Risk of heart disease reduced when saturated fats are replaced with unsaturated fats.

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Frostie

The Fat Information Service reveals the facts behind the headlines…

Fatty acids continue to be the subject of ongoing academic research and media attention. In this bulletin, brought to you by the experts behind The Fat Information Service (FIS), we discuss some recent findings regarding different types of fat and risk of heart disease.

Get to know your fats

Dietary fats are classified by their chemical composition, and can be either saturated (found in animal products such as meat, cheese and butter) or unsaturated (found in oils, seeds and spreads).

When choosing fats, we’re advised to choose unsaturated fats over saturated fats, as part of a healthy diet and lifestyle1.

Sorting fact from fiction

Recent coverage of the role of fats in the diet has made for confusing and alarming reading as well as being based on unreliable evidence. So what should we believe?

In response to a new review paper just published in Nutrition Bulletin2, Dr Carrie Ruxton from The Fat Information Service notes: “This latest release successfully challenges the recent media frenzy which followed publication of a BMJ paper on heart disease risk and polyunsaturated fats, such as those found in margarine and spreads.

The evidence shows clearly that the risk of developing heart disease is reduced when saturated fats are replaced with unsaturated fats3. By highlighting this robust evidence base and outlining the inaccuracies surrounding interpretation of the BMJ study4consumers are urged not to shun the government’s dietary guidelines on the basis of spurious media reports.

The Nutrition Bulletin study confirms that advice for the general population should still be to choose foods with a lower saturated fat content and to opt for fats that are primarily unsaturated, supplying a range of omega 3 and 6 polyunsaturated fats.

Fat Information Service tips

As with all aspects of a healthy diet, balance is key and dietary fats are no exception.

While polyunsaturated fats offer numerous health benefits, getting too much of any type of fat can be damaging to your health. Present guidelines suggest that no more than 35% of your overall daily energy intake should come from fat (with no more than 11% from saturated fat)5^,6.

So while it’s not desirable to increase the total fat content of the diet, replacing saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats will help you achieve a better balance for your heart and overall wellbeing (as part of a healthy diet and lifestyle).

These tips will help show you how:

ü Switch to lower-fat dairy products e.g. low fat yogurts, and skimmed or semi-skimmed milks to reduce your intake of saturated fats. Eat less cheese.

ü Swap butter for small amounts of spread or margarine as this can help reduce your saturated fat intake. Spreads are also fortified with other vitamins and can help supplement your diet with key nutrients. Additionally, spreads made from seed oils contain essential fats, omega 3 & 6; these are fats that your body cannot make and must be taken in via your diet

ü Choose lean cuts of meat, poultry or oily fish rather than fatty or processed meat products. Make sure you trim any excess fat and remove the skin from chicken or turkey before cooking.

ü When you do roast or fry food, try using a lower saturated fat spread or oil product

Women ‘reluctant’ to believe pregnancy and oral health link

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Frostie

More than 20 million women in the UK are reluctant to believe the existing link between poor oral health and pregnancy complications.

In a new survey, two in every three (67 per cent) of women said they did not think the two problems were related while only one in four (25 per cent) said they would take steps to improve their oral health despite knowing it could cause complications during pregnancy.

In the last 12 months the Foundation has reported on a number of scientific studies showing possible links between the two health problems. Research has revealed a 34 per cent reduction in risk of preterm births for expectant mums suffering with gum disease if they underwent simple treatment at the dentist or hygienist.

Further studies have also shown mums who are more able to handle stress in their environment had children with better oral health. Karen Coates, Dental Advisor at the British Dental Health Foundation, encourages all women not to ignore the wealth of evidence suggesting a link.

Ms Coates said: “Taking care of your own oral hygiene is important at all times, but none more so than when you’re expecting a baby. As many women will testify, the significant changes to the body mean taking extra care, and that includes oral health.

“There has been a lot of research that shows poor oral health can lead to complications during pregnancy, and it should not be overlooked. If a good oral hygiene routine means mums to be experience less problems during their pregnancy, it is important to educate this particular group about how they can go about doing just that.

“Many women find that hormonal changes cause their oral health to get worse during pregnancy. Some women find their gums bleed more easily, while people who already have gum disease may find that it progresses more rapidly.

“If you are pregnant, it really is vital to take extra care of your mouth. You should brush twice a day with fluoride toothpaste, and take extra care that you are brushing for the full two minutes and clean every surface of every tooth. You should also clean between the teeth using interdental brushes or floss. Visit the dentist regularly as often as they recommend, and cut down on the frequency of sugary foods and drinks.

