Pantry essentials

Whether you are looking to eat healthily or are diving head-first into a prescribed Ayurvedic diet to fix a problem, here are some top pantry essentials. I’m going to assume you have your own policy on organic v. non-organic and I’ll leave that to you.  If you don’t do anything Read more…

Tune into daily rhythms for best health

Sleepy in the afternoon? Sluggish in the morning? Unable to fall asleep at night?  Finding meditation or study difficult? You may be planning your activities at times when they work against you rather than for you. While writing my last article on sleep, I got really excited by the new research Read more…

Good sleep, great health

When I was 13 I suffered from severe insomnia for a few months and it was, to that date, the most painful thing I had had to endure.  Lying there awake, feeling like everyone was asleep apart from me was a deeply lonely and exasperating experience.  Thankfully that was my Read more…

Pulses – the best kept protein secret

Here are 10 things you may not know about pulses. Pulses (or legumes): fuel your body with protein are cheap are good for the environment – protein from crops to stomach are low-fat, full of fibre, vitamins and minerals (including iron) count as 1 of your 5 a day are Read more…

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…

Neti pot

Your nose doesn’t have to welcome germs; introducing the neti pot

If you haven’t had a good old cold this winter, don’t let your guard down now.  Spring often arrives with a nice sprinkling of viruses which are desperate to get into your nose and mouth. Ideally your digestion will be working well, your body tissues will be well nourished and 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…

Wind tree

Watch the wind – it’s a tricky little fellow

Given my usual fascination with digestion, you’d be forgiven for thinking I mean that kind of wind.  But, for once, I don’t.  In this instance, I refer to vata, the ‘wind’ (or air and space) principle in your body and mind.  It is one of the three doshas (vata, pitta 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…