Orange juice vs OJ - who wins?

Good morning and Happy Tuesday! I hope you had a great weekend. I am currently in Australia - a last minute trip and it is HOT! Let's hope that it is warm in the UK when I get back - I'm not spending 2 weeks acclimatising for nothing...

I did a bit of research at Christmas and asked people which country they thought was healthier - Australia or the UK. The UK wins points for being on the 'anti-sugar' wagon, however unfortunately Australia beat you to it. In supermarkets everywhere there are 'sugar free' products - mueslis, yoghurt, snacks etc. You can buy a healthy 'blissball' protein snack at lots of cafes (recipe for another day!) and there are plenty of fresh fruit options. 

HOWEVER, the UK wins more points for announcing that they will be taxing sugary drinks, being able to walk everywhere without overheating (I can't walk more than 250m without sweating here), having a 'cycle to work' scheme available in most workplaces and building cycle 'super highways' in London - cycling in Australia seems so much more dangerous (cars HATE cyclists in Oz). Where do you think it is easier to be healthier - warmer countries or colder ones?

Now that it is Spring, it is often the time that people come down with colds and flu. A lot of people reach for orange juice to boost their Vitamin C intake, which is known to help reduce the risk and severity of colds.  However drinking juice is not necessarily the best way of increasing your Vitamin C and in fact could be hindering your goals.
 
Fruit juice is often in debate about whether it is healthy or not, especially for those trying to lose weight.  If you want to lose weight or are struggling to keep consistent weight loss, the latest advice is to avoid fruit juice.  Fruit juices are high-carbohydrate and high-sugar. Even though they’re “good for you” there are better sources of nutrients with much less sugar (or none at all).  Eat your fruit and vegetables, don’t drink them.  More on why below.

Lastly thank you so much to those who forwarded my email last week on to your friends, family and colleagues. It means a lot that you find my emails useful and that you are helping to spread the word! Always happy to help so do let me know if there's anyone else who you think may benefit :) I'm always open to constructive feedback too if you have any.....

Why is drinking orange juice (and other fruit juices) not a great idea?

The key issue is a lack of fibre. When we eat fruit, the fibre forms a protective layer that acts as a barrier to the intestine, slowing down the absorption of sugar. The high sugar content obtained from the digestion of fruit juice can elevate your blood sugar levels, which in turn stimulate your pancreas to produce insulin.

The more carbohydrates you eat at once, the higher your insulin levels are likely to increase. For example, your insulin levels will increase more after having a large banana and orange juice compared to after eating an egg and glass of milk, which is much lower in carbohydrate. Having other carbohydrates at the same time, such as a  a slice of bread or cereal, can also further increase your insulin levels.  If this blood sugar is not used for activity/body function, it may get stored as fat to use 'later'.  If you are very active or not trying to lose weight, this is not generally a problem as you are using the energy that you are consuming.

Oranges themselves are an excellent source of vitamin C, just one large orange contains a full day’s dose. Vitamin C is critical for producing white blood cells and antibodies that fight off infections; it’s also a powerful antioxidant that helps protect cells from free-radical damage and plays a key role in producing skin-firming collagen. Oranges are also high in fiber and folate.  They contain on average 60 calories for one and 12.5g of sugar, with 116% of your recommended intake of Vitamin C.

Compare this to orange juice:
 
250ml: on average 25g of sugar, 0.6g of fibre, 125 calories. 200% of your daily recommendation of Vitamin C.
 
Compare this to 1 slice of wholemeal bread (which people often cut out to try to reduce carbs):
 
80 calories, 15g of carbohydrates, 2g of fibre.

A better way to stave off colds is to increase your fluid intake, eat more vegetables that are high in Vitamin C (particularly red peppers, kale and broccoli) and sleep more where possible. Take a high dose Vitamin C, Echinacea and Zinc if you feel a cold coming on. 

Please do ask me any questions at all if you want to know more. Let me know if you have any requests for topics for my weekly news.

An announcement...