“NHS treatment is free for expectant mothers up until their child’s first birthday. All you need is to be an NHS patient and to have a current maternity exemption certificate.”

The findings have been revealed as part of National Smile Month, a month-long campaign run by the British Dental Health Foundation. The campaign, which draws to a close on 20 June, promotes three key messages for oral health:

– Brush your teeth for two minutes twice a day using a fluoride toothpaste,

– Cut down on how often you have sugary foods and drinks,

– Visit the dentist regularly, as often as they recommend.

How to Stop Being a Couch Potato and Start Enjoying Life

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Frostie

It’s no joke: a sedentary lifestyle can contribute to numerous preventable causes of death. A person who is seated for over five hours a day is put considerably more at risk of contracting cardiovascular disease than one who exercises for even just four hours per week. Furthermore, lack of exercise can cause depression or anxiety. If you want to start enjoying life you have to stand up and say no to being a couch potato.

Here are some useful ideas to help you get up off the couch and back in the game:

Avoid eating on the settee. The more you get used to doing this the more time you will be able to spend on the couch. Try to make a habit of setting aside time for meals away from the TV.
Rest and relaxation are integral ingredients of a healthy and happy life, but too much idle behavior will do you no good in the end. When you go to sit down in front of the TV, set yourself a limit on the time spent in front of it.
Get rid of your unwanted DVDs and video games. You’ve seen or played them all before and it’s time for something new. You can sell them easily on http://www.musicmagpie.com/ and use the money for a gym membership or a bicycle.
Why not watch TV while riding an exercise bike and THEN see how many episodes of Prison Break you can watch in a row!
Studies have shown that prolonged periods of little or no movement inhibit the effectiveness of one of the key enzymes which break down blood fat. If your occupation requires you to spend lots of time sitting down, make sure to periodically stand up and stretch your legs.
Apply the principle of active transport to your daily life. We spend too much time in a sitting position, even while travelling. Walk or ride a bike, leave early and take the scenic route to work and you’ll feel the benefits of a greater sense of wellbeing.
Get a hobby. Count up the hours you spend on the sofa in a year and think what you could do with that time. If you cut out just an hour of TV time every day just imagine what you could achieve in a year. Whether it’s Ping-Pong or marathon running, find something to suit you and stick at it.
Join a sports team. It could be at your local soccer club or it could be as simple as forming a bowling team with good friends. The commitment necessary to be a valued team player will give you the encouragement you need get off the settee regularly.

Everybody needs time to relax and a good long couch session every now and again can be good for your state of mind – but too much is detrimental to your health. Don’t think of it as a loss of relaxation time, but rather as time gained socialising, improving your health and extending your lifespan

Hair loss and thinning – the common condition that women don’t talk about

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Frostie

It will happen to half of all women at some point in their lives, but now a new poll of more than 4,000 people in the UK* suggests hair loss and thinning is the ultimate taboo.

The research by Viviscal hair supplements, reveals the lengths men and women will go to in disguising their hair loss. Tricks include colouring in their scalp with a pen and rubbing coffee into their scalp to hide the tell-tale signs.

The main causes of hair loss are thought to be lifestyle factors, such as stress, crash diets, hair extensions and also pregnancy.

The research also reveals the impact that our hair has on our lives with four fifths (80%) saying a good hair day would affect their mood, while a third (34%) say a bad hair day would make them feel self-conscious.

Despite more than half of those questioned saying they feel their hair loss makes them more self-conscious, more than two thirds (69%) have never used any treatment to help them with their thinning hair.

A new statistically significant clinical study in to Viviscal’s drug and hormone free marine supplements has shown promising results for people who experience hair loss or hair thinning, with the trial showing that a two-a-day supplement reduces hair shedding and increases hair thickness, and that women on the trial saw improvement in overall hair volume.**

*Stress is the most common cause of female hair loss, accounting for 34% cases, followed by the hormonal changes after pregnancy, accounting for 22% cases.

**25% of women say they spend 15 minutes on their hair every day, while one in ten (12%) take 30 minutes and 3% even admit to taking an hour.

The Importance of Happiness by Andrew Stead

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Frostie

Our well-being is the most important thing in life but most of us neglect it – we can all do more to live well and make our lives happier. But the overload of knowledge and choice means that keeping up with ourselves, never mind the Joneses, has got a lot harder than it used to be. One step forward, two steps back. And we end up reacting to the world around us rather than designing a life that really matters. But the great news is that the latest scientific evidence is here to help.

