HOW TO HAVE A HEALTHY MICROBIOME

It may surprise you to hear that our bodies are made up of trillions of bacteria, in fact, the ratio of microbes in our body compared to human cells is 3:1. We have approximately 37.2 trillion human cells compared to 100 trillion bacterial cells. Therefore, it is important to ensure that we are doing all the right things to keep the good bacteria balancing the opportunistic bacteria. 

In the UK, there are many health issues which could be resolved by looking after our gut microbiome better. According to Dr Mark Hyman in his book “The Pegan Diet”, “an unhealthy microbiome can cause heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, autism, autoimmunity, dementia, allergies, asthma, fibromyalgia, Parkinson’s, and skin disorders like acne, eczema and psoriasis, not to mention all the digestive disorders, including irritable bowel, reflux, and colitis.” 

So what is the microbiome? According to the National Human Genome Research Institute, the microbiome can be defined as “the collective genomes of the microbes (composed of bacteria, bacteriophage, fungi, protozoa and viruses) that live inside and on the human body”. Although we need to keep different areas of the body healthy which require balanced bacteria, for example, the skin and mouth and other orifices, usually when we refer to the microbiome, we are referring to the bacteria in our intestines. 

Good bacteria in our intestines manufacture nutrients like vitamin K and B vitamins. Certain species increase absorption of particular minerals like calcium, copper, iron, magnesium and manganese. 90% of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which helps us feel contented and happy is made in the gut, a lack of which is a cause of depression.  

Our microbiome development starts the moment we are born and can be greatly improved by a natural birth, skin to skin contact with the mother and father immediately after birth and breastfeeding. It is commonly known that antibiotics disrupt our microbiome as they kill both the good and the bad bacteria. According to Dr Mark Hyman, the best way to look after our microbiome is the “weed, seed, and feed approach” where the bad bacteria (weeds) are removed or reduced, good bacteria (seeds) are increased and nutrients that feed the good bacteria are also increased. 

Here are ten tips to help you improve your gut microbiome:

1. Eat a varied diet - this will help increase the diversity of bacteria in your microbiome. Eat many varieties of fruit and vegetables, the more colourful the better and eat different proteins from plants, animals and fish. 

2. Eat fermented foods daily - many different cultures eat fermented foods, also known as probiotic foods (foods high in live bacteria) and there are many beneficial ones out there that significantly increase the good bacteria in our gut. You need to eat these regularly as these bacteria only hang around for about 12 days. Here are some examples: 

• Coconut kefir - you can have just a little bit each day so that a bottle lasts for 3 days

• Kimchi - you can get this delicious fermented cabbage with chilli at Korean restaurants 

• Sauerkraut - you can make your own and ideally have a big spoon a day

• Fermented vegetables - you can try carrots, cucumber, cauliflower, radishes following the same process for sauerkraut

• Miso - this is made from fermented soybeans and is good to add to sauces and dressings

• Cheese - cottage cheese has five times the amount of vitamin B12 compared to milk due to the fermentation process

• Yoghurt - choose bio yoghurt and try to avoid ones with added sugars or artificial sweeteners

• Tempeh - made from soybeans, I regularly order recipe boxes with tempeh from the Mindful Chef

• Natto - made from fermented soybeans

• Kombucha - a fermented drink from sweetened tea, I am dubious about this being healthy if it is full of sugar so check the ingredients. 
  

3. Exercise regularly - studies indicate better gut bacteria diversity in those that exercise regularly including cardio and strength-training. Exercise will also keep bowel movements regular which helps microbiome health.

4. Timings of meals - have a regular schedule for when you are eating and ensure you leave 3-4 hours between meals to allow cleansing of the stomach and the gut by the Migrating Motor Complex which prevents overgrowth of bacteria.

5. Reduce chronic stress - stress is damaging to our microbiome when it is continuous as it interrupts digestion and reduces the necessary secretions we need like bile and stomach acid. Read my blog post on how to manage stress.

6. Get dirty! - it is important to expose ourselves to dirt sometimes and not be too clean. If we are continuously using harsh soaps and strongly scented washing powders, we are killing off our good bacteria. If you are eating organic (so there are no pesticides on your fruit and vegetables), a little bit of soil on your vegetables is good. Try to avoid antibacterial soaps and cleaners. Wash off hand sanitiser as soon as you get in the house. 

