The Medicinal Chef

Following on from yesterday, here is the simplest way to stabilise blood sugar. It is all about meal composition. At each meal include:
🍠 a slow burning carbohydrate source - in this picture it is a nice rye bread. Great options are brown rice, quinoa, bulgur wheat, sweet potatoes, beetroot etc. high fibre slow burning options.
🥩 a protein source - in the picture - hard boiled eggs. Good options are meat, fish, seafood, tofu, tempeh.
🥦 An abundance of non starchy veg - we have some avocado here which ticks that box but also adds a good helping of healthy fats (see the next point). Great options are all of the green leafy vegetables, broccoli, cauliflower etc.
🧈 Finally some healthy fats. Good options are extra virgin olive oil, butter, olives, avocado.
This combination creates a meal that takes a long time to digest and liberate its glucose content. This drip feeds blood sugar instead of flooding it. Plus it is beautifully balanced, gives you all the food groups and a much broader array of nutrients.

Everyday allergies (we are NOT talking about serious anaphylactic issues….in case I needed to spell that out), can benefit from certain nutritional supplements to help minimise their symptoms and make them more manageable. Here are my top 3:
Quercetin - this flavonoid that is found in foods such as onions helps to reduce histamine. It does this by reducing the ability of the cells that house histamine (mast cells) from releasing it. Something called mast cell degranulation. By inhibiting this, quercetin can reduce common upper respiratory symptoms for example. Start at around 500mg daily.
Turmeric - whilst not directly influencing immunity, turmeric is a powerful anti-inflammatory. It has this effect by inhibiting an enzyme called cyclo-oxygenase 2, that manufacturers pro-inflammatory substances in the body. This is the same effect that COX-2 inhibitor drugs have. By knocking this enzyme out and minimising inflammation, turmeric can help ease a blocked nose, the severity of skin rashes and similar inflammatory symptoms. Take the highest strength extract you can find. Caution - not to be taken alongside warfarin.
Reishi mushroom - this powerful medicinal mushroom is hands down the best supplement for every day allergies. This is because it inhibits the branch of the immune system that drives antibody mediated responses. These issues such as hay fever and asthma are driven by antibodies to environmental stimuli (pollen etc). By suppressing antibody mediated responses, the symptoms associated do not arise. I have done a very in depth explanation of this over on my YouTube channel.
Likewise with reishi, get a high strength product with both fruiting body and mycelium in it.
Do you have any favourite remedies or supplements that you use to manage allergies effectively? Let me know below.

Common allergies like hay fever or eczema? You need to watch this!

Beat Allergies With Medicinal Mushrooms https://www.nutritioncoachacademy.comHow this one supplement, can ease symptoms within hours. Everyday allergies such as hay fever, asthma & eczema were alwa...

With the sunny weather comes summery dishes. Sea bass with chunky ratatouille and herb butter.
Simply strew down peppers, red onions, and courgettes with roughly chopped fresh tomatoes and garlic , with salt and pepper, until a thick stew has formed.
Place the sea bass in to a baking sheet and bake at 180 for 20 minutes until slightly crispy edges form. You could always pan cry if you wanted.
Herb butter - well this can be any combination of fresh herbs that you want to use - basil, thyme and tarragon all work well. Take a block of butter and leave it at room temperature until soft. Very finely chop the herbs and with a little pinch of sea salt, add to the butter, mix well and then transfer to a dish and refrigerate.
Simple food, summery vibes, and beautifully nutrient dense.

Following on from yesterday’s post, here is a great example of how to execute this.
Roasted carrots on a garlicky tahini sauce.
The tahini is a great source of healthy fats that will help pull in those carotenoids, increasing their absorption and distribution.
Simple and delicious!

