proteins

Know your proteins – they literally build you

Proteins and carbohydrates seem to be slogging it out in the popular press, with carbohydrates getting the tougher end of the deal.  Proteins seem to have achieved a sort of mythical status.  Here we find out the facts about proteins and how we should incorporate them in our diet. Proteins Read more…

Lunch box

Packed lunches: Can they be healthy, easy, cheap, environmentally and child-friendly?

I think they can.  It’s a fine balance but it is possible. I often get asked about healthy packed lunches.  I try to tiptoe a wiggly line between health, ease, environmental-impact and child-acceptability!  I don’t get it perfectly right and I’m no Delia Smith, but for what it’s worth, here Read more…

Caffeine – gets us moving, at what cost?

“Let’s meet for coffee”.  Who doesn’t say it?  I don’t even drink coffee and it is still a phrase that trips off the tongue.   Coffee has reached cult status and it is no surprise.  That hit of caffeine feels good.  When you start adding in creamy milk, syrups and chocolate Read more…

The 6 tastes of Ayurveda

Balanced meals, balanced person, that’s the concept.  Ayurveda has a delightfully simple way of devising a balanced meal; it’s all done through taste.  There are 6 tastes, and if you have a balance of all 6 in your meal, your meal will be nutritious and, importantly, satisfying (assuming that your Read more…

Spelt Grain

What’s the story with wheat?

Why my obsession with spelt? What is wrong with wheat?  Nothing. The ancient texts of Ayurveda extol the virtues of wheat, as a nourishing, strengthening food.  Its properties are heavy, oily, sweet and cooling.  As it is fairly heavy to digest, it is best not to over consume.  Looking at wheat from a Read more…

Sourdough – the bread that’s easy to digest

Fermentation has been used worldwide for thousands of years to produce foods and drinks of different flavours, textures and longevity.  An example of this is alcohol, and less obviously bread and soy sauce.  In Ayurveda, there are various slow-fermenting vinegars and medicinal ‘wines’ which have documented therapeutic uses.  This natural, Read more…

Oil

The myths of oils and fats

Oils and fats are a much misunderstood area of our modern diet.  We moved away from cooking with saturated fats (e.g. meat fats, dairy fats) as we were told they were causing us too many problems.  We started processing seed oils to replace them and jumped from the frying pan Read more…