7. Eat polyphenols and prebiotic foods  - polyphenols like blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, colourful fruit, green tea, almonds, onions, dark chocolate help promote good bacteria like Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus and prevent opportunistic bacteria which can cause infections. Prebiotic foods feed the good bacteria and include asparagus, bananas, garlic, honey, leeks, legumes, onions, chicory and Jerusalem artichoke. 

8. Avoid foods that reduce good bacteria and feed opportunistic bacteria - reduce sugar, gluten and highly processed foods which have been shown to damage the microbiome. Avoid artificial sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose. 

9. Reduce your toxin exposure - try to avoid toxins like Bisphenol A, phthalates, heavy metals like mercury and lead, triclosan in soaps and body washes, and pesticides in chemical weedkillers. These all kill gut bacteria and reduce microbial diversity.

10. Avoid antibiotics wherever possible, as well as antacids and proton pump inhibitors which reduce stomach acid which is key to preventing dangerous microbes from entering the intestines. If you cannot avoid antibiotics, consider using a probiotic supplement afterwards which includes Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacteria bifidum. 

I hope these tips help you improve the health of your microbiome which is a vital step towards longevity and preventing disease. It takes time to get some of these pieces in place but it is fully worth it to keep your bacteria thriving. If you are curious to understand the health of your gut if you already have all the above habits in place, it may be worth investing in a stool test which can show the diversity of your gut bacteria and whether you need to worry about parasites or any overgrowth of opportunistic bacteria. Please contact me for further information or if you have any questions.

10 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR MENTAL HEALTH

The subject of mental health has never been more important because of the pandemic and lockdown and the impact of restrictions and changes on our lifestyle. Some people have thrived due to being able to spend more time with family and pets at home, and other people have suffered due to a significant loss of in-person contact with people at work, and with family and friends who live in a separate household. 

Prior to the pandemic, according to the Mental Health Foundation, for people living in the UK, “one in six adults experiences symptoms of a common mental health problem, such as anxiety or depression, and one in five adults has considered taking their own life at some point”. These statistics are very likely to have worsened now due to many people losing loved ones, high rates of job losses and unemployment, and significant changes to the ways we work, exercise, shop, socialise and carry out our regular day-to-day activities. Most importantly, we must all take time to acknowledge the impact of all this to how we feel, as it is very normal to experience strong feelings because of all these changes.

Our mental and brain health is key for having optimal health as it affects our motivation and our energy. If our mental health declines, our immune system can shut down and other body functions can be impaired like hormones and digestion.

Here are ten ways things you can do to maximise your mental health and help keep your energy and productivity high:

1. Look after your gut health - serotonin is a neurotransmitter necessary for stabilising our mood, having feelings of well-being and feeling happy. 90% of our serotonin is made in the gut, therefore we need to ensure a good balance of gut bacteria. We can achieve this through eating fermented foods daily like coconut or water kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi and miso. Avoiding sugar and keeping a regular schedule for meals and our sleep also helps. 
   

2. Ensure deep restorative sleep every night - sleep is vital for our mental health as it helps with emotional resilience and we all know we are not at our best mentally after a bad night’s sleep. Sleep enables our brain cells to repair, allows toxins to be cleaned away and also keeps our brain neurons healthy which we need for memory.  Ensure that the hour before you go to sleep, you take time to properly wind down with limited device time as the blue light interferes with melatonin which helps us sleep deeply. Try taking a relaxing bath or reading some fiction before you go to sleep. Avoid exercising late in the evening as this can disrupt sleep.
   

3. Eat protein, healthy fats and colourful vegetables at every meal - our brain needs these nutrients as well as good hydration to function well. Try to only eat real food and avoid processed foods. It is also worth considering if certain foods cause you to feel more anxious or drained - some foods that can have this effect are wheat (bread, pasta, baked goods) and dairy. Keep a log of how you feel after you eat certain foods and you may find some patterns. Be sure to eat these top 10 brain foods every day, as recommended by brain coach, Jim Kwik: avocado, blueberries, broccoli, coconut oil, eggs, green leafy vegetables, salmon, turmeric, walnuts and dark chocolate.
   