Sometimes, you just need something simple and comforting. Like this bowl of roasted vegetables with quinoa. Simply take:

🥑 1 large courgette - sliced.
🥑 1 large red onion - cut into rounds or wedges.
🥑 1 red pepper - deseeded and sliced.
🥑 2-3 large tomatoes - chopped into wedges.
🥑 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika.
🥑 1 teaspoon of dried mixed herbs.
🥑 1 teaspoon of garlic powder.
🥑 2 tbspolive oil.
🥑 Salt & pepper to taste.
🥑 80 grams of quinoa.
🥣 Cover the quinoa with boiling water and simmer for 20 minutes until cooked.
🥣 Pre heat the oven to 200.
🥣 Place the chopped veg into a roasting tin, drizzle over the olive oil, add the herbs and spices, season with salt and pepper then toss well.
🥣 Roast for 25-30 minutes, turning occasionally until soft and golden.

Absolutely stunning lunch yesterday at in Oundle. A spiced roasted aubergine with saag aloo. Did you know, aubergines contains a unique substance called nasunin. This substance has a potent antioxidant activity with a unique affinity for the myelin sheath - the fatty lining of our nerve cells. Nasunin also has been shown to increase cerebral blood flow. So….a unique and delicious “brain food”.

Beautiful bank holiday pizza with a healthy twist. Load up on the veg. Fresh garlic. Loads of spinach. Red onions. Black olives. Fresh pesto. Blue cheese and some pine nuts.
I love to give treat meals a healthier upgrade. Do you do the same? If so let me know what and how below :-)

Nothing complicated. It doesn’t need to be a rigmarole eating well. As always I bring these simple factors together:
🥩 A high quality protein source (rib eye in this case).
🍠 A high fibre slow burn carbohydrate (in this case purple sweet potato).
🥦 A non starchy vegetable (asparagus in this case).
This combination not only gives you a very wide spectrum of nutrients, but also keeps you full, nurtures a healthy microbiome, and stabilises blood sugar. Most importantly in my view though - it is easy to sustain this simple way of eating for life!!

Absolutely SPECTACULAR food today at A gorgeous spread - hummus dressed with sun dried tomatoes, baked feta with thyme and honey, a delicious feta salad and some baby squid.
Very happy to have found this place just 20 minutes drive from me. 🔥🔥🔥

Clear skin clout! This gorgeous combo of ingredients is perfect for healthy glowing skin. Seafood stew with brown and red rice with plenty of greens. So…..what’s so good?
Prawns & squid - both rich in selenium and zinc. Selenium has an anti-inflammatory activity but zinc is one of the most important nutrients for acne prone skin. This is because it helps to even out oil secretion in the skin, and also helps our white blood cells to clear infection faster.
Whole grains - rich in B vitamins. Vital for healthy skin cell turnover, improved skin tone and improved blood flow to the skin. Whole@grains also tend to be a great source of zinc too.
Green leafy vegetables - a rich source of carotenoids. These are fat soluble anti oxidants that can accumulate in the subcutaneous layer of the skin and offer localised protection against oxidation damage, prevent wear and tear to collagen, and also deliver an anti-inflammatory action too.

This gorgeous wild garlic pesto was just unbelievable!!! Wild garlic is really flourishing at the moment and if you are lucky enough to find some, give this amazing pesto a go.
1) Roughly chop the wild garlic leaves - I used about 2 handfuls here (I know, not a weight).
2) Next, roughly chop around 50g of walnuts.
3) Add around 50g of feta or goats cheese.
4) Add 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
5) Transfer everything to a food processor and blitz into a smooth pesto.
I had this with some Jersey royals. Perfect!!

A beautiful light and hearty dish from one of my favourite books that I have written ‘How To Cook Healthily’.
This is basically a spiced mixed roasted vegetables on top of a red lentil stew:
🥣 Simply saute 1 red onion and 2 cloves of garlic until soft.
🥣 Add 250g of red lentil and top up with veg stock. Simmer and continue to top up with veg stock as often as needed to create a daal/porridge like texture.
🥣 Meanwhile roughly chop your veg of choice. Here I have used red onion, fennel and carrots.
🥣 Toss in olive oil and add some turmeric and cumin, and roast at 200 for 25-35 minutes, until softened with caramelising edges.
Packed with fibre, B vitamins, prebiotics……and flavour.
Photo

Fresh. Simple. Satisfying. It doesn’t need to be complicated. 💪🏻

Let's try again 😞😞

I have changed the name but for some reason Facebook won't display the new thumbnail - that has changed too. It say's 'Fact Check'.

