intakes of vitamin D were associated with significantly lower breast cancer risk in pre-menopausal women.

What can you do? 

If you are living your winter in darkness, you may be Vitamin D deficient. You can get tested by your GP or simply purchase a good quality supplement, with the guidance of your nutritionist or healthcare professional.

The UK Department of Health now recommends that all pregnant and breastfeeding women supplement 10 micrograms (400iu) of vitamin D, and that babies and children receive 7-8.5 micrograms (approximately 300iu), especially if breastfed (as Vit D is added to formula milk). Adults over 65 years, or those not exposed to much sun, are also advised to supplement 10 micrograms (400iu).

However these are just basic levels to prevent deficiency and if you are already deficient, you may require a period of higher supplementation to return to normal levels.

Try and get out in the winter sunshine as much as you can and make sure you don’t miss out on this important Vitamin over the winter months!

That said, cooking with children can be an immensely rewarding process with the right planning and preparation to make it a stress-free experience.

What can they learn?

Cooking is such a fantastic learning opportunity for you to engage with your child as it encourages self-confidence and life skills that will endure long into their adulthood. Skills such as counting as they weigh and measure ingredients, time management and fine motor skills for younger children, which can help them to learn to write.

As a nutritionist, the most exciting learning opportunity for me is introducing children to new foods. Research has shown us that the more times our children engage with a food, the more likely they are to eat it, so involving our children in food preparation is an ideal way to combat fussy eaters.

Tools of the trade

Firstly, make sure you pick a skill that is appropriate for your child. Most children can use spoons, spatulas and whisks and even a small rolling pin under supervision.

For children age 3+ you can purchase child-friendly knives and vegetable peelers or simply use a butter knife, but ensure you are always supervising your child and start off with easier foods to chop and peel (a banana, for example). You can also use scissors for chopping the ends off vegetables like green beans.

You may also want to invest in a kitchen stepping stool, so your child is the right height, or simply take your tools to the kitchen table.

Enjoy this time with your child  

Every age of child can benefit from getting involved in cooking, whether it is banging pots and pans or measuring out ingredients and getting nifty with a rolling pin.

Cooking is such a fundamental life skill and one that will pay dividends when your little angels start making dinner for you!

Start off with something quick, like this healthy snack idea, a simple recipe that delivers instant results for those curious little hands.

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Three little letters and we find ourselves weeping at Strictly, shouting at the kids and seriously considering divorcing our husbands.

Our time of the month can leave us feeling exhausted, angry and in a whole lot of pain, so considering the average woman menstruates 12% of their life, it is vital we find strategies to make our menstrual week a more pleasant one, for everyone concerned!

Around 80-90% of women experience at least mild symptoms during each menstrual cycle. These can be physical and emotional symptoms such as anxiety & depression, muscle aches, bloating and diarrhoea, increased appetite/carbohydrate craving, feeling tearful, tense and irritable, breast tenderness and cramping.

What can we do about it?

The most important thing you can do is to take off the pressure during this week. If you can avoid it, this isn’t the time to schedule a big presentation to your boss, have a night out or back to back appointments and play dates. Anticipate this week in your diary and plan to do less.

There are also a few golden rules to help you manage your symptoms:

Avoid Caffeine

If your symptoms of PMS are severe it is worth avoiding caffeine for two full menstrual cycles to see how this changes your symptoms. Some studies have shown that consumption of caffeinated drinks such as coffee and fizzy drinks (diet coke) during the luteal phase (around ovulation) increased PMS symptoms during menstruation.

Get moving

It may be the last thing you feel like doing but 30 minutes of daily, moderate exercise has been shown to improve the mood and overall well-being of women with PMS symptoms.

Choose a form of exercise that is gentle to moderate such as brisk walking, swimming or Pilates.

Limit trigger foods  

Foods that are high in sugar, simple carbs or processed/red meats

will exacerbate the aches, bloating and heaviness that can plague us during our period.

Keep some healthy snacks at hand such as low G.I. fruits (berries, apples and pears) and a handful of nuts to avoid snacking.

