This article provides tips to optimise insulin sensitivity. The tips will also assist to: help manage blood glucose levels, prevent and/or reverse type 2 diabetes and reduce cardiovascular risk factors, PCOS and other insulin resistant associated conditions.
Insulin plays an essential role in the body, from facilitating the movement of sugar (glucose) into the cells, to promoting muscle synthesis, to stimulating the growth of new cells. However, like most things in life, we want just the right amount.
Whilst there is a definite relationship between insulin resistance and weight gain, which one comes first remains unclear. Both insulin resistance and weight gain are risk factors for type 2 diabetes and many other chronic diseases. Let’s examine their relationship.
During stress, we adapt our physiology and behaviour so that we are able to survive. This is known as the stress response. Under normal conditions, the stress response is vital and healthy. However, when activated repeatedly, it can have negative effects on our health. An over activated stress response is associated with weight gain and many chronic diseases. This article highlights ways in which stress can influence weight gain.
Type 2 diabetes results from genetic and lifestyle factors. The great news is, lifestyle can be changed. Changes to diet, physical activity and weight (especially body fat) levels prevent and reverse type 2 diabetes. This article covers the key lifestyle factors that contribute to type 2 diabetes and tips on how to start changing them.
The more you move and more active you are, the more you exercise and the fitter you are, the healthier you’ll be and the longer you’ll live. Slightly over simplified, but you get my point!
A well-balanced inflammatory response maintains good health, prevents illness and aids recovery. However too much of an inflammatory response, known as a low-grade inflammatory response, is associated with a host of chronic diseases, one of which is type 2 diabetes. This article covers factors associated with inflammation that may increase risk for type 2 diabetes.
Stress. That dreaded word that we hear more and more. We know that too much is bad for us. We know it’s associated with chronic diseases, reduced immunity, poor sleep and weight gain. Unfortunately, that only seems to make the stress even more stressful!
Expert advice on recommended carbohydrate intake for type 2 diabetes remains controversial making it particularly confusing to know how much to have. This article summarises research on the impact of a low carb diet on type 2 diabetes.
Insulin plays a fundamental role in how food is utilised and stored. A state of insulin resistance results in metabolic dysregulation, subsequent health issues and chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes. Read on to find out more about insulin, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and how they are related to one another.
Wow, what a six months! We wanted to give you an update on some changes that we have going on. It has been a particularly busy six months!
In this article, I am going to highlight some of the challenges with grilling and barbequing food. How there may be some health implications with the foods you choose to cook and how you cook them. Equally I want to offer some solutions to help mitigate the potentially negative effects of this type of cooking.
Let’s kick things off by being completely blunt and honest. Nobody knows if specific foods, nutrients or supplements will have a positive or negative impact on COVID-19, there have not been any specific tests as yet to look at this.
Thankfully the initial madness that surrounded coronavirus food shopping habits and the access to food seems to have now finally calmed down. I have had a number of requests for meal ideas that can be batch cooked at home and have prepared a selection of our recipes for you to try!
In a previous article titled Online exercise class schedule to help you through lockdown, we provided a class timetable for online classes. You can download the PDF that we are updating on an ongoing basis. Simply reach out to the practitioner offering the class via their website or social media platform and they can provide a link to their class.
For many of you however, attending classes at set times might not fit in so easily with your schedule. For that reason, I have also put together a number of pre-recorded or designed exercise programs that can be done at your leisure. These have been kindly sent over to me from colleagues in the fitness industry, so I would like to say thank you to them for allowing me to place their content on here.
Maintaining a structure to our day is one of the areas that the government and mental health experts have been saying is of the upmost importance during this time of upheaval and uncertainty.
At this exceptionally unusual time of coronavirus, there are a lot of negatives that we can focus on, however there have also been a number of positive shifts occurring as well that we should feel gratitude for. One that I have recognised is the increased sense of community, increased connection and engagement with friends, family and our neighbours.
In this article, I want to focus on exercise to support you through this challenging time and in particular this period of social distancing and isolation.
As someone who has suffered with anxiety and panic attacks intermittently for the last 10-15 years, I definitely have a level of empathy towards those with anxiety surrounding this outbreak of COVID-19.
At the time of writing this piece (10th of March 2020) there have been around 115,000 cases of COVID-19 resulting in just over 4000 deaths globally. The rate at which the virus is spreading is causing a level of panic in some individuals, complacency in others and some confusion along the way.
In this article we look at the role of technology and the impact of artificial light on sleep health.
Hey everyone. Fay here to spread some Halloween fun. I love Halloween for dressing up, making big curries and also for pumpkins. I love carving them and I love using the flesh to make some amazing recipes. They are seasonal and so it makes these dishes even more special as we only eat them in Oct/Nov.
Our energy levels can be affected by so many things, but one of the fundamental areas to consider is that of impaired oxygen delivery or what might be more commonly associated with anaemia.
In this article we look at interpreting your thyroid hormone blood test results. To do this I break down each individual marker, what it is and why it is tested. Throughout the article we discuss the potential imbalances or patterns that you may see.
