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What is Psyllium Husk, and What are its Benefits?

You may have heard of psyllium husks and wondered what on earth they are. You certainly won’t find them cropping up as an ingredient on Masterchef or The Great British Bake Off. So what are they, and what can they do for us?

The plantago ovata grows wild in Asia, North America and the Meditteranean regions of Europe, and it’s this which is the source of psyllium. Each plant can produce up to 15,000 tiny little gel-coated seeds, from which psyllium husk is derived.

Psyllium husks are available to buy in their whole form or as a powder. Psyllium husks aren’t eaten for their taste but instead for their extraordinary health benefits. So let’s take a further look at what these are….

Vitamin B12: what is it, and why is it so important?

The world of vitamins can be confusing, and the B vitamins are perhaps the most confusing of all! Weirdly, even though they’re numbered up to B12, there are only eight of them. The body needs all of them in certain amounts as they’re essential to make many biological processes run smoothly, and a deficiency can lead to some serious and debilitating medical conditions.

Anyone who becomes a vegan will soon learn that ensuring they take enough vitamin B12 is going to be an important part of their new existence – but everyone needs this unique nutrient, irregardless of whether they have a plant-based diet or spend all day eating beefburgers. But what is vitamin B12, why is it so important, and how can we get enough?

How Can I Improve My Child’s Diet In A Way They’ll Love?

There’s no escaping the fact that the children of Britain are getting fatter, and when combined with a sedentary lifestyle with little physical exercise, this spells disaster for their future health. Children’s waistlines are expanding, with government statistics published at the start of 2021 revealing that nearly 10% of 4-5 year olds are now obese, with a further 13.1% overweight. At age 10-11 this increases to a whopping 21% of children in the ‘obese’ category, with an additional 14.1% classed as overweight.[1] It’s clear British kids need improved diets.

Public Health England suggests we feed children according to the Eatwell Guide, which recommends at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables per day, as well as some potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, some nuts and pulses, a small amount of dairy, and very limited oils and fats.[2] It also recommends we strictly limit junk food (which often contains staggeringly unhealthy trans fats) as well as sauces and fizzy drinks (which can contain massive amounts of sugar).

But what else can we do to ensure our kids develop healthy eating attitudes, a passion for good food and healthy, active bodies? Let’s have a closer look….

How Can I Have The Best Nails On The Block?

Healthy, beautiful nails are an important part of how we present ourselves – and more than that, they’re often indicative of our level of overall health, so we should always take note of what they’re telling us, and tweak our behaviour accordingly.[1]

There are several things we can do to improve the appearance and the structure of our nails. One is to avoid strong chemicals for washing and cleaning, which can adversely affect the integrity of nails. Always opt for natural cleaning products, and make sure you also choose natural beauty products which are kind and nourishing instead of harmful and damaging. Collagen is important too, and if your body isn’t producing enough naturally, it may be worth investigating taking it in supplement or powder form.

If you’re looking after yourself and eating a healthy diet packed with nutrition, though, you shouldn’t need to rely on supplements. So let’s look at the best things you can eat to have the best nails on the block….

What Are the Most Popular Diets?

It’s no wonder that two-thirds of Brits report being on a diet “most of the time”.[1] When we go shopping, there’s an overwhelming choice of calorie-dense, nutrient-light junk foods which tempt our taste buds but spell disaster for our health and waistlines. In this era of high-fructose corn syrup and trans fats, the old saying ‘a minute on the lips, a lifetime on the hips’ has never been more true!

The NHS urges us to check our BMI regularly and consider going on a weight loss diet if we find we are in the ‘overweight’ category or higher.[2] They also stress that any regime we follow should promote safe and sustainable weight loss, encourage healthier food choices, include realistic exercise plans and teach skills to prevent weight regain.[3]

So with so many different diets out there, let’s take a look at some of the most popular ones….

What Are the Benefits of a Vegan Diet?

Something’s happening in the nation’s eating habits. More and more people are waking up to the huge health benefits of a plant-based diet, with many switching fully to a vegan lifestyle. Larger numbers of people than ever are signing up to take part in Veganuary every year, with an increasing proportion of them remaining vegan afterwards. So what is it they’ve discovered that’s convinced them to make such a fundamental change?