4. Reduce stress - stress can be a trigger to mental health issues like anxiety and depression. The quickest way to relieve stress is to breathe diaphragmatically for just 5 minutes. Also, try to spend time daily for at least 10 minutes doing something you enjoy. If you struggle to think of something, think about the activities and hobbies you used to enjoy as a child, for example, playing sports, doing a jigsaw, playing games or a musical instrument, or time with pets.
   

5. Reduce stimulants - try to avoid foods and drinks containing caffeine and artificial sweeteners and excessive carbohydrates as these can cause unnecessary anxiety. 
   

6. Reduce toxins - according to brain doctor, Dr Daniel Amen, environmental toxins like mould and heavy metals can cause many brain health issues like anxiety, depression and brain fog. Take his questionnaire to understand your brain’s current toxic load and risk of brain and mental health issues.
   

7. Daily exercise and movement - these help bring blood flow to the brain. Low blood flow to the brain has been linked to depression, schizophrenia, alzheimers and other brain disorders. Find ways of bringing in more daily movement, for example, take the stairs, go out for a walk, do a big clean of the house, choose far away parking spaces and dance to your favourite songs. 
   

8. Strong network of support - having supportive friends and family around us is vital to ensure good mental health. Think carefully about who wants the best for you and spend time with these positive people as much as possible. 
   

9. Positive thoughts - negative thoughts can be more destructive than eating a bad diet or not exercising. Challenge any negative thinking, defeating beliefs, and deeply-held negative emotions and journal about them or talk to supportive friends and family to truly understand what is causing these thoughts. 
   

10. Effective regular self-care - it is important to regularly make time for the kind of self-care that will help you the most, whether that is regular exercise or spiritual practices or slowing down and having a lovely treatment like a massage or reflexology or reiki or acupuncture, whatever helps you to feel grounded and calm and resilient. Consider whether some kind of therapy could be helpful for you if you have had any adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) like divorce, neglect, abuse or a loss of a loved one - it can be useful to calculate your ACE score with this questionnaire. According to Bessel van Der Folk, author of ‘The Body Keeps the Score’, many people may not be aware that they have suffered from trauma. He cites examples of people having car accidents and blotting these experiences from their memory and explains how people can respond to different types of therapy so it is worth giving some of these therapies a try: EMDR, Emotional Freedom Technique (tapping), hypnosis, sound therapy, theatre work etc.  

I hope these tips have given you ideas on how you can look after your own resilience using diet and lifestyle habits. For a quiz and more tips on mental health, you can download my free worksheet: how to prevent anxiety and depression. And please do follow me on Instagram for daily tips and inspiration!

HOW TO EAT HEALTHIER

There are so many conflicting messages in the media about what is healthy and what is not healthy. One day we are told that we should avoid alcohol and the next that red wine contains healthy antioxidants. It is no wonder that we are all very confused! However, I am sure that really you know what things are healthy for you and make you feel good. You might just want be looking for permission to eat those things you know you are better to avoid!

Download my free guide with a quiz and 10 tips on how to prevent indigestion.

Here are 10 tips to help focus you to eat healthier and help reduce any confusion about nutrition:

1. Protein – it is important to eat good quality protein at every meal. According to Dr Mark Hyman in his book “What the heck should I eat?”, we should aim to eat 115-170g protein per meal. Remember, also, to vary the proteins we eat so that we are sure to get the full spectrum of amino acids that our bodies need. We need protein for good bone health and to help our liver work efficiently to move toxins and excess hormones out of the body.
   
   

2. Eat the rainbow – we need to eat different coloured plant foods with 50-75% of each meal consisting of coloured vegetables. According to Deanna Minich, we should try to eat the following colours daily: red, orange, yellow, green, purple, brown, white (eg raspberries, carrots, lemon, broccoli, blueberries, mushrooms, onion).
   
   

3. Healthy fats - aim for 3-5 servings of healthy fats daily (nuts, seeds, avocado, coconut, olives, extra virgin olive oil). These are vital for healthy cells.
   