And Your Daily Bread is a new organisation established to translate this new knowledge into tools and practical experience to help people maximise their life experience and happiness. They design healthy, positive and fulfilling lives, through practical, regular, bite-size chunks, or ‘Slices’.

These days most of us are well versed in the tools of our trade, but not in the tools of life. We are well educated at school and university and start our professional lives learning the skills and practices we need for our job. But we educate and develop ourselves in the techniques of our trade, at the expense of the techniques of life.

And the consequences of this disparity, this dislocation, this dis-ease, between our technical skills and our life skills are real and serious and heavily supported by scientific evidence.

We might start to feel isolated, lose our focus and concentration. We suffer the irony of information overload while lacking certain knowledge that is truly valuable. Physically we might feel tired, low-energy or just out of shape. Emotionally we get anxious, upset or even angry. Our relationships start to suffer – we have no time for our family or friends, no time for ourselves. And professionally, we’re working way too hard getting worn out, stressed out or even burned out. And we end up feeling disconnected, disheartened or desperate. Lacking any purpose or meaning, left wandering: “What’s it all about?” Our great hopes for the future, our legacy, our vision beyond our grave are broken dreams.

So Your Daily Bread provides people with new knowledge and techniques to get them re-energised, re-ignited, re-balanced. They’re on a mission to improve people’s daily life.

They run workshops, events and courses that demonstrate the science, tools and practical help they need to transform their life from imbalance to balance.

And people find the workshops and programmes are pretty impactful, talking of being more positive and productive, more energised and healthy, achieving greater balance and serenity, becoming a better communicator and being able to maximise those key life relationships; and of course, improving career prospects and earnings.

For more information of the June 16th ‘What Price Your Happiness’ event, showcasing 5 Global Experts sharing their best knowledge and techniques, visit www.your-daily-bread.co.uk/S4L

Birth Made Easy Book Review

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Frostie

I have previously interviewed Paola Bagnall. She had a lot of great things to say about giving birth. Now, let’s get down to the book.

The book has a great overview of pregnancy, both Pre and Post. It also comes with a free self hypnosis CD. For those interested in hypnobirthing (and there are rumours that Kate Middleton has joined them) this book is great. Paola believes that pregnancy is not a medical thing but a natural thing that the body is supposed to do. Although I don’t agree that pregnancy is not a medical thing, her ideas are interesting and certainly have merit. She is a qualified hypnotherapist and healed her own shoulder using the power of her mind.

This book has a lot of great information in it for any mother-to-be. Chapter one is about hypnosis and other chapters are about breathing, the biology of the female body, and the biology of birth. They are all very informative and fascinating.

There is also a chapter on how to use the CD. In the getting ready for birth chapter there are a lot of great tips, followed by an entire chapter or problem solving in, ‘What To Do if You Have….’ Nausa and vomiting are covered. As are C-sections and having a large baby.

The books tells you how to use the three stages of hynothearapy for the birth in an easy to understand way and has an entire chapter on how to disassociate yourself from the feelings of the contractions.

The last two chapters are what to do after the birth, a great chapter with some exercises on how to get back into shape, health tips, and enjoying your time as a mother.

This is a very good book for women who want a natural birth, and even has great tips for those who don’t. I can’t say it has convinced me to have a natural birth when I decide to have children, but the information is there for those who do.

Birth Made Easy – The positive and enjoyable way to have a baby easily and naturally using self-hypnosis

Make It Happen! Get Healthy and Join Us On Pinterest

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Catherine Balavage

January is full of promises of better health habits, but as the year goes on, resolve weakens and more help is usually needed. So I have made a Pinterest board full of inspiration. Join me on Pinterest and make your own #bootsmakeithappen board. Boots will be choosing the best one and will put it on their Facebook page.

According to new research, more than three quarters (84%) of us are feeling positive about achieving our health and beauty goals throughout 2013. That’s why Boots has launched Let’s Make It Happen – to encourage people to take action on their health and beauty goals. The initiative basically looks at what can we change in our lives this year – whether that’s stopping smoking, going to the gym more regularly, having more body confidence etc. Boots’ Let’s Make it Happen tells you what you need to achieve these health and beauty goals, including products and service support. All the information is available in The Feel Good Forum on Mumsnet.

I have been walking, eating less meat and drinking lots of water. I have also been taking a multivitamin. What have you been doing?

Get pinning and have fun.

Sponsored Post

Interview with Birth Made Easy Author Paola Bagnall

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Catherine Balavage

For our readers who are mothers-to-be we interviewed Paola Bagnall, author of Birth Made Easy. The book review is here. In the meantime enjoy the interview and please comment your thoughts below. Thank you.