In this article I want to introduce you to the role of the thyroid in health and disease prevention. I will overview common symptoms and imbalances that can occur as well as possible testing.
Vitamins & minerals are collectively known as micronutrients. They are exceptionally important for maintaining and optimising health. Even though they are required in relatively small quantities, many functions within the body are dependent on sufficient amounts of these micronutrients – and even a single micronutrient deficiency can cause significant imbalances, symptoms and ill health.
There is a striking resemblance between the amount of water on this earth and the amount of water in the human body. With around 60-65% of the human body being water and 75-85% of the brain being made up of water. In this article we are going to look at some of the functions of water, signs and symptoms of dehydration and then try and set some guidelines on how much water might be right for you.
For those of you that have signed up to a long-distance event like a marathon you would have undoubtedly heard of “hitting the dreaded wall”. I myself am doing a 100 mile bike event in June of this year and as I increase my training volume, I am now having to be much more mindful about my fuelling strategy to optimise performance.
In this article I look at what that wall is, why you can hit it and what you can do to avoid hitting it.
In this review we are going to look at why we need to be aware of the fats we use when cooking, especially when cooking at high temperatures. We then look at what goes into choosing a fat that is appropriate for your needs, and finally provide a list of fats that might be best to cook with.
In this article I am going to discuss some basic tips to help you maintain a healthy digestive system through the food that you eat.
In this exercise developed with the help of my colleague and Dietician Lara Rickard, we are going to look at a short mindfulness practice to help you understand your hunger.
Have you ever had a sudden urge to eat something or following a meal had a significant desire to eat more, especially something sweet? Why is it that this seems to happen at the same time of day each day or in certain environments? In this article we look at hunger and try to determine what hunger actually is, what contributes to true hunger and the sensations we experience, what is more of an emotional hunger, perhaps not hunger at all, but something that drives us to want and desire foods even when we can’t or shouldn’t be hungry.
In this article written by my colleague and Dietician Lara Rickard and myself we look at the connection between stress or emotions and how we eat.
Here are some tips I have taken from Buddhist Monk Thich Nhat Hanh, also known as “The Father of Mindfulness”. These were taken from his short book titled How to Eat.
We’ve all heard it before, “everything in moderation” or “eat a balanced diet”, but what does that mean and what does that mean for you? In this article we are going to explore how to create balance in your diet, first through observation and then by considering your own personal needs and relationship to food.
In this article we are going to begin to explore this emotional connection and why it influences behaviour as well as bringing awareness to the social role that food plays.
In this article we are going to look at the connection between food and our physiology and why food can play such an important role in optimising health and improving physique.
In this article I’d like to educate you about how nutrition can act as a natural treatment and provide relief from the symptoms of Pre-Menstrual Syndrome (PMS).
Plastic is far from fantastic. For a material that was only invented just over a century ago in 1907, it has certainly left a large and ugly mark on the planet.
Want to recover faster from an injury? Nutrition can play a pivotal role in speeding up the recovery process.
In this article we are going to look at why some people get “hangry” after not eating for a while or between meals.
In this article one of the Steve Grant Health trusted practitioners and specialists in the area of female health Lara discusses PCOS diagnosis, causes and approaches to treatment.
Most of our clients think about movement only in terms of weight loss, fitness, strength, competitive sports or maybe body sculpting. There is a lot more to movement than this. And for clients suffering from digestive troubles, the type of movement program can directly affect your symptoms and likewise the digestive issues can impact the success of the movement program. Here’s how.
Most of us start our journey of health with massive ambitions. You feel energized, motivated and ready to turn your diet on its head, or rather, on its feet. You clear all the crisps, sweets and treats from your cupboard, and fill your trolley with Wholefoods goodness. But two weeks in, and you’re binging on a tub of Ben & Jerry’s while watching a trashy film.
In the following article, I’d like to discuss the role of coaching and its ability to support your nutrition program and health journey. Many clients start come to see us at Steve Grant Health with a lot of enthusiasm, only to discover that changing their behaviour can be a bit trickier than anticipated.
In this article one of our trusted professionals a fellow Nutrition & Functional Medicine Practitioner Katie takes a look at the traditional symptoms associated with endometriosis, how it can develop, risk factors and the conventional approach to treatment. Following on from that she then looks at nutrition and lifestyle considerations, potential use of supplementation and finish with a summary of your key considerations.
In this article we are going to overview the parasitic infection known as cryptosporidium (aka crypto) and take a look at how functional medicine can be used to address it.
So you’ve had a stool test and it looks like you have a Giardia infection. In this article we are going to review what giardia is, how you might have contracted this parasite, commonly associated symptoms, the difference between chronic vs acute infections and then review some nutrition considerations.
We all have gas, some of us more than others, but on average we all pass wind 10-15 times per day. For some excessive gas can be embarrassing, and for others a tool for child-like humour, what should be understood is that intestinal gas can contribute to a significant amount of discomfort, pain and bloating as well.