Caroline Davies Nutrition

🛑THIS BOOK🛑
If you ever needed to read something that would make you avoid all the bad ultra-processed stuff… well THIS IS IT! Thank you

Just to clarify the difference between processed and ultra processed foods (UPFs):

➡️Processed foods have been around for millions of years, ever since we first cooked meat over open fires, then developed processing techniques to make food safer, tastier, and longer lasting eg adding salt, oil etc.

➡️UPFs have taken this one step (giant leap?) further and are highly modified products created through industrial processes. Classification is typically a grey area, but they typically contain multiple additives, preservatives, and artificial ingredients and are built for long shelf lives and cheaper costs.

In the UK 57% of our energy comes from UPF - only 2nd to the US at 58%!

The best way for a normal person ie you & me, to differentiate is to read the ingredients:
✅Could the ingredients all be found in your kitchen? If yes then likely ok
❌Are there ingredients you have never heard of / not in your kitchen eg emulsifiers, gums, sweeteners, colouring agents… in which case try to avoid.

❓Bread may be UPF (most supermarket bread) or may be minimally processed eg bakery loaves with just flour, yeast, salt and water. So a grey & murky scale!

Greater UPF consumption can increase the risk for diseases and related mortality:
🔗link to obesity, with some UPFs connected to an increased risk of Type 2 Diabetes*
🔗linked to increased risk of IBD by 47% in adults*
🔗high UPF consumption increases the risk of developing cancer*
🔗Also preclinical studies have shown that common food additives may adversely affect the gut, including intestinal permeability, intestinal inflammation, and the microbiome.

*Studies - Medscape 989458 / 997855 / 987795

eating

🦠Kombucha🦠
A friend came over for supper last week and brought a box of this instead of wine.

Such a great alcohol free alternative!

As well as being full of great bacteria to increase your microbiome diversity 🦠🦠

I am usually a ginger kombucha fiend but this hops edition was something else, absolutely deeeeelicious!

Kombucha is a fermented drink made from black or green tea but they are not all created equal…. You need to make sure what you are buying is raw / unpasteurised. Because of this it will need to be kept in the fridge otherwise it will carry on fermenting……💥

A few things to bear in mind:
⚡️It does contain caffeine, but minimal amounts, average 15mg/serving, which shouldn’t affect you unless you are super sensitive.
⚡️It does still contain sugar, but most of it gets fermented, so far less than your typical fizzy drink like coke or lemonade
⚡️Fermented foods do not suit everyone - if you are histamine intolerant or have SIBO you may well react with bloating and other symptoms.

Otherwise try including in your diet, but slowly does it! 🐌

Great audience today talking Nutrition for Body & Mind to over 100 sixth-form girls as part of their Life Skills sessions.

Girls, you were one of the most engaged groups I have spoken to in a long time! Great questions too! 🙌🏻

Hopefully dispelled a few myths about
🌾Carbohydrates - good! But complex best and “put a coat on your carbs” ie combine with protein and/or fat
🥑 Fat - good! Think fish, avocados, nuts, seeds, olive oil, natural yoghurt….
🥛Plant milks - more nuanced - less nutritious than dairy milk, but if dairy doesn’t suit then choose plants milks. Nut over oat, and check the ingredients - should just be nut + water + maybe salt. See and amongst others.
💊Supplements - just that, to SUPPLEMENT a balanced diet not instead of… except Vitamin D which at this time of year is a bit of a must have for most people!

Also left them with lots of practical, quick & easy suggestions for protein-filled healthy snacks and breakfasts.

⭐️Thank you for having me!⭐️

🫐Chia berry pots 🫐
One of my favourite breakfasts - made these for 3 girlfriends with whom I’ve just spent the most magical 24hrs 🥰

We were at school together (just a few years ago then 😁) and hardly ever see each other as we all live miles away, but when we do it’s seems like only yesterday that we were getting up to no good 🤫

I made these last night:
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 100ml any milk - this was coconut
Mix & add in frozen berries (better at this time of year than fresh) I added raspberries & wild blueberries which I’ve raved about before.

