About Me

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Birmingham, United Kingdom
Welcome to my blog, and thank you for stopping by. I hope you find it informative, and if there is anything I have missed or you would like me to talk about please drop me a line of suggestion. After seeing a nutritional therapist I decided from the improvement of my own health that I would like to be there in the same way for others, therefore, I studied two degrees; one in Nutritional Therapy and another in Bioscience Nutrition so that i could be equipped to support a number of health conditions. I now work for a supplement company on a clinical team supporting practitioners and keeping upto date with all new scientific information and provide private consultations too aswel as keeping my blog going :)

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Sunday 30 December 2012

Healthy Body for a Healthy Mind

With Christmas festivities and now New Years, you may feel like your feet barely touch the ground. Your mind is constantly thinking about the next task and you forget to relax. Today we are going to give you a few tips on how to keep yourself focused with a positive mind.


B vitamins are important for energy and to support mind function as they help with the formation of many of your positive mind chemicals, thus helping you keep a clear mind, focus on tasks and keep positive. B vitamins are found in a whole range of foods such as green leafy vegetables, avocado, grains and salmon.

Well rested people are happy people
When having trouble sleeping it is a good idea to have foods such as turkey or a banana an hour before bed as these contain the amino acid 5HTP, tryptophan and taurine to help you produce and release sleeping and relaxing hormones.

Make sure that you go to sleep in a dark room without any artificial light. When you are in the dark you naturally produce sleeping chemicals to encourage you to go to sleep. If you can, leave the curtain open so that you gradually wake up in the morning when day breaks.

Woman Sleeping

Don’t forget your friendly bacteria
Your gut bacteria have so many positive roles to help look after you. Your bacteria support the production of B vitamins and help support the digestion of your food to make sure you absorb the nutrients you need. Some bacteria such as one called l.rhamnosis encourage the release of de-stressing brain chemicals to help calm the mind. Therefore, try and have foods that contain prebiotic (fructooligosaccharides) to support gut bacteria growth in the gut.

Relax with a bath
If you can, add Epsom salts as these contain minerals such as magnesium which help relax your muscles at the end of the day. Also aim to have plentiful amounts of magnesium in your diet from sources such as oats, seeds and nuts to reduce the chances of tension headaches.

Woman Sleeping

Wednesday 12 December 2012

Beat the hangover


Beat the  hangover...
women drinking champagne
We would like to share some ‘Pretox’ secrets to help you beat the hangover…so if you do get a little carried away you won’t feel so bad the next day.

Choose your evening meal wisely
Try to include beetroot and artichokes in your evening meal before you get merry as these foods encourage bile flow through the liver. This is almost a kick start to the liver function detoxifying the alcohol you are going to drink.

The hangover breakfast
Poached eggs, onions and beans contain an amino acid; cysteine and sulphur that support liver pathways and help breakdown a toxin called acetaldehyde which is produced by alcohol in the liver and is more toxic than alcohol itself!

Symptoms of high levels of this toxin are rosy cheeks, increased heart rate, sweating and feeling sick so make sure you have these items ready to cook in the morning.

women with a headacheHydrate to reduce the headaches
Drinking alcohol switches off the Anti-Diuretic Hormone (ADH) causing you to produce more diluted urine when you are drinking. This causes you to feel dehydrated the following day as it upsets your potassium: sodium and calcium: magnesium levels; these are also known as your electrolytes.

women drinking waterCoconut water is one of the richest sources of electrolytes and therefore it would be a good idea to have stock at hand in the fridge for the morning.

Bicarbonate is not overly pleasant in taste but rebalances the electrolytes (potassium and sodium) so is often used as to help with hangovers.

Natural aspirin
Drinking causes an inflammatory reaction that can cause aches, headaches, nausea and dizziness.

Berries and mushrooms naturally contain Salycillic Acid which is a component of aspirin to reduce aches and pain by reducing inflammation.

Drink organic wine
If you choose to drink alcohol then organic wine is a better choice as this naturally contains antioxidants and fewer toxins than other alcoholic drinks.

Gentle Exercise
Although exercise may be the last thing that you want to do when you are not feeling your best, gentle exercise such as yoga or walking will help stimulate circulation, get your brain functioning and encourage the release of happy endorphins that tend to be low the morning after the night before, also known as the ‘alcohol blues’.

And for those of you who would like to enjoy a non-alcoholic drink this winter why not try to make our non-alcoholic mulled wine by checking out the recipe on our website.

http://nutritionallybalanced.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/remedy-for-common-cough-cold-and-flu.html  

We hope these tips have been useful, enjoy the festivities.