Breakfast<\/p>\n
Blueberries and walnuts – brain protection<\/strong><\/p>\n Dr Rajan explains: “Polyphenols from the blueberries combine with the omega-3s in the walnuts combine to become a brain-protection powerhouse.”<\/p>\n Both walnuts and blueberries have been shown to enhance cognitive abilities, making them a match made in heaven.<\/p>\n Cocoa and coffee – overall brain pick-me-up<\/strong><\/p>\n Cory notes: “Caffeine in the coffee and the theobromine in the cocoa work together to enhance mood, alertness and mental clarity.”<\/p>\n A delicious excuse to indulge in a mocha!<\/p>\n Oats and yoghurt – happy gut<\/strong><\/p>\n According to Dr Rajan, pre-biotic beta-glucan from the oats and live microbes from the yoghurt encourage gut-microbiome diversity, promoting a healthy digestive system.<\/p>\n Your gut microbiome is a bustling microcosm within your body, home to trillions of microorganisms. Consider it akin to a garden that provides you with nutritious food and medicine – when your garden flourishes, so do you. However, if it degenerates into a neglected wasteland, it can disrupt your entire ecosystem.<\/p>\n Lunch<\/p>\n Bell peppers and black beans – enhancing iron absorption<\/strong><\/p>\n Dr Rajan explains that the “vitamin C in the bell peppers increases the absorption of the non-heme iron in the beans”.<\/p>\n Non-heme iron, primarily found in plant-based foods, isn’t as readily absorbed as its meat-derived counterpart, making any additional assistance valuable. To further boost non-heme iron absorption, consider adding a splash of lemon or orange juice to a spinach salad, or mixing diced apples into a lentil dish.<\/p>\n Avocados and tomatoes – boosting lycopene digestion<\/strong><\/p>\n Dr Rajan reveals that the mono-unsaturated fats in avocados aid in breaking down the fat-soluble lycopene from tomatoes. The traditional combination of tomatoes and olive oil also effectively absorbs lycopene.<\/p>\n This is fantastic news, as lycopene is a natural compound that may lower the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer.<\/p>\n Dinner<\/p>\n Rice and beans – satiety booster<\/strong><\/p>\n “The fibre and protein in the beans can help to slow down the digestion of rice and this combination stimulates satiety hormones”, Dr Rajan advises.<\/p>\n Incorporating beans into your diet aids in carbohydrate regulation and helps to prevent blood-sugar spikes and energy slumps.<\/p>\n Broccoli and garlic – a calcium boost<\/strong><\/p>\n According to Dr Rajan, the prebiotic fibre inulin found in garlic enhances the absorption of calcium from broccoli, promoting strong bones and teeth.<\/p>\n Snacks<\/p>\n Raspberries and dark chocolate – an antioxidant powerhouse<\/strong><\/p>\n Cory doesn’t need to work hard to sell this one, but it’s reassuring to know that a favourite dessert base also packs a health punch.<\/p>\n “Anthocyanins in the raspberries can synergise with the flavanols in the chocolate, creating an anti-oxidant powerhouse”.<\/p>\n Strawberries and cottage cheese – radiant skin<\/strong><\/p>\n This might seem like an odd pairing, but it’s a potent combination for collagen production, the beauty buzzword on everyone’s lips.<\/p>\n Cory explains: “The vitamin C in the strawberries and the amino acids in the cottage cheese work together to help build skin-supporting collagen.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breakfast Blueberries and walnuts – brain protection Dr Rajan explains: “Polyphenols from the blueberries combine with the omega-3s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81519,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4318],"tags":[39561,39560,5703,4449,105,4327,2408,622,459,4434,39562,39563,39559,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-81518","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-avocados-and-tomatoes","9":"tag-blueberries-and-walnuts","10":"tag-fruit","11":"tag-gut-health","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-health-section","14":"tag-healthy-diet","15":"tag-healthy-eating","16":"tag-instagram","17":"tag-nutrition","18":"tag-raspberries-and-dark-chocolate","19":"tag-strawberries-and-cottage-cheese","20":"tag-tomatoes","21":"tag-uk","22":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114465913186791518","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}