The Nutritional Institute

The HPA axis used to be a bit of a well kept secret to nutrition and functional practitioners - it helped them to understand what was happening to the endocrine (hormonal) system of a stressed out client who was devoid of energy and was potentially struggling with their weight. Now the term ‘HPA axis’ has come into more common use in health language, but I’ll bet that the majority of you don’t actually know what it means, or at least what is significant about it!

On the 8th of January 2019, two months ago by the date of writing, my Dad (Jim Craig) tragically passed away while cycling along the Braamfontein Spruit near my home in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was riding with me and his 3-year old grandson Alex, who travels with me on his child seat. My Dad fell as he rode through a storm water drain and according to the autopsy report, incurred a ‘blunt force trauma to his neck’, dying more-or-less instantaneously.

Fungus is a biological kingdom unto itself. For example, the largest living organism on earth is actually a fungus known as the Honey mushroom. Another mushroom, Cordyceps sinensis, which is known for producing insect zombies, increases our aerobic capacity when regularly consumed.

Not a day goes by that you don’t see someone with a coffee cup in their hands, sipping away. More than 1.6 billion cups of coffee are consumed worldwide on a daily basis, and South Africa is one of the coffee hotspots in the world with its growing trend of specialty coffee consumption.

Your big build-up of training towards the 94.7 cycle race on the 18th of November is almost over. Have you devoted your life to racing 100km at top speed over hilly terrain with the hope of a sub-3hr time, or is your target to simply complete this challenge, no matter how long it takes and how sun burnt you get?