One of my favourite things about the colder weather is that it signifies soup season, and soup is the easiest lunch or starters offering ever. This one is packed with delicious wintery flavours of celeriac with just a touch of nutmeg and coriander.

Celeriac is also in season right now, and it's loaded with important vitamins, such as vitamins B6, C and K, and it's a great source of fibre. Plus, it tastes delicious! 

Don't be put off by it's unusual appearance - once it's peeled and chopped, it doesn't look that different from parsnips.

INGREDIENTS

300g fresh fennel, finely chopped (including the green part)

230g celeriac, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp coriander seed

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

850ml water

1 vegetable stock cube

140g butter or 2 tbsp coconut cream

Juice of 1 lemon

salt & ground black pepper, to season

A handful fresh dill or tops of fennel, chopped, to garnish

Handful of gluten-free croutons (Optional)

METHOD

Good health begins as a thought

Achieving long-term health and energy is a balancing act. Quite simply, what you put into your mind may have as much of an impact as the food and supplements you feed your body.

Many studies have been conducted on the mind-body connection. What we know for sure is that a positive attitude works – when we remember to nurture it.

Wholesome food, avoiding sugar and toxins are obvious tools for great health but how should you deal with the consequences of negative thinking and stress?

Experts rate exercise, sufficient sleep, controlling negative thoughts and building a strong social support as some of the best ways to decrease stress and boost immunity – so paying attention to your feelings and needs is as vital as drinking enough water and avoiding junk food.

Winning ways to promote good mind-body health

1. EXERCISE

The release of endorphins during exercise promotes a sense of wellbeing, which has the added benefit of boosting your immune system.

During exercise, the lymphatic system – a network of tissues and organs that helps your body to eliminate toxins and waste – is mobilised. Its main role is to transport lymph fluid, which contains infection-fighting white blood cells. Unlike the blood, which is transported by the heart, lymph fluid only moves if you do. 

A recent study from a North Carolina university showed that people who exercised for five or more days weekly experienced 43% fewer days of upper respiratory infections.

Walking, running or any other muscle-moving activity also dramatically reduces stress by ‘working off steam’ when you are upset or angry. With the release of endorphins, your body receives a natural mood boost, resulting in reduced stress levels, which in turn puts less pressure on your immune system.

2. GET ENOUGH SLEEP

According to an American Psychological Association study, stress is what keeps more than 40% of adults awake at night. To aim for the recommended seven to eight hours of sleep per night, avoid caffeine, digital screens and try to turn in at the same time each evening. 

3. FOCUS ON SELF-CARE

Make an effort to do something nice for yourself every day. Neglecting your own needs adds unnecessary stress to the system, resulting in increased vulnerability to illness. 

Women, in particular, tend to put their own needs last, especially if they’re caring for children and/or elderly parents.  If you battle with guilt when you take an hour off to read, go for a manicure or have a coffee with a friend, remind yourself that if your bucket is empty, you’ll have nothing left to give anyone else. Simple, but effective. 

4. MINDFULNESS

You cut in half the chances of catching a cold by meditating. A University of Wisconsin study showed that people who practised mindfulness – a type of meditation or mental state achieved by focusing your awareness on the present moment, while accepting feelings, thoughts and bodily sensations – noted 13 fewer illnesses and took 51 fewer sick days. Researchers concluded that this reduced the physical effects of stress, which is known to weaken the immune system.

5. IT TAKES A VILLAGE…

Building strong social connections has proven psychological and physiological benefits. Whether you are an introvert or extrovert, having a ‘support group’ – no matter how big or small – boosts immunity by creating ‘stress buffers’.

Being able to share stress or concerns with close family or friends provides an opportunity for outside support and advice, which alleviates a sense of being alone in your situation. 

Ongoing stress is also a contributing factor to many chronic diseases, and is seriously not helpful if you are trying to lose weight. 

“When we get too caught up in the busyness of the world, we lose connection with one another – and ourselves.” – Jack Kornfield, American author and Buddhist mindfulness pioneer. 

You don’t have to continue to suffer – you have the power to make these changes. Just plan in small steps and gradually these will add up to make the difference.

If there is anything that has come up for you as a result of this blog post, I warmly invite you to book in for a free 30-minute health review to see if a personalised nutrition and lifestyle plan might help. You can book yourself directly into my diary by clicking right here.

Are you functioning on all cylinders?

