Empowered Nutrition

17/02/2026

Concerns over hospital food aren't a new thing. This from the Lancet in 1945, as part of a medic history display in a hospital waiting room.

It's ironic that a hospital chooses to show this, and yet the present day food at the same hospital trust leaves a lot to be desired! When I was an inpatient a couple of years ago, the only veg on offer was a mix of peas, sweetcorn and diced carrot, on repeat day after day. Don't you even have any broccoli, I pleaded?

25/01/2026

Don't miss your chance to make a meaningful impact on your future health in menopause!

Key benefits of this successful 6 week course include:
- clarity over exactly what you need to do to give your body the nutrients it needs to feel strong, energetic, well rested and lighter
- a strong focus on nourishment rather than restriction
- a bank of recipes so that you can get started straight away
- support from me in a private Facebook group
- a friendly atmosphere in which to share experiences and tips with other course participants
- all handouts and recipe books are yours to keep, with recordings available to you for 6 months
- safe for breast cancer survivors who have finished active treatment; women living with secondary breast cancer can contact me to discuss their suitability

If you're undecided about any aspect, comment on DM me and I'll be happy to help 😀

Book your place here:
https://my.practicebetter.io/ #/5eccf29a2a902910706ba999/bookings?c=695947134a7adae0c5a53b34

20/01/2026

You go for a well woman check at the GP and are told that your cholesterol is too high. Or maybe it's your blood glucose that is edging out of control.

What's going on? You have never had any problems before, and you haven't changed what you eat or how you exercise.

Welcome to your menopausal body. The drop in oestrogen and progesterone doesn't only result in periods stopping. The hormonal changes have wide-reaching effects across multiple systems in your body, including the heart and how you manage sugar. The first time you might be aware of this is after a routine blood test.

If this is you, don't worry. These are signals from your body that the ways you used to look after it need an upgrade. Think of them like warning lights on a car dashboard - blood test results that are out of range are a prompt to change things.

That's where Healthy Metabolism, Healthy Weight can really help. Over 6 weeks, we do a deep dive into all aspects of your health in menopause. It's not just about weight, it's about keeping you fighting fit well into the future!

Take action when the "warning lights" flash up! We start on Monday 26th January, so book your place today!
https://my.practicebetter.io/ #/5eccf29a2a902910706ba999/bookings?c=695947134a7adae0c5a53b34

15/01/2026

I'm delighted to be leading a session on this issue which is important and emotional for many in our community. Weight is not a simple issue in secondary breast cancer. I'll be talking a bit about unintentional weight loss as well as unwanted weight gain, so if either of these apply to you, do join us.

As part of our new Wellbeing Programme, we're delighted to launch the first of our monthly Wellness Education Workshops.

On Tuesday 20 January, 7pm, registered nutritional therapist Joan Faria will be hosting an online workshop called: Healthy Ways to Manage your Weight while Living with Breast Cancer.

Weight gain and weight loss are two ways that secondary breast cancer can affects overall health. Joan will explain the changes in the body that commonly contribute to weight changes during treatment. She will also give practical advice on diet and lifestyle changes that can support you in moving towards a healthy body weight, without leaving you malnourished or adversely affecting your overall health.

Please register to take part in our first Wellness Education Workshop: https://make2ndscount.co.uk/support/community/wellbeing

Massive thanks to Joan for doing this session for us - we can't wait to hear from you!

14/01/2026

Instead of telling you what's so life changing about "Healthy Metabolism, Healthy Weight", find out from women like you who have already done this 6 week menopause health programme.

Here's just one example (read more on the slides):

“I can’t begin to stress how amazing this course is. I learnt so much, I gained confidence in food choices and I lost 6lb in six weeks! There are not enough words to endorse Joan for her brilliance and expertise. I looked forward to Monday evenings so much. The addition of recipes is genius! I am now cooking and eating in a whole new way. Thank you so much, Joan!”

This could be you. The next course starts on Monday 26th January. Book your place at https://my.practicebetter.io/ #/5eccf29a2a902910706ba999/bookings?c=695947134a7adae0c5a53b34

12/01/2026

Oestrogen plays an important role in supporting the health and strength of our bones and muscles. When it drops in menopause, we lose this protection.

That's why the risk of osteoporosis increases in menopause.

Perhaps even more stealthily, we can lose muscle mass, which makes us more frail as we age. Losing muscle mass also has BIG implications for our metabolic health. Muscles are a sink for glucose, so if we have more muscle mass it's better for our blood glucose control and also for controlling chronic inflammation. Maintaining muscle mass is not just about staying strong, it's about staying well.

Nobody wants to have to give up the activities that they love because they find them too physically demanding. Giving your body the nutrients and the stresses (in the form of exercise) that it needs in menopause can allow you to keep doing the things that you love as you get older.

Who doesn't want that?

My "Healthy Metabolism, Healthy Weight" course is all about giving your perimenopausal or menopausal body what it needs to stay as vibrant, energetic and healthy as possible. We start on Monday 26th January. Book via
https://my.practicebetter.io/ #/5eccf29a2a902910706ba999/bookings?c=695947134a7adae0c5a53b34

09/01/2026

Hot flushes and night sweats are one of the first things we tend to think of when we think of perimenopause and menopause. If you suffer from them, you'll know how distressing and disruptive they can be. Not only is it horrible to wake up cold and wet, the resulting sleep disruption can leave you feeling chronically tired. To add to the unfairness of it all, there is also a big link between sleep deprivation and weight gain, so you may have gained a few pounds too 😢😢

But did you know that hot flushes and night sweats can occur as a RESULT of your metabolism?