Good morning! I hope you had a great Easter and are enjoying the longer nights this week. Before we get into the health info this week, first an announcement....

I'm running a marathon, in ANTARCTICA! It's 26.2 miles in the Autumn, think ice, dog sleds, and COLD!  Here's hoping the training on the ice skating rink at Alexandra Palace pays off over the next few months.

I'd love to be able to help more people so this week I am asking you to forward my email to one of your family members or a friend. If you copy me in, they can ask me some questions about health, fitness etc and I can add them to my weekly email list.  If you find my emails helpful, I'm sure they will too!

Food of the week

This week’s ‘Food of the Week’ is the chickpea. Chickpeas are a member of the legume family and they can be eaten either in their natural form, or modified in order to enable their use in other ways. High in many essential nutrients, chickpeas are mainly sourced from Asian and Mediterranean countries. Chickpeas are often ground down to create chickpea flour, or as it also sometimes known, gram flour. Chickpeas are fantastic for a healthy diet and weight loss due to their low glycemic index value and high levels of dietary fibre. By eating chickpeas, you can help to keep your blood sugar levels more stable and the metabolism of glucose more efficient. By including chickpeas (or other legumes or beans) into your healthy diet, you can help to negate the effects of other high glycemic index foods, as they will help to reduce your overall GI intake.
 
The major benefits of chickpeas:
 
•  Fiber Advantage and Weight Loss: Like other beans, chickpeas are rich in both soluble and insoluble dietary fiber. Soluble fiber forms a gel-like substance in the digestive tract that collects cholesterol and ferries it out of the body. Research studies have shown that insoluble fiber not only helps to increase stool bulk and prevent constipation, but also helps prevent other digestive disorders.

•  Protein for Vegetarians: Chickpeas are a good source of protein. Combined with a whole grain such as whole-wheat carbohydrate, they provide amount of protein comparable to that of meat without the high calories or saturated fats.

•  Manganese for Energy Production: Chickpeas are an excellent source of the trace mineral manganese, which is essential in energy production and antioxidant defenses. Just one cup of garbanzo beans supplies 84.5% of the daily value for this mineral.

•  Iron Boost: Chickpeas can boost your energy because of their high iron content. This is particularly important for those who have recently undergone surgery, and menstruating women or pregnant women. Iron is an integral component of hemoglobin, which transports oxygen from the lungs to all body cells, and is part of key enzyme systems for energy production and metabolism.

•  Stabilizing Blood Sugar and Low Glycaemic Index (GI): Soluble fiber helps stabilize blood sugar levels. If you have insulin resistance, hypoglycemia or diabetes, chickpeas can help to balance blood sugar levels while providing steady, slow-burning energy. They have a low GI value of 28 - meaning the carbohydrate in them is broken down and digested slowly. This is helpful for weight loss as it controls the appetite.

•  Heart Healthy: Regular intake of Chickpeas can lower LDL (bad) and total cholesterol. Chickpeas contain significant amounts of folate and magnesium. Folate lowers the levels of the amino acid homocysteine and strengthens the blood vessels.

•  For Women: Garbanzo contain phytochemicals called saponins, which can act as antioxidants. They may lower the risk of breast cancer, protect against osteoporosis and minimizes hot flushes in post-menopausal women.
 
Some tasty recipes using chickpeas:
 
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/10757/roast-summer-vegetables-and-chickpeas
 
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/summer-chickpea-salad

Kiwis and kickbacks

Good morning and happy Wednesday. I hope you are well.  With so many bad things going on in Brussels and in the world, I thought it may be good to focus on something positive.  Here is a feel good story showing the reunion of Christian the lion with his old friends! Click here to see the video. Search for Christian the Lion if you want to watch the whole documentary - it's fascinating that they kept a lion in Central London and even walked him on a lead in the park!

Food of the week

This week's 'Food of the Week' is the Kiwifruit – which is tasty with natural yoghurt as a snack, eaten on it's own with a spoon or cut up on top of muesli. 

