The gut health doctor's nutrition MOT to boost energy
Looking to change your diet to help you live longer, to relieve the symptoms of the menopause or boost energy throughout the winter months?
This is Dr Megan Rossi's guide to giving your body a much needed overhaul. This is all about eating, fixing your diet, and ways to help your body recover and run that bit more smoothly.
How to change your diet to live longer
Add legumes to your diet (beans, soybeans, chickpeas, peanuts, lentils)
This could extend your life expectancy up to 2.5 years - study by University of Bergen
Action: Whatever is on the menu tonight, add a tin in will also reduce the cost of the meal
Tip: Worried about gas effect - double rinse tinned legumes
Eating to relieve menopause symptoms
Eating plants with every meal and snack (not just fruit and veg but wholegrains, nuts and seeds)
This will help with hot flush symptoms thanks to feeding gut bacteria that regulate oestrogen regulation
Regularly consumption of oily fish (sardines, macherl, herring, salmon) - It has been shown to delay natural menopause by over 3 years
Ways to stop feeling tired through the winter months
Ditch your juice for a smoothie.
Expose your face to a blue light for 20 mins in the morning (TV, laptops, smartphones and tablets), reduces melatonin levels and increases feeling of alertness. Great to beat the post lunch hump too!
Take the best vitamin to help with a boost of energy
Best type: Vitamin D 3 not D2 tablets (best ones for energy)
20% of people are Vitamin D deficient, two places people are going wrong.
Best time to take: maximise absorption alongside a meal containing fat e.g. nuts, seeds, salmon, full fat yoghurt, olive oil.
Learn your good fats and bad fats...What can we swap out?
Ditch butter and for extra virgin oil
Extra Virgin Olive Oil has the most science behind it of all studies. From heart health to gut health.
Myth: you can't cook with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Studies show good quality EVOO is a great option for home cooking up to around 190 degrees.
Try food combining to boost the benefit of good foods
Lentils and tomatoes: 'You can get a dose of iron from lentils, grains and nuts, which is vital for your energy levels. It is absorbed better when enjoyed with vitamin C-rich foods, like tomatoes or peppers.'
Nuts and dates: 'Nuts and seeds are a good source of magnesium which is important for good quality sleep, but when you combine them with prebiotic foods like dates you get increased absorption.