The more we uncover about the ecosystem of bacteria residing in us, the more it becomes evident that nurturing and supporting the good bacteria in our gut can have positive effects on our health and development. Addressing the health and diversity of the microbiome is now recognised as crucial to our development from as early as preconception.
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Bev Alderson, through her business Practically Balanced, works with individuals, groups and workplaces, wanting to take a more positive and proactive approach to enhancing wellbeing and in turn achieving greater results. Bev brings a unique and authentic perspective to the work she does, drawing upon her personal experiences, management capabilities and expertise in mindfulness, stress resilience, yoga, nutrition – and more.
In this week’s blog, Bev looks at the adaptive and maladaptive styles of perfectionism and discusses ways to hone in on perfectionism and use it as a skill.
Now that we are a few months into the current pandemic, there is increasing awareness of the condition known as “long covid”. This is characterised by a long recovery period or inability to recover from a primary COVID-19 infection. The phenomenon so far has no medical definition or list of symptoms shared by all patients and two people with “long covid” can have very different experiences.
Black seed oil is derived from the small, black seeds of the Nigella sativa, a flowering plant with purple, white or blue flowers, that is native to Southern Europe, Southwest Asia, and North Africa. Nigella sativa belongs to the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) and can grow up to 30 cm tall. It produces a fruit with seeds that are used as a spice in many cuisines and is cultivated in many countries of the world. Its black seeds are therefore known by many names including, black cumin (Egypt), black caraway (Turkey), Kalonji (India/Pakistan), roman coriander, and many more.
Anxiety and depression are common conditions in modern times. With events such as the current Covid-19 crisis exacerbating stress, anxiety and depression in many people due to the worry, uncertainty, isolation and social distancing. Therefore, it is a crucial time to focus on mental health and support cognitive wellness.
In this fully referenced blog series on the human microbiome, our expert Miguel Toribio-Mateas discusses why the stability of our gut flora is as important to its diversity and shares his evidence-based clinical approach to gut health. You can read part 1 of this blog series here.
Different dietary patterns are associated with different microbiota composition profiles. Microbiota composition analyses of Western diets tend to report narrower bacterial diversity along with altered microbial profiles when compared to a Mediterranean dietary pattern1. It is worth remembering that Western diets aren’t just “high in fat” or “carbohydrate-rich”, as they are often described.