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I feel the question here that needs to be asked is, “Do ‘Superfood’ actually have a scientific basis, or is it just some marketer’s ‘wet dream’ trying to con you into buying more of something?

Let’s see if I can answer this for you. I believe that a ‘Superfood’ is an unscientific label used in different ways, depending on the slant of the article or promotion, for marketing purposes. Generally it’s used to describe foods with high nutrient or phytonutrient content that, if consumed in the right quantities, may lead to ‘suggested’ health benefits. Unfortunately there is no real regulation around the claims of ‘Superfoods’ and many are based on discussion papers or inconclusive and very limited research at best, or purely theoretical suggestion and hypothesis.

The issue with reported ‘Superfoods’ is not necessarily whether they contain health giving properties but rather that there is often no discussion around how much of it you need to ingest to show a marked change, or how much this consumption contributes to, or defeats, a natural healthy diet.

The truth is no one can tell you how much per day, or week, you should be consuming of these so called ‘Superfoods’ because it entirely depends on what other foods you are eating, as well as your body size, genetic factors and your predisposition to disease. However, more is not necessarily better when it comes to ‘Superfoods’ because some ‘Superfoods’ if taken in excess can actually be harmful. Confused? I don’t blame you. Let’s take a closer look at the top eight so-called ‘Superfoods’.

Nuts and Seeds
Form: Raw, not roasted or salted, and preferably organic.
Contains: Calcium, antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, omega-3 fatty acids and insoluble fibre.
Claims: Reduces heart disease and colon cancer. Boosts brainpower and balances moods.
Take: A daily dose of 200g. You can find a recipe on my website.

Berries
Form: Raw and preferably organic, or at least well washed.
Contains: Phytonutrients, antioxidants and fibre.
Claims: Reduces cancer and premature ageing.
Take: 250g per week or more of darker coloured berries like blueberries, blackberries and loganberries.

Omega 3 Fish
Form: Fresh oily fish, lightly cooked and not fried.
Contains: Omega 3s (EPA & DHA).
Claims: Essential for brain, heart and immune system health.
Take: 150g of oily fish, such as salmon, at least twice a week or a fish oil supplement.

Seaweed
Form: Fresh or dried.
Contains: Iodine, magnesium and ocean minerals and vitamins.
Claims: Natural metabolism regulator and promotes good health.
Take: A quarter of a cup of kelp, nori, hijiki, or wakame every 2 or 3 days.

Tomatoes
Form: Fresh and ripe, organic if possible.
Contains: Lycopene, as well as vitamins C, A, B and K, potassium and fibre.
Claims: Powerful antioxidant that reduces risk of chronic diseases.
Take: A cup, or more, of raw tomatoes each day.

Beans (Legumes)
Form: Dried, rehydrated, canned and sprouted.
Contains: High nutrition food with phytochemicals, protein, fibre, EFA’s and complex carbs.
Claims: Promotes good heath that prevents ageing and diabetes.
Take: Three cups of beans per week. Anasazi beans are the lowest ‘gas producing’ beans.

Broccoli
Form: Fresh and crisp, organic if possible.
Contains: Lutein, isothiocyanates, Vitamin C and K and Folate.
Claims: Delays age-related poor vision, prevents cancers and repairs DNA, as well as combats heart disease.
Take: At least ½ a cup five times a week of cruciferous vegetables raw or lightly steamed, not boiled.

Soy
Form: Natural soy products like tofu and soy milk.
Contains: Isoflavones and phytoestrogens which mimics estrogen.
Claims: Combats cell damage, reduces menopausal symptoms and prevents prostate cancer.
Take: No more than 30g per day due to its hormone altering properties.

Rather than following the latest ‘Superfood’ trend and over indulging in what may turn out to be an ineffectual, or harmful dose, a better option is to eat a diet that’s rich in raw natural ingredients and low in processed foods.

For a comprehensive list of daily vitamin, mineral and trace element requirements and their best natural sources consult my book “Half The Woman I Was.” It contains a complete directory of everything the human body needs for optimal health.

Article written for InShapeNews. See the original article here.

In the quest for the modern holy grail of longevity it seems we each have a theory on how much red wine is actually beneficial to our health. But in the wake of conflicting research and admist the absence of any tangible evidence, perhaps we should instead be asking, “Is the cup of life actually real?”

