Monica

What’s chai all about?

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We may think of today’s chai and chai latte as being a novel drink but it actually began life over 5000 years ago in India, when a king supposedly ordered his Ayurvedic doctor to make a healing spiced beverage.

Back then in India, chai was a concoction of warming spices and milk with no tea at all.  It was definitely a far cry from the processed powdered or syrupy mixes we find today in many cafes and supermarkets.  Most of these sweetened chai ‘teas’ have nothing to do with the original beverage with its warming spices and antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

Some teae facts:

The word chai is Hindi for tea.  Hence chai tea actually translates to tea tea, which must generate a few chortles by anyone who speaks Hindi.  The Indian Masala chai (= spiced tea) is a closer fit to our current western chai drink.

Just to confuse things more, the Indian word chai comes from the Chinese for tea, cha, which makes sense as that’s where the story of tea began, back in 2737 BC, apparently.  Whether this date is accurate or not, containers of tea were found in tombs dating back to the Han dynasty around 206BC.  By 618 AD it had become the national drink of China.  Extraordinary that it wasn’t until the 16th century that tea made its way to Europe, when Dutch merchants sent a consignment back to Holland.  The cost, however, was prohibitive so it remained a drink only for the wealthy classes.

It was in the mid 1800s that the British decided to curb the stronghold China had on tea production by planting regions of India with these camellia sinensis bushes (sinensis = Latin ‘from China’).  These thrived in the climate – and continue to thrive.  China, however, is still the biggest tea producer in the world with India following second place.

Back to chai:

It seems that at this point, in the mid 1800s, black tea made its way into the Indian masala chai milky spiced drink.  It didn’t catch on locally as black tea was still too expensive.  According to an online article in  The Spruce Eats it wasn’t until the 1960s that masala chai with black tea became more popular in India, mainly due to tea production becoming mechanised and more affordable.

The two black teas most often found in traditional chai are Assam and Darjeeling, both native to India.  However, these days we use everything from green tea to yerba mate and red rooibos – or no tea at all, just the spices with milk.

What spices are in your chai?

It’s easy to make your own spiced chai or chai latte.  Here are various spices you could use, some more common to chai than others.  if you’re only using spices they should steep in boiling water for about 15 minutes.  If adding tea, then 5 minutes is the time recommended.  When I made my chai latte I steeped the spices first and then added the tea after 15 minutes, for another 5 minutes.  And then the frothed oat milk.  It was delicious and well worth the process!
The health benefits of chai will depend on the spices used, although you’ll see that most of them support digestion.

Most traditional chai includes cardamom, a spice which helps with a wide range of gastro intestinal complaints, from nausea to bloating,.  Chewing on the seed can certainly improve bad breath.  It’s a calming anti inflammatory spice with similar anti bacterial properties to clove.

Ginger is another common chai component with its gingerol oil giving that distinctive spicy flavour.  It’s such a powerful antioxidant and anti inflammatory its health benefits range from digestive and nausea support to anti bacterial effects, blood balancing support and much more.

Cinnamon is another common spice, with a plethora of health benefits due to its antioxidants which in turn have anti inflammatory effects. I’ve read claims that it can reduce CRP, a marker for inflammation, but haven’t found more than just the claim.  Its blood sugar benefits are well documented, not just by improving insulin sensitivity, but also slowing down the amount of sugar entering the blood after a meal.  Cinnamon’s oil, cinnamaldehyde, accounts for a lot of its antimicrobial and anti-parasitic properties.

Clove is another common spice in chai (you only need a teensy amount as it can completely take over).  This is another digestive supportive spice, and also an antioxidant and an anti inflammatory.  Its eugenol oil acts as an antiseptic, hence the reason for its traditional use in dentistry and in toothpaste and mouthwash.

Other spices you might like to add to your chai are black pepper or fennel (the latter are in my above photo).  Again, its volatile oils such as rosmarinic acid and chlorogenic acid, as well as quercetin and apigenin, add to its antioxidant benefits and antimicrobial, antiviral properties.

Star anise or aniseed is another possible addition to give chai that distinctive sweet, but more licorice, taste.  Aniseed is known for digestive support and is an anti-spasmodic a.o.  Digestive support supplements and teas often contain anise eg. Floradix has an anise-caraway-fennel herbal tea which can help with flatulence, constipation and bloating.   Aniseed has similar blood sugar balancing properties to cinnamon by regulating certain digestive enzymes involved in carb metabolism.  The main compound of star anise oil, anethole, is said to be effective as an antimicrobial, so one can assume it’s another effective herb for oral health, killing bacteria and improving bad breath.