There are countless examples of animal products being bad for human health. We all know that red meat contains saturated fat which clogs arteries, for example. But did you know that adding dairy milk to your cuppa cancels the health benefits of the tea?[1] Or that men who eat around half an egg per day have a 14% increased risk of fatal prostate cancer?[2] Or that vegans were found to have a 9% lower amount of IGF-1, a hormone which encourages the proliferation of cancer cells?[3]

It’s clear a vegan diet warrants further exploration, so let’s take a closer look….

How to Become a Vegan

Veganism is about more than food – it’s a way of life based upon freedom from involvement in animal exploitation. As well as food, this involves clothing such as fur and leather; animal products like beeswax, shellac and tallow, and products tested on animals such as household cleaners. Whatever your main reason for going vegan – saving the animals, reducing your carbon footprint, losing weight, improving your general health or all of the above – here are some very handy tips which are bound to help.

The first thing to bear in mind is that this can be a hugely emotive subject. Humans have become used to consuming animals for food and clothes for hundreds of thousands of years, and these things are tied in to ideas of culture, community, family and comfort for many people. The simple act of becoming vegan may cause some people to feel their whole way of life is under threat. The plain truth is that it is under threat, but the reason for this is that it’s totally unsustainable. Global meat consumption was forecast in a 2011 United Nations report to increase by 73% by the year 2050.[1] By this time, global emissions from food production are forecast to have risen a whopping 60% from their 2010 figure.[2] There is simply not enough land surface to continue current environmentally catastrophic methods of livestock production.

So let’s look at some pointers and tips for making this change to your life….

How Much Protein Do I Need in My Diet?

We hear a lot about the health benefits of protein, and how we should all ensure we get enough in our diets – but what is protein, and how can we be sure we’re eating enough?

Protein is a macronutrient made up of long chains of amino acids bonded with other molecules. When we digest food that contains protein, we free these amino acids up so they can be used for nutrition by our bodies. We’re able to synthesise all the amino acids we need ourselves, apart from nine – phenylalanine, valine, threonine, tryptophan, methionine, leucine, isoleucine, lysine and histidine. These are known as ‘essential amino acids’, and we must source them from the food we eat.

So let’s delve deeper into the wonderful world of protein, and learn why we should be paying more attention to this powerful nutrient….

How Can I Start Eating More Healthy Snacks?

We’ve all been tempted by the snack section at the supermarket – shelf after shelf of crisps, biscuits and chocolate – stuffed with saturated fat, low on nutrition and completely catastrophic for our waistlines! So what’s the alternative?

In 2019, the UK’s savoury snack sector was valued at £3.2 billion, and crisps were responsible for about a third of this figure.[1] The NHS advises us to avoid fried snacks and opt instead for fruit and vegetable-based ones instead – they even have a page of snack ideas, based mainly around whole foods.[2]

But doesn’t eating between meals mean we’ll put on weight? Well, probably not, because it means we won’t be as hungry at our next meal, and this will lead to reduced calorie intake – and the authors of a report published in the British Journal of Nutrition discovered that the same amount of energy divided over three meals compared with two meals increased feelings of fullness over 24 hours.[3] So let’s take a deeper look at the ins and outs of good snacking….

Should Seeds Be a Part Of My Diet?

Seeds are a wonderfully diverse and exciting group of ingredients. They provide lovely tastes and textures, and are equally at home in sweet or savoury dishes – but should we be eating more of them?

We’ve all probably had Sesame Seeds on the top of burger buns, and eaten bread full of Flax or Poppy Seeds, but seeds can be the main event too – for example the Middle Eastern sweet treat Halva, which is made mostly of sesame seeds, as is Tahini.

Vegan chefs are well aware of the magical properties of Flax and Chia seeds, which are both used to replace eggs in cakes and bakes. Seeds are also used to provide valuable levels of flavour to many dishes, including curries, where seeds such as Nigella (also called Black Onion or Kalonji), Fennel Seeds, Fenugreek Seeds and Mustard Seeds are used to lend nuance and depth to dishes across large parts of the planet.

So let’s take a closer look at whether we should be using more seeds….