Health & Medical Advice and Information - UK Medical Health

Here are some tips you can easily incorporate into your life.

1. Reduce the number of times you go to the supermarket. The more often you go the more you are likely to buy unhealthy food.
2. Watercress contains 12 times as much vitamin C as lettuce and more iron than spinach.
3. Try half sparkling water and half fruit juice instead of fizzy drinks/sodas.
4. Beans are good for you, but if you find they give you gas/wind, start with split peas and lentils.
5. Many people are short of zinc. Brazil nuts and almonds are great sources of this important trace mineral. If you have problems with nuts take a good quality nutritional supplement.
6. Eat garlic, leeks and onions for the probiotics they contain. These feed the healthy bacteria in our guts.
7. Many people think eating healthily is expensive, but a piece of fruit is often much cheaper than a chocolate bar or a cream cake.
8. Most post-menopausal women do not need iron supplements. Excessive iron intake has been linked to heart disease. If you are taking a vitamin and mineral supplement and you are past the menopause make sure it is specifically designed for you.
9. Some research suggests that a high-fat diet can contribute to bad breath. Fats in meat, cheese and milk seem to be a particular problem.
10. Bought a pizza to cook at home? Add extra veggies (e.g. tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, peppers, corn) to make it healthier.
11. If you’re trying to become pregnant, take 400 mcg of folic acid as a daily supplement and eat folic acid rich foods (yeast extract and dark green leafy vegetables). Folic acid is a B vitamin that can help prevent spina bifida.
12. Fish oils supplements can contain heavy metals and dioxins, so buy flax seed oil supplements instead.

 There’s an awful lot of hype about skin care, much of which is dubious, so no wonder more and more women are looking for an organic skin care range.

For the last two months I’ve been using Beyond Organics skin care range – made by Marianne Tregoning near Helston in Cornwall (UK). It’s based on Sea Buckthorn. This is what Marianne says about this:

There has been much research and clinical experimentation into Sea Buckthorn, which indicates its ability to promote cell tissue regeneration and retard skin maturation. It contains over 191 bioactive compounds and an average of 35% of the rare palmitoleic acid known to support and stimulate wound healing, cell tissue and skin regeneration.

Whatever the science behind it, my skin is softer and more luminescent. I love the smell. The range is completely organic and suitable for vegetarians. Do give it a try.

A substudy of the Diet, Cancer and Health study, a prospective cohort study established to evaluate the role of diet and cancer among 24,697 postmenopausal Danish women, was set up to evaluate the relationship between meat consumption and risk of breast cancer. This nested study looked at 378 women who developed breast cancer and matched them to controls who did not develop breast cancer. A higher intake of meat (red meat, poultry, fish, and processed meat) was associated with a significantly higher breast cancer incidence rate. Every 25 gram increase in consumption of total meat, red meat, and processed meat led to a 9, 15, and 23 percent increase in risk of breast cancer, respectively. However, the degree of risk may depend on genetics. Certain genes activate the carcinogens (heterocyclic amines) found in cooked meat. The study showed women with genes that rapidly activate these carcinogens are at particular risk of breast cancer if they eat meat.

Egeberg R, Olsen A, Autrup H, et al. Meat consumption, N-acetyl transferase 1 and 2 polymorphism and risk of breast cancer in Danish postmenopausal women. Eur J Canc Prev. 2008;17:39-47.

For information about cancer nutrition and health, please visit www.pcrm.org/.