That's actually good news, because it means there's something that you can do about it! 😀😀

And we cover all this in Healthy Metabolism, Healthy Weight 😀

In 2025, course participant K said, "I'm sleeping better and I think my hot flushes have reduced."

F said, "I am feeling well and sleeping better with the diet changes."

If this sound good to you, book your place at https://my.practicebetter.io/ #/5eccf29a2a902910706ba999/bookings?c=695947134a7adae0c5a53b34

08/01/2026

New dietary guidelines for Americans were issued in the US yesterday. Of course they don't apply here, but it's interesting to watch what's happening. Here's my take on it.

✅ PROS
- Headline emphasis on the importance of eating real food and limiting ultra-processed foods - a big shift and so important!
- Recommended protein intake that is significantly higher than the RDA, in line with what the science has consistently been saying.
- Advice that no amount of added sugars or artificial sweeteners is good.
- Starchy carbohydrates such as grains make up less of the recommended dietary intake than previously, and refined "white" carbs should be limited.
- There's specific mention of fermented foods and fibre for gut health.
- Healthy fats are specifically mentioned, eg olive oil.

❌ CONS
- Dairy is given higher prominence than vegetables and fruit, with a recommendation of eating 3 portions of full fat dairy products daily. I'm wondering if the dairy industry was involved here, given that dairy is repeatedly mentioned before other food groups in the guidelines.
- Maximum alcohol limits are replaced with a vague "consume less alcohol for better health". Not good enough for a Group 1 carcinogen!
- Whilst high quality red meat is okay in moderation, I don't believe it should be right up at the top of the pyramid (higher than fish and eggs).
- Plant protein sources (legumes, soy) are mentioned in the text but I can't be sure they're there on the pyramid.
- Given how much we know about the benefits of a plant-based diet (I don't mean vegan, I mean a diet in which plants make up the majority), there is not enough emphasis on this.
- Case in point, they only recommend 3 servings of vegetables per day for adults!

What do you think? Guidelines available athttps://cdn.realfood.gov/DGA.pdf

06/01/2026

Everything you need to navigate perimenopause and/or menopause in a way that makes you feel more energetic, rested, lighter and healthier!

I'm running this successful 6 week online group course again, starting on 26th January. If you would like me to guide you step by step, implementing simple foundations to make for a healthier menopause, then I would love you to join me.

To find out more and book your place, go to
https://my.practicebetter.io/ #/5eccf29a2a902910706ba999/bookings?c=695947134a7adae0c5a53b34

PS if you can't make Monday evenings don't worry - everything is recorded 😀

03/01/2026

Happy New Year!

I'm not one for New Year's resolutions that are so impossible to live up to that they leave you feeling like a failure by the end of the first week in January! That's just not helpful at all, and it isn't very kind to yourself at what can be a tricky time of year.

Instead, how about choosing one or two small practices that don't feel too daunting but that can have profound effects on your health. Practices that work for you so that you don't have to work too hard?

One of my top recommendations at this time of year is to get out in morning daylight as much as you can, and ideally every day. Morning daylight is the single biggest trigger for resetting your body clock each day, keeping your circadian rhythm regulated. We are learning so much about how multiple aspects of our biology are profoundly affected by circadian biology. At it's most basic, morning light exposure sets a timer for when melatonin is released at night, helping you to get to sleep. But it does much, much more than that.

It was freezing this morning 🥶🥶🥶. I really didn't want to go out, but wrapped up warm and got on with it. And feel better for it now that I'm home with a green tea 🍵

Circadian biology is one area we'll be covering in my menopause health course, "Healthy Menopause, Healthy Weight", which starts later this month. Turns out that getting morning daylight is even more important in peri- and menopause than it is earlier in life. Places will be available from next week, so watch out for that!

24/12/2025

Putting a candle in the window on Christmas Eve is an old Irish tradition. It signals to Mary and Joseph, wandering in search of a room, that they are welcome.

Wishing everyone a happy and peaceful Christmas.

03/12/2025

You may have heard of the "Clean Fifteen and Dirty Dozen", produced by the Environmental Working Group in the USA to list those fruits and vegetables that were found to have the lowest and highest levels of pesticide residues on them. But did you know that in the UK, the Pesticide Action Network (PAN UK) produces an annual "Dirty Dozen" list, informing us of the produce most likely to contain a cocktail of multiple residues. This is based on government testing in the previous year.

Shockingly, they found that a quarter of vegetables and THREE QUARTERS OF FRUIT tested contained multiple pesticide residues, including 42 chemicals linked to cancer.

PAN UK say "Safety limits are set for one pesticide at a time, completely ignoring the fact that it’s all too common for food to contain multiple chemicals. The truth is we know very little about how these chemicals interact with each other, or what this exposure to hundreds of different pesticides is doing to our health in the long-term. What we do know is that pesticides can become more toxic when combined, a phenomenon known as ‘the cocktail effect’."

Read the text in the infographics to understand why PAN UK doesn't produce a "Clean Fifteen" list and to see, based on limited data, the trends for the produce with pesticide cocktail residues over the past 5 years.

It's fair to say that we don't yet know the health impacts of all these chemicals, and we may never be able to show causation with disease, because how do you separate individual chemicals out from the cocktail effect? However, it's important to realise that allowing these chemicals in our food supply in untested combinations is a big experiment that we are being exposed to. I don't feel like chancing it, so buy as much organic as I can. However, it's not right that it is up to the individual to pay a premium in order to do this.

Read more at https://www.pan-uk.org/dirty-dozen/