Slippery Elm Trees are native to Eastern North America, they can live for up to 200 years. They have been used for their medicinal properties for many years - with studies dating back to the 1920s! The inner bark is dried and ground into a powder, and can now be found in most health store in capsule or tablet form. Have a read below to learn about the benefits of including this supplement in your diet (for yourself and even your pets!)
Improves digestive function - Slippery elm contain mucilage (gelatinous substance found in plants) When the powder mixes with water it becomes a gel, this gel soothes and coats the digestive tract. This can help protect against ulcers, acidity and help treat symptoms of IBS and crowns disease.
Helps treat diarrhoea - Taking the capsules, tablets or drinking slippery elm tea can help treat diarrhoea in humans and pets! (Speak to your
It’s so true when it comes to exercising (and most things in life) - just doing as little as 10minutes a day can have health benefits! We often think we need a good 30minutes - hour to exercise, and if we don’t have that amount of free time then we can’t exercise. I want you to try change your mindset. Next time you don’t have that golden hour to exercise, try doing something with the time you do have.
Don’t let not having enough ’time’ be an excuse - write down an action plan for achieving your fitness goals. If you have had a busy day at work, the kids are home sick or your day just doesn’t go as planned. Set a timer on your phone and just do 10minutes and push yourself - you will feel so much better for it! And if your lucky you might even be able to fit in a couple more 10minute workouts during the day! As the saying goes “you only regret the workout you didn’t do” Each workout no matter how short is taking y
If you are after another drink to warm you up with this freezing weather try hot mug of lemon, ginger and honey. It’s refreshing, with loads of health benefits too!
Lemon - for the added vitamin C boost, it is also calming on the digestive system and adds to the flavour
Ginger contains a wide range of vitamins, minerals and is a potent antioxidant and anti inflammatory. (I will re share my post on ginger next week for you to read the full list of benefits)
Honey - Ideally use raw honey for the full benefits. Honey is antibacterial, anti inflammatory - I will do a blog post soon going into more detail!
Following on from my blog on the benefits of turmeric - I thought I would share this tasty recipe so you can add turmeric to your diet in another way! Perfect anytime of the day as it is caffeine free.
Ingredients
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
250ml Koko coconut milk
1 drop vanilla stevia
Sprinkle of cinnamon
Method
Heat milk up slowly in a saucepan and stir in the turmeric.
Once it’s heated to the required temperature add to your favourite mug.
Add one drop vanilla stevia (or 2 depending on how sweet you like it) and sprinkle with cinnamon and you’re done!
Turmeric comes the root of the curcuma long plant and it’s a member of the ginger family. If you have seen the raw turmeric in your supermarket you would notice that it looks like a smaller version of ginger, but bright orange on the inside.
Turmeric has many health benefits and contains serval antioxidant compounds with the main one being curcumin. Curcumin has strong anti bacterial, anti fungal, and anti inflammatory properties. Have a read below to learn about the benefits of adding turmeric to your diet whether into your cooking or in supplement form.
Anti-inflammatory - curcumin has excellent anti-inflammatory abilities, and when used with piperine (a compound found in black pepper) it has the ability to improve absorption of the curcumin. So if you are wanting to get the full benefit of the curcumin make sure you are grinding black pepper into your meal too. Alternatively if you are t
Avocados are known by most to be really healthy - but do you know why? Have a read below to learn why you should be adding this fruit to your diet!
Avocados can reduce your risk of metabolic syndrome, which is the name given a group of conditions that increase your risk of developing heart disease.
Avocados are rich in fat soluble vitamins and contain lutein which is a carotenoid that protects eye, skin and hair health. Avocados can even be used topically as face or hair masks!
Studies have shown avocados to have the ability to help fight off certain cancers thanks to the powerful phytochemicals they contain.
Excellent for digestive health - avocados can contain anywhere between 10-17g of fibre per a fruit! Fibre is important for our gut health as it helps increase the good bacteria and keep
Brownies are definitely my favourite sweet treat - but I like them even more when I know they are nutritious too! By adding black beans to the brownies you are adding iron, calcium, zinc, magnesium, manganese, and copper to name a few. It’s not often you will come across with a brownie with as an impressive nutritional profile!
Ingredients
You will need to plan ahead with this recipe as the black beans need to be soaked over night (up to 24hrs!!)
Alternatively you can use tinned black beans.
300g black beans (rinsed and patted dry)
3 tablespoons raw cacao (another nutrient hit)
3/4 oat flour (made by putting regular oats in food processor until you get a fine consistency
Pancakes don’t just need to be saved for a weekend treat - these can be eaten daily. Batch cook them and keep a stash in the freezer. Just pop in the toaster for a quick nutritious breakfast!
Ingredients
1 egg
1/2 cup chickpea flour
1 cup plain flour
1 banana
1 tablespoon hemp hearts
1 teaspoon baking powder
250ml milk
Butter or coconut oil to grease the pan
Method
Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend until well mixed.
If the mixture is looking too thick add a bit more milk until you get the desired consistency.
Heat a pan and add a 1/2 teaspoon of butter or coconut oil
We can easily start to think of all the expenses of living a healthy life style - with gym memberships going up, healthy food options being more expensive, It all adds up and can be quite overwhelming. Yes living a healthy lifestyle can come at a cost, but so can treating an illness. We need to think of it more as an investment into our current and future self. It’s so important to invest time, effort and money into keeping ourselves healthy everyday. Don’t wait until it’s too late to start trying to make a difference.
Not all the investments need to be costly though. Investing in your health could be making sure you get a good night sleep each night, getting outside and going for a walk to de stress and exercise, drink more water or making healthier food choices.
Your health is the most important investment you will ever make. After all “The greatest wealth is health”.
Home made tomato soup may not be as easy as opening a can of soup, but its much more tastier and no hidden additives! Double up the mixture and you can freeze extra portions for a quick soup the next time round.
800g tomatoes cut into quarters
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon oregano
500ml vegetable stock
Sprinkle of salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 180degrees.
Place the tomatoes and garlic in an over proof dish and drizzle with olive oil followed by the oregano, salt and pepper.
Place in the oven.
After about 15minutes give the tomatoes a stir to make sure they are roasting evenly.
Cook for another 15-20minutes or until tomatoes are starting to darken.
