Are you sitting comfortably? Shall we learn a few facts about the risks of sitting too much (& for long periods)? Have you heard the slogan “sitting is the new smoking” and wondering if that’s really true? Let’s get into it….

Firstly, we should get real. Sitting on a chair is not as detrimental to your health when compared to lighting up a cigarette, your common sense will tell you that. “Sitting is the new Smoking” is a dramatic statement put forward by a prominent medical doctor called James A. Levine, D, Ph.D in 2014 who also made statements such as “Chairs are out to kill us”, “We lose two hours of our life for every hour that we sit” and “Sitting kills more people than HIV and is more treacherous than parachuting. We are sitting ourselves to death.” 

Do you ever get that sense in your stomach that something bad is about to happen? Or maybe you had butterflies before a job interview or hot date? Well these are just examples of your microbiome-gut-brain (MGB) axis having a good chinwag amongst each other - and it’s quite a conversation as the human body contains more than 40 Trillion Microorganisms, outnumbering our human cells by 10 to 1 and making up to 3% of our body weight!

How good are your listening skills? We’re pretty good at picking up what others have to say, but are you paying enough attention to some of the most important signals about yourself?

Have you ever wondered what’s the best time of day to exercise? Well, exercising at any time of the day should be considered a good thing, as long it’s not too vigorous in the 3 hrs prior to your target bedtime so it doesn’t consequence your sleep, but it turns out that time of day and exercise does seem to have a relationship regarding better health outcomes.

You probably already know that the benefits of walking are plentiful and there’s a lot of research demonstrating the healing effects of nature for you, in particular your health and your mood. 

However, the power of walking together with a loved one through nature is even more powerful and beneficial. In one study, scientists investigated the effects of a 20 minute walk between a mother and daughter either in a shopping centre or in an area of nature. Researchers found that the nature walk resulted in more positive interactions and closeness between the pair, when compared with their walk in the shopping centre. In addition, the nature walk led to a greater improvement in their attention too.  

Oh so sweet and found in treats,tasting very nice to eat,but the truth is they’re full of deceitbecause now they’re even being found in meat!

Sorry if you don’t like rhymes, but the reality behind the silliness is that sugar is now being added to so many foods (known as free sugars)! Even if you don’t think that you eat that much sugar, you may be surprised to find it hiding in lots of different products such as convenience foods, low fat products like yoghurts, cereal bars, breads, sauces, dressings and cooked chicken! We also need to be careful about the natural sugars that occur in honey, syrups (such as maple, agave and golden), nectars (such as blossom), and unsweetened fruit juices, vegetable juices and smoothies. These also count as free sugars.

As we enter October and see the piles of leaves all off the trees and feel the air temperature start to drop a bit, you’ve maybe started to pull out the Winter Wardrobe essentials and prepare yourself for the cold season ahead.

The Winter season is also the most stressful season we experience - much due to the reduction in sunlight & increase in darkness which brings about the Winter Blues (SAD) - but it’s also always a busy period in the workplace, with a sprint from here through to Christmas and then there’s the added extra pressures from numerous different angles from family and community too. With elevated stress levels, more time indoors and closer contact with more people, it’s no surprise that winter season is also flu season, so what should we be doing to protect ourselves from going under this winter?

When was the last time you did any strength training? Did you know that along with the recommended 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise we should be doing every week, we should also be doing 2 or more strength building sessions?

This doesn’t mean now having to get down to the gym twice a week to pump iron and gain bulging biceps. Strength training isn’t just about bulking up or gaining a rippling six-pack. For good health it’s about maintaining our lean muscle mass and keeping our bones dense, strong and in good health, so to enhance our ability to do everyday activities that require any power or force, which can be as simple as getting up from a chair, or climbing quickly up a flight of stairs.

Chocolate: feeding human reward centres since 1641! 

4pm Friday was always one of my favourite weekly rituals when working with England Rugby as our chef produced some home made chocolate for staff to enjoy after we had completed another tough week of work preparing for gameday.

Now that I think about it, chocolate has never been too far away from several moments of joy in my life - birthdays, weddings and special occasions. Enjoying choco (of any kind) as an occasional treat is usually no bad thing, but did you know that regularly eating a small square (1oz) of dark chocolate may bring you a host of health benefits?