So, here is your checklist for making the best of PMS:

1. Eat a good quality diet rich in whole foods, essential fats (Fish, Avocado and Flaxseed) and vegetarian/lean sources of protein – balancing your blood sugar is important for regulating your hormones.
2. Do some form of exercise every day as this will boost your mood and physical well-being.
3. Choose decaffeinated tea and coffee and increase your repertoire of other drinks to keep you hydrated such as herbal teas, coconut water and citrus in water.
4. Take a good quality multivitamin and consult a nutritionist about nutrients such as Magnesium, B6, Zinc and evening primrose oil which may help alleviate some of your PMS symptoms.
5. Manage stress by reaching out with a journal, calling a friend, having a relaxing aromatherapy bath or watching a funny film. The stress hormone cortisol wreaks havoc with our sex hormones so find ways to counteract its effects.
6. Get a period App such as Clue, Flo or Period tracker and write notes about how you are feeling on different days of the month. This will help you to plan your social events around your period and feel less alone with your symptoms when you realise it is normal for that TOTM.

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Thanks for reading and don’t forget to comment below

We’re never on top of life.

We can’t stock up on a month’s worth of shopping, because the food would go off. We can’t wash clothes that aren’t dirty yet and we can’t sleep more tonight because we won’t get enough tomorrow…

The thing that will determine how clean our house is or whether we can find matching socks today, is a continued, concerted effort to stay on top of it.

This is exactly how we have to start viewing our health. We can’t bank it, no matter how “good” we were yesterday or last week. The fundamental factor that keeps us healthy is an ordinary, every-day effort to keep investing in our bodies.

As a functional practitioner this means so much more than the food you eat; it means a concerted effort to do a little more exercise, to get to bed a tad earlier, to rest and to nourish ourselves with good food.

It means finding ways to buffer the every-day stresses because it is these habits that lead to chronic disease, not the weekend Frappuccino with friends.

When we review our health on a daily basis, it can feel much more achievable. We can just concentrate on the choices we have in the present.

• How many portions of veg have we got with dinner tonight?
• Can I park a little way from school so we all get a walk this morning?
• I might book that yoga class tomorrow as I am feeling stressed at work.
• Maybe I will make a big batch of soup tonight so we can have that for lunch tomorrow.
• I’m going to watch my programme on iPlayer instead, so I can get to bed early tonight.

So my take-home message is: find your every-day good and your overall health will thank you for it.  Oh and here’s that soup recipe. 

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This year, there has been a spiking trend in eating less meat, with popular campaigns such as Veganuary and meat free Monday’s. 

Now, we have the Reducetarians – a movement of people who establish personal goals for reducing meat consumption, to benefit themselves and the environment.

Are you part of the movement or are you wondering how it could benefit your family?

Why eat less meat?

There is credible concern about sustaining a growing population of carnivores; the impact of industrial farming on livestock, ecology and ultimately public health.

We all know that the type of meat we eat has an impact on health, with red and processed meats having the worst statistics for our health: research from Cancer Research UK estimates that those who ate the most processed meat had around a 17 per cent higher risk of developing bowel cancer, compared to those who ate the least. (Cancer Research UK)

The livestock sector also generates as much greenhouse gas emissions as the automobile industry and it is making our planet sick. (Greenpeace, UK)

If we care about our carbon footprint, we have to care about what we eat as much as what we drive.

Could there be a win-win solution?

These facts are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the impact on our health and the environment, but I believe it doesn’t have to be an all or nothing solution.

Your family may enjoy meat as a healthy form of protein and energy, it could be part of your cultural identity and heritage or act as the centrepiece to your evening meal.

If this is the case it can be downright intimidating to start thinking of meat-free alternatives that the whole family will enjoy.

There is a way you can make eating meat work for your family and get more enjoyment from it and here are my tips to do so:

• Reduce processed meat first, there is really very little that your body can benefit from eating this low grade product, it is likely to be overly seasoned, poor quality cuts and ultimately very bad for your health. Make this an “out only” food, rather than a family staple. (FYI anything that is cured, salted or smoked is a processed meat)
• Cut down red meat consumption: many households will have family favourite meals such as bolognese, steak and lasagna that they don’t want to give up – you don’t have to but you can find ways of reducing the amount you need and adding in health benefits. Bolognese can be bulked up with cooked lentils and grated carrot and still have the same great taste as its traditional counterpart.
• Eat better quality meat: If you cut down your meat consumption you may be able to afford to buy better quality meat. The better quality you buy, the better it is for your health. Happy, free range animals are leaner, eat a better variety of diet, and are less likely to get sick than their mass farmed counterparts. Support your local butchers so you can be sure your local farming community will also benefit.
• Pick a day (or two) to go veggie: Over the next month I will be releasing some tried and tested vegetarian recipes that your family can enjoy, pick a day a week to try out something new and get your family involved in the process. If you would like these recipes sent straight to your news-feed, then like my Facebook page