Then this morning I added
- natural kefir
- sliced banana
- good sprinkle of homemade cinnamon & buckwheat granola (so you can control the sugar & sweetness) I’ve posted this recipe before - see my ‘Breakfasts’
- optional swirl of honey or maple syrup, but please try without! It’s amazing what we get used to.

So much tasty goodness
- protein in the chia, granola (nuts, seeds, buckwheat) kefir
- kefir to nourish your gut bugs
- good fats incl omega 3 in the chia
- antioxidants
- fibre

The bowls are - I love them for this, puddings, drinks, nuts……

💚💚💚Give it a go!💚💚💚

🤧What you need in your Cold & flu armoury!🤒

Cold & flu season is officially here… I’ve already had one child home for a few days with a horrible fluey cold (reminiscent of Covid…) and lots of emails from clients, asking what they can take themselves or give their kids.

These are my basic go tos…. nothing you won’t have heard of before:

➕Vitamin C - start on 1,000mg (adults) but as much as you can tolerate spread over the day. I like this in powder form to encourage more fluids. NB Taking too much will give you loose bowel movements…
➕Zinc up to 40mg short term (adults) while you’re fighting infection.
➕Elderberry syrup
➕Hot water with 1tsp honey & squeeze of lemon - again, a nice way to keep fluids up, and will smooth sore throats. If you use a good quality honey like Manuka or Jarrah you will benefit from their anti bacterial & anti viral properties
➕Lastly vitamin D - supplement through the winter to support your immune function. Even better know your levels and get advice on how much you need to make sure you have optimum levels - not just scraping sufficient

💤 Good sleep and a decent diet (lots of fruit & veg) is the best defence, but I find the above can just help reduce the symptoms, especially if you load up as soon as feel that cold / bug coming 🤧

📸

💥Sesame Soy Salmon with Salsa & Rice💥

Delicious ‘bowl’ inspired salmon dish that I made for some girlfriends earlier in the week.

I always feel there’s a slight expectation that I will cook something healthy, kale 🥬 features a lot in this particular WhatsApp chat group! So I relish the challenge to produce something that is yes healthy, but kale-free and super tasty!!!! It’s also gluten free

🍚 vs 🍽️ I’m not a fan of actual bowl food, I find it hard to judge portion size, plus I don’t own any other than breakfast / desert ones which would be too small 😆

🐠Sesame Soy Salmon for 4:
600g / 4 pieces salmon, skinless, cut into cubes
2-3 cloves crushed garlic
1 thumb sized piece ginger grated
3tbsp tamari (or soy but not GF) sauce
3tbsp rice wine vinegar
2tbsp toasted sesame oil
1tbsp sriracha

🥑Black bean, mango, & avocado salsa:
1 can black beans, rinsed & drained
Mango - cubed (I used ready chopped to get ripe mango)
1-2 avocados, cubed
Coriander - handful roughly chopped
1x lime, juice of
2tbsp extra virgin olive oil

➕Rice - brown, wild, black, etc
➕Green side eg tenderstem broccoli
➕Wedges of lime to serve
➕Sesame seeds & coriander to garnish

💥Method
1️⃣Marinate the salmon for 30mins (longer fine too)
2️⃣Cook the rice - I used wholegrain basmati c.25mins
3️⃣Combine the salsa ingredients (aim to get avocado covered in the lime juice to slow down oxidation)
4️⃣Cook salmon in hot pan until just cooked through, I love it still slightly pink in the middle
5️⃣Serve with an extra green veg on the side, lime wedge and sprinkling of sesame seeds

👀The eagle eyed among you will spot that I forgot the sesame seeds until we were nearly finished - always the way when I chat and cook at the same time 🤣

💥Migraines - What can you do to improve them?

🤕If you, or anyone you know, suffers with migraines then you will know how utterly debilitating they are. Many of my clients who suffer with them will have been down the medical route. They have tried drugs, that can help, however, it often doesn’t get to the root cause of WHY.

