Zest Health & Nutrition Clinic By Nishtha Patel

What can you eat when you have no time and a full day of patients ahead of you? It’s actually not that hard being gluten and dairy free. This is my fuel for the entire day. I hate the plastic as it’s so toxic and full of chemicals but at least the food is fairly healthy for shop bought. I will transfer it to a plate too. Think about what’s going to nourish your body or damage it. Food can be the best form of medicine or the worst form of poison ! The choice is yours...

Are you taking statins? Look what they deplete from the body? Why does this matter? Depletion of these nutrients can lead to loss of muscle, fatigue, low immunity, low mitochondrial function and much more. It’s important to know which drugs you’re taking and what they are doing to your body.

Want to know more about the health benefits of each and every spice you see here? Head over to my Instagram page for more information at Zest Health Nutrition. Alternatively, which one would you like to learn more about. (I share recipes with you on my Instagram stories)

This was fresh pomegranate juice straight from the tree to your mouth (in China) pomegranates are in season right now and these little red ruby seeds are a powerhouse of nutrition. Did you know that Pomegranate juice contains higher levels of antioxidants than most other fruit juices. It also has three times more antioxidants than red wine and green tea. The antioxidants in pomegranate juice can help remove free radicals, protect cells from damage, and reduce inflammation.
Th...e juice of a single pomegranate has more than 40 percent of your daily requirement of vitamin C. Vitamin C can be broken down when pasteurized, so opt for homemade or fresh pomegranate juice to get the most of the nutrient.they are beneficial in reducing inflammation therefore people with arthritis, high blood pressure, heart disease , cognitive impairment and fertility issues have found them to be useful in managing these conditions.
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Want a quick, easy nutritious start to your day? This is a 5 minute breakfast...omelette made with egg white (full of protein) topped with rocket salad(great for the liver) and feta cheese (which contains protein and is so tasty), avocado (which is full of good fats) and lastly sun dried tomatoes. These intensely flavored, sun-kissed beauties are a concentrated source of nutrients. They provide vitamins C and K, iron, and lycopene, an antioxidant associated with lower risk of cancers. Be careful though, as many sundries tomatoes are pre treated with sulphur dioxide and are also heavily salted.

Artichokes...I took this photograph in an organic shop whilst in Majorca, Spain. Do you know what’s so special about these beautiful vegetables? They contain a unique form of fibre called inulin , which is a prebiotic. Prebiotics in food help induce the growth activity for microorganisms, bacteria and fungi. Artichokes are low in fat, high in fibre, magnesium, potassium vitamin c and folate. A medium sized artichoke contains 4 g of protein (which is high for a vegetable!) and only 25 calories!

Which would you rather take? A handful of chemicals in the form of pills that suppress your symptoms or fresh fruits and vegetables packed with phytonutrients and polyphenols that give the body nutrients, feed the cells and prevent disease?

Have you heard about Maca? It’s a brilliant for lots of things. I like to use it as an alternative to coffee and it’s great for hormone rebalancing. You can read all about this lovely vegetable below. The Incas of Peru knew what they were doing all those years ago!

Who says it takes a long time to cook a nutritious lunch? This was delicious, nutritious and super quick. I used olive oil and lemon too. Rocket is bitter and this is great for the liver along with the olive oil and lemon juice. Eggs are a complete protein, hummus is tasty but is also packed with fibre and protein. Olives are packed with monounsaturated fats great for the ❣Tomatoes are also an excellent source vitamin C, biotin, molybdenum and vitamin K. They are also a very good source of copper, potassium, manganese, dietary fiber, vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene), vitamin B6, folate, niacin, vitamin E and phosphorus. Not forgetting the gut microbiome...fibre is great for the gut.

Did you know that the UK is one of the highest ranked countries for people suffering from allergies?
Yesterday evening London Clinic hosted a talk for the practitioners on Helminth therapy. What is it? It’s basically worm therapy! It is being used in the treatment for allergies, IBD, autism and autoimmune conditions.
... Judith Chinitz director of biome restoration in New York, has used this successfully on her son who suffers from autism.
The theory behind it evolved from the fact that we as humans have lost our immune tolerance over millennia.
Back in Palaeolithic times we ate foraged food and ate it without washing it, wore minimum clothing, walked barefoot, didn’t use chemicals or plastics etc. Due to modern day living and medicines we have killed off these creatures who actually did a lot of immune modulation in our guts... Parasitic helminths have evolved together with the mammalian immune system over many millennia and as such they have become remarkably efficient modulators in order to promote their own survival. Their ability to alter and/or suppress immune responses could be beneficial to the host by helping control excessive inflammatory responses and animal models and pre-clinical trials have all suggested a beneficial effect of helminth infections on inflammatory bowel conditions, MS, asthma and atopy. Thus, helminth therapy has been suggested as a possible treatment method for autoimmune and other inflammatory disorders in humans. Question is...would you do it?
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I have this conversation with patients all the time. When trying to improve their health, I can put all the right nutrition and supplementation in place, address sleep and exercise, however, when it comes to their relationships with friends, family, children, partners etc if someone is bringing them down they NEVER truly heal. I know first hand being an Indian woman that society, my family, my parents have had a huge baring on the way I think. Many of us are conditioned to do...ing “what’s right,” Ask yourself “Right for who? “Who cares about you? We are taught to worry about what others will think! Putting up and shutting up!” “Being called dumb, being compared to our siblings, our cousins, our sister in laws etc” These are negative, damaging and toxic behaviours. My advice to patients is to learn to respect themselves and their values first. Do good, be kind but NEVER EVER give someone else the permission to put you down, belittle you or tell you how you should live your life! Negative suppression has been linked to many diseases. I know first hand that when toxic relationships are severed...that’s when the healing begins. If you want to know more read the following article written by my friend Dr. Will Cole:
https://drwillcole.com/toxic-relationship s-affect-health-a…/
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https://www.facebook.com/100010544988666/ posts/766273077067518/

It’s often quite hard to find good quality food whilst travelling. It was lovely to see these salads at the Casa De Music, Portugal (in the cafe) why can’t we have more of these everywhere in the UK? Beautiful, healthy & easy.

Last weekend I attended the Institute for Functional Medicine conference in Ireland. Since my area of specialism is gut health, I was thrilled that the brilliant Dr. Datis Kharrazian was lecturing on Ulcerative colitis and autoimmune diseases. One take home that I learnt from him was to start replenishing the good bacteria into the gut by adding in fibre and in addition butyrate. (We were previously taught to eliminate bad bacteria first then replenish) Butyrate is found in... grass fed organic ghee. Ghee is clarified butter. It is used in Indian cooking. Ayurveda stipulates the importance of using ghee daily (in moderation as it is high in cholesterol) as it lubricates the body but also allows the gut bacteria to thrive. Easy way of doing this? Make a smoothie, add in a teaspoon of ghee and lots of fresh veg and some good protein powder (sun warrior vegan is quite nice). Feed that bacteria...
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Hello everyone, So it's February already...what are your goals? I'd love to hear about any health goals any of you may have. Perhaps we can start a group of like minded people with similar goals. Let me know.

With Christmas around the corner, I don't want to put people off their food choices but before diving for that prawn cocktail please take a moment to read this article as I do care about the health of everyone following my page and I think it is important to know about issues like this.