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  Flour is an essential ingredient in many of our households. Flour holds a structure that creates a useful base for many recipes in our everyday cooking and baking. You can count on many kitchens having these quintessential flour types, either: self-raising flour, or plain flour/all-purpose flour . These are winner ingredients for your cakes, doughs, pastas, pancakes, and even sauces. They include grinded wheat, which has some great health benefits. Stone ground flour that is unrefined (organic) includes: fibre, protein, minerals and vitamins. Organic wheat flour is great for your nutritional health for many reasons, but it has other advantages too. Organic stone ground flour is far easier for the body to absorb, and tends to be pesticide free also.   Plain flour/All-purpose flour  This popular flour is a great ingredient for all your general kitchen needs. The easy-to-use product can be used in cooking and baking as it has a mixture of hard and soft wheat for different textures. This is a staple for anyone who likes to jump into the kitchen from time-to-time without having to worry about having every ingredient already in the house. Something to note about all-purpose flour, is that it doesn’t contain the leavening agent that self-raising flour is so famously known for. Therefore, if you’re looking for a flour that will help your breads, cakes, and doughs rise, then you’d need to add baking soda or baking pow...

The team of scientists from King's College in London encourages parents to give their kids some peanut butter until they reach the age of five. According to their research giving smooth peanut butter to babies and throughout early childhood, could provide them with lifelong protection against peanut allergy. Teenagers who had it until they were 5 were 71% less likely to develop an allergy than children who never ate peanut butter. Food allergies result from our immune system mistaking something harmless for a severe threat. Kids' early life is a critical period for the immune system to learn to recognise foods and which ingredients are good for them.  The researchers advise parents to give smooth peanut butter during infancy and then regularly until age five. The tiny babies should not not eat crunchy peanut butter or whole peanuts due to the risk of choking. Some parents might be surprised by the latest results. In the past, it was common to avoid peanut butter and peanuts due to the fear of allergies, especially for children under the age of three. In recent years, peanut allergies have become more common, and currently are affecting one-in-50 children. This led to the banning of all kinds of peanut products at schools. As even a small amount of peanut can cause a life-threatening reaction in somebody with an allergy. The latest findings show the previous advice was wrong. The results are based on a 15-year-old clinical trial in which 640 children at high-r...

This Italian classic made from scratch in your own kitchen will taste better than any other!  

This roasted cauliflower dish is rich in plant based protein, fibre and vitamins. 

It's a delicious dessert that you can have for breakfast :) 

Super tasty and healthy seasonal salad made with fresh ingredients that can be enjoyed for lunch and dinner. 

These no-bake e nergy bites  are easy to make, full of feel-good ingredients, and very delicious!

If  you're  still  wondering  why ultra-processed food is  bad  for you, you should read about this 30-year study.   Scientist from Boston discovered that people who eat significant quantities of ultra-processed foods have a slightly higher risk of premature death than those who eat whole foods  like grains, legumes, nuts, seeds and minimally processed foods and  single ingredients foods  like 100% nut butters, and healthy oils.  The research team led by senior researcher Mingyang Song, an associate professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston,  looked at  the different studies  from  over a 30-year  long  period.     <p dat...

What is buckwheat?  Buckwheat   is made  from a flowering plant called buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) cultivated for its grain-like seeds.  Buckwheat is not a grain like barley or wheat, from which barley or semolina  are produced .  Buckwheat is made from seeds. The bushes of buckwheat plant reach about 60 cm in height.  T hey have intensely fragrant and small white flowers in summer. From these flowers bees produce  buckwheat honey with a characteristic taste and smell. Buckwheat is a very popular staple in Central and Eastern Europe. It is used in many savoury dishes, similarly to rice and in sweet dishes like pancakes.   Roasted buckwheat health benefits  Buckwheat is a highly nutritious food. In fact, many people consider to be a superfood.  It is a good source of complete plant-based protein, dietary fibre, and energy. The protein in buckwheat is like in meat, it contains all of the essential amino acids that your body cannot produce. That's why it's especially recommended for vegetarians and vegans.  The fibre content is highly soluble so it is great for those with high cholesterol and blood pressure.  Buckwheat is a great source of minerals like   zinc, copper and manganese.  It a...

Enjoy this indulging porridge for breakfast.  

Perfect for summer days, this fruit smoothie can be enjoyed at breakfast or as an afternoon snack. 

Really beautiful version of your everyday porridge. 

In 2024, Brits are eating significantly healthier than in previous year. The change in food habits has been driven in particular by younger generations as food inflation eases. The new polling called Q1 2024 Grocery Eye Report  was commissioned by a market research consultancy Savanta.   The report tracks consumer behaviour every quarter of the year. This year it shows that one third (32%) of UK consumers are ‘feeling healthier’ than in 2023. A number had  significantly increased (7%) compared to results from the same period of 2023.   UK consumers are eating more healthy products (49%), including unprocessed whole foods. More people  (37%) are also cooking from scratch at home more and exercising more (30%). There is an increased consumer interest in superfoods  like and products focused on gut health like fermented foods (40%) such as sauerkraut , kimchi, kombucha and healthy products high in protein (25%), also plant-based protein like beans , legumes, tempeh and tofu . Also more consumers are saying they eat a plant-based diet (+4%) compared to the same time last year. The number went from 8% to 12%, with the largest increases in the youngest generation (under 35 years old).    However, a great number of the UK consumers are still struggling with the budget.  Four in ten (42%) said ...

