recipes

We get asked this question a lot from clients or at our retreat days. The answer is always - it depends! Collagen is a type of structural protein and is found in connective tissue, skin, bones, tendons and cartilage.

May 11

May 11 Our top tips to help with exam stress

The summer months can be a fraught with stress with uni finals, A levels, GCSE’s and end of year exams for our teens (and us parents!). It is essential that we create some calm and provide our teens with some good nutrition during this time. This will help to ensure we nurture our brain so that we maximise its capacity and ensure good recall when in the exams.

Oct 2

Oct 2 5 benefits to eating microgreens

Microgreens are little powerhouses of nutrients and in this blog post I want to explain to you the benefits and why you should be including them in your diet. They don’t just make your food look pretty they have an impressive amounts of benefits too.

Microgreens are baby plants harvested in the seedling stage usually when they are 7-14 days old. They fall between sprouts and baby leaf vegetables. Sprouts are grown in water and microgreens, like vegetables, are grown in soil. They are usually 2-7cm tall when harvested.

Sep 5

Sep 5 Top tips for eating well on a budget

With food bills estimated to have gone up at least 8% in the last few months due to the spiralling costs on fertiliser, energy and feed, we thought some tips on eating well on a budget might help. Unfortunately our food bills are likely to increase even further in coming months as the energy costs are filtered down to us, the consumer. The biggest increases in prices as I w rite this comes from meat and fish which have gone up 22%, while fruit and vegetables have gone up around 14%. Shopping smarter has never been more important.

Aug 29

Aug 29 10 quick & healthy courgette/zucchini recipes

Blog, Recipes

For anyone that grows their own or has family that grows their own vegetables you will be very familiar with how quickly you can suddenly have far too many courgettes (or zucchini as it's known in the States and Australia) to deal with! A couple of years ago I planted for too many courgette plants and I was making everything with courgettes in from cakes to hummus to curries and salads. Well you'll be pleased to know that lots of our recipes contain courgette and here we've compiled them all in one place just for you. The only thing that's missing from the recipes below is a courgette cake - but don't worry we're working on one!!

Aug 12

Aug 12 Top tips for creating the perfect salad

Blog, Soups and salads

During the warm spring and summer months we look at salads as a delicious way of packing in the vegetables. However there’s a real difference between a salad that consists of some iceberg lettuce and a piece of tomato and a Health Boost salad. We use salads as a way of packing in lots of nutrients and making them nutrition powerhouses.

May 23

May 23 What foods to eat for bone health

When people think of bone health - calcium is the first mineral that might spring to mind. However, there are more minerals that are needed for bone health than just calcium. Many trace minerals such as copper, manganese, zinc and boron are also important, as is vitamin K1 and vitamin D. Bone is a dynamic, living tissue that is constantly being broken down and rebuilt, even in adults. Not many people think about looking after their bones until they start to break down as in arthritis or osteoporosis. However, there is lots you can do to ward off oesteoporosis, which is where there is more bone breaking down than being formed.

Apr 11

Apr 11 5 benefits of drinking coffee

The smell of coffee is one of those smells that brings a smile to my face, along with cut grass and freshly laundered sheets. I treasure my mid-morning cup of coffee - but is it actually good for you? Caffeine can sometimes get a bad rap - but did you know there’s more to your cup of coffee than just caffeine and there are some great health benefits, in particular for a midlife woman.

Apr 1

Apr 1 Hair loss - what you need to look for

If you start to lose your hair, whether it’s a gradual thinning or coming out in large amounts, it can be very distressing. Until it happened to myself following a bout of Covid I didn’t appreciate the emotional as well as physical stress it can cause. Washing your hair to find a huge clump of hair in your hand can leave you very distraught.

Mar 20

Mar 20 Our top 6 favourite salad dressings

Recipes, Blog, Dips and sauces

It’s no secret that we love salads here at The Health Boost. A good dressing though is essential as it can make or break a salad. Here we have our favourite 6 salad dressings. If you are looking for a salad to go with those dressings we have lots under our Soups and Salad section. Or else head to our Instagram account - The Health Boost - where we post our lunch salads daily.

Sep 16

Sep 16 Strength training, muscle mass and anti ageing

Val Simpson

Blog, Nutrition, Health

Declining muscle mass is part of ageing, but you can do something about it!
Age-related muscle loss, also called sarcopenia, is a totally natural part of ageing. From the age of 30, you begin to lose as much as 3% to 5% per decade. Less muscle means greater weakness, less mobility, more daily struggles and aches and less balance / stability therefore leading to an increased risk of falls and fractures.

For women over 40, with the added risk of loss of bone density through hormonal changes associated with peri menopause and menopause, this paints a pretty bleak picture for those not engaging in some form of strength training exercises.

Aug 28

Aug 28 Lunch on the go - packing your jar salad

Taking your own food into work is the best way of staying on track and hitting your health goals. You are in control of what to pack and ensure that it contains lots of protein, fibre and nutrients to fill you up and keep you going until the next meal without making you feel sleepy or needing to reach for a sugary snack or caffeine to keep you going.

Jul 8

Jul 8 top tips to improve gut health

The digestive tract is home to a complex microbial community. Keeping this community diverse, inflammation low and the mucosal lining strong is key to a healthy digestive system. Symptoms that your digestive health is not optimal include bloating, pain, constipation, diarrhoea and excessive wind.

Jun 1

Jun 1 Lunch on the go - your jar salad step by step

Taking your own food into work is the best way of staying on track and hitting your health goals. You are in control of what to pack and ensure that it contains lots of protein, fibre and nutrients to fill you up and keep you going until the next meal without making you feel sleepy or needing to reach for a sugary snack or caffeine to keep you going.

May 24

May 24 Top 7 summer salads you will love

Recipes, Soups and salads, Blog

We love salads at The Health Boost and nearly every day will have one for lunch and in the summer for supper too. However there's no limp lettuce and starving ourselves with our salads. The key to a good salad is to get the right balance of protein, healthy fats and some slow release healthy carbohydrates so that you aren't hungry again by 3pm. We include lots and lots of vegetables in our salads as we love them and recognise their health benefits. We hope this selection of salads will provide you with some inspiration. We change our salads weekly, depending on what's seasonal and what delights our vegetable box brings. Have fun experimenting with your salads! If you want to learn how to create the perfect salad we have a separate article How to create the perfect salad

May 16

May 16 top tips for building the perfect smoothie

Blog, Juices and smoothies

If you go into a supermarket the array of smoothies you can now buy is overwhelming. We find more and more people are reaching for a smoothie as a healthy choice. However, many of the shop bought smoothies are very high in fruit and contain very small amounts of vegetables. This makes them very sweet and palatable. While this is great for increasing the amount of fruit in one’s diet, it does mean that we often get a blood sugar spike. Without any protein or fat to slow down the absorption you get the same effect as reaching for a sugary drink. A blood sugar spike results in an evitable blood sugar crash a few hours later, which leads to cravings for more food (often unhealthy food) as your body needs the energy fast!

Apr 4

Apr 4 Our spring foraging top tips

Eating healthily doesn’t have to be expensive. Eating seasonal and local keeps the cost down. And what could be cheaper than foraging for some food to add to your plate?

Feb 24

Feb 24 How and why exercise for the menopause

Val Simpson

Blog, Nutrition, Health

Women's health around the peri menopause stage of their life is a topic close to our heart, and we speak from experience as well as qualified professionals. Exercise has been shown to help control a number of physical and psychological problems and changes associated with menopause and midlife, including depression, weight gain, loss of muscle mass and bone density.

Feb 18

Feb 18 What foods to eat during the menopause