1️⃣The first thing I do is encourage an anti-inflammatory diet
2️⃣I will often add in anti-inflammatory supplements and specific nutrients like magnesium that will help in many cases
3️⃣ Ultimately I usually run tests based on where I think the problem may lie to give me much needed detailed information that enables me to give the right personalised support.

💥One of my clients has gone from having weekly migraine attacks to monthly, we identified some nutritional deficiencies via Metabolomix test that has helped in the first instance. She is keen to improve this further we are now running a gut microbiome test and a few DNA panels via . So work in progress.

Just some of the root causes include, but are not limited to:
- Food intolerances / allergies / histamine intolerance
- Gut health - leaky gut, dysbiois, parasites…
- Mould
- Genetics
- Mitochondrial dysfunction
- Neurotransmitter imbalance
- Hormones, especially for females during puberty & peri / menopausal years

Fortunately we have access to these labs that run DNA tests, gut microbiome tests, functional nutritional assessments, DUTCH hormone tests etc as well as working with the GP and accessing blood tests.

And lastly, even if you have a history of headaches, if the pattern changes or your headaches suddenly feel different then please seek medical attention.

📸

💚Courgette falafel💚
It’s taken me ages to make these, they are delicious and were even given 👍🏻 by Mr D - not always a given for my homemade veggie experiments… we don’t mention the green omelette 🤫

Lots of lovely veggie fibre and protein, great for a snack or base for main meal, with humous or the dip below, and veggies / salad etc.

➡️You need:
1 can chickpeas, drained
1/2 chopped onion
2 cloves garlic minced
Bunch parsley
2 small-medium / 1 large courgette
6 tbsp chickpea/gram flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 lemon - juice of

➡️Method
Shred the courgette in your mixer or grate it, and put into a big bowl
Blitz parsley, onion, garlic + chickpeas so still a little chunky
Mix this into the bowl with courgette
Add & mix in the flour, spices, salt and lemon juice
Roll into small balls, makes about 20
Play on lined baking tray & bake at 180-200C for 30-35mins
(You could fry or air-fry too)

➡️Yoghurt & Tahini Dip - mix the following:
4 tbsp natural yoghurt
1 tbsp tahini
1/2 tsp garlic powder or grate a little fresh garlic
Chilli flakes to your taste - I used c 1/2 tsp
Juice from 1/4 or 1/2 lemon

Celebrating 17 years of wonderful marriage to the amazing Mr D 🥰😘♥️

9 September 2006 was a really hot September day too, and Dad had been super organised making sure he had enough golf umbrellas incase it rained… he ended up with emergency last minute loans of garden furniture & parasols from our lovely neighbours!

Early celebration yesterday - with .lyttle.donovan & Andy 😍

💚Green cacao mint smoothie💚
Re-creating a hit smoothie we had at on our Costa Rica trip.

The cacao nibs make you “crunch” and “chew” the smoothie rather than slurping it quickly down.

So as well as feeling more like actual food it’s better for your digestion too, as the chewing kickstarts your gastric juices.

Cacao nibs are also rich in nutrients & antioxidants, and make a great healthier alternative for chocolate lovers.

I’ve played around with quantities and this works for me, making enough for 2 good sized ones (as per pic) or more smaller ones to have alongside a meal. A hit with visiting family and resident taste tester Mr D! Although a straight no from the kids 😔

1 banana
1/2 avocado
Generous handful spinach
Mint leaves - lots! 1/4-1/2 a supermarket bunch
1 medjool date (minus stone)
2 tsp raw cacao nibs
Top up with 50% almond milk and 50% water

Whizz everything together in your smoothie maker / blender
Divide between glasses
Sprinkle extra cacao nibs on top

💚Enjoy💚

🍒Cranberry juice can help urinary tract infections🍒

This is probably not new news to you. We have known that cranberries can help certain UTIs in women and it has been used as a natural solution for years. But the research has previously been sketchy.

📑However it is no longer a myth; in the largest scale review of this subject, including just under 9000 participants, researchers found that cranberries can reduce the risk of UTIs by ~25% in women and ~50% in children.

❓How does it work❓
Cranberry contains sugars called proanthocyanidins (PACs for short). The PAC found in cranberry is believed to block E. coli (the bug that commonly causes UTIs) from binding to the lining of the bladder.