Most of the reported health benefits of red wine revolve around its non-alcoholic phenolic compounds. Scientifically speaking, this means hundreds of chemicals that when combined in varying quantities produce the colour, astringency, bitterness and aroma of a wine. Mostly it’s the compounds that produce dark red colours that reportedly provide the most promise for longevity.

There are a plethora of articles which refer to the health benefits of flavonoids anthocyanins and tannins, along with non-flavandoids, resveratrol and phenolic acids. These health claims seem to cover the whole gambit from sleep and blood sugar regulation to overall longevity, improved heart and brain health, cancer and common cold prevention as well as the reduction of inflammation, LDL (bad) cholesterol, dementia and stress. It’s not surprising that all this could lead you to conclude that red wine is the modern day cure-all for disease.

But the truth of the matter is there exists no conclusive research that proves red wine is good for you, and most of these theories still remain totally unproven. That’s not to say they don’t exist, but we do need to be mindful that the placebo effect may at times supersede real results, and that some of these reports may have even been founded on the Chinese Whispers of marketing departments.

What we do know is that wine contains alcohol, usually anywhere from nine to 16 percent. Ethyl alcohol, which relaxes us and reduces the harmful effects of stress, also dehydrates the body, numbs the senses and lowers inhibitions. Thus, before we know it our self-control heads right out the window as we reach for the pretzels, cheese and biscuits or that whole packet of Tim Tams.

We also know that alcohol is a simple carbohydrate and, depending on the residual sweetness and percentage alcohol of wine, 100 millilitres of it can contain 0.2 to 10 grams of sugar. So there are also calories to consider.

Now if you accept, as I do, that red wine can play a beneficial role in the modern diet, it seems the evidence for how much should be consumed is equally conflicting. It is suggested that you consume anything from two to four standard drinks two to seven days a week. I’m sure you could find an acceptable piece of research to suit your particular consumption preference.

Having recently completed my Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) certification, I’m further perplexed by the mismatch between the official standard drink of 100 millilitres and the fluctuation in standard pours of 120 to 200 millilitres. Of course, this may also depend on how well you know the barman.

With anything over four standard drinks, which equates to around half a bottle of wine, in a single session now being considered as ‘binge drinking’, it’s just as well Australian wine drinkers now prefer big bold Cabernets and Shiraz. After all we might just live longer.

Article written for POSAA Members Newsletter POSAAbilities. Refer to the Press section to see the newsletter.

One of the biggest ailments these days seems to be a lack of energy. It’s so common that it’s be-come a multi-million dollar opportunity for big business to fleece those looking for real solutions. If the body or mind is out of balance then tiredness is often the result. Use this simple 10-Step Miracle Energy Booster program to get yourself back into balance and turbo charge your days.

1. Quit Trying to be Wonder Woman

One of the main reasons for a lack of energy is that we take on too much and are trying to cram far more than is humanly possible into 24 hours. Use these simple tips: Spend 15 minutes first thing in the morning (or the night before) planning your day; Prioritise your tasks and put off tasks that are less important or have longer deadlines so your day is manageable and you don’t end up in overwhelm; Stop and think twice before you agree to take on more; Assess what is really important and learn to say ‘No’ Ask for help from others

Lastly, give yourself a break – you’re not Wonder Woman and you don’t have to be.

2. Survive Stress

Dare I say stress is often a perception, rather than real. Most of our stresses are self-imposed and many of the things we ‘stress out’ about simply aren’t really that important.

It can help to change your perception by checking when you feel stressed and asking yourself “why exactly am I feeling this way – what’s the cause?” This will help connect with and understand the drivers for your emotional stress, and that will empower you to make different choices.

Stress-induced emotions consume huge amounts of energy. If you can’t have a more relaxed atti-tude to life then find an activity that helps you de-stress like talking with friends or a counsellor, joining a support group, meditating, self-hypnosis, yoga, or tai chi.

And don’t forget to take some time out for you to recharge.

3. Quit Smoking

You may not be aware that the nicotine in tobacco is a stimulant. It speeds up the heart rate, raises blood pressure, stimulates brain-wave activity to that of an awake state and makes it hard to get a good night’s sleep.

