Sourdough has become synonymous with health but does the science support this? The answer is “it depends” because how the bread is made matters, as well as the ingredients it contains. If the bread is ‘real sourdough’, made with a starter culture and fermented for 12-24 hours, then the bacteria will produce acids. They modify […]

My youngest son is about to do his finals so I thought I would investigate the latest literature on L-theanine. It is reputed to support all the mental processes associated with gaining knowledge and comprehension of a subject, which are collectively known as cognition. L-theanine is a non-protein amino acid, found in the leaves of […]

The history Until I learnt about the science of breathing, I really didn’t give breathing or how I breathed much thought. If I ran up the stairs or if the gardening got a bit physical, it was just easier to open my mouth. No one told me not to!  I just didn’t think about it. […]

March 15th to the 21st was officially brain health awareness week.  You may or may not have noticed this but most people I meet know someone, or have a family member suffering from conditions such as Alzheimer’s or dementia.  I recently did a ‘nutrition for cognition’ training course with PharmaNord UK and thought I would […]

A recent study examined the data from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (2019-2023) and found that average intakes of 7 minerals were below the recommended nutrient intake (RNI). They included iron, selenium and magnesium, three important cognition minerals. Reference Iron and cognition Iron is important for cognition because iron rich haem groups in […]

Breathing is intimately connected to your how your heart functions. It affects gas exchange, circulation and blood flow which are all very important for the heart to operate well.   The average person has approximately 60,000 miles of blood vessels including arteries, veins and capillaries.  It’s incredible to think that if this network was laid […]

Heart health is something we often don’t think about until there is a problem. We all know that nutrition, exercise and stress management is important for heart health. Much less understood is that how you breathe impacts the heart. This is something you can train and ultimately have control over.  As the old saying goes […]

There is quite a long list of symptoms that may be related to or caused by low stomach acid. Just because you have these symptoms doesn’t necessarily mean low stomach acid is the issue.  Some of these symptoms can be caused by other factors. But it is worth investigating and considering or discussing with your […]

Here’s a summary of the five main ways breathing impacts how your heart functions. Blood vessel relaxation and flexibility Healthy levels of CO₂ relax your blood vessels and this expansion increases blood flow to the heart. This means the heart does not have to beat as fast or generate as much pressure to move blood […]

I frequently support clients who have either had or are going to have operations. It is common knowledge that your nutritional status and health prior to an operation has a big impact on the outcome of surgery and your recovery post operation. It is estimated that between 24% and 65% of patients are malnourished and […]