The Nutritional Institute

Sitting. Whether in our office chair, car seat or sofa, we’re mostly unaware of the detrimental effect of sitting on our health. But sitting has actually been called the ‘new smoking’ and can increase the risk of many diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease and depression.

Those of you who regularly read my blog posts will know that I talk an awful lot about hormones… I’m often talking about the main stress hormone cortisol and how that links in with many modern health imbalances. The topic of female hormones is actually no different, as you’ll read about in a minute or two. But, my focus for today is oestrogen and its sister hormone, progesterone. Many women experience very irritating or even debilitating symptoms that can be linked to an imbalance between oestrogen and progesterone.

I’m busy with my recipe book, which is a follow on from our Wholesome Nutrition book. It includes tried and tested recipes that are guilt-free and which hold a place in our daily eating practice of really fuelling our bodies, and hopefully placing us in a restorative place rather than a depleting one, which many foods these days seem to do. The aim of my book, for now anyway (as it constantly changes as we both grow together), is to really nourish and give back to the body.

We’re becoming increasingly aware of the polluting effect of plastic in our environment. In the last few years, alarm bells have been raised about how microplastics – small fragments of plastic less than 5mm in size – are accumulating in our soils and seas, working their way up the food chain and, ultimately, ending up on our plate.

Grocery shopping was once one of the most basic tasks known to man. Fast forward 100 years and our stores have more products, flavours, food companies and additives than ever before. What once felt like a stroll in the park is now a race through the Amazon. In today’s world, how is an athlete expected to stand his or her 'health ground' with so many options?