I wrote this review of a study a few years ago as part of an application. Then I thought I would publish it, but I… Read More »Surprisingly, The Intuitive Eating Scale-2 Isn’t Inclusive – Here’s Why.
I started On Wednesdays We Wear PINK in October because it’s such a special month for me. It also happens to be breast cancer awareness… Read More »5 Things You Can Do Right Now To Reduce Your Risk Of Breast Cancer
Intuitive Eating isn’t just eating what you feel like when you feel like it, though some people think it is.
Many people question if it’s just another weight loss management programme too. With numerous apps like Noom and WW (Weight Watchers) promoting lifestyle change as a means to weight management, I can’t blame you for thinking this is just another of those movements!
To answer the question, we need to understand why weight is often targeted as a health marker to change over others.
Read More »Intuitive Eating – Just another weight loss diet for millennials?
Though we’ve all heard about iron, the prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia is still high around the world. So what more do we need to know about it? Today we welcome back John-Paul from My Passionista, who is becoming a regular feature writer here on Nourish by CH. He shares a bit more insight into how much iron we usually need and why it’s important.
In his last post, John-Paul clarified many myths about carbohydrates and exercise. He’s also just started his own nutrition-related Instagram, Light Wave Fit where you can see him in action teaching us a few techniques with the kettlebell and more exercise and nutrition tips.
So let’s get into it!
Iron is an important micronutrient and has role in producing red blood cells and carrying oxygen to the muscles and the rest of the body. Iron is sometimes known as a ‘trace element’ and is denoted by its chemical symbol ‘Fe’.
Iron in food can be classed as either animal or plant, also known as ‘haem iron’ or ‘non-haem’ iron, respectively. Animal sources of iron tend to be more bioavailable and more easily absorbed by the body. However, if you’re vegetarian of vegan, you can boost absorption of plant-based iron by adding a squeeze of lemon or lime juice to your meals or consuming orange or grapefruit juice with your cereal as this contains vitamin C, known to increase the absorption of iron. Vitamin C is an iron enhancer.
Read More »Iron: What You Need And How to Avoid Deficiency
Last year, in October, I observed Malnutrition Awareness Week (MAW) with other healthcare professionals in the USA, Canada, and the U.K. You may wonder why that’s important. Simply put, malnutrition can lower our quality of life and life expectancy.
On hearing the word, Malnutrition many of us will conjure up images of starving children in war-stricken countries. However, malnutrition is a global issue that affects more people than you may recognise.
Food provides our bodies with the energy and nutrients important for growth, repair and staying active. However, for many of us, access to affordable, nutrient-rich foods is a challenge. Nutrient-dense foods such as fish, fruit, vegetables, low-fat dairy, nuts and seeds can be unavailable, inconvenient or unsafe. Pockets of food insecurity exist even in the most developed countries, which we have seen throughout the pandemic.
Read More »Malnutrition, the double-edged sword that could be decreasing our quality of life
What is that annoying voice telling you not to have any cookies before dinner? Judging your current pants size… comparing your size to your very active cousin. No, it’s not your mother, despite her comments can be a part of the problem too, but it’s diet culture. The dieting and weight loss industry in the USA alone is worth around $72 billion and yet over 80% of diets fail!
Dieting and weight shaming is everywhere and was especially hard-hitting from the advent of lockdowns in 2020. Queue the social media posts and challenges suggesting that we needed to “use this time to become better” by learning new languages, skills, starting a business and losing weight. How rude! Living a healthy lifestyle is important, but not defined by the number of a scale. And, with everything that has happened last year and this one, you’d think we would have learnt to address people and health much differently.
I’m personally a fan of snuggling up at home, watching my favourite shows and enjoying a giant bowl of popcorn and too many Oreos to count. Lockdowns and the anxiety that came with it made many of us seek more comfort in these small things. While 2020 was an unexpectedly strange and tough year for all of us, just like years before, our problems don’t just go away because someone tells us they should.