In the minds of supermum’s everywhere is the health and wellbeing of their children. Every day those little darlings have to be fed, dressed and watered to keep them crawling, toddling and running through their busy little lives.

In isolation it wouldn’t be such a daunting task but balancing work commitments, family admin and social lives can lead to a deficit in the number of hours in the day and the buck seems to stop with us.

Perhaps you have lovingly prepared your child a packed lunch today but gone to work yourself with no provisions, perhaps your children will have a home cooked meal tonight, but you will eat something easy with your partner as you’re too exhausted to cook. Perhaps you wouldn’t dream of letting your child munch their way through a whole pack of biscuits, but that’s exactly what you’ll do as you’ve just been too busy to think about food the rest of the day.

Sometimes we can be so preoccupied with the health of our children that we can completely neglect our own needs.

If you took a moment to imagine your body as a child, what would you think of yourself as a parent? It may seem like you have no option, but it could be you simply need the time or inspiration to think of the options available to you.

When you include your own needs as a priority alongside your children’s, you are teaching them how to respect their bodies as adults. You are also ensuring you are going to continue to be as fit and healthy as possible, for as long as possible.

It could be as simple as making sure you sit down to eat your lunch, so you can chew and digest it properly. It may be  that you need to make more of those veggie sticks you do for your children, so that you can have a portion too. It could be you eat a small snack or portion of their meal at teatime so you have energy for the bedtime routine.

Start being mindful supermum’s, your children will thank you for it in years to come.

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It’s the new year and gym memberships will rocket, slimming clubs will be inundated and biscuit sales will be temporarily down. We are so predictable that it probably features in McVitie’s sales forecast.

Yet this potentially ‘healthy’ trend is not going to revolutionise public health because by the second quarter of the year, gym attendance is down and many slimmers are struggling to maintain their diets.

The reason I believe many people find it difficult to stick to a healthy lifestyle is easily summarised in 2 points:

1. They don’t know understand why it’s so important for their longer term health
2. The method they are using is not personalised to their lifestyle, family dynamics and changing needs and therefore only sustainable for short periods of time.

Why it’s so important

We need to dramatically re-think how we are looking at our health. A child born today should expect to live a longer, healthier life than ever before, yet a Government report, Living Well for Longer (PDF, 1.6Mb), blames the top five killers for more than 150,000 premature deaths a year and estimates that ⅔ of these are entirely avoidable by dietary and lifestyle choices.

Whilst this number can be daunting it can also be incredibly liberating – we have all felt the increase in these tragic diseases and now we can actively do something to improve our health and protect against our risk of developing them. 

If you are the primary home-keeper then you also have a significant influence over the health of your family. 

Choosing the method for you

If you are looking to make changes to your diet and lifestyle it is important that you recognise the physical and psychological elements to the change.

In many cases, it is the most educated in our society that engage in some of the unhealthiest of habits, such as doctors who smoke or busy professionals who don’t have time to cook.

For these people, education on healthy living alone is not going to liberate them to change.

We need to work on the triggers that make us eat, to identify the root cause and to find different solutions. Sometimes that takes time that we do not allocate in our daily lives.

Your healthy new year

When you start to make your choices for 2017, ask yourself if you can imagine doing it for the whole year, not just for a 3 day detox or a 3 month diet.

Set yourself up to succeed by choosing one thing to change and sticking to it before you conquer the next.

A healthy lifestyle can absolutely be enjoyable, sustainable and satisfying if you make it realistic and personal to you. 

If you are interested in learning more about nutrition and life coaching please do not hesitate to call me for a free 15 minute assessment or like my facebook page for more posts and recipes: https://www.facebook.com/radianthealthnutritionist/#

Wishing you all a healthy and happy new year. xx