Your health

Health knowledge

Understand your health condition and discover nutrition and wellbeing advice to help manage symptoms and improve wellbeing.

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nutrition

Dairy

Dairy produce has always been highlighted as the best source of calcium, but some people can’t take it, either because they have a lactose intolerance or are allergic to cow’s ...

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nutrition

Water

I recommend drinking 2.5 litres of water a day, and I’m not alone – the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that women should drink 2.2 litres water a day, with men need...

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nutrition

Alcohol

The advice for sensible drinking should be the Department of Health (DH) advice – 2–3 units a day for women, 3–4 for men. There is no real evidence that red wine is better than...

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nutrition

Gluten

There is a trend for believing that gluten causes the body, especially the brain, harm, but this simply isn’t correct. While people with coeliac disease have to avoid all glute...

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nutrition

Sugar

Sugar provides calories – 4 per gram – but they are empty calories, since sugar doesn’t contain any other nutrients. Too much sugar isn’t good for us, as it causes dental decay...

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nutrition

Salt

Official guidelines state we should be eating less than 6g of salt – just a level teaspoon – a day. Average consumption in the UK currently stands at 9g of salt per day. The oc...

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nutrition

Fat

We all, especially children and older people, need fats in our diet. Fats are necessary for brain function; they provide some insulation under our skin so we don’t lose too muc...

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nutrition

Proteins

Proteins are essential for growth, brain development, healthy bones and endorphins (happy hormones!). Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins and there are a total of 2...

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nutrition

Fruits and vegetables

Fruits and vegetables are classed as complex carbohydrates. We should aim to eat seven portions of fruits and vegetables a day as every cell in the body will benefit from their...

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nutrition

Fibre

Fibre is needed to help keep our digestive system working efficiently and our hearts healthy; it also helps to balance our blood sugar, which affects our energy levels, our abi...

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nutrition

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates that are grain-based, as opposed to fruits and vegetables, are broken down into complex and simple varieties. These should form a large part of our diet because t...

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nutrition

The Eat Well Plate

I’m generally not a lover of charts and tables as I think we have become far too figure- and measure-focused. However, the Eat Well Plate helps us see what food groups our bodi...