For recurrent UTIs it works best taken prophylactically, so as a preventative solution rather than a treatment at time of infection. It works well combined with D-mannose too, which works in a similar way. I use this combo a lot with clients.

You can find cranberry and D-mannose supplements in powder or capsule form, or drink unsweetened cranberry juice.

Suggested doses:
* Doses of juice (25% pure cranberry juice) have ranged from 120 to 1,000 ml/day in divided doses. Concentrated cranberry extract in the form of tablets and capsules is available and 600mg to more than 1,200 mg/day in divided doses have been used in studies in UTIs.
* For preventing frequent UTIs: 2g once daily, or 1g twice daily
* For treating an active UTI: 1.5g twice daily for 3 days, and then once daily for 10 days; or 1g three times daily for 14 days

Please DM me for specific supplements / more info

🚨Bear in mind E coli is not always the culprit, and if you have an acute UTI do get it checked out by your GP as antibiotics are sometimes required.

Link to research: www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD001321.pub6/full

📸Rasa Kasparaviciene

🍅Tomato, Burrata & Rocket Salad 🍅

💥This is another of my go-to salads that I will be rolling out this bank holiday weekend - we have a house full of family, so the easier the food the better!

🍅 Look for tomatoes that have lots of flavour, and make sure to keep them at room temperature too. I still love , love the contrast between the yellow and red, and they just taste so good.

Make the dressing with the capers and basil mixed in and then drizzle over and sprinkle the pine nuts just before serving.

🍅Ingredients:
Mixed tomatoes, halved / quartered depending on size
1-2 burrata (or mozzarella)
Pack basil, roughly chopped
Rocket or other salad
2tbsp capers (or black olives)
Extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Roasted pine nuts - optional but worth adding on top
Salt & pepper

💚Happy bank holiday! Enjoy!💚

😮A £22 loaf of bread….. 😮
Yes it has lovely ingredients and none of the nasties associated with prepackaged (aka ultra processed) bread but who spends that on a loaf of bread??

If you are tempted to ditch the supermarket rubbish then please have a go at making the - see my poached egg & spinach post from 1 March for the recipe - and I add that this is not my recipe but one that is now infamous among nutritionists!

Mr D (who loves it!) affectionately calls it “brick bread”, so just don’t expect any fluffiness!!

I added up the cost the ingredients that I use to make it, and it came to £3.88 / loaf. I use organic where available, and mostly buy the oats, nuts and seeds loose from (in Lechlade, Gloucestershire) as it works out cheaper, better for you and the environment as not in plastic, plus I love be able to support my local shops and when I am not in London this is where I spend a lot of time. See if you have a local refill shop, there are loads around now.

The only unusual ingredient is the psyllium husk, which is absolutely necessary as it replaces the gluten as a binder. Without this it will not works, and so there is an initial outlay of around £10 to get this. I buy it online from or most health food shops will stock.

To replicate this £22 loaf more faithfully you would also need to soak and sprout the seeds & nuts, no cost involved but a little effort… one for another post, or a Google!

💚Courgette & Halloumi Salad💚

I always get a bit obsessed with halloumi in the summer, I just love that salty kick. Whilst you don’t want to eat tonnes of cheese (or indeed any one single food for that matter) halloumi just upgrades veggies / salad to a whole new level.

Last night I had a rare evening home alone - bliss! It was a case of what was left in the fridge, but it worked, with a glass of gazpacho for a bit of colour! Living life on the edge here!! Plus lots of leftovers for lunch. I would add anything else you have like rocket, avocado, cucumbers, tomatoes, radish etc too.