   

4. Low-glycemic - Eat a low-glycemic diet to keep your blood sugar stable. This helps keep your insulin down and reduce your risk of Diabetes Type 2 as well as keep your mood stable and help you avoid over-eating. Including protein and vegetables at each meal helps with this.
   
   

5. Timing of meals - eat every 3-4 hours to keep blood sugar stable and to avoid cortisol kicking in. Also, it is important that you allow the full cycle of digestion to complete before you start eating again.
   
   

6. Chew, chew, chew! – make sure you chew your food thoroughly and never eat when stressed. This enables optimal digestion and absorption of all the great nutrients from the foods you are eating.
   
   

7. Varied diet – it is important to eat different kinds of foods and not stick to the same old foods. The good bacteria in our gut thrive on many different types of foods and there is a risk that the diversity of bacteria will be low unless we eat a varied diet.
   
   

8. Avoid inflammatory foods - avoid foods which cause you digestive issues. Gluten and dairy are known to irritate the gut for certain people and it is wise to avoid eating these at every single meal.
   
   

9. Whole grains - eat small amounts of whole grains like brown rice, wild rice, quinoa,
   and buckwheat for fibre and B vitamins.
   
   

10. Real whole foods - avoid processed foods with artificial ingredients and sweeteners that you cannot pronounce. Try and eat things that our ancestors would have eaten, for example, meat, eggs, fish, fruit and vegetables.
    
    

I hope I've given you some ideas to eat healthier and help you choose those foods which make you feel great. Final takeaway (of the non-sugar fatty salty variety!!) – make sure you always listen to your body as just because something is healthy does not mean that your body enjoys it or can digest it well. Avoid foods that make you feel uncomfortable and enjoy the ones that make you feel good. And if you do want to enjoy something that is not the healthiest, make sure you sit down and savour it properly.

HOW TO PREVENT INSOMNIA

Insomnia is defined as regularly having problems falling asleep, staying asleep or waking up too early in the morning and not able to go back to sleep again. All of these scenarios cause us to not feel refreshed from sleep the following morning and can lead to headaches, irritability and blood sugar issues. In the longer term, lack of deep rejuvenating sleep can cause more serious problems as our body does not get the chance to do all the healing and detoxification it is meant to do while we sleep. 

A study conducted in Southampton during 2018 - 2020 indicated that, prior to the first lockdown in March 2020, one in six people experienced insomnia which rose to one in four people following the lockdown. Causes of insomnia seem to focus mainly on anxiety and worry but there are many other reasons for poor quality sleep including hormone imbalances, blood sugar imbalances, nutrient deficiencies, neurotransmitter imbalances and impacts of foods and stimulants and medications.

Sleep is a vital pillar for good health and you may suffer from many kinds of symptoms if you do not get sufficient deep sleep each night. It is important to note that you will never experience deep sleep if you are highly stressed. You may fall asleep but sleep very lightly if very stressed. This is because your body assumes that something life-threatening is close at hand, for example, a predator and that you may need to run away at a moment’s notice. It is such an important key to sleep that we reduce our daily stress so that our body knows that it can allow us to sleep deeply and that we are not constantly in survival mode. A simple habit like regularly breathing deeply for five minutes is enough to significantly calm our stress.  

Here are ten tips to help you prevent insomnia:

1. Create a sleep sanctuary in your bedroom - our bedroom needs to be fully dark, you can invest in some blackout blinds and cover up all lights from electronics. Ensure you are comfortable and that the bedroom is slightly cool. Using an essential oil like lavender is great for helping you wind down at bedtime. Sprinkle a few drops on a tissue and put inside your pillowcase. 
   
   

2. Align with your natural circadian rhythm - within thirty minutes of waking up, expose your eyes for 10-30 minutes to direct natural daylight or a light lamp if it is still dark. This resets your circadian rhythm and according to one study can also help you lose weight! It is also important to go to wake up and go to sleep at the same time every day.
   
   

3. Avoid blue light at night - avoid using electronics with blue light within 2 hours of bedtime. Blue light reduces melatonin which your body starts making from about 9pm onwards. Melatonin is vital for good quality sleep. You can use filters to reduce blue light or blue light blocking glasses but it is better to reduce usage of electronics and relax.
   