Recently I discovered Celestial seasonings make a wonderful Bengal spice tea, which has become a daily treat of late.  Three quarters of a cup of boiling water steeped for 15 minutes then topped with frothed oat milk, delicious!  It satiates and satisfies any itch I may have for a sweet treat.
When I read the list of ingredients on the Celestial Seasonings box I can well imagine it is very similar to the original healing spice mix that king in India asked his ayurvedic doctors to put together some 5000 years ago.

Let me know how you get on with your chai recipes!

 

Credits:  Thank you to Healthline, Future Generation Co, Holy Cow Chai history, The Spruce Eats,  Amala Chai, The Tea Kitchen for some fascinating reads and chai tea facts.

 

 

Parsnip mash, mushrooms and egg brunch

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Just slipping in this delicious gluten free brunch before February vanishes.  It’s a yummy combination of parsnip, mushroom and optional eggs.  We ate it in Amsterdam on our last road trip in a cafe not far from Oosterpark.

I’ve changed it a bit, taking away the toast and white chocolate (?!) and adding a splash or three of truffle oil to the mushrooms.  I know truffle flavour can be a marmite thing, either you love or hate it, so if you’re not a fan just leave it out.

A simple and easy recipe and not a combination I’ve tried before, and perhaps it’s new to you as well.  Hope you like it!

Ingredients for a twosome brunch:

2 organic parsnips, roughly chopped (peel if not organic)
300g mixed woodland or shiitake mushrooms, roughly chopped
2-4 softly boiled or poached eggs (either 1 or 2 eggs each)
3-4 tbsp oatmilk or oatcream (for the mash)
olive oil
truffle oil
small handful chopped parsley
cress for decoration
sea salt, pepper to taste

Method:

Whilst you boil the parsnip chunks, lightly fry the mushrooms in a little olive oil, adding the finely chopped parsely and pepper and sea salt to taste.  Keep warm whilst you either poach or softly boil your eggs.

Drain the parsnips, add oat milk or oat cream and season, then mash or blend, however you like the texture.

Drizzle your truffle oil on the mushrooms then layer up your dish.  Parsnip mash as a base, then mushrooms topped with the eggs.  Top with cress or more fine parsley, easy.

 

Slow-cooked venison

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Christmas lunch this year was an unknown until the week it was happening.  The recent avian flu outbreak in UK, and the subsequent exorbitant prices for organic turkey and chicken, put paid to our traditional Christmas bird.  So when a friend mentioned a delicious recipe for slow-cooked venison I thought I’d give it a go.
This recipe freezes well so I cooked it in advance, then defrosted it for Christmas morning, making the day in the kitchen so much easier, esp as our two giant elves were busy with their own creations for the feast.
I used a large deep pan with lid and cooked the stew for three hours on the hob, where I could keep an eye on it!
After defrosting, it simmered a further hour and a half on a low heat.

I’m not practised at cooking red meat but ‘slow cooked’ for me is always reassuring and a healthier way of cooking.  After reading a few different recipes I merged a couple which gave me elbow room to add more plant-based ingredients, including the home-made cranberry sauce below, which I added to the stew and to the table, as a side dish.

If you’re going to eat red meat at least venison is one of the healthier options as it’s the lowest in saturated fat (I’m  on a cardiovascular protective journey given my parents and grandparents all had CV health issues).
Venison is also high in zinc, such a great antioxidant,  although to be fair, not as high as Sydney rock oysters!  and it has a good dose of B vitamins, always handy around Christmas time for their nervous system support 😉

The meal was such a hit it was requested for New Year’s Eve, so this is it in the photo above.  Less meat than you may think as there are lots of mushrooms and chestnuts pretending to be venison.

Bon appetit, and wishing you all a happy 2023!

Ingredients: 4-6 people

3 tbsp olive oil
1 large red onion, finely diced
900 g venison, cubed
3 garlic cloves, minced
ground pepper, some sea salt
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 heaped tbsp cranberry sauce
250-300g shiitake or mixed woodland mushrooms, sliced or chopped
150g cooked chestnuts
100g fresh cranberries
140 ml broth, either veg or beef
250 ml red wine
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce (I used 1 heaped tbsp low-salt marmite – yes, that is a thing – and it works well if you’ve run out of W. sauce)

Method:

Heat the oil in a deep pan – or your slow cooker – then braise the venison cubes over a medium heat.  Transfer to a bowl, then gently fry the sliced onions and mushrooms for about 5 minutes until they’re soft.
Add the garlic, tomato paste and cranberry sauce plus a little sea salt and ground pepper.

Now the meat goes back in the pan – or your slow cooker.  Stir in the chestnuts, cranberries and the liquids: broth, red wine & worcestershire sauce (or marmite).

Gently combine, cover and cook on a medium heat on your cooker for c 3 hours.  Reduce the heat to low for another hour.  If using a slow cooker, cook on high for about 4 hours or low for about 7 hours.