I used:
⚡️3 smallish courgettes (or zucchini if you are 🇺🇸, peeled into ribbons
⚡️3/4 pack of halloumi cut into little cubes
🍋Zest & juice of 1/2 lemon
⚡️Extra Virgin Olive Oil
⚡️Apple Cider Vinegar
🍯Dash of honey
🍃Handful of mint chopped
⚡️Sesame & Pumpkin seeds to garnish
🌶️Chilli, garlic & peppercorn olive oil to drizzle

1️⃣Put the dressing ingredients - oil, vinegar, lemon and honey - straight into a serving dish
2️⃣Peel the courgette into ribbons and add to the dish, toss with the dressing
3️⃣Quickly brown the halloumi in a pan, no oil needed (I added a few middle bits of chopped courgette that I couldn’t ‘ribbon’)
4️⃣Add halloumi to courgette
5️⃣Add mint, seeds and (optional!) drizzle some chilli, garlic & peppercorn oil

➡️See next pic for the special Llagrimes del Canigo olive oil - another new obsession - my sister gave it to me a few weeks ago when she came to visit, from . Definitely in the treat / present category, but so delicious.

🦠Healthy Gut, Healthy Brain🧠

Thank you and for inviting me to take one of your Lunch & Learn slots today - we talked all about gut health and the incredible relationship it has with our brain health, it’s not known as the “second brain” for nothing!

We covered:
⚡️The Microbiome & factors affecting it
⚡️What happens when our gut is dysfunctional - Dysbiosis & Leaky gut
⚡️Digestion
⚡️How to improve gut health & nurture the good bacteria
⚡️Probiotic & prebiotic foods
⚡️Fasting
⚡️Brain food
⚡️Happiness chemicals: serotonin, GABA, Dopamine & Endorphins

Thank you for listening & for your questions. I hope you enjoyed it!

🥴Holiday diarrhoea & vomiting - What to know & how to be prepared 🥴

I had the “pleasure” of food poisoning on my hols the other week. It was short and sharp so didn’t really get in the way, but I could have kicked myself with my lack of preparedness!!

I’m normally really well prepared for EVERYTHING but as the children have got older I’ve become a bit more relaxed and try to pack light. Big mistake!

So what helps in situations like this❓

✅Rehydrate - as quickly as possible with small sips (especially if vomiting). In addition to losing water, you lose electrolytes. Coconut water or electrolyte drinks are a good option, or add a little salt to water. Once the nausea passes some diluted fruit juice and a pinch of salt works well too.

At home the products I have (that I will pack next time..) are:

✅Activated charcoal - to absorb any toxins or bacteria. Will also absorb nutrients so use short term only.

✅Enterosgel - works a bit like Imodium to firm up stools, and also helps bind to toxins to eliminate them from your body.

✅Saccharomyces boulardii is very helpful with diarrhoea. It helps repopulate your gut with good bacteria and can reduce diarrhoea.
You can also buy travel-specific probiotics like Travel Abroad which can be useful to take.

✅Lastly hand sanitiser is a must as you can’t always wash your hands before eating.

If you’d like recommendations for specific links / brands please DM me

🚨If you can’t keep any liquids down or are at worried always seek medical advice. Severe dehydration is dangerous if left untreated🚨

☀️Happy hols!☀️

📸 .fotography

💚Buckwheat & oat granola💚
Granola is such a popular breakfast choice, but many shop bought brands are not as healthy as they seem, and can be 20%+ sugar (always check the nutrition panel!)

📈A high sugar start to the day is not helpful for any of us. So I try to steer clients off shop-bought granola and to try making their own.

This is a firm family favourite, and once you have the ingredients so easy to throw together.

It’s refined sugar & gluten free, plus it’s a higher protein topping for porridge, overnight oats, chia pudding, yoghurt, kefir….. you name it! It is also good straight from the jar for a quick snack 🤫

I love it with protein kefir and berries, or on top of a chia pudding for some crunch.

I have experimented and this tahini / olive oil / cinnamon combo is inspired by Lucinda’s Orange & Cranberry Granola (on naturedockids.com - great for a Christmas twist)

⬇️You can swap everything around according to what you have / like, just keep broadly the same ratios of grain:nuts:seeds as below. Don’t have / like buckwheat? Just use double quantity oats
100g buckwheat (groats)
100g rolled oats
100g seeds eg sunflower, pumpkin
3 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp sea salt
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp tahini - a liquid one like
1 tbsp maple syrup
100g nuts - shelled pistachios, almonds, pecans, hazelnuts etc
50g goji berries optional & don’t cook!

