Events

In the future I hope to be back speaking at a number of events and doing a whole bunch of workshops and cookery demonstrations.

In the meantime, the best way to keep up to date is to sign up to the Newsletter where you will be the first to find out about Cooking Demos, Talks, New Podcast episodes, recipes and more coming out of The Doctor’s Kitchen.

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If you were listening to the podcast and wondered

If you were listening to the podcast and wondered if me and Nick ever did meet up for a coffee and a Tim Tam in Sydney .. we did!

On the podcast today we talk about whether we can be ‘addicted’ to food?

This is quite a hot topic and one that is more relevant than ever. On the one hand we have food companies and respected scientists telling us that food addiction is a myth. Because we don’t see people smashing windows or stealing money from loved ones to fund a ‘hamburger habit’, the concept of food addiction is farcical.

On the other hand, recent work on food use disorders has demonstrated that the same neurobiological pathways implicated in drug abuse also modulate food consumption.

And if we consider Obesity costs the UK £47bn a year and has the second largest impact on the economy of 3% GDP (after smoking), we really should properly discuss whether food addiction is real and plays a role?

Dr Nick Fuller @intervalweightloss is an obesity researcher who brings together a diversity of skills having held positions in both the industry and academic sectors.

Nick is also the author of three best-selling books on the Interval Weight Loss program and Nick's work has resulted in policy change in the field of obesity and metabolic disease and his research has been published in The Lancet and JAMA.

Today we talk about:

What addiction entails
How the brain shapes food choice
The body’s regulation of food intake which involves a complex set of peripheral and central signalling networks.
The impact of environment, stress and psychological state in food choice
Practical tips to avoid or rewire food choice
How to start new behaviours and how long it will take

What do you think? Can we be addicted to food? Let me know what you think about the pod and don’t forget to give us a 5* review if you’re enjoying them so far :) listen on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts 👍🏼

#whatthedoctorordered #doctorskitchen #doctorskitchenpodcast

With all the talk around Blue Monday this week it

With all the talk around Blue Monday this week it seems relevant to talk about the connection between food and mood.

Eating a healthy, balanced diet is a key aspect when it comes to managing mood conditions. If you suffer from depression and/or anxiety and your diet is lacking any of these foods, there is a chance you may be deficient in certain nutrients which can impact your mental wellbeing. As with a lot of nutritional science, the data is not perfect and there are so many contributing factors to something as complex as mental health. So take all the suggestions here, derived from the research, with a pinch of salt 😉

MAGNESIUM
Low magnesium levels have been associated with anxiety. If you are already eating enough magnesium-rich foods to satisfy your RDA, additional supplementation with magnesium is unlikely to make a difference to your mood. But, if you are deficient then supplementation could help.

ZINC
Low zinc levels are associated with depression and it's actually pretty easy to achieve your RDA through foods. I would always recommend consuming zinc through diet rather than supplementation as taking a lot more than your RDA of zinc can actually have a detrimental effect on your health.

A healthy, balanced diet will naturally contain enough magnesium and zinc.

VITAMIN D
Low levels of vitamin D have also been associated with depression, and there is preliminary evidence that supplementation can help. You can obtain vitamin D through foods such as oily fish, mushrooms and fortified foods.

EPA/DHA
Regularly eating fatty fish will provide you with EPA and DHA, two fatty acids that can help alleviate clinical depression, especially when combined with standard antidepressant treatments. Vegetarians can get their EPA and DHA through conversion of plant fatty acids but as conversion rates can be low it may be necessary to supplement.

TRYPTOPHAN
Tryptophan is an amino acid used by your body to produce serotonin. It is recommended to consume at least 4 milligrams of tryptophan per kilogram of body weight per day.

Do you suffer with low moods and do you find the foods you eat can either heighten or improve your low moods?

#BlueMonday #MentalHealth

This is probably the least flattering picture of m

This is probably the least flattering picture of me that I’ve posted 😆 but I thought I’d inject some realism into the feed before you see some snazzy pictures of the app when it launches next week.

What you don’t see are the hours of work data inputting, years of planning and mountains of research that’s gone into creating this app. And that’s before the recipe creation, photography and testing!

What we’ve created with a shoestring team and budget is quite a simple and intuitive app, but that’s the point of it. When you download it next week from the App Store (iPhone only for now I’m afraid) hopefully you’ll find it smooth, exciting, useful and colourful.

But as an early adopter you’ll also be helping us develop what I hope to become the headspace for healthy eating. A trusted global resource where we can help you eat well everyday and aligned with your health goals and needs using the latest research 🙏🏽

For now, back to the screen 🤓

#whatthedoctorordered #doctorskitchen #doctorskitchenapp

Black-eyed Peas and Sweet Potato Hotpot 🍽️ I

Black-eyed Peas and Sweet Potato Hotpot 🍽️

I made this during thanksgiving with the pumpkin spice mix that you can make from store cupboard spices that rarely get an outing 🥲 but it works well for the winter season too with all these beautiful warming spices.

This recipe has an abundance of different plants that all contribute to your fibre diversity which can help support immune health and balance sugar. Something I’ll also be chatting about on Wednesday’s BBC morning live where the benefits of Cinnamon will be taking centre stage 💪🏽

This recipe serves 4 so is great for families or meal prep! Save it and give it a try this week.

Ingredients
👉3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
👉2 onions, roughly chopped
👉400g leeks, roughly chopped
👉400g oyster mushrooms, roughly chopped
👉Pumpkin spice mix - ground cinnamon, nutmeg, clove (equal amounts)
👉1 Vegetable stock cube, crumbled
👉400g black eyed peas (cooked - check my last Reel for the 'how to') (or 2 cans drained and rinsed)
👉3 tbsp soy sauce
👉1 tbsp corn flour
👉300mls hot water
👉1 large sweet potato, cut into 3mm thick rounds

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 200C
2. Sauté the onion, leek and mushrooms for 10 minutes in olive oil, salt and pepper on low heat in a large oven proof casserole dish
3. Add the spice mix, soy sauce, beans, veg stock cube and water plus the corn flour
4. Stir and bring to a simmer
5. Layer the sweet potato on top, drizzle with olive oil and salt well
6. Bake for 30 minutes until the sweet potato is cooked and browned on top, and the mixture is bubbling away underneath

#doctorskitchen #thedoctorskitchen #321 #whatthedoctorordered

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