We ate our venison stew with mixed basmati, wild and red rice on New Year’s Eve but I’m sure mashed potatoes would also be delicious.
Sprinkle with thyme leaves before serving and enjoy!

 

Christmas parsnip loaf

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This loaf is a perfect Christmas dish containing all the typical seasonal ingredients: cranberries, chestnuts, sage and parsnips.  It’s easy to prepare the day before, just cover and chill until ready for the final stage of baking.  I use ground almonds as a gluten free option to breadcrumbs although the latter probably helps hold it together better, so your choice here!

Ingredients

For a 900g loaf tin to serve 4 generous portions:

3 tbsp butter
3 red onions, chopped
8-10 sage leaves, torn, plus 8 extra leaves for the sage butter
220g packet of cooked chestnuts
130g walnuts or pecans
100g ground almonds (or 100g breadcrumbs)
1/2 tsp allspice or mace
2 beaten eggs
600g cranberries
120g caster sugar
550g parsnips, preferably long and thin

Method

Melt 1 tbsp butter in a large pan and cook the chopped onion over a gentle heat for about 15 minutes until soft.  Stir in the chopped sage until it slightly crisps, then transfer to a large mixing bowl.

The nuts:

Pulse the chestnuts in a food processor until chopped  but you want to have some texture, not nut dust!  Repeat with the walnuts/pecans.  Transfer these to the same mixing bowl then add the ground almonds (or breadcrumbs), allspice or mace, the beaten eggs, some sea salt and freshly ground pepper.  Mix well.

The cranberries:

Put the cranberries and caster sugar into a pot and simmer for about 10 minutes over a medium to high heat.  As the sugar melts and cranberries pop it will become thicker and eventually sticky. Set aside to cool.

Grease your 900g loaf tin. Line it with baking paper, covering the base and ends.

The parsnips:

Halve lengthways then boil for about 3 mins and drain well.  Cut and layer the parsnips so they fit snugly (see ‘layering’ section next).  Any left over parsnip pieces can be chopped and added to any empty spaces, or roughly chopped into the onion/nut mixture.

Layering your loaf:

Heat the oven to 160 C (320F).  After a bottom layer of snug soldier parsnips, add 1/3 of the onion/nut mixture and press down firmly.
Next, add 1/3 of the sticky cranberry mix, leaving a small gap round the edges to stop it leaking when cooking, and thus sticking to the baking paper.
Repeat the last of the parsnips followed by another 1/3 of nut mix and another 1/3 of cranberry.  Finish with the final nut mix, pressing down firmly again.  Put the final 1/3 of sticky cranberry into a pan, adding some water and heating until it is more like a sauce.

Cover with baking paper then bake in the 160C oven for one hour.  Remove the baking paper from the top for the last 10 minutes to slightly crisp.

To serve:

Melt the remaining 2 tbsp butter in a small pan and sizzle those sage leaves you put aside at the start, until they crisp.

Using a rounded knife gently loosen the sides of the baked loaf and turn out onto a plate.  Drizzle with the sage butter and leaves and serve in slices, with extra cranberry sauce on the side.

Have a great Christmas!

 

Beetroot orange salad or its haloumi cousin

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It’s been too long since I’ve shared a recipe but I promise it has not been due to lack of cooking or food inspiration.  This year I’ve spent far more hours helping clients put meal plans together, so yes, I’ve been very busy adjusting or concocting recipes but I’ve had less time to share them here in writing.
And now that it’s freezing outside in Dorset – in most of UK in fact – when everyone is hankering for steaming stews or warming soups I’m about to hand you some salad ideas!
(Well, it’s warm somewhere in the world right now 😉 )
There is some method to my madness.  What I’ve found over these past cold weeks is that I’m still wanting to keep the fresh crispness of salads in my life.  By adding a warm component to the salad leaves – in this case cooked warm beetroot – it’s proving to be a delicious accompaniment to our caper wild salmon or roasted chicken.  And it’s satisfying my craving for crispy fresh, raw veg.  Is this me trying to hang onto the hot summer?

Another easy version is to keep the core family together, ie. the salad leaves, orange and poms, but replace the warm beetroot with grilled slices of haloumi, equally scrummy.

Enjoy, and do share some photos of yours  x

Ingredients:

Rocket or any mixed leaves for your salad base.  Your choice how much!
1 large orange, segmented (remove the white membranes if you have time on your hands)
3 medium beetroot, cooked then remove skins and quarter or cube the beets
3-5 tbsp pomegranate seeds
sunflower seeds to sprinkle

Ingredients for dressing:

Add to a jar:  the juice of 1/2 orange and 1/2 lemon, a generous dollop of virgin olive oil, 1 pressed garlic clove, sea salt and some water to bind the mixture. Shake, taste and adjust x

Method:

Simply layer your salad by starting with the mixed leaves, then adding the warm (or cold, your choice) cubed/quartered beetroot and segmented orange pieces.  Then finally sprinkle those glorious pomegranate seeds on top, and that’s it.  The joy of this salad is that the fabulous tastes are what sell it, not any complicated prep or cooking.