4. Exercise Daily

It sounds like a contradiction but exercising actually boosts your energy. This is because cardiovas-cular activity improves oxygen flow and blood circulation making your body more efficient.

Exercising daily makes your body release the (good) stress hormones epinephrine and norepineph-rine which also help to make you feel energised. It also improves your ability to reach deep restful sleep at night. For the best balance do two or three 45-minute resistance training sessions a week and 30 minutes of cardio exercise on your off days.

5. Schedule Your Sleep

Sleep deprivation is a major source of tiredness, and nanna napping during the day may be the cul-prit. Although you may be in bed for 8 hours, it takes at least 45 mins of unbroken sleep just to reach the required levels of REM that recharge and rejuvenate the body. The longer and deeper you can sleep in one go will ensure you’ll wake more energised and refreshed.

Start preparing for bed at least 1 hour before bed by not watching TV or using the computer. In-stead do something that will start to get the brain into the right pre-sleep brainwaves. Reading, having a bath or meditating are all good pre-sleep activities.

6. Don’t Skip Meals

Skipping meals actually lowers your metabolism and throws your body into starvation mode, thereby reducing your overall energy levels. If you never feel like breakfast in the morning then you’re probably over eating at night. Stop eating and drinking (especially coffee) at least 4 hours before you go to bed to get 8 hours of restful sleep overnight. Then you are sure to wake up re-freshed and hungry for a healthy breakfast.

7. Five Squares A Day

Studies show that the body can only actively utilise energy from direct food intake for approxi-mately three hours after it triggers a meal has been eaten. After that time any excess food con-sumption is converted and stored via fat deposits. In order to register the trigger a meal need to contain at least 200 calories.

With this is mind the best method to maximise your energy levels is to eat meals of about 200 calo-ries every 3 hours for 12 hours (5 meals e.g. 7am, 10am, 1pm, 3pm and 7pm) and then have a fasting break of 12 hours overnight.

This approach gives your body a steady supply of nutrients, increases your metabolism, controls blood sugar levels and keeps you energised throughout the day. You’ll also sleep better and wake refreshed and hungry.

8. Eat Raw, Steamed and Complex

If you look at the evolution of the human body and our historical diet it’s clear to see that our bod-ies are designed to eat small amounts of lean protein, a little fruit, some complex grains and nuts and heaps of fresh vegetables.

It’s the fat, sugar, salt, colourings and flavourings in processed foods that zap our body of vital en-ergy levels and make us feel super tired. Avoid them (or better still throw them all out of your fridge and cupboards) and you’ll make a huge step towards increasing your energy.

If you follow this fresh food approach to every meal you’ll not only have more energy, you’ll feel better, look better, lose weight, and get all the nutrition you need.

9. Rehydrate

Fatigue is a tell-tale sign of dehydration. At rest the human body requires about 32mls per kilogram of weight. So if you weight 80kg you need at least 2.5 litres of water each day just to maintain hy-dration.

And if you consume coffee, alcohol or any non-water beverages then they all contribute to dehydra-tion. Limit them and offset any consumption with the same amount again of pure water or herbal tea (with nothing added).

And if you’re exercising you’ll need to drink even more. Be wary of sports drinks which are high in salt, sugars, colourings and flavourings and provide no real nutritional benefit to non-athletes. And no matter how hard you think that gym workout or step class was you’re just fooling yourself if you think you need anything but pure filtered water to re-energise you.

If you’re thinking now you’re going to be bloated with water, relax. After a day or two of drinking this volume your body will adjust and settle into the new properly hydrated routine. But you might want to make sure you know where all the public toilets are!

10. Supplements

If your dietary intake of vitamins and minerals is insufficient then you may benefit from a vitamin or herbal supplement. If your diet is fresh, healthy and balanced then you probably won’t.

If you feel a supplement would help your energy levels it can be a good idea to get a simple blood test via your doctor. The test is bulk billed and can highlight any vitamin deficiencies or a sluggish thyroid, which can then be treated appropriately.

Many energy supplements contain guarana or caffeine which can also lead to insomnia. And some herbal supplements may appear to help, but they could also be an expensive placebo that you just don’t need.

Column as written for InShape News. This month’s question is asked by reader Don Walker: “Hi, I am a diabetic and I was wondering what type of exercise program I can do? “ See the original article here:

Eight years ago I weighed more than 143kg (315lb) and was on the verge of being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes – if only I’d had the courage to go to the doctor. But then I had a light bulb moment.

