Every single cell in our body also has ‘a daily to do list’, which differs between cells. However without energy and nutrition, these cells are unable to perform their tasks and our bodies will not perform optimally. Macronutrients are the energy providers for our cells and fuel for our bodies. The macronutrients are carbohydrate, protein and fat.
Alcohol is also a high energy provider (see table 1), but it does not provide any essential nutrition that the three macronutrients do. Alcohol is classified as non-essential, as the body does not require it for survival…
A review of more than 1,700 studies covering 188 countries from 1980 to 2013 failed to find a single country that had been able to reverse the worrying obesity trend that has resulted in 2.1 billion people being either overweight or obese. That’s nearly 1 out of every 3 people in our global community. Back in 1980 this figure was 857 million, or 20% of the global population.
New Zealand come out above Australia for our rates of both adult and childhood obesity. Not something we should be proud of. In New Zealand 2 out of every 3 adults are either overweight or obese – that’s an estimated 2.2 million Ki…
Melatonin is activated when it’s dark. Remember, part of your sleep plan is to pull the curtains to make your bedroom really dark. For more information see Healthy Choices Issue No.2 “Are You Getting Enough?” That’s because the darkness signals your body to release melatonin, sometimes called the ‘hormone of darkness’.
Melatonin is released from your pinea…
For all sports people strength, speed, endurance, motivation and determination are essential elements to success. Those performing at competition level regularly push the boundaries of their body and mind; they need to be able to recover quickly from intense training, physical injury and prevent illness.
A good diet along with key supplements play an important part in the o…
Signals from the brain to the body are carried along nerve fibres to neurons. As we age, this system can degenerate. But research shows a healthy diet and lifestyle can help us stay sharp.
A he…
Obviously there are personal preferences to take into consideration, for example, some people are happy to live on one meal a day with two liquid ‘shakes’ making up their other meals. Other people like to actually eat food at each meal. Then there are nutritional and health considerations, for example, some diets have extremely low calories or are based on eating one single food, like the Grapefruit Diet which are not nutritionally sound and may even be detrimental for people with fragile health.
…This diet was full of vegetables and meat with seasonal berries, seeds and nuts. The start of the agricultural age (approximately 10,000 years ago) saw grains being planted and cultivated. The consumption of carbohydrates rose very slowly until the start of the industrial revolution 250 years ago. The industrial revolution enabled crops to be planted and processed on a large scale and food manufacturing became big business, producing lots of processed food and consumable products.
We started getting fatter. The schematic below highlights the number of generations adapted to eating within each of the ages. Unfortunately the extremely fast change in the types of food and food-like prod…
Childhood is a happy, carefree time but not all children are full of joy – some suffer from changeable moods, spells of high and low energy and are easily distracted.
This picture – a challenge to parents – can affect children of any age but commonly takes hold at around 3 years of age. Boys are more frequently affected than girls.
Make sure your child is eating plenty of fresh frui…
Bovine colostrum has been shown to support digestive health, healthy immunity and natural resistance to bugs, germs and viruses.
Many of us are looking for natural ways to remain healthy this winter. Colostrum offers support for a healthy immune system, primed to resist the variety of bugs, ills and chills we may be exposed to.
Colostrum is nature’s first food – the pre-milk fluid a breastfeeding mother provides her newborn to assist the baby’s healthy development. It contains a number of immune components, including antibodies, growth factors, proteins, vitamins and minerals.
Now, sc…
So why then, do we suffer from disease and illness? To be honest, in most cases it’s not a design fault of the body but much more likely a result of our environment – that is things such as diet, lifestyle, daily habits, increased stress, poor sleep, pollution, suboptimal nutrients in modern foods and lack of regular physical activity.
Over the dec…
A review of more than 1,700 studies covering 188 countries from 1980 to 2013 failed to find a single country that had been able to reverse the worrying obesity trend that has resulted in 2.1 billion people being either overweight or obese. That’s nearly 1 out of every 3 people in our global community. Back in 1980 this figure was 857 million, or 20% of the global population.
New Zealand come out above Australia for our rates of both adult and childhood obesity. Not something we should be proud of. In New Zealand 2 out of every 3 adult…