Cypriot grain salad

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This is a delicious salad a friend brought to the table on my recent trip back to Sydney when a gaggle of us got together for a catch up feast.  It’s inspired by the ‘Hellenic Republic’ grain salad recipe by Melbourne chef George Dimitrios Calombaris.


Instead of freekah (cracked wheat) I used quinoa only because I didn’t have freekah in my pantry.  It’s a good gluten-free option although be aware that pseudo grains like quinoa can be a problem for grain-, or gluten-sensitive peeps.
I also used dairy-free coconut yoghurt as that’s what I had at hand – and with that the salad morphed into a vegan recipe!  And even though df yoghurt doesn’t sound very Hellenic it was absolutely delicious with the cumin and pomegranate swirled in it.  Also I snuck in some rocket because I love leafy greens and it’s such an easy way to get more into your daily diet.
All in all, this is a well-rounded dish with all the macronutrients you need, so enjoy it on its own, or alongside other dishes for a feast.  Last week we ate it as a side with falafel, very yummy.

 

Ingredients

(serves 4)

100g red and white quinoa (or freekah)
100g Puy lentils
1 bunch coriander, chopped
1 bunch parsely, chopped
handful rocket or any salad leaves you like
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp (c 30g) toasted pine nuts
2 tbsp toasted flaked almonds
2 tbsp toasted pumpkin seeds
2-3 tbsp small capers
70g currants
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
100g pomegranate seeds (or a whole pomegranate)
100g Greek yoghurt or dairy free alternative
1 heaped tsp ground cumin

Method

Boil the Puy lentils and quinoa separately in water until cooked to your liking.  Drain and cool.
In a bowl, add these to the chopped herbs, toasted nuts and seeds, capers, currants, lemon juice and olive oil.  Mix well and then stir in the rocket or salad leaves.
Add the ground cumin and pomegranate to the yoghurt and dollop on top of the salad.
Easy, quick and very scrummy!

Red lentil curry coconut dahl

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A scrummy lentil recipe for you to try, plus some quirky facts that take the lowly lentil to an altogether new level.
This recipe’s become a fast favourite.  We’ve eaten it as part of a meze feast, as a side to fish & veg as well as a stand-alone with wild basmati rice and a huge bowl of crunchy mixed leafies.

Lentils have certainly come a long way since I first spied them decades ago, an overcooked brown mound heaped beside some dry nut roast.  It took the deliciously exotic recipes from Asia and the Middle East to spark my interest and open up all sorts of lentil possibilities.

They’ve actually come an even longer way.  Not just the oldest cultivated legume but they’re also mentioned in the bible.  And as I was wading through lentil articles online I stumbled upon a blog, ‘The History of Lentils’ that claimed archeologists found lentil artifacts dating back to 8000 BC from the banks of the Euphrates.
Lentil artifacts?!  Can’t imagine what that means, can you?  I think of artifacts being ancient urns, crudely made stone weapons or broken bits of corners of obscure things… but not lentils.  [I have, however, since learned that organic material, when found alongside ancient artifacts, do have a name: biofacts.  Who knew?]
Whatever this dig on the Euphrates banks found, I now have an image I can’t shake from my head of an ancient cooking pot with petrified lentils stuck to the base (‘coz we all know how easy it is to overcook & burn them, even back in the day…back in the ancient day).

At different times over the milennia, and in different global cultures, lentils have see-sawed between poor man’s supper and sumptuous king’s feast.  What’s remained steadfast and certain is that they’ve always been nourishing, packed with fibre and protein, B vitamins, iron, zinc, potassium…

If you’re thinking split lentils are the same as split peas because they look so similar, they’re not.  The name says it all.
Split peas come from dried field peas and lentils are seeds found in pods on small plants with branching vines that love dry, warm climates.  This is one reason they’ve not been traditionally grown here in UK (although this, too, has changed.  Hodmedod’s, a Suffolk company specialising in pulses, seeds and grains, were the first to successfully grow them back in 2017, and since then it seems everyone’s giving them a go).
Undoubtedly lentils’ first love must be the prairies, since Canada’s production and export of the not-so-lowly lentil far outstrips the rest of the world’s production by thousands of tons.

