Thought it might be nice to have a general health thread as it feels like we’re making headway with the covid business. I’m fully in a health kick right now so trying to drag mates along as tbh it feels nice. I’m three or four years sober (honestly lost count) and decided over Christmas I better do something with being sober and not smoking and that or whats the point. So I am getting healthy. I was just trying to sell Piers on this turmeric shot I’ve been making. You literally chuck it all in a nutribullet, whack it through a sieve and then stick in the fridge and job done. A week of goodness made in ten minutes. I’m also doing Gousto which has made cooking healthy food far less effort as it takes all the decision making out of it.
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My wife is all about the turmeric shots which kind of means I am too. The nutribullet is a winner. Chuck plenty of ginger in too for that full on eye watering effect.
If you followed that recipe how much do you drink at a time?
Oh like a small glass… Bit more than a shot. Like double a shot… If that makes sense… I went on this bottle of turmeric shots I bought in Sainsbury’s that had 7 shots in it so going on the same amount roughly…
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Supposed to be good for inflammation and that sort of thing isn’t it?
Yeah digestion and for your skin. All I can say is the machine is working 
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Might have to dust off ye olde Nutribullet and give this a, err, shot 
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Dont forget to support your local organic farmers and farmers markets if you have one close by- eating fresh food is fundamental. Also lots of fermented foods too- kimchis and sauerkrauts tasty great and are easy and cheap to make
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Do you make kimchi? What’s that good for?
I have done in the past but it doesnt last long! A grilled kimchi cheese sandwich is incredible. fermented foods are really good for your gut bacteria and loads of other stuff
heres a quick summary of the common types you can find in most shops now
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i don’t eat it for the health benefits, but damn it does taste good. a quick kimchi fried rice with egg is a staple meal in my house.
I lost 3 1/2 stone in 5 months in 2020 and have managed to keep it off, it’s the first time in my adult life that I’ve not been overweight. I used an app called Noom which I would recommend, although my wife didn’t get on with it at all.
One of the things I most struggled with at first was finding something healthy I could eat for breakfast regularly until I came across overnight oats, which I now have most weekdays and are delicious. I’ve done lots of experimenting with ingredients, this is the best I have found:
3/4 cup oats
cover with oat milk, any plant based milk works well
a few chopped almonds
a handful of raspberries
liberal sprinkling of cinnamon
leave to soak overnight in fridge
add a chopped banana
you can have cold or heated in the microwave, if you heat it’s better to do this before adding the banana.
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Cats claw and holy basil we’ve been on for years. Mrs is all about this stuff. Can’t remember last time I was sick, I don’t drive so walk and cycle 20k most days and more on weekends. Head has always been in a good place don’t let silly things or idiots get me down, I have never been on Facebook, twitter, WhatsApp etc. Still drink and a bit of other for special occasions. I never smoked but my OH smokes # all day… Both unvaccinated by choice and we’re not tinfoil hat nutters. Mrs was gymnast and competed for Ireland when she was younger but gave up at 15. she can still do back flip though so that’s pretty cool
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I’ve taken up swimming and tennis again recently, I walk everywhere and I’ve lost about an inch and a half of my waist. It is either the new regime or I’m terminally ill.
A very attractive 20 year old man on a well known app said that whilst he was not interested in “OAPs” he couldn’t believe I was 51 when he saw my physique. Made me feel a very happy man, as opposed to just a desperate one.
But you have to be careful with loosing weight as after 50 as it will come off your face and you can look quite a bit older. Think it is showing on me since health kick.
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Thanks for the tip, just signed up. I was looking at a couple of these services but couldn’t justify £50 per week for one person. This is much more affordable.
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I did this intro thing and with the January discount it was like £12 for four meals. It’s really good. Can imagine it could get boring in 6 months but it’s a gateway to quick healthy eating as I’m crap at bothering with a cook book. If anyone wants the discount intro dm me. Can’t put it here. We’ll get all money discount supermarket or whatever
Heartburn 
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another vote for gousto, we signed up mainly to take away the stress of deciding what to cook. the meals have been great so far. It’s definitely helped with portion size.
getting back into tennis has been great, nice to meet new people as well. also try to run 100k a month, which might seem like a lot but really easy if you do a few 3km-4km runs a week. I managed 1200km last year.
other obvious small things that I’m trying to change to my lifestyle:
-not taking my phone to the bedroom
-taking cold showers (I can’t recommend this enough, it’s helped with low mood and I just feel better for it)
-eat less meat
-less booze
-meditate once a week (well, I put on an ambient album on, light up an incense stick and try to switch off, the wife laughs at me 
)
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I heard this really good Radio 4 thing recently by a nutritional scientist, his top tips were
- restrictive & fad diets are a bad idea
- healthy gut flora are basically the key, so eat a wide range of foods to stimulate them
- stay away from processed foods (more than 10 ingredients)
- try adding something fermented (see above) like kimchi or kefir
I haven’t eaten meat or fish for 25 years, the good thing is that this means we make most of our meals from scratch. Unfortunately turning vegetarian or vegan now presents people with a lot of ultra-processed ‘plant-based meats’ which aren’t as good as real food.
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This will come across as sickeningly boastful. Sorry. Below is a photo of kimchi from carrots and Swiss chard from my allotment. Not as spicy as I would have preferred, but tasty and easy to make. See Kylie Newton for recipe books. I went on her course last year.
My other top tip for general health is fresh air and connecting with nature at some point every single day. I have made this my job, as a gardener. But in general, the health benefits of gardening are becoming much better appreciated. The best book on this subject is The Well Gardened Mind, by Sue Stuart Smith. Recommended.
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