If you often feel you’re dragging yourself through the day or you've been struggling to lose weight for a long while despite eating all the right things, it might be worth considering whether your thyroid is doing the job it should. 

The thyroid – a butterfly-shaped gland located in the neck – is the body’s internal motor, effectively setting the speed at which the body works. If it’s not up to scratch, you might experience a whole host of uncomfortable or annoying symptoms (see below). 

The hormones it makes affect most cells in the body by increasing the basal metabolic rate, as well as augmenting heat production. That’s why people with an underactive thyroid often struggle to lose weight, feel the cold more easily and have low energy – imagine a record player playing a record at reduced speed.

Do any of these sound familiar?

• I feel tired all the time
• My hands and feet are always cold
• I’m putting on weight for no reason
• I can’t seem to lose weight whatever I do
• I’m often constipated
• My muscles ache
• I get muscle cramps more often
• I feel irritable
• Generally, I’m feeling a bit low
• I’m struggling to fall pregnant
• My periods are heavier than usual
• My hair and skin feel so dry
• My sex drive is flagging or non-existent
• I’m losing hair at the outer edge of my eyebrow.

If more than a few symptoms resonate with you, visit your GP to discuss symptoms and ask to get your thyroid tested. 

GP testing

One of three things will happen after you have a blood test at the GP. The doctor may tell you your results look normal, in which case no further action will be taken*. Or you might be sent for further testing, if the result looks a little off, either immediately or for a retest in a few months’ time. 

It’s much more common to have an underactive thyroid than an overactive one, and more common still for the underactive thyroid to be an autoimmune condition called Hashimoto’s, where the immune system destroys the thyroid gland to the extent that it can no longer function normally. 

However, even with a diagnosis, many people still experience symptoms in spite of treatment.  

What actually gets tested? 

In the UK, the first thing doctors test is Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) levels. TSH is the hormone that tells your body to produce the actual thyroid hormones. If TSH is within range, your GP is unlikely do any further tests on the assumption that the rest of the thyroid hormone-producing cascade is working correctly. 

If TSH is raised, your body is working harder than necessary to produce the right levels of thyroid hormones. At this point, your doctor may repeat the TSH test in a few months in order to compare levels. 

Alternatively, they might test your Thyroxine (T4) levels to determine whether or not you’re producing the right levels of this hormone. 

If this level is below range, you’ll likely be prescribed a synthetic form of thyroxine to supply the body with what it is not making itself. If the levels is above range, which suggests an overactive thyroid, you may be prescribed carbimazole and perhaps a beta-blocker.

*Still feeling tired and ‘rubbish’ despite treatment?

This a common problem. Initially, you may start to feel better, but many patients report sliding back into their previous pattern of symptoms.

The reasons why you’re not feeling better can be complex.

• Supplementing with T4 might not work, as what’s going on in your body might be more complicated and involve several issues.
• Some people produce enough TSH and T4, but T4 isn’t actually the hormone that does the work.
• Triiodothyronine (T3) is the ‘work horse’ that needs to be converted in the liver from T4. Some people, for various reasons, simply don’t convert it very well.
• In other cases, you might produce enough TSH, T4 and T3, but the body negates the effects of the usable T3 by making reverse T3 (rT3) –literally reversing the action of T3.
• Everything may ‘look normal’, but if you’re still dragging yourself through the day, you could have sub-clinical thyroid problems. GP ranges are quite broad, so it’s easy to fall outside the limits. 

It’s worth knowing that regular GP testing does not cover T3 or rT3, so if you’re still feeling below par, it’s worth getting a full thyroid blood screen done privately. I work with all major private laboratories and can arrange this for you.

Do you have an autoimmune thyroid problem?

Another vital piece of information, which isn’t often covered by the standard GP test, is for the presence of autoimmune thyroid antibodies (thyroid peroxidase and thyroglobulin). This indicates your immune system is attacking your thyroid.

The autoimmune disease Hashimoto’s Disease (a form of underactive thyroid) is incredibly common but unless your GP tests for the antibodies, you won’t know that you have it.

GPs generally don’t test for this as it doesn’t affect their clinical management of you – whatever the diagnosis, you’re still going to be prescribed thyroxine.

However, this test is important to nutritional therapists, as the diagnosis requires an entirely different treatment protocol.

You may have high levels of these antibodies, but no symptoms of an underactive (or overactive) thyroid. The autoimmune element always comes first. 