Anyway, there is some valuable and VERY reassuring information in here. Vitamin D is in NO WAY toxic. This video explains it all and what is behind the misleading headlines :o)

Vitamin D Toxicity - Fact vs. Fiction https://www.dalepinnock.comIs vitamin D toxic? Does it cause hypercalcemia? Is too much vitamin D dangerous? Well, there have been a LOT of negative headline...

One of my absolute favourite ways to cook eggs - a simple slow cooked tomato sauce with a bit of feta cheese.
🧅 Saute one red onion and a couple of cloves of garlic until soft.
🍅 add 400g of roughly chopped fresh tomatoes, and 1 tin of chopped tomatoes and simmer down until they form a thick chunky sauce.
🍳 make a couple of wells in the sauce and crack an egg into each one. Cover pan with a lid and gently simmer until the egg has cooked.
🧀 crumble over some feta and serve.
This gives you:
🥑 Lycopene (antioxidant).
🥑 Beta carotene (antioxidant)
🥑 Choline (essential for brain health)
🥑 Healthy fats.
🥑 Highly useable protein.

It’s about the colours! This will be a big theme here this week, so keep your eyes peeled.
The more ways that you can get a diversity of colours into your diet the better. Alsonthere are ways to make sure you get the best from these amazing ingredients. Some of my too tips are:
🥦 Using berries as a garnish on a salad (trust me, it can really work).
🥦 Always have a combination of raw and cooked food to make sure you get the broadest intake of different phytochemicals as some are heat sensitive, and others are better absorbed after cooking.
🥦Always have a source of fat with brightly coloured foods as many of the protective substances are fat soluble and this helps you absorb more.
So, keep a look out this week as this will be quite a theme here.

Post Menopause Diet - 4 Things You NEED To Know

Post Menopause Diet - 4 Things You NEED To Know https://www.dalepinnock.com/The period after the menopause brings with it increased risk of some serious health issues, but key changes in diet can offer a l...

This has become one of my favourite weekend breakfasts. Simply roughly chop a punnet of fresh tomatoes - whatever you can find, with a bit of garlic and a pinch of salt. Stew it down until it becomes this thick sauce type texture.
Then served on toasted wholewheat sourdough with some rich cream cheese, ricotta or burrata. Top with some shredded basil and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. PERFECT!!!
Packed with - lycopene, beta carotene, fibre, prebiotics, B vitamins…..and flavour!!!

Following on from yesterday, here is the simplest way to stabilise blood sugar. It is all about meal composition. At each meal include:
🍠 a slow burning carbohydrate source - in this picture it is pearl barley. Great options are brown rice, quinoa, bulgur wheat, sweet potatoes, beetroot etc. high fibre slow burning options.
🥩 a protein source - in the picture it is halloumi (this actually works as a double whammy….more on that in a mo). Good options are meat, fish, seafood, eggs, tofu, tempeh.
🥦 An abundance of non starchy veg - in the pic it is mixed peppers and courgette. Great options are all of the green leafy vegetables, broccoli, cauliflower etc.
🧈 Finally some healthy fats - the halloumi above gives both protein AND fat so ticks both boxes. Good options are extra virgin olive oil, butter, olives, avocado.
This combination creates a meal that takes a long time to digest and liberate its glucose content. This drip feeds blood sugar instead of flooding it. Plus it is beautifully balanced, gives you all the food groups and a much broader array of nutrients.

It’s Monday. A fresh start. Let’s do it. As always I will be starting my day and my week with a good dose of protein, some healthy fats and some vegetables thrown in. My Greek omelette from ‘The Power of Three’ book. It stabilises blood sugar, increases satiety hormones and gives metabolism a good kick first thing too!
Kicking off with zinc, selenium, magnesium, carotenoids, choline and a whole bunch of flavour to boot.
How are you starting your week??