Lentils come in all sorts of colours, another reason to love them  – how many foods have this talent?  There’s black beluga here on the left of the photo (looking a little like caviar), and then various shades of brown, including the smaller puy ones (and a packet from Greece).  Plus green, red and yellow, and no doubt more I haven’t come across yet.

Pulses, even lentils, should be soaked overnight before rinsing and cooking in water.  Soaking, cooking and sprouting helps break down the oligosaccharides in the tough outer skin, that can cause bloating and gas for some.  Soaking also reduces the phytic acid, which can block absorption of important minerals in our foods.

The split red lentils in this recipe are smaller than the more common brown and green variety, and because they’ve been hulled (outer covering removed) and split, those hard-to-digest carbs have already been removed so they do not need soaking, just a rinse before cooking to ensure no small stones within are masquerading as lentils.
If you’re using canned pulses, give them a thorough rinse as they’ve been canned in firming agent, an additive that stops them turning to mush (another good reason to choose dried rather than canned).

Here’s the recipe and bravo for getting to the end of this lentil story.  I don’t know about you, but after discovering all these snippets I actually love this little pulse even more!

Ingredients

(serves 4 as a main)

100g dried red lentils
One 400 ml tin coconut milk
olive oil to gently fry:
3 large banana shallots, peeled and finely chopped
5 cms peeled fresh ginger,  grated
Optional: 1 red chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped (or dried chilli, as much as your tastebuds enjoy)
20 dried curry leaves, crumbled and stems removed
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1 heaped tsp mild curry powder (or sharp if you want more zing)
200g very ripe tomatoes, or 200g from a 400g can tomatoes – OR 2 heaped tbsp tomato paste
a pinch of sea salt
500ml water, more or less (depends on what tomatoes you use)

Method

Pour the olive oil in a large pan and heat on medium.  Add the shallots until they’re transparent, not too coloured, then the grated ginger, chilli and curry leaves.
Stir through and heat for a few minutes.
Next add all the spices and chopped tomatoes (or paste) and the lentils.  Mix for another few minutes then pour in the coconut milk plus c 500ml water and that smidgeon of salt.  Check regularly as you may want to add more water if you used the tomato paste and not the fresh & juicier toms.

Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and let simmer for 20 minutes until the sauce thickens and the lentils are done.  Stir occasionally throughout to stop them becoming future lentil petrified artifacts!

Let me know if you love it too 🙂

 

 

Writing about writing

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Writing has always been part of the journey to health, except in the past its benefits weren’t really recognised or appreciated.   It certainly didn’t have the current title journaling, which in my world is still just writing (or in my younger world, was called Dear Diary and generally came with a padlock – perhaps you had one of those too?)

Whether you call it jounaling or writing, by doing it you can start figuring out the triggers that affect you emotionally, the ones that unleash upset or resentment, or a funky mood. Or the triggers to physical symptoms, to your bloating or nausea, your headaches or joint aches.  Just as you can write down triggers for your happiness and well being.  More about that later.
Writing can organise endless mental lists and tidy up an overwhelmed mind because it gives you an accessible way of untangling it all.

Case in point: the next time you wake in the dead of night with niggles circling your mind, write them down straight away with that pen & paper by your bed – and the smallest beam of torch so as to not rock your melatonin levels.  This way you can corrall the mental noise into neat lines of penned words, logged and sorted for you to look at in the clear light of morning.

The same with gratitude lists, or whatever you wish to call them.  That happiness and well-being I mentioned above.
When life’s feeling great it’s invaluable – uplifting! – to think about, and then write down, what’s actually making life feel so good.  A gratitude list can come into its own again when life’s slinging mud at you.  Writing down, and thus reliving, the good in your life can diffuse the intensity of harder times.   It’s not easy when you’re in the thick of it, when those mud-slung quagmires are so sticky.  However, by zooming out of the crabby moments and opening up the wider picture of what’s going well for you and who’s there to support you,  there are new neuronal connections being made, new parts of your brain being fired.  The result is that you feel better.

My gratitude list often starts off as a photo, maybe with a one liner floating in my head; a good to be alive moment when I catch dawn’s pinking sky or see lambs in the neighbour’s field.   At some point those feelings make it onto paper, either as a diary note, or part of a blog or a letter to a friend.

Asking clients to write a food diary is part and parcel of my work.  I email a basic formatted chart asking my client to record a week of meals, snacks, drinks and any symptoms.  It’s necessary because memories can be short or skewed.  There can be an aspect of denial involved, for instance, a piece of chocolate quickly scoffed might be forgotten a moment late.  Just like that morning biscuit which happened to come with the cafe’s coffee, or the bag of crisps with your drink (such a small bag, does it even count, a client joked last week).