Kiwifruit packs a lot of nutrition into a small, fuzzy package.  Each one is loaded with nutrients that can help to ward off disease, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, boost energy and help keep you healthy ... all in a fruit that's fun and flavourful!  They can get messy so you'll need a knife and a teaspoon.

Kiwifruit is one of nature's perfect foods: low in calories, high in energy and an excellent source of antioxidants.  Each one delivers a world of nutrition benefits, including:

• Vitamin C: Each kiwifruit has nearly two-and-a-half times the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C, proven to boost the immune system, ward off colds and fight the effects of stress and ageing.
• No fat: Kiwifruit is fat-free, an important consideration in choosing a healthy diet and a rarity among foods containing so many other nutritional benefits.
• Fibre: Two kiwifruit contain more fiber than a bowl of bran cereal, so are a tasty way to maintain heart health, regular digestion and lower cholesterol.
• Potassium: Two kiwifruit have more potassium than a banana, ideal for maintaining fluid and electrolyte balance and for releasing energy during exercise.
• Antioxidants: Kiwifruit is an excellent source of antioxidants, which are important in reducing your risk of cancer, heart disease and stroke.
• Low glycemic index: Kiwifruit is a fat-free, low-carb fruit that's safe for diabetics and a great part of any weight-loss diet.
• Magnesium: Two kiwifruit deliver 30 mg of magnesium, which improves nerve and muscle function while boosting your energy level.
• Lutein: Kiwifruit contains the phytochemical lutein, which works to prevent age-related blindness and protect eyes from various kinds of damage.
• Folate: With nearly 10% of the recommended daily value of folate, kiwifruit is a good way to protect the health of mother and baby during pregnancy while helping to prevent birth defects.
• Zinc: Men will appreciate kiwifruit's zinc content, which helps produce testosterone, while everyone can enjoy its other benefits like healthy hair, skin, teeth and nails.
• Vitamin E: Kiwifruit is one of just a handful of fat-free sources of vitamin E, a powerful antioxidant that helps lower cholesterol and boost immunity.

Exercise of the week

This week, I'm talking about an exercise that can really strengthen your glute (buttock) muscles. You may hear people say they had an injury and their physio told them it was due to 'weak glutes'. This is a common problem as most of us sit down a lot of the day, mean out buttock muscles get lazy!

For this exercise, minimal equipment is needed - all you need is a floor mat or a carpeted area.

• Start on your hands and knees with your back straight, with a gentle curve in the spine.
• Take one knee an inch off the ground.
• Keeping your knee bent at 90 degrees, extend back from your hip so that your foot comes behind you and then upwards. This motion is called hip extension, and isolates your hamstring glutes and lower back muscles.
• Try to straighten your leg as much as you can and squeeze you buttock at the top of the movement.  
• Now that you've reached the peak of your glute kickback, return back to the starting position.
• Perform 15 to 20.
• Repeat for the other side.
• Perform two to three sets of this exercise - this is a good exercise to do with your abdominal exercises at the end of your session.

Let me know if you have any questions at all.

Exercising with high blood pressure

Good morning and happy Thursday! There's so many names for different days of the year - Black Friday, Cyber Monday (made up by companies to make us buy things). However an interesting new one that I hadn't heard of before is Blue Monday, which Monday just gone. Apparently Blue Monday is the most depressing day of the year, as the weather worsens and we all get back into the year-long daily grind after the Christmas and New Year break.

The term Blue Monday was first coined in 2005 as part of advertising campaign for a travel company (of course it was). It was suggested that the third Monday of January is the most depressing due to a number of factors, including debt built up over Christmas, a long stretch until the next pay day, cold weather and how many days it had been since the holidays. All which makes us look at booking a holiday in the sun (aren't companies clever!).

Let me know if you actually experienced this!

Topic of the week - high blood pressure

This week I want to talk about exercise and blood pressure. A lot of people have been told by their GP/consultant and may be looking for safe ways of reducing it. You may have been given medications to bring it down if it is very high or been told to ‘lose weight and exercise more’. Unless you’ve been given specific information about exercise you may not know where to start.