It came to me in a blinding flash – that I could take control and change my life. I soon learned I was eating all the wrong foods, doing virtually no exercise and had completely the wrong mindset. And whilst all this may sound ‘familiar’ it was in my 20-month journey to ‘slimville’ that I learned which exercises were safe to do for my undiagnosed condition.

Whilst most will tell you that ‘any exercise is better than nothing’ a study by the combined Universities of Calgary and Ottawa published in 18 September 2007 journal Annals of Internal Medicine found that not all exercise is created equal. It turns out that a combination of cardiovascular or aerobic exercise and resistance or weight training controls blood sugar much better than either exercise alone.

At the time that I started developing my own program I was unaware of this study. But, as it turned out, this is exactly what I ended up doing and it helped me shed more than 70kg and completely reversed my medical conditions including hypertension, high cholesterol and that undiagnosed diabetes.

But, before you can exercise you need to how much, how often and what kind of exercise is enough?

Cardiovascular Exercise

For best results aim to do at least 30-minutes each day at whatever level is safe for your personal circumstances.

If you’re overweight or have joint problems, then look for low-impact activities like walking, swimming, using an orbital trainer or water aerobics. If your joints are fine, then take your pick. Just remember to stretch and warm up beforehand.

In either case, work only as hard as you can without overdoing it. You need to get the blood and oxygen pumping through your body. Remember it will take some time to increase your fitness level, so be patient.

Resistance Training

Again 30 minute sessions are great, but make sure your only doing 3 sessions a week. Alternate upper and lower body workouts and allow time in-between for your body’s muscles to recover.

If you’ve never weight trained before it can be difficult to understand what exercises to do or how to perform them with the correct posture. If unsure then Google and YouTube are your on-line friends, although attending a few sessions at a professional gym and accessing their trainers can well be worth the investment.

Article as written for InShapeNews. See the original article here.

When I met my husband he suffered from asthma, but over the years it has virtually disappeared. So how did he do it?

Those who suffer from Asthma, characterised by frequent episodes of breathlessness, chest tightness and coughing, know that this chronic inflammatory disease is not much fun. Couple this affliction with related diseases like gastro-esophageal reflux, rhinosinusitis and obstructive sleep apnea, and it can be downright deadly.

Whilst it’s not completely understood why some individuals suffer from asthma, and to differing degrees, what is agreed is that cardiovascular exercise can assist in reducing the severity of it. No you can’t always control the air you breathe, but you can control how much air capacity your lungs have, this is known as the maximal oxygen consumption or VO2 max.

Unfortunately most people who suffer from asthma avoid exercise altogether as it often brings on an attack due to exercise-induced inflammation of the bronchial tubes, making it hard to breathe. But research shows that asthma sufferers who take the plunge and strengthen their lungs by increasing their VO2 max have much better resistance to attacks simply because their lungs can function more efficiently.

When I first met my husband he was using an inhaler multiple times a day. I have to admit that I soon become oblivious to that distinctive sound the inhaler makes as it injects its sometimes lifesaving dose.

Having never suffered from any breathing issues I was perhaps not as understanding as I could have been when it came to his asthma curtailing our activities. With a new and very active life together he soon strived to achieve the effortless level of breathing I enjoyed. In his aim to throw away his inhaler here’s what he did.

1. First, he avoided any asthma triggers like ‘unclean’ air environments, in particular smoke-filled environments, excessive air pollution and allergens.

2. Second, he learned and regularly practiced deep breathing exercises to start to increase his lung capacity and also as a way to calm down should an attack begin.

3. Third, he started low cardio exercise by simply walking. Gradually he walked further and faster, eventually even up very steep hills.

4. Fourth, he sought out higher intensity exercises, his favourite being water aerobics. Once a gentle pastime created to keep the elderly more active, when practised in deeper water at a higher intensity it is one of the most beneficial low-impact cardiovascular activities around. Try racing someone the length of a pool holding foam dumbbells and you’ll see what I mean.

Did these four steps work? You bet they did and that ‘puffer’ sound is now a distant memory. And whilst he still has his inhaler in case of emergency, he hasn’t used it for years.