I really liked how the book had advice on every aspect of pregnancy and birth. What is the biggest gem you can give to mothers-to-be?

To look forward to the birth with excitement and to work with your intuition and trust that your body is designed to give birth, which it is.

The book is big on relaxation, is this the most important thing when giving birth? How does one achieve this?

Yes relaxation is very important. The late Dr Grantley Dick-Read (1890 – 1959) visited a woman giving birth at her home in Whitechapel in London. She declined his offer of chloroform, and gave birth without undue problem. After the delivery, he asked her why she did not want chloroform and she replied, “It didn’t hurt. It wasn’t meant to, was it?”. Dr Dick-Reid actually said then that relaxation is the key to a good birth and in his book, Childbirth without Fear, he returned to women their rightful gift of a truly natural birth.

Today we are told that giving birth is painful and so many people believe this. TV programmes like One Born Every Minute also reinforce this. When you are relaxed you cannot feel fear and this is what hypnobirthing is all about.

Relaxation is achieved by visualisation of a favourite place, the use of colours, focusing on the breath and self-hypnosis – all of which are described in the book. When you are relaxed your body opens up easily and so the baby flows out.

What was your own experience of pregnancy and giving birth like?

I have two sons and I gave birth to both naturally and relatively easily. The first one took six hours and the second eleven hours. I am a biologist as well as a hypnotherapist and so I knew that my body could do this and also I was very excited about the process and looking forward to the experience.

When I gave birth 39 years ago we were given Pethidine automatically to help with the contractions. I hated this as it caused me to hallucinate! I wish I knew then what I know now about self-hypnosis as I would have been much more in control than I was. Even so both my births were empowering experiences!

The book is about giving birth naturally. Do you think a natural birth is better?

If you can give birth naturally, I personally feel this is best because it should be a magical, empowering experience, where you are in control. A natural birth also prevents the side effects of intervention and chemical drugs.

When someone has a headache or a medical procedure they generally use painkiller, why not do so when giving birth? It is the only medical thing that some people do without the help of painkillers. How is it different?

I’d just like to say that birth is not a medical thing! It is a natural process and as such is not meant to hurt. It is the medics in fact who have made it painful.

All pain is subjective and different for different people. If you think ‘pain’ then you get ‘pain’. I feel contractions are different from ‘pain’. They are intense pressure, good pressure, as they result in the birth of your baby. I have suffered pain far worse than my contractions. So think ‘good contractions’ and this alters your mind-set.

Of course using painkillers (epidural) may be what some people want and that is OK.

My book does not suggest that you have to have a natural birth. This is a choice that the mum-to-be must make. I simply suggest ways to achieve that goal.

Do you think the power of the mind can control the body?

Most definitely! We have the expression “mind over matter”. We have the most amazing resource in our unconscious minds that most of us do not tap into. By using positive affirmations and self-hypnosis we can use this innate ability we all have to make changes in ourselves for the better.

I got into hypnotherapy as I had a very painful shoulder injury that the medical profession could not help me with. I learned to tap into this inner power and heal my shoulder using self-hypnosis. This is what showed me how useful self-hypnosis could be in giving birth. And why I created my own Inner Power Hypnobirthing.

Will everyone be able to achieve a natural birth?

A natural birth may not happen for everyone, as things just do happen which make it not possible. If the baby is breach, or with complete placenta previa, where the placenta covers the exit for the baby, or if the baby is distressed in any way, then a C-Section has to be done in the best interests of the mother and baby. However, hypnobirthing helps you to remain calm and in control in such situations.

Do you think you can get back into shape easily after giving birth as long as you work hard?

Yes, I do, though this is easier for some people than others. Part of my hypnobirthing package is to help mums get back to their pre-pregnancy weight, shape and dimensions. Simple exercises as shown in my book and a sensible diet help to achieve this.

Tell us about the self-hypnosis CD.

The self-hypnosis CD is to be listened to on a daily basis prior to the birth. It uses visualisation, colour and positive affirmations to programme the unconscious mind to have a natural childbirth. It is a bit like putting a program into a computer. When you hit ‘play’ the program starts. So the trigger for my CD is the first contraction, or the waters breaking, and then the entire program goes into effect almost automatically. The CD takes you through pregnancy, the three stages of birth, healing up after the birth, bonding with the baby, breast-feeding easily (if you choose to do this) and getting your figure back.

What is the best advice you have for women giving birth?

Getting yourself into a positive frame of mind using hypnobirthing and start this as early as you can in your pregnancy so you have a beneficial expectation and you look forward to the birth with joyful anticipation.

Thank you Paola.