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Coconut Oil is an amazingly versatile cooking ingredient made by squeezing the fresh coconut flesh and collecting the oil produced.

Coconut Oil is also full of nutrition – it’s a rare source of lauric acid, which has huge health benefits, and it can help regulate metabolism, boost brain function and lower cholesterol. Here are some of our very favourite Coconut Oil recipes.

How to fit more superfoods into your diet

Magazines and TV shows are full of people talking about superfoods these days – but what are superfoods?

‘Superfood’ is a word that has come to mean foods from a different number of food groups (mostly plant-based) that have an excellent nutritional density, and which also offer an excellent array of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

Added to that, superfoods also very often contain healthy fats, which are thought to prevent heart disease, and fibre, important for preventing diabetes and digestive problems.

So here are some of our very favourite superfoods for supplying tip-top nutrition to every part of your body:

EIGHT WAYS TO USE BUTTER BEANS

Butter Beans are a fantastically healthy ingredient – they’re high in protein and fibre, and they’re an excellent source of carbohydrates. Low in fat and calories but high in folate, starch and iron, they’re one of the best store cupboard ingredients there is. They’re also wonderfully filling, and can be used in a wide array of dishes, both savoury and sweet.

Here are eight of our favourites:

Our Top Vegan Protein Powders

Many people these days choose to supplement the nutrition they get from the food they eat with various pills, powders and potions. Protein powder is a popular nutritional supplement, and we’re big fans, as we believe it offers an extra boost for athletes and other active people, with which they can provide essential nutrients to aid muscle repair, help with balance of hormones and maintain bone, muscle, and skin. It may also help you lose weight and get toned! Protein is also essential for the body’s recovery after an exercise session, and many vegans use our vegan protein powder to replace the animal proteins carnivores obtain from meat.

Most adults tend to need around 0.75g of protein per kilo of body weight every day. For an average woman, this equates to 45g, while for the average man, it’s 55g. Older adults, or those engaged in demanding fitness regimes, may need more.

So let’s have a look at our most popular lines of vegan protein powder…

Health Benefits of Kombucha

Kombucha has exploded onto the health scene in the last decade or so. It doesn’t sound promising: a fermentation of sugary tea using a microbial ‘mushroom mother’ – and anyone who’s seen kombucha being made will have caught sight of the ‘scoby’ (an acronym standing for ‘symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast’) and marvelled at its resemblance to a jellyfish.

It turns out that there’s increasingly compelling evidence that drinking kombucha can be excellent for your health in a number of different ways. So what exactly are the health benefits of kombucha? Let’s have a look….

How To Eat Less Salt

Everyone needs sodium, which is found in salt. The body uses it to balance fluids in the blood and maintain our optimum blood pressure. Without it we wouldn’t be able to survive, and scientists recommend we consume 1-2mg of it daily. But Western diets are increasingly full of salt, especially in processed foods, and while the NHS tells us to eat less than 6g (or 1 teaspoon) of it daily, we often consume far more.

Too much salt can lead to heightened blood pressure, which is the trigger for all kinds of serious health conditions, such as heart failure, osteoporosis, stroke, fluid retention and kidney disease.

So how can we go low-sodium and achieve salt awareness? Here are some tips for a lower salt diet:

The Health Benefits of Macadamia Nuts

Macadamia nuts have the most fat and calories of any nut. Most people reading this will naturally assume they’d be a bad choice for people wanting to eat a healthy diet, but they couldn’t be more wrong! Macadamias are absolutely stacked with all kind of excellent nutrients that make them a very welcome and worthy addition to healthy eating plans.

Macadamia nuts are native to Australia, and come in four similar varieties. They’re more than three-quarters fat, and contain a whopping 718 calories per 100g. However, these are particularly healthy fats, with all sorts of beneficial results on human health.

So what exactly are the health benefits of Macadamias, and why should we be eating them regularly?

TEN WAYS TO USE KIDNEY BEANS

Kidney Beans are a tasty and protein-rich store cupboard staple which can provide a depth of flavour, splendid nutrition and fill a hungry belly all at the same time.

Here are ten of our favourite ways to use this brilliant wonder-bean:

The Health Benefits of Pecan Nuts

Pecan Nuts are a fantastically tasty way to improve your health! Normally things that taste this good aren’t very good for you, but pecans are full of excellent nutrients. Behind their rich, buttery flavour lies a wealth of beneficial things your body needs to maintain health and effective biological functions.

Pecan trees grow up to 40 metres tall, and 120,000 tons of nuts are harvested commercially every year. The pecan tree is actualy a species of hickory, and is native to Mexico and the United States. Pecans are often found as the main ingredient in pecan pie, a dish traditionally enjoyed in the southermost states of the US.

So what exactly are the health benefits of pecan nuts? Can they improve your health as well as delighting your taste buds, and if so, how? Let’s have a look…

An Introduction to Freeze-Dried Fruit

When fruit undergoes a process of freeze-drying (also known as ‘lyophilisation’) it’s a way of removing its moisture, while preserving its nutritional value. Conventional drying of fruit, especially when done at higher temperatures, can lead to a degradation of vitamins and reduce the benefits the body gets from consuming it.

Freeze-drying is also far better at preserving the shape and colour of fruit, which can make it look far better in a finished dish, or if you choose to rehydrate it. It also increases its shelf life massively, meaning it can be stored for years instead of just a few days.

Freeze-dried fruit also has a wonderful crispiness, and doesn’t suffer from the claggy chewiness of a lot of conventionally-dried fruit.