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Nourish Daily Blog
Our habits shape who we are: learn how to nourish your body, mind and spirit, every day.
Whole foods plant based recipes & bite-size info on topics supportive of health
The problem with perfection
We are surrounded by perfection. Be it on poster-boards, TV shows, TV adverts and of course all over social media. We see the perfect house, lifestyle, diet, body, fashion, skin, hair …. everything, and it is only natural to notice the difference between all that we see and ourselves.
In this post I am mainly thinking about our bombardment with perfection on social media as this is the most pervasive. I look at why seeking perfection is harmful, and what you can do to cultivate a healthier outlook.
Spending time in nature has measurable health benefits…
If you think of nourishment in terms not only of your body, but also your mind and spirit, then it becomes immediately clear that there is much, much more to nourishment than the food you eat.
A great example of nourishment is spending time in nature, which has been shown to benefit both mental and physical health. How often do you get out in nature? For most of us, the answer is probably not as much as we’d like. But now that research has now found measurable health benefits of spending time in nature, it may be time we re-prioritise our time outdoors.
Oxalates and your health
If you are switching to a whole-foods plant-based diet, you may come across the idea of anti-nutrients as components in whole, plant-based foods that can have a negative impact on your health. Sounds scary, right?
Some of the commonly listed anti-nutrients are lectins, phytates, tannins, saponins, glucosinates and oxalates. In this post I will discuss oxalates, saving the rest for later ;)
Fantastic flax - four reasons to eat
Flaxseeds, also known as linseeds, are making their way into the mainstream as a wonderful superfood full of health promoting nutrients. And there are plenty of reasons to back this up.
Here are my top 4 reasons to eat flax and some tips for how to add to your diet.
Tips for better sleep: infographic
A few weeks ago I shared some tips on how to improve the quality of your sleep. I realise I gave quite a lot of tips and so I have pulled them together in an overview infographic. I hope this will help you scan over the various strategies you can try to improve your sleep, and select one or two to give a go. (Of course, nothing stopping you trying them all!)
Sleep is such a cornerstone to health, and so well worth spending some time on! I often joke that sleeping is a hobby of mine, I like it so much! And who doesn’t enjoy a good nights sleep? I hope this infographic will help give you the tools you need for a better nights sleep.
Helpful resources to support ‘eating the rainbow’
In my previous post I gave some suggestions on how to increase the quantity and variety of fruit and veg in your diet. One of these was to eat the rainbow, and I want to share two free resources I have created with you here to help with this. One is a food guide by colour, to help inspire you to make wider food choices, and the other is a weekly tick sheet so you can track and gain an overview of whether you are managing to eat the rainbow!
Tips to eat more fruit and veg
In my previous post I made the case for eating more, and also a greater variety of fruit and veg. Think greater energy, better health and more resistance to illness.
But getting in more, and a greater variety, of fruit and veg can be easier said than done as we all live busy lives and typically find adding something else to think about difficult! Therefore, I would like to share with you some ideas to you supercharge your diet with wonderful fruit and veggies.
Variety is the spice of life
I have a question for you: if you could list the fruit and veg you eat regularly, so every week, how long would that list be? For many people, this list is really short and under a dozen different fruit and veggies eaten regularly.
‘So what?’ You might say. ‘If I am getting my daily portions then that is good enough isn’t it?’
Well in this post I would like to make the case for not only increasing the quantity of fruit and veg in your diet, but also the variety.
Strategies for getting more and better sleep
Where sleep is concerned, for many people there is room for improvement! As we all will have experienced, poor sleep can leave you feeling fuzzy headed, easy to annoy and low in energy. Beyond this extended periods of poor sleep can feed in to poor health such as through promoting weight gain, insulin resistance, reduced immunity and increased inflammation.
But the good news is there are many strategies you can try to improve your sleep. Some of these suggestions may also sound obvious - don’t dismiss these ones, sometimes the simplest changes can have the greatest results.
Why sleep is important for your health
In my last post I discussed how what you eat can effect the quality of your sleep, and how the quality of your sleep can influence what you eat! Quite a circular topic, I know!
In this post I want motivate you to take good care of your sleep. We all know how we feel after a bad nights sleep. Irritable, fatigued, mentally slower… sound familiar? But your sleep, and the quality of the sleep you get over a prolonged period of days, weeks, months and years can have a profound impact on your health.
If you keep doing what you are doing….
I came across this quote a while back: “If you keep doing what you are doing, you will keep getting what you are getting”.
I like this quote because I find it very empowering. It suggests that what we do on a daily basis has a significant impact on what life appears to dish up for us. Of course we cannot be in control of everything, but we are probably in control of more than we think.