1️⃣Preheat oven to 150°C fan
2️⃣Combine oats, buckwheat, seeds, cinnamon & sea salt
3️⃣Add olive oil, tahini and maple syrup, mix well
4️⃣Spread mixture onto large lined baking tray
5️⃣Bake for 20 mins, stir, add the nuts
6️⃣Return to oven for another 20mins then remove and leave to cool
7️⃣Once cool add the goji berries or other dried fruit, just remember this pushes up the natural sugars, so I often leave them out
8️⃣Store in airtight container

☀️Summer clinic☀️
Feels a bit early in the summer to have already had my family holiday - but it was just what we all needed, with my eldest having finished his GCSEs and the other 2 boys finishing their respective schools in yr 6&8. So end of term was BUSY!

Now feeling recharged 🔋

🏝️We did a house swap to Playa Flamingo on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, then travelled to the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula to for some glamping. The food was all local and just delicious.

🌊We then returned to the Pacific coast for a few days at one of my all time favourites with some surfing 🏄🏼‍♀️(yes all of us!) and yoga🧘🏼‍♀️(just me!) and squeezed in a visit to for a farm-to-table dinner and a walk around their cactus labyrinth - the largest in the world.

📆 I’m working all through August (apart from a quick Cornwall trip early Aug with one of my boys), mostly virtual with the odd slot at until sept 6th when I’ll be back there properly.

Please get in touch [email protected] if you’d like to see me. And if you are off somewhere nice enjoy, safe travels & ! ☀️🧳

🏝️Holiday reading🏝️
📚Loving this book so far, both on a personal & professional level, can think of lots of clients and friends who would enjoy it too. If you have active daughters it would also be v useful.

☀️Everything is researched & referenced but a sad reminder that so much research is based on men only. This is improving, but there’s a long way to go.

☀️I love their refreshing take on intermittent fasting. I lose count of the number of conversations I have had - clients and friends - who think it is helpful to fast and starve themselves to fitness, weight loss etc. Especially in mid-life.

☀️Women on the whole just don’t do well as well as men fasting. Especially peri & menopausal women. The ‘stress’ of exercising fasted sends the body into ‘fight or flight’ cortisol response, which stimulates fat storage.

⚖️Our priority needs to be eating well to stabilise blood sugar. By all means have a daily fast, this is definitely beneficial, BUT make it overnight by eating breakfast, lunch and an early (if possible) supper - a natural 12hr (or 14hr) fast broken by breakfast.

Happy hols all 🏝️😎

💊Good read in yesterday’s Sunday Times Style magazine re supplements, and most importantly that they are not all created equal.

There is a bewildering amount of choice, and even all of us on the NatureDoc team regularly come across new unknown brands! So it really is a minefield to know what / if / how to take supplements at all.

I regularly see people in clinic who are taking so many supplements that they bring them along in a big bag, I’ve had an overflowing shoe box brought in. More often it’s just photos of them all lined up.

Often many of these are not necessary, and cumulatively may be providing doses above the recommended limits. Worse still they may interact with medications that have been prescribed. Not to mention the expense.

💊So what are my general ‘rules’?
- There needs to be a ‘proven’ need, ideally through functional or genetic testing, but also from presenting symptoms considered along with current diet in order for me to recommend a specific supplement / particular nutrient.
- A good multi can be useful as an ‘insurance policy’ as many of the foods we eat today are grown in depleted soils so just aren’t giving us the micronutrients we need. Which one though, there are so many….
- Most people need Vitamin D in the winter months, but testing is best so we know how much
- Vegans need to take B12 as it is only found in animal products, vegetarians are likely ok if eating eggs and dairy.
- Always read the ingredients - are there bulking agents? Excipients?
- What versions of nutrients are they using? Are they cheap inferior versions or more expensive and better absorbed versions?
- I have my go to mid-price point brands that I like as I know they contain good ingredients without nasty fillers, some of which can be inflammatory. These tend to be the brands that don’t advertise too!

If you want to know more please ask…