Hashimoto’s (underactive) and Graves’ (overactive) Disease affect the thyroid, but they are actually immune system disorders. 

Adrenal stress - the missing link in thyroid treatment

Thyroid health is closely connected with your adrenals (two walnut-shaped stress glands located on your kidneys). If you have had any significant stress, your adrenal glands may not be performing optimally – and this is very bad news for thyroid health.

Adrenal stress disrupts the complex network of interactions needed to make the right amount of thyroid hormones, suppressing the thyroid function.

There are tests available privately for this. Unfortunately, adrenal problems are not recognized by UK GPs. 

Addressing adrenal problems is important because the effects of stress affect energy production, fat storage (storing fat around the middle) and female hormone health.  

The importance of iodine

Did you know that the mineral iodine is essential for the manufacture of thyroid hormones triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4)? Thyroid hormones contain three or four iodine atoms respectively. If you’re serious about fixing your thyroid for once and for all, you could consider a urine test to determine whether or not you have sufficient levels of iodine. 

Ready to get that thyroid back into shape?

There are a number of different tests, which we can use to measure your thyroid levels. These include a full blood draw, finger prick blood spot test and a urine test. I take a full medical history and evaluate my clients before deciding on the best option. If you have an underactive thyroid and are feeling below par, despite medication, I can help. Medication is just a piece of the puzzle. Why not contact me here.

WHY YOU REALLY, REALLY NEED THE D

Did you know that the sun is our main source of vitamin D? However, here in the UK, due to our latitude, we can’t get it from the sun between October and March. So, it’s important to make sure we can get it in other ways.

Why? Well, vitamin D is a superstar vitamin. More correctly, it’s actually a hormone. If levels are too low, this is bad news for health. I’m talking cancer, osteoporosis, rickets in children, asthma, tuberculosis, multiple sclerosis (and other autoimmune diseases), heart disease, diabetes, and dental problems.

WHY SO LOW?

• Sun cream. Your body makes vitamin D after contact with the sun’s UV rays but, as we’re a nation of sun cream fanatics (and this covers the skin, blocking the rays of sunlight from getting through), you might not be getting enough straight-up sun.
• Age. Among other things that go a bit wrong as you get older, your body is less good at turning the rays from the sun into vitamin D. Specifically, the kidneys are less good with age at turning it to the active form of calcitriol. 
• Kidney or liver disease of any kind also means vitamin D is not converted to the active form. 
• Tummy troubles. Problems with the digestive system (and I’m not talking about disease here – just an imbalance that may cause anything from a few manageable symptoms to more serious trouble ‘downstairs’) mean the digestive tract does not absorb the vitamin D as well. 
• Obesity (technically that’s a BMI or body mass index of 30 ) has the fat cells in your body hoover up the vitamin D. So then it’s stored – unusable – in your fat cells and is not whizzing around your body in your blood. 
• Lack of sleep.  Just as you need sunlight to make vitamin D, you need sleep to actually use it.
• Stress. The presence of the stress hormone cortisol reduces the uptake of vitamin D by special vitamin D receptors. It literally sits there, in the body, without being able to be used. What a waste!
• Your skin colour. The darker your skin, the less vitamin D you will make. This is due to the higher levels of melanin in your skin that protect against UV light. By blocking the sun’s rays, it also curbs the body’s ability to make the pre-cursor to the active vitamin D. 
• Nightshift workers and anyone else who doesn’t spend much time in the sunlight, including children wearing sun cream all the time and babies. Quite simply, you need the sun on your skin. 

10 SIGNS YOU MIGHT HAVE A VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY

1. Depression or anxiety (including mood changes or irritability)
2. Bone softening (low bone density), fractures
3. Feeling tired all the time/ decreased performance
4. Muscle cramps and weakness
5. Joint pain (especially back and knees)
6. Difficulty regulating your blood sugar levels/ post lunch energy crash
7. Low immunity
8. Slow wound healing
9. Low calcium levels in the blood
10. Unexplained weight gain

Symptoms like these are commonly overlooked because they don’t feel life threatening, and they’re often dismissed as normal, everyday aches and pains you have to deal with. But you don’t have to put up with these symptoms of ill health!

WHO SHOULD GET TESTED?

If any of the above resonates with you, then you should definitely get tested. You might find your GP will do this for you. My experience is that they are usually amenable to this particular test. 

