Try to make time for five minutes of quiet meditation and reflection every day. It stills the mind, combats stress, and mentally prepares you for what you have to do next. Meditation exercise Sit in any position that feels comfortable and close your eyes. Keep your head upright, shoulders relaxed. Start to breathe steadily and […]

Fibre is a vital part of the digestive process, but are you eating enough? Dietitian/nutritionist Vanessa Jones shows how, by making small changes in what you eat, you can easily go from a low-fibre diet to one that is high in fibre. Your mother describes it as ‘roughage’, the kids call it ‘those yucky grainy […]

Insoluble fibre This type of fibre tends to be better known as it is more visible and often adds texture to our food. Insoluble forms of fibre include cellulose (present in all edible food plants), hemicelluloses (found especially in cereal bran) and lignin (found mainly in cereals and woody vegetables). Best sources include cereal bran […]

If you’re ravenous, reduce the risk of making bad food choices by keeping healthy, tasty snacks on hand. Eating wholefoods little and often is the key to keeping energy levels up through the day. The alternative is the all-too-familiar boom-bust-boom effect of eating sugary, processed foods, and then having blood sugar levels slump shortly afterwards, […]

Could it be candida? Overgrowth of the fungus candida in the digestive system has been associated with a whole range of seemingly unrelated problems, including irritability, tiredness, mild depression, thrush (which affects 70 per cent of women at some time), food sensitivities, flatulence, and poor digestion. It often takes hold following a period of long-term […]

Why women get drunk faster than men According to a new study in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, ADH, an enzyme that helps digest alcohol is less active in women, making them more prone to the effects of wine and spirits. But if you enjoy a beer, this is less of a problem, […]

According to scientists at the University of Sydney, wearing woollen sweaters may make you feel cosy, but, compared with cotton clothing, they may trap allergens and trigger allergy symptoms. In fact, you run the risk of exposing yourself to dust mites and cat allergens by at least 10 times! So, if you can’t shake a […]

Migraines? Skip the sleep-in! If you are a migraine sufferer, sleeping late on weekend mornings might not be such a good idea. According to UK research, the sudden change in sleeping habits can cause a splitting migraine. And, if it also means you are late for your morning ‘fix’ of caffeine, or that you miss […]

Guilt is very common in women, and it’s really just a roundabout way of saying you don’t like yourself. When we feel guilty we feel inefficient, bad and wrong. We feel guilty for eating, for spending too much money (or not enough), for not giving enough time to our children (or for smothering them), for […]

How noisy is your office? Now there’s even more reason to dream about a corner office- provided it’s quiet, that is. A recent study from Cornell University shows that people who work in noisy, open-plan office environments had anything up to 90 per cent higher levels of stress hormone in their systems – and they […]