A simple sexy salad with a cardiovascular twist. Not only does it taste amazing, it packs a healthy punch too..
Beetroot, fig, feta and red onion salad with honey mustard dressing (1tsp English mustard, 1 tsp honey, 1 tsp apple cider vinegar, 1.5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil). So, what’s good:
🥣 Beetroot - rich in nitrates that convert into nitric oxide which relaxes blood vessel walls, lowering BP and protecting vessel walls.
🥣 Figs - amazing fibre source, polyphenols & vitamin C.
🥣 Red onions - also packed with polyphenols. These stimulate the release of nitric oxide from the blood vessel walls which relaxes the vessel to lower BP, and also protects the inner lining from damage.
Who needs exotic ingredients? See how powerful every day whole foods can be.

I’ve said it before and I will say it again. Healthy eating really does not need to be the sea of confusion that it so often seems to be. It really is relatively simple. Of course, there are nuances but, on a general public health level, the focus is on whole foods:
🥦 Fruit.
🥦 Vegetables.
🥦 Whole grains.
🥦 Nuts & Seeds.
🥦 Legumes.
🥦 High quality proteins.

Iron is a crucial nutrient that plays a vital role in our overall health and wellbeing!🙌
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
It is essential for the production of hemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen throughout the body.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
When we don’t get enough iron, it can lead to a condition called iron deficiency anemia, which can have a range of negative impacts on our health.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
👆 Swipe through to read about the top three signs of Iron deficiency.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Remember, taking care of your health starts with paying attention to your body and staying informed about the nutrients your body needs to function at its best.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Pay attention to these 4 crucial signs of potential metabolic disease.
1️⃣ Persistent fatigue despite rest? It could signal metabolic dysfunction, diabetes, or thyroid issues. Don’t ignore it!
2️⃣ Feeling constantly thirsty with frequent urination? Your body might be trying to tell you something about how you are dealing with blood glucose. If blood concentrations get too high, excess urination can be an attempt to purge some.
3️⃣ Struggling to shed pounds despite efforts? It could be more than just calories—hormonal imbalances or insulin resistance might be at play.
4️⃣ Noticed skin changes like dark patches or fatty deposits under the skin? These could be signs of underlying metabolic issues like insulin resistance or dyslipidemia.
Don’t overlook these signs! Early detection means better management. The good news is, in most cases a simple adjustment in diet and lifestyle can put on the brakes and turn things around.

The recipe for that gorgeous warm salad I posted last week. It’s here!! Had a bit of a week off!! Let me know if you make it. Tag me in any pics :-)

That happy face is one that only comes from food and BOY did I have a treat. I recently visited and they spoiled me rotten. A heroic amount of beautiful food that was out of this world. Have a swipe through this little lot:
- Sizzling Prawns
- Ezme Salad
- Cheese & Spinach Pastries
- Grilled Halloumi
- THE Most Incredible Calamari
- Chicken Shish
As always when I eat out, I make a B line for the protein and vegetables over anything else. You can fill yourself up with nutrient dense, low GL delicious fare and keep it healthy. We don’t have to give up the good things in life, just give them a little tweak!

Who said you have to change everything overnight? Many people feel like they have failed when they dont live up to the extreme changes they try to make. That is a terribly sad situation as for many it means returning to old habits in frustration. Changing our lifestyle can be really tough as so many of our habits have huge emotional hooks driving them. It takes work and a strategy. Try and change everything over night, and 98% of us will fall flat eventually.
However, the strategy I have seen work over and over is to break things down into pieces. Choose ONE thing. One habit you want to change. Maybe its snacking, maybe it’s ensure you have one home cooked meal a day. Whatever! Choose one. Figure out how you are going to make the change. Then put it in to action. Keep going until this habit has been changed. Then, choose another, put it into action and on and on. Keep this up over 6-12 months, and see how life changes!!