If your doctor won’t test, consider getting it checked out privately. In the big scheme of things (like life and, you know, your health), the test is not expensive but it could change your enjoyment of your life. 

The test is the 25-hydroxy vitamin D test (also known as the 25-OH vitamin D test or Calcidiol 25-hydroxycholecalciferol test). It’s the most accurate way to measure how much vitamin D is in your body.

Your doctor will want to know that there is a valid reason for having you tested. Go back through the list of symptoms and go in strong with this being the reason why you want to be tested. 

If you’re the kind of person who doesn’t want to ask, feels uncomfortable asking or is just curious to know their levels, you can get the test done privately for £44. It’s a finger prick test, so you can do it easily at home, then get guidance on how much to supplement safely. If this is you, and you want to know more, just hit reply to this email and we’ll talk. 

If you do take a test and you’re very low, you’ll need an intense 4-6 weeks supplementation at a higher dose and then re-testing to see the impact it’s had.  There is such a thing as too much vitamin D (known as vitamin D toxicity). You’d have to be going some way to get there, but it is possible, which is why it is essential you know your levels before you start guzzling any supplements. 

I know what you’re thinking. Here’s a few of those ‘yes, buts’ you have going on…

• I already take a vitamin D supplement.  
• I go out in the sun quite a bit
• Wouldn’t my doctor ask to test me if they thought it were a problem?
• I’m too busy to take time off to take a test. 

I hear you. If you seriously have nothing wrong with you, if you didn’t identify with any of the symptoms in the list, then don’t bother. But if you did…

HOW TO UP YOUR VITAMIN D

• Get yourself some sun. Recommended sunlight exposure is between 10 and 30 minutes a day with no sun cream. 
• If getting out in the sun is not an option, sit in front of a light box that supplies 10,000 lux of full-spectrum light for 30 minutes every morning. This is an especially good option for winter months, for night shift. Bit of a faff, but it’s an option. 

• Take a supplement. You can take a generic 1,000 IU dose as an adult (but not children without consulting your GP) BUT, if you’ve no idea what your blood levels are, how to you know how much you should be taking?
• Eat naturally vitamin D-rich foods like oily fish (salmon, sardines, fresh tuna, trout, halibut, mackerel, et.), high quality cod liver oil, egg yolks and liver. Do not be fooled into thinking the fortified foods are the same or have similar benefits. Fortified foods (like cereals, margarine and some yoghurts) contain a synthetic version of the vitamin known as D2 (the natural form is D3). Research shows this is less effective at raising levels of vitamin D in the blood.  

Or if you'd like to find out more about your nutrient levels, or are concerned about any symptoms, please book in a free 30 minute health check with me today - just click here.

Aubergine hash

Serves 2

This delicious recipe makes a great weekend brunch option. Serve the eggs as you like them on top.

INGREDIENTS

1 sm onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

110g halloumi cheese, cut into small cubes

500g aubergine, cut into cubes

Salt and pepper, to season

2 large eggs

Worcestershire sauce or Tabasco sauce, to serve (optional)

METHOD

Fry the onion in the olive oil on a medium heat until soft.

Add the halloumi cheese and aubergine and fry until everything is golden brown. Salt and pepper to taste.

Make the eggs the way you like them and serve on top of the finished aubergine hash. Add a dash of Worcester or Tabasco sauce (optional) to finish.

Power Porridge

I love this recipe for when the weather starts getting cooler and you need a warming start to the day. This recipe contains fewer oats than traditional porridge recipes but has a higher content of nuts and seeds. This means that you stay fuller for longer, plus, it's better for your blood sugar balance.

MAKES 1 PORTION

Ingredients:

4 tbsp porridge oats

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp ground flaxseeds, sunflower and pumpkin seeds

1 tbsp chia seeds

1/2 apple grated skin on

250ml water

250ml almond milk (or milk of your choice)

Handful blackberries

1 tbsp chopped almonds

Method:

• Add the oats, cinnamon, ground seeds and chia seeds to a pan and stir to combine

• Grate half an apple with skin on directly into the pan

• Add the water and milk and stir to combine

• Heat on a moderate heat, bring to the boil and then simmer gently for approx 5 mins until cooked. Stir frequently to prevent it catching on the bottom

• Add a bit of extra milk so it's your desired consistency

• Add blackberries and almonds on top