Read More »If it Quacks like a Diet…guess what? It’s Diet CultureToday’s post is a bit different from what I normally would post about, but I think it’s really important to share the nutrition space with other passionate nutrition professionals. And while I wish I understood Sports Nutrition better, I understand it’s better to be a master of just a few skills, rather than all. Plus how fun is it to learn about other people’s specialties! Today’s contributor is JohnPaul Paganini, an MSc Human Nutrition student majoring in Sports Nutrition who aims to provide evidence-based nutritional advice upon graduation. You can check out his lifestyle blog: https://www.mypassionista.com or follow him on Twitter @jppaganini or Instagram @streetsdesirejohnpaul. I’ve also written an article on his blog about low-cost Spring gardens so please, head over to his site and show it some love. Contributors are also welcome on his blog!
I found this post really hard to write because my perfectionist’s brain doesn’t want to oversimplify, overcomplicate, or offend anyone. It’s literally been sitting in drafts since November. I asked you guys if you wanted to hear an account of my relationship with food and weight on my IG and you said yes…so here goes! Feedback is welcomed, just be kind with it.
In my culture women are viewed as more beautiful when they have a bit more “meat” on their bones. So, when the phrase “thin privilege” was mentioned to me some time ago, I was baffled as to what it referred to. I looked it up and it got me thinking… about my own experiences with weight, culture and societal norms from my perspective, as a thin person. I’ve come to understand that you can be healthy at any weight or size. And I hope to discuss this point of view as respectfully as possible.
From a very young age, I have been called skinny, bone bird, boney, and other things related to my size. I remember wondering if I’d ever get any bigger, especially as I grew taller. Instead, I was constantly reminded of my size, but at least I was healthy. Yet as I reached my teens, there was this ideal which I hoped I would fit into eventually.
Read More »No, Not Every Culture Sees Thin As Beautiful. Mine Didn’t.
Today’s article is written by the lovely Lucy Jade who is a recently registered associate nutritionist. Lucy stands out to me as a nutrition champion because of her values and impactful nutrition science communication which busts dieting myths and addresses nutrition stereotypes.
Lucy graduated in September 2019 with a first class degree in Applied Food and Nutrition from University College Birmingham, and has interest in weight management, busting diet culture myths and helping to promote sustainable, evidence based strategies to improve health and wellbeing. She works for Healthy Lifestyles in Coventry as a weight management advisor helping those that have health issues such as a high cholesterol or pre-diabetes to improve their diet and lose weight to help them. AND she’s the founder of the Nutrition Graduate group (which you know I rave on about) that helps to support those that have graduated nutrition with careers, CPD, networking and other support.
You can find Lucy Jade on Instagram at @lucyjade_nutrition and Twitter as lucyj_nutrition. While the Nutrition Graduates group can be found on Facebook, Instagram and their new website!
January is the time of year where it seems like the whole world wants to go on a diet. December is such an indulgent month of Christmas chocolates, meals out and parties, meaning that we are more likely to be consuming more, therefore leading to some weight gain. But the media has made us believe that in January we all have to go on diets, detoxes and nutritional resets to ‘fix’ this. But we really don’t.
Read More »New year, new me? Dieting in January
Some time ago, the topic of detox diets came up for my #NutriChats. This is just one of those things I’ve never quite understood why people would want to do, but I also understand it’s also a part of some cultures. When I was a kid, my parents and grandmum would mention Epsom salts for when your poops were smelling a bit unsavoury, or they felt like you needed to be “cleaned out”. Granted, stool never smells like lemons, but I’m sure you know the particular stink of certain poos…that eggy, sulphur-smelling goodness. Look at how mature we’re being talking about stool on the internet🙃.
Nowadays detox diets/supplements/teas are a whole sophisticated and lucrative industry where diet culture perpetuates. Promising improved health, weight loss, reduced stomach bloating, improved circulation and liver function, beautiful skin… the works! All stemming from the removal of toxins from the body. But is it worth our time, money and effort?