Cholesterol and depression: What’s bad for the heart is bad for the brain
One of the criticisms of a plant-based diet that I’ve been read on pro-meat blogs is that excluding animal products may increase a person’s risk of psychological and mental disorders, including depression, by decreasing their cholesterol levels. I’ve even seen the argument put by vegans, that people on 100% plant-based diets should eat coconut oil…
Sleep yourself slim and healthy
Readers of a certain age may remember the Bon Jovi song ‘I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead’, which featured the immortal lyrics “This ain’t no slumber party/Got no time for catching z’s/If they say that that ain’t healthy/Well then living’s a disease… Gonna live while I’m alive/I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” Hopefully Jon Bon Jovi and…
Reprogramming your stone age brain for health and happiness
Lurking beneath your consciousness is a stone age brain that can cause you to make choices that erode your health and happiness.
How to set food rules that work for you
In last week’s post, The two faces of ‘giving something up’, I discussed the key reason why we humans struggle to adopt healthy eating habits and other behaviours that support our well-being: deep in our brains, we have a set of structures known collectively as the basal ganglia, which make the lion’s share of our…
The two faces of ‘giving something up’
No matter what health issues drive clients to seek out my help, at some stage we’re going to end up discussing something that they need to give up. Whether it’s smoking, alcohol, ultraprocessed food or sleep-stealing late-night television, there’s always something (usually, multiple ‘somethings’) that’s standing between the client and the health, vitality and optimal…
The crucial personality characteristic that can save you from medical tragedy
After reading Gretchen Rubin’s book The Four Tendencies last year, which lays out a conceptual framework for how people tend to respond to both inner and outer expectations, I began asking clients to take the quiz that Rubin developed to help people identify their tendency, before their initial appointment with me. I took this step…
Is the ‘Health At Every Size’ movement helping or hurting?
As a Lifestyle Medicine Practitioner who sees primarily women, as a woman myself, and as the mother of a teenage daughter, I have both empathy and sympathy for the fraught relationship that many girls and women have with their bodies. Like so many of my clients, I was intensely self-conscious about my weight, and consequently…
Veganism – risk factor or protective factor for eating disorders?
As a practitioner specialising in plant-based diets, and with a counselling background in addition to my nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine training, I frequently see vegans who are battling with eating disorders. It’s actually quite heart-rending to listen to them describe the almost universally terrible experiences that they have when seeking treatment for their eating disorder…
What’s wrong with ‘everything in moderation’?
One of the well-worn adages that I hear most frequently from people who are resisting making health-promoting changes to their eating habits is “It’s OK to eat anything, as long as it’s in moderation”. People who are struggling with their weight insist that they only eat chocolate or chips “in moderation”, so that can’t possibly…
Hot Cross Buns
I’ve had several cracks at making hot cross buns, but previously they’ve always turned out like rock cakes :(. This time around, I decided to try substituting aquafaba, the cooking liquid from chick peas which seems to have a thousand different uses, for the oil that the Thermomix recipe book called for. Eureka – perfect…