The NHS advocates that making positive changes to your diet during menopause can be beneficial and help you cope with the changes you are facing during this time of hormonal transition.

Menopause is a normal physiological process that occurs when the women’s body progressively stops producing oestrogen in the ovaries usually after the age of 40. It takes about 10-15 years until periods cease and no more egg follicles are produced. Such a prolonged physical change would in theory not cause major problems however many women face serious side effects which interrupt their lives. Common side effects are hot flushes, mood swings and depression, loss of memory, increased frequency of headaches and migraines, vaginal dryness and reduced libido as well as struggle to maintain weight.

Most people will generally agree that exercise will aid a great deal if you are set to shed pounds. Yet only about 39% of men and 29% of women achieve the recommended exercise levels according to self reports in the UK. Hence in some way it might not matter as much what type of exercise [...]

Cholesterol is probably the one nutrient in the media which is most commonly mentioned in respect to heart disease. Many of us have relatives who suffered from heart disease and therefore many people worry about too high cholesterol levels in their blood.

Cholesterol however is an important fat in our body which has many functions and is found in all cells of the body. Cholesterol for example is a building block for many hormones, helps to produce certain vitamins and takes an important role in bile production. Although cholesterol is found in foods such as egg yolks, butter, fatty meat products, seafood (especially shellfish) and dairy products, food is not the major source of cholesterol in our body.

The last taste discovered by scientists umami is still relatively unknown to most Western people and that although its chicken stock like taste is rather common to us. ‘Umami’ means deliciousness and people eating products flavoured with ‘umami’ often describe their feeling while biting into the particular food mouth watering and meaty. This taste is closely connected to particular amino acids such as glutamic acid and has been used as a flavour enhancer in form of MSG (mono sodium glutamate) for several decades now.

For many people eating foods rich in fats such as cream, cheese, chocolate or minced meat, the sensation of mouth watering also describes best how they feel about enjoying these foods. Looking into the current Western diet it becomes obvious that people enjoy eating fatty foods. In addition to that most chefs know that fats are particular useful in enhancing and transporting flavours in their dishes.

In today’s society, there seems to be an ever increasing trend to associate bad foods with entertainment and pleasure. We have all done it. After a stressful week at work, we cannot wait to de-stress by going out with friends, relaxing or having some quality time to yourself.

Of course this is absolutely fine and part of the average every day working life. However, the norm to include unhealthy eating into the weekend ritual is becoming an alarming trend.

The main aim of energy drinks is to boost physical performance, stamina and mental performance. These drinks can be very useful in major life events when someone needs to keep going and has no chance to rest for example on long car journeys. However they seriously interfere with the body’s metabolism and regular consumption of large quantities may be very harmful.

The New Year has just started. Behind us lies the festive season where many of us would have stacked up the pounds by over eating and minimal exercise. Not surprisingly, adopting a healthier lifestyle including losing weight is one of the most common New Year’s resolutions. We all know the formula to weight loss is pretty straight forward i.e. eat less and move more but keeping the weight off and making long term healthy choices to someone’s diet appears to be so much more difficult.

A study found that champagne could help to prevent heart disease and may just have the same beneficial effects as red wine. Dr David Vauzour and colleagues from the University of Reading and research centres in the Champagne region of France were investigating the effects of champagne on vascular function.

People watching their waist lines will be terrified with the next week of Christmas foods ahead. Throughout the years many well known newspapers and websites have informed us how devastating four weeks of Christmas celebrations could be for our fat stores.

Learn ways of to at least prevent any major weight gains whilst enjoy everything about Christmas avoid long discussions about changing traditional Christmas recipes and foods.

Water is probably the one nutrient people tend to forget when they are talking about nutrition and that although no other nutrient needs to be consumed in such large amounts as water. We need each day about 50 times more water than protein. This explains quite well why humans can survive for relative long times missing out one or some of the other nutrients yet being deprived of water in your diet could lead to death within only a few days. Just one day of insufficient water intake can change the body’s metabolism.