Writing about your daily foods and habits can throw up patterns.  Perhaps you’re eating bread or rolls or crackers and pasta every day.  Or eating more fruit than you realize – that fructose sweet hit you think is healthy unfortunately still translates in your body to sugar).
Or perhaps you’re eating the same vegetables every night, all good for you, but not the variety that’s going to give your microbiome a diverse and immuno-supercharged microbial population.

It can be hard recognising your own eating patterns, that’s almost a given.  Food is linked to habits and memories, to comfort and love, as well as to sleep, hormones and whatever else is going on in your life, body and mind that very day, that very moment.   When clients email me the completed week’s food diary I often see: “I didn’t realize how many coffees I was drinking,” or “I don’t normally eat this many snacks.” (Hmmm, but maybe you do…)
Writing is your truthkeeper.

I can’t ignore the obvious act of writing which pops up at this time of year.  New Year Resolutions. For some reason I came across a lot of podcast and media commentaries about how we shouldn’t make resolutions because invariably they fail.
I think this is dependant on how realistic you make them…

I’m not a big fan of  writing a formal list, are you?  The page header alone:  New Year Resolutions, puts me off writing things down.  Just too concrete, too much pressure for a year that hasn’t even begun.  Saying that, I do like to ponder the year ahead, especially during the week between Christmas and New year when there’s a lot of pondering time to be had.

Perhaps I don’t usually make a written list of resolutions aka dreams aka intentions because I don’t have that many to remember (or forget).

This year, however, I did think of a few, all do-able and realistic for me.  And that is key.  It’s a simple thought to share with clients when we talk about changing diets and life patterns, or when clients say they want to lose x amount of body fat by spring, or do x number of hours training each week, or want to give up biscuits (chocolate/cakes/alcohol, take your pick). Make it simple.  Be kind to yourself and start  realistically, start small.  That way you’ll likely stick to it.

As Dr Rangan Chatterjee recommends on his podcast and in his books, build a new habit into your day, into an existing routine, and it’ll be sustainable.

One of my new year non-resolutions – let’s call it an intention – is to do a new walk every week.  But even as that intention popped into my head and I scribbled it down here I’m adding that I’d be happy if it turned into a new-walk-a-month rather than a week.  I know that work and life can get in the way.
Am I backing out?  I’d rather think I’m being realistic, but I’ll let you decide.

I hope you find some writing form that suits you, and wish you all a happy new year!

 

 

Sharing thoughts and inspirations this Christmas

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In these days before Christmas, when some of us are seeing well-laid plans scuppered, or Xmas traditions taken away due to Omicron looming large, it feels like the right time to share some positives from my world of functional nutrition.  Not about Covid or immune health (we need a break, plus I wrote about it here back in March). https://www.appleaday.org.uk/immune-health-natural-tool-kit/

Instead, some books and a few of the many health ‘influencers’ and podcasts that have inspired and taught me, plus some health facts about the vagus nerve, which may sound random, but isn’t, because it has popped up at so many webinars, online conferences and health discussions this year.

Introducing the vagus nerve (VN):

This nerve may not be on your radar, but one of the reasons it keeps coming up in the health world is because it’s the main neural highway running from the brain down the length of the body.
In fact, it’s the longest nerve in the autonomic nervous system, and it travels or ‘wanders’ (= latin vagus) down the body to the colon, innervating organs as it passes the cardiovascular, digestive and reproductive systems, taking information from each and sending on messages from the brain.  Little wonder it has the potential to impact health!

The trouble is, like so many body parts, this nerve can lose tone from middle age.  It’s also affected by a sedentary lifestyle or chronic stress, trauma, poor diet, and more of the usual western world lifestyle habits.
And this loss of vagal tone can then undermine the organs and systems it passes through, affecting mood, digestion, breathing, heart rate, reflex actions, even relaxation.

So how do you improve vagal tone?

Meditation, yoga, pilates (really most form of exercise), will help improve your autonomic nervous system and the vagus nerve.  And then, interestingly, taking cold showers or swimming in cold water (maybe not something to start now if you’re living in the northern hemisphere!)

There are other even more unexpected and unusual practices that are at the top of the list when you read about improving vagal tone.  And they’re very do-able.

Humming or singing loudly 
How lovely is this!  By humming or singing, you actively stimulate the laryngeal muscles and improve the signalling of the VN.  If you don’t have a voice others appreciate sing in the car to the radio; it won’t complain!

Laugh loudly (the harder the better)
A smilar mechanism to singing, plus research already tells us that laughter improves physical and mental well being.  So if it also specifically helps vagal tone, there’s another reason to watch more comedies over Christmas.