   

4. Exercise at the right time - it has been shown that regular exercise can help sleep if done consistently over several weeks. Early morning cardiovascular exercise is best and ideally outside. Avoid intense exercise 2-3 hours before bedtime as this will reduce your sleep quality. 
   
   

5. Eat dinner early - ideally finish your evening meal 3 hours before bedtime so that your digestion is complete before you go to sleep. 
   
   

6. Keep your blood sugar stable - eat low glycemic meals during the day to keep blood sugar stable at all times. You may wake up around 2am or 3am if your blood sugar drops significantly during the night and your body creates cortisol as it fears for your survival! If this is something you think is happening for you, try eating an apple and a few nuts before going to sleep to keep blood sugar stable through the night. 
   
   

7. Avoid caffeine after midday - it is commonly known that caffeine can help you stay awake when you need to but were you aware that it can take 10 hours for it to completely clear your system? Similarly chocolate contains a stimulant called theobromine which can impact your sleep.
   
   

8. Reduce stress - your body needs to have rest and relaxation through the day so that you avoid waking up at night thinking about things that you have not had time to think about during the day. See this great video to understand this concept! A great way to achieve this is meditation - there are so many apps like headspace and calm. My favourite is the ziva meditation technique. Take time to regularly do activities you enjoy, for example, gardening, sport, spending time relaxing with friends and family, journaling or reading a good book. This will also help keep your hormones balanced. Also, ensure you have a calming bedtime routine for the last hour before sleep.
   
   

9. Breathe through your nose - there are many benefits including improving your oxygen intake, keeping your mouth moisturised with less bacteria and it helps you reduce stress and snoring. Practice breathing through your nose more during the day to reduce mouth-breathing at night. Listen to this podcast with Patrick McKeown for more info.
   
   

10. Eat foods high in melatonin - these include nuts (in particular, pistachios), seeds, mushrooms, eggs and fish. Also, ensure you are eating a healthy diverse diet rich in plant foods as a lot of melatonin is made in the gut and is dependent on good gut bacteria.

I hope these tips help you improve your sleep. If you do just one thing to help your sleep, the best daily habit is to expose your eyes to direct natural daylight as much as possible. This helps reset your circadian rhythms and should not fail to improve the quality of your sleep.

Download my free sleep questionnaire to help you further understand how to improve your sleep. 

HOW TO PREVENT DIABETES TYPE 2

It is estimated that there will be 5.3 million people with diabetes by the year 2025. Current estimates, according to Diabetes UK, are that there are 3.9 million people in the UK who have been diagnosed with diabetes as well as another million who are not aware that they have diabetes. 90% of those will have diabetes type 2. 

Download my free guide including a quiz and the full 10 tips to help prevent diabetes type 2.

In diabetes type 1 (about 10% of cases), the body does not produce sufficient insulin in the pancreas beta islet cells. This usually has some component of genetic origin and is an autoimmune disease. With insufficient insulin, blood sugar rises. 

With diabetes type 2 (about 90% of cases), the cells of the body become “resistant to insulin”. To help you understand insulin’s role, Dr Jason Fung describes insulin like Japanese subway pushers who assist the passengers (glucose) onto the packed train (cell). When the cells are packed full or if there is not enough insulin, the glucose remains in the blood and then in order to protect our organs, it is stored as fat. This condition is called insulin resistance.

Symptoms of insulin resistance can range from lack of energy, weight gain especially fat in the abdomen area, slow healing, waking up around two or three in the morning due to low blood sugar and feeling hungry all the time. Insulin resistance may be ongoing for many years before prediabetes or diabetes type 2 is diagnosed. The best indicator of insulin resistance is to get your fasting insulin checked by your doctor or privately. Levels higher than 7 mIU/L can indicate insulin resistance. The more readily available test is called the HbA1c test which measures your average blood sugar levels over the past 2-3 months and the optimal functional levels are around 5.0% or 3.1 mmol/mol. HbA1c results can be skewed by other factors like low iron levels and are not reliable viewed in isolation.

