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NourishEd

Red meat can be high in iron.

Iron: What You Need And How to Avoid Deficiency

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!

A chickpea and rice dish - pulses like chic peas are a plant-based source of iron.
Photo by AVICHAL LODHI

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

Nourishing Black Diversity in Nutrition and Dietetics

First of all, I’d like to thank all of the amazing registered (and associate) nutritionists and dietitians that shared my tweet and answered the call in support of this month’s campaign! In the Caribbean and North America, we celebrate Black History Month in February. So imagine my surprise when I moved to the U.K to study and realised BHM was October – one of the best months of the year, in case you didn’t know. Despite the differences, I’m taking February to Nourish Diversity in Nutrition & Dietetics. We’ll be interviewing registered nutrition professionals and a few students from all over the world! How exciting!

I am very blessed to come from a majority black country where healthcare is free (although there could be significant improvements). While I was aware of health inequalities and the social determinants of health, learning about it from an ethnicity-based standpoint was very eye-opening.

Read More »Nourishing Black Diversity in Nutrition and Dietetics

NourishEd - About Protein

Is Protein the super-nutrient I should be having more of?

I know it can’t just be me that has noticed this, but many common foods and recipes have been pushing the “high-protein” agenda for some time. And why is that? Should we be concerned about not having enough protein in our diet? More importantly, what is protein and do we need to include more in our diets?

Protein is one of the three macronutrients the body needs to produce energy. Each gram of protein provides us with 4 calories of energy. I like to think of proteins as the builder macronutrient because it is one of the most important building blocks for the body. Proteins are made from hundreds of smaller molecules called amino acids, which can combine in a variety of ways to produce:

  • Muscles
  • Enzymes
  • Hormones
  • Immune cells
  • Skin
  • Hair
  • Nails
Read More »Is Protein the super-nutrient I should be having more of?

Should I avoid Carbs?

I always found it confusing when people said stuff like, “oh I have to cut down on bread to lose weight”. From a scientific perspective, bread is not super-charged with anything to cause weight gain. It’s definitely not like the magic bean that Jack had. If anything, bread is one of the most affordable staple foods capable of providing energy and micronutrients that you may not otherwise be getting. So, why do people think it’s making us fat? What about other starchy foods and sweet carbs? Today, we’ll talk a bit about the role of carbohydrates in global diets and hopefully, you’ll be able to determine if it’s the cause of weight gain.

Carbohydrates are one of the macronutrient trio which supplies energy to the body. CHO, or Carbs are a diverse set of molecules which are derived from organic monomers (units) such as glucose, fructose and galactose. Plants are the most diverse sources of carbohydrates because they use carbon dioxide and water to create carbs for energy and structure. Carbohydrates can range from the simplest sweet sugars like those found in fruits, to long, branched chains which taste starchy, such as those in potatoes, ground provisions and starchy foods. 

Read More »Should I avoid Carbs?