Gargle with vigour!
Ideally 3x daily for a minimum of 20 seconds, which may sound short, but isn’t when you’re starting out.  Anecdotal evidence shows it can improve gut health, specifically peristalsis and symptoms of a hiatus hernia.
When you gargle you activate the three pharyngeal muscles at the back of the throat which stimulates the vagal nerve.   You’ll feel your diaphragm and muscles around your stomach and oesophagus getting quite a work out, and if tears pool in your eyes it’s apparently a sign you’re doing it correctly.  According to Dr N. Habib who wrote a comprehensive book called ‘Activate your vagus nerve’ (yes, there are specialised books about it), the superior salivary nucleus is being stimulated, which triggers the glands around your eyes to produce fluid.
Like brushing your teeth, gargling should become part of your life…. your new noisy singing life!
And by adding salt to the gargle water you have the added benefit of an antimicrobial oral wash.

If any of this sounds like a Christmas fairytale just search online for vagus nerve and you’ll be inundated with a plethora of articles and studies referencing its importance.

Podcasts on health and life

Podcasts are such a great platform to hear the latest in health!  I love them and wish I had more time to listen to more…
Rangan Chatterjee’s ‘Feel Better Live More’ is still my overall favourite with so many expert guests sharing their unique insights and wisdom.
I particularly liked the May interview with investigative journalist, James Nestor.  The latter has written a brilliant book, ‘Breath’  which covers far more aspects of breathing than I ever thought possible.  In using himself as a guinea pig in all the different breathing techniques that are out there, he not only tells a great story but ultimately makes it clear how we should all be breathing for good health.
Another interview on July’s ‘Feel Better Live More’ that has stayed with me, was with Dr Rahul Jandial, a neuro surgeon.  He talked about the trials and joys of his training years and subsequent career, and how humbled he is by his patients.  Jandial’s book, ‘Life on a Knife’s edge’ is extraordinary, illuminating and at times unnerving.

Other great podcasts I try to find time for:
The happiness lab,  The Doctor’s Pharmacy, Natural MD Radio & Huberman lab (which is full of science if you’re into it)

 Some health books of many to ponder  

‘Hormone Intelligence’, by Aviva Romm;  should be on all bookshelves – and she’s written more excellent books!
‘Untamed – Stop pleasing, start living’, by Glennon Doyle. The title says it all.
‘Breath’ by James Nestor.  A must for anyone who breathes
‘The metabolic approach to cancer’, by Dr Nasha Winters.  An extraordinary functional ND, author, speaker, global cancer consultant who survived stage 4 cancer some 25 or 30 years ago.  Her next book is coming out in February  ‘Mistletoe and the Emerging future of Integrative Oncology’
(mistletoe extract has a century-old history of use in complementary medicine especially regarding cancer.  In Europe, mistletoe extract injections are among the most prescribed therapies used to treat cancer alongside chemo or exclusively.  Studies and testing have been ongoing for decades so I’m looking forward to discovering what Dr Winters puts forward in her book.

Health influencers, some of the people who’ve inspired me

Dr Caroline Leaf, a neuroscientist and mental health expert; always seems to find the perfect single sentence or paragraph to sum up a very long and difficult complex issue.
Robyn Puglia, functional medicine practitioner; lecturer, teacher and more.  Also runs online talks and QA sessions on facebook with the brilliant thryoid and brain author/educator Dr Datis Kharrazian (check out his weekly talks on his facebook page).
Ben Brown, functional nutritionist, lecturer and more; website newsletters offer well-researched commentary on current health conditions and studies.
Dr Nasha Winters, mentioned above; some of her talks and interviews are available on YouTube.
Avivia Romm, also mentioned above; her website is an encyclopaedia of knowledge 

So many other health professionals who are daily influencers for me, who are part of my practitioner world – Debbie Cotton, Moira Bradfield, Jason Hawrelak, Emma Beswick…. There will be YouTube talks by them out there.

As for food authors there are so many new, fab cookbooks available, I can’t keep up with them.  For me, Ottolenghi continues to deliver and I am currently still working my way through the vegetarian recipes in ‘Flavour’ (just reduce the sugar which he SO loves to add, in some form or other, to his recipes).
His mushroom-lentil ragu dish is a winner for us and will be part of our Xmas menu this year.

Niki Webster (aka Rebel recipes), is about to bring out another vegan cookbook, watch her space!

And for anyone wanting to do gluten free baking, Naomi Devlin offers so many excellent workshops online, take a look at her website.

Finally, my dear friend, and surrogate mum, 94 year old Hedi continues to be a big influencer for me.  She can still walk the length of Regent street and then enjoy a hearty meal.  I think she invented the word resilience.

I’d love to hear from you!

Tell me about some of the positives you’ve found this year, whether it’s some people you’ve met or books or happenings that have made your life, or illness, or Covid journey, aka slog, a little easier.