Please let me know if you'd like me to send you my guide ‘*7 Ways to Reduce Your Blood Pressure Naturally*’ which you may find useful.

If you have high blood pressure, the best piece I can give you is to listen to your body. How you feel during exercise should dictate the frequency and intensity of your workouts. While it is possible to lose weight while reducing your blood pressure, your top priority is to neutralize the threat of blood pressure before you push yourself toward more difficult exercise goals. To do this, consistency is essential. Frequency (the number of exercise sessions per week) is more important than intensity (how hard you are working), especially when you are starting out.

Below I have set out some recommendations, both for aerobic exercise (cardio) and resistance exercise (weights). All of the exercise recommendations assume that your blood pressure is under control (whether through medication or diet) and is monitored by a doctor. If you are unsure or would like a blood pressure ‘MOT’ please get in touch.

Aerobic Exercise Recommendations (cardio)

• If you are new to exercise or haven’t exercised in awhile, start slowly and increase the time and intensity of your workout as you get stronger. A good starting point is 30 minutes of cardiovascular activity, 3 days per week. Examples include walking, swimming and biking.
• If 30 minutes is too much, start with 10-20 minutes and increase from there. Eventually, the goal is to work up to 45-60 minutes, 5 days per week. This doesn’t have to be at a gym. It can be a brisk walk, cycle, dance class, etc.
• It is important to warm up before and cool down after each exercise session (10 minute warm up, 10 minute cool down). An easy way to do this is to start at home, marching on the spot or using a stair to step up and down, gradually increasing the pace.
• Monitor your exercise intensity by using the RPE scale (Rate of Perceived Exertion). The scale goes from 1-10. Imagine a 1 is sitting on the couch and a 10 is an all out sprint. You ideally need to perform a warm up to bring you gradually up to a 5/10 and then work at a 5-6/10 for 30 minutes. A 5-6 should feel like you are exercising yet you can comfortably hold a conversation and can keep going for a lot longer. This will ensure a safe and comfortable level of exercise.
• The best activities to do are the ones you enjoy and will stick with. Join a walking/ramblers club or meet a friend for coffee and go for a brisk walk first. You are more likely to do exercise if you do it with a friend or partner.

Resistance Training

Many people with hypertension avoid strength training because they are afraid that it will increase their blood pressure. But research shows that strength training can actually help to reduce blood pressure (Journal of Hypertension 2005, Vol 23 No 2).

If you have high blood pressure, you should avoid strenuous strength-related activities, in particular anything that requires you to hold your breath. Activities of this type, including isometric strength training (an exercise that uses one small muscle only), may cause excessively high blood pressure responses and are potentially dangerous for many people with hypertension.

Safe resistance training tips:

• Lift lighter weights for a higher number of reps. (A good weight is one that you can lift for 12-15 repetitions in good form without holding your breath)
• Move continuously throughout each exercise (to avoid an isometric hold)
• Breathe throughout each exercise (exhaling as your exert effort or lift the weight and inhaling as you return to the starting position)
• DO NOT lifting maximum weights, *perform isometric contractions, or hold your breath*. (These practices result in excessive blood pressure responses and should be avoided.)

It is recommended that people with hypertension follow an exercise programme with a combination of cardio and resistance. You can separate these into different days or perform on the same day. If doing resistance and cardio on the same day it is best to perform your cardio first.

Exercise Considerations

Some medications (such as beta-blockers) lower both your resting heart rate and your heart rate when working out. Therefore, when exercising, your heart rate will NOT reflect how hard you are actually working. Therefore it is important to use the RPE scale to measure how hard you are working.

Exercise is a great way to help lower your blood pressure in combination with a healthy diet and your doctor's treatment program. Remember to always consult your doctor before starting an exercise program and to listen to your body - especially when starting out.

Get in touch if you would like to know more about exercises specific to your needs and we can talk about a personalized exercise programme for you.

Until next time, have a great week!

Let me know if you have any questions at all.