Source of data: School of Applied Functional Medicine & Chris Kresser

Here are three tips to help you reduce insulin resistance and your risk of developing prediabetes and diabetes type 2:

• Reduce the refined and artificial sugar you eat and check food labels.  
  

• Daily exercise - increase how much your body uses glucose by increasing your muscle mass through exercise. Studies show that walking just 30 minutes per day has been shown to reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes by as much as 50%.
  

• Reduce your stress by taking time daily to relax, breathe deeply and do things that bring you joy. You can eat very healthily but still have an increased risk of diabetes if you have high stress levels. 

I hope you feel inspired by the above straightforward tips. Making these kinds of daily changes will make a significant difference to your long-term health and help you avoid other diseases like cardiovascular disease and cancer. If you want to learn more, you can download my full 10 diet and lifestyle tips to help prevent diabetes as well as a quiz. You can also follow me on Instagram for health tips and inspiration.

HOW TO PREVENT ANXIETY

According to Mind, “1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem of some kind each year in England” and “1 in 6 people report experiencing a common mental health problem (like anxiety and depression) in any given week in England”. Certainly right now, in the midst of a pandemic, those figures must have increased significantly due to the amount of fear caused by frightening daily statistics relating to infection and death rates shared by the media. Also, many people do not have their regular routines of work at the office and time with friends and family for that necessary support which is vital for our mental health. 

Let’s look at some of the causes of anxiety. These can range from emotional trauma and unrealistically high expectations of self and others to not taking care of ourselves in the areas of sleep, nutrition, fitness and not surrounding ourselves with loved ones who make us feel great. 

Here are some of the types of anxiety that exist:

• Social phobia - embarrassment or humiliation in social situations

• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - excessive, repetitive thoughts and behaviours

• Generalised Anxiety Disorder - constant worry and physical symptoms

• Panic Disorder - frequent, spontaneous attacks and avoidance

• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - thoughts and experiences of horrible events

The symptoms of anxiety can include dizziness, hypertension, insomnia, heart palpitations, nausea and diarrhea and can result in longer term disease if the body is subjected to constant stress.

It is important to understand the root cause of your anxiety so that you can take steps to deal with it. In parallel, it is important to introduce stress management techniques so that you can help your body regularly access the parasympathetic state rather than the flight or fight state (sympathetic state). 

I recently interviewed 11 people about their anxiety for market research. All of them indicated that it was their sense of a lack of control and not knowing the next logical step to take relating to their situation that left them feeling helpless and not taking action. Nearly all of the people I interviewed were able to take action on their situation after taking a break from their work or their regular routines and getting a change in perspective. This was sometimes enforced by the doctor who they went to see or a realisation that they needed a break from their situation.

One of the most important things to do when feeling anxious is to breathe diaphragmatically. Studies indicate just 5 minutes a day of diaphragmatic breathing reduces anxiety. Also, it is important to find activities that make you feel safe and relaxed. This will be different for each person depending on their likes and dislikes and experiences in life. Examples include yoga, tai chi, mediation, spending time with loved ones, getting good sleep or having a nap, eating a nourishing meal or asking for help from a mentor or a friend. 

A great solution for helping you with your anxiety could be the routine laid out in the book “Miracle Morning” by Hal Elrod. It is called SAVERS and stands for Silence, Affirmations, Visualisation, Exercise, Reading, Scribe. Here is an example of a 30-60 minute routine that you could do first thing each morning and significantly reduce anxiety:

• Silence (5-10 mins) – praying, meditating, focusing on the breath

• Reading (5-10 mins) – read a few pages of an inspiring book (spiritual, self-help)

• Affirmations (5-10 mins) – write out what you want, who you are committed to being, what you are committed to doing to change your life

• Visualisation (5-10 mins) - create a vision board and spend time looking at each image and feel what it would be like to manifest each thing in your life 

• Scribe - Journaling (5-10 mins) – write in a blank journal what you are grateful for

• Exercise (5-10 mins) – push-ups, sit ups, yoga, pilates, a fitness youtube video

I hope these suggestions help you reduce your anxiety. Please let me know if you have any questions and don’t forget to download my free guide with a quiz to assess your lifestyle and 10 tips to help you prevent anxiety and depression.