I’m back in my zoom clinic here, in Dorset, on Tuesday, 4th January.  As always I’m offering a Christmas gift discount for the month of January; 10% for all consultations.  Just email me for bookings.

Until then I’m sending you all huge hugs and lotsa merries, and a happy 2022 for us all.

Stay well friends!

x

Mindfulness, what’s in a word?

by

I’d like to find another word for mindfulness.  Not that it isn’t apt, on the contrary, being mindful in our lives can be life changing, mind blowing.  But we’re hearing the word used so much these days, a little like the hackneyed terms ‘life changing and mind blowing’,  that it can end up falling on deaf ears or meaning nothing at all to some people.

A male client on zoom yesterday rolled his eyes when I mentioned mindfulness.  “No, that whacky stuff’s not for me,” he said.
There’s not much whacky about it; pretty straight forward in fact.  Mindfulness is about tapping into something that was commonplace for our grandparents:  taking each day, each moment, as it came; not having to juggle deadlines, childcare, finances, nights out and traffic holdups.  These days there’s not a lot of Living each Moment, and therein lies a big part of our global chronic health crisis. The speed and stress of daily life is throwing us out of kilter, making many of us sick.

However, saying all that, I get what this client meant.  Even though he hasn’t tried it, he said it sounded too vague, that ‘mindfulness’ didn’t explain enough of what it was about or how to do it.  For him the name seemed to be a big part of why he hadn’t tried it. Hence my search for another word, a new title.

‘Being in the moment,’ or ‘living in the present’ may say more about what it is, but clients have told me they don’t think it’ll work for them, or, like this man, it sounds too ‘out there’.  Someone once told me she was already being careful and didn’t need to do a course on it.
For others it doesn’t sound medical enough, doesn’t carry enough gravitas.  I can’t help wondering if these people are still hanging out for the ‘one thing fixes all’ remedy.  The trouble here is that we’re not living in a one-pill-fixes-all world. Our current chronic diseases are too complex for monotherapies.

The compelling science behind how mindfulness works – how it can kick in a relaxation response that lowers stress & anxiety, how it can lessen gut pain, even body inflammation, and that it’s something that can alter the microbiome and, amazingly, gene expression – all this information seems to only reach those interested in health or lifestyle therapies, and not the ones who might need it the most.  It’s not on their radar until ill health has exhausted conventional medical routes and they somehow find a book or hear about cognitive therapy or an MBCT class (mindfulness based stress reduction), or they start working with a functional nutritionist, like me, who encourages it for helping with anxiety or IBS symptoms.

The thing about starting mindfulness is that we’re already doing it, this living in the present.  Some of us are just not doing it as consciously as we should.  And even though mindfulness is about developing a daily practice that will grow into something bigger and more sustained, into a higher awareness of our days, and of the many ‘present moments’, the key to starting it is to begin small, to keep it do-able.

I’m not a mindfulness expert or teacher, however the weekly mindfulness classes I went to about eight, maybe more?, years ago opened my eyes to the possibility of having a mindful practice in my daily life.
I remember during one of the early classes we were told to walk barefoot in the grass and listen carefully to the sounds around us, and then try doing it at home every day for any length of time we could manage.  It was a lightbulb moment for me, realizing it could be something enjoyable, something I could easily do inbetween work.  Also that I wouldn’t have to sit cross-legged for an hour cancelling all thoughts and finding a higher plane (which of course was my misinterpretation of meditation!)

Slowing down my daily pace in some way, at some point in the day, was key for me when I began (I’m speaking from the perspective of a busy person with a busy mind who likes to pack in lots).

In those early days, the more I read about mindfulness, the more I realized there was no rule about timing, no rule about what mindful practice I should do.  Listening to the breath is often a starting point, and it can be the exclusive daily practice for many.  I love it, all the more so since reading James Nestor’s book, Breath.  However, I’ve met clients over the years who hate it, who say they get anxious listening to their breath, so it really is very individual.
An hour of sewing or gardening might be mindful time for one but torture for another.  Examining pebbles on the beach for an hour might bore most people to tears except me.  Sitting still to watch the day slowly shift from twilight to sunset might be your daily quiet time but only a holiday treat for another. Closing your eyes for ten or more minutes, listening to your breath might be a huge leap of faith.

When I talk about mindfulness to clients I suggest they try whatever they enjoy, something that will slow them down into the Now moment.  Start their practice in small increments and take it from there, not beating themselves up if they need more time to get into a daily routine.  This was the sustaining advice I was given when I was first introduced to mindfulness.  After that, there’s a whole world of excellent books and qualfied teachers out there.

Now back to my first thought.  Is there another word you can think of for Mindfulness, something that might reinject it with oomph, or explain it better?  Something to describe this mindful awareness of our daily moments?  If so, I’d really love to hear from you. x