There is a lot of buzz around ultra-processed foods, warning customers against the harmful effect of eating these foods on regular basis. But what about other packaged foods? Let's talk about foods that are minimally processed or naturally processed. Are they really dangerous? It all depends how they were made and what was added to them. In general, minimally processed foods do not contain ingredients industrially produced or extracted from other sources.  They are considered to be better for your health and that's what you should look for when buying in the online food stores. How do you spot healthy unprocessed foods in the supermarket? Unprocessed or minimally processed foods Unprocessed foods are foods that were not processed in any way in a production plant or factory. They are fresh or naturally dried and all their nutritional benefits are preserved. This  includes whole foods such as fresh and frozen veggies and fruits, dried fruit and vegetables, pulses and legumes, nuts, seeds, grains, flour, mushrooms, herbs, spices, milk and natural plain yoghurt, fresh meat and fish, eggs, pasta, rice and couscous.   Minimally processed culinary ingredients Minimally processed culinary ingredients are products used for cooking that are made in a natural way ...

In the last couple of years,  Britain has been facing a  serious  food crisis.   More and more Brits are  being left  with no option but to cut back on the quality of food they consume and look into cheaper  options , which are mainly unhealthy, ultra-processed foods. There is an urgent need to find solutions to the most significant issue, which is healthy food affordability.    Majority of Brits cannot afford health food Four in five (80%) Brits think healthy food is something that everyone should be able to have, yet only 8% believe it is affordable to most people.  The majority of Brits, 68%, say  it's the Government's duty to  ensure that healthy food is available and affordable for everyone despite increasing financial pressures and a worsening food industry.  ...

Super healthy and nutritious salad, packed with protein and fibre. 

This is a great recipe for a quick breakfast or snack. Crunchy toast with a delicious 1 ingredient hazelnut butter and banana. 

What are ultra-processed foods (UPFs)? Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are cheap packaged foods manufactured in factories using industrial methods and compounds derived from natural food mixed with other industrially formulated synthesised organic substances. Ultra-processed foods contain a lot of saturated fats, salt, sugar and industrial additives, such as sweeteners, artificial flavourings, colourants, emulsifiers, binders, stabilisers, thickeners, gelling agents. and preservatives, which are cheaper than natural ingredients.   How are ultra-processed foods made? Ultra-processed foods are designed to be very tasty (salty or sweet), easy to use (ready to eat) and addictive (so you want to eat more of them) and to have an increased shelf life. UPFs usually have a very long list of ingredients with chemical names you may be unable to recognise, such as E-numbers.  When you see many ingredients on the label, it's most likely to be an ultra-processed product.    How do ultra-processed foods affect health?  In recent years, these unhealthy ultra-processed foods have become a big part of our diets, and they are damaging our health in many ways. Consumption of ultra-processed foods on daily basis leads to many diseases such as type-2 diabetes, high pressure, obesity, heart diseases and cancer.     

Hearty and delicious chickpea stew rich in protein, fibre and antioxidants. 

Easy and quick (if you use canned chickpea) wholefood recipe! 

What you eat impacts the planet more than you think. There are dishes that have an especially large biodiversity footprint, or impact on biodiversity.  What dishes are the worst for the planet? Brazilian steak and Indian kidney bean curry are among those with large biodiversity footprint, according to a study published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by scientists from the National University of Singapore.  Food choices can have significant environmental impacts. Previous research has begun to collect files that identify the influence of specific crops on mammals, birds and amphibians. Cheng and colleagues used this data to estimate how 151 different popular dishes from around the world impact biodiversity. The authors used lists of popular dishes taken from two popular websites standardising each dish to be 825 kCal. They calculated the biodiversity footprint of each dish's ingredient by looking at the richness, conservation status, and range of wild mammals, birds, and amphibians within the agricultural land used for the specific product, and added each ingredient's footprint together to generate an overall biodiversity footprint for every dish. Footprint scores shifted depending on whether the ingredient was locally or globally sourced, and industrially or small-scale farmed.  The top twenty dishes with the largest biodiversity footprints included: meat dishes with beef and chicken: Brazilian steak dishes (picanha, churrasco, fraldinha), salsa verde pork and yukgaejang (a Korean spicy beef and vegetable stew), caldo de pollo (chicken soup) vegan dishes made with legumes and rice: dal (lentil soup), rajma (a kidney bean curry), chana...

For many years, the Mediterranean diet has been considered the holy grail of all diets, but a new study suggests that it has gained serious competition.  Most popular healthy diet in 2024 The latest food trend and eating plan receiving buzz in 2024 is known as the Atlantic diet or the Southern European Traditional Atlantic Diet. Nutritionists and experts say the Atlantic diet, similar to the Mediterranean diet, includes lots of  unprocessed whole foods or just minimally processed foods and offers great health benefits, making it an excellent choice for those who want to follow a healthy lifestyle.   The study published in  JAMA Network Open , analysed data from a six-month clinical trial that looked at the impact of the local diet on 250 families in a rural town in the northwestern region of Spain Galicia for over a year (from March 3, 2014, to May 29, 2015). The researchers discovered that the study participants had lower rates of metabolic syndrome thanks to following the Atlantic diet.  Metabolic syndrome, known as insulin resistance syndrome, is a group of conditions that increase the risk of diabetes, stroke, coronary heart disease, and other health issues. People with metabolic syndrome ha...