Lower sugar, high fibre breakfast cereals The aim is at least 6 gram of fibre per 100g and less than 5 grams of sugar per 100g. The fibre content is probably more important. You obviously should use this as a guide. How does your favourite cereal compare?

We often put food into categories which can be misleading. I often chat to people who think that the only fat in meat is saturated fat. It's not. Take lean pork as another example, of the 4 grams of fat per 100g, 1.4g of fat is saturated, 1.5g mono-unsaturated and 0.7g polyunsaturated. Wait till I do the breakdown of nuts and oily fish 😉

Eating more wholefoods comes with benefits. 🌽 Often more fibre 🍓 Less salt 🧅 Takes longer to digest therefore steadier blood levels of protein, carbs and fats 🍠 Eating over 30 different plants a week helps feed our gut microbiome keeping it more diverse 🥕 Less sugar 🍍More filling 🍌 Often more vitamins & minerals

Coffee beans are rich in fibre. This partially passes into brewed coffee. Research showed that brewed coffee contained a significantly higher amount of soluble dietary fiber (0.47-0.75 g/100 mL of coffee) than other common beverages. Generally speaking we need 25 to 35 grams a day. Coffee dietary fiber contains a large amount of associated antioxidant phenolics (8.7-10.5 mg/100 mL of brewed coffee). Heard this first from a @tim.spector interview!

Depending on the study, 1.5 to 6.5% of people walking into fertility clinics have undiagnosed coeliac disease. If wondering if this could be you, ask your GP about getting the blood test done. It's important for both people to get tested.

Some simple first steps. There are lots of things to consider, of course. And many dietary, lifestyle and nutritional supplements that may be beneficial.

Peas are wonderful. 💚 They contain both vitamin C & iron. The vitamin C helps us to absorb the iron into our body. 💚 They provide fibre. Fibre acts like a sweeping brush through our gut, sweeping out excess toxins, hormones, etc... 💚 They provide meaningful amounts of protein. In fact, serving them with lentil pasta or the likes of quinoa will provide enough protein for most people (unless your portions are measly) Peas, peas, it's time to eat your peas Yes, yes, yes, I want to eat my peas Good, good! The peas are good for you Yay, yay, yay, I love them, oooh…

Menopause is different for everyone. Some sail through it. Others have their life turned upside down. Let me be clear though, most (8 in 10) women experience some symptoms. It’s just the duration and severity can differ. The average age of menopause is about 51 years and it usually happens between 45 and 55 years. Although the relief of not having a period each month can be a welcome thing, it can be hard earned. Have a read of my article on #menopause in today's @independent.ie @indo.ie_life

“Most people don’t have enough money to worry about whether their food is organic or not, so you’re in a privileged position if you can,” says Orla Walsh, a dietician with OWN in Dublin. “My main focus is on buying Irish first and then seasonal. When you look at the research, generally speaking there’s no nutritional difference between organic and non-organic food, though some individual foods do show differences.” Full article in The Sunday Times, written by Rose Costello

This was a UK based study. I'm sure this varies from university to university. It's just a snapshot. Interesting stat all the same. In a different study... 74% gave nutritional advice less than once a month Barriers = Lack of knowledge (75%) Time (64%) Confidence (62%) Most agreed on the importance of nutrition in health (>90%) & in a doctor's role in nutritional care (>95%). I feel the solution is to have more registered dietitians so that they can refer to the experts more often. Wishful thinking. But obviously, if they want to learn more, that opportunity needs to be provided. Although time limitations will always be a factor holding them back. Nutrition is a science but eating is a behaviour after all. Still, there appears to be a desire and a need for more nutrition within medical education.

Stress can worsen your PCOS symptoms. It can worsen most things tbf The stress hormones can make you release more testosterone, which can increase insulin resistance. Knowing what stresses you out is the first step. Sounds simple, but it's often not!

The post is based on another countries guidance. But, I like it as it's very clear for women. The guidance you might be more familiar with, which says something similar but differently - pregnant women are advised to eat at least 2 servings of fish per week (1 of these servings should be oily fish). In other words, you can eat fish more than twice!!! What they encourage is to have oily fish once, and then enjoy white & shellfish AT LEAST once. Pregnant women are advised to avoid eating shark, marlin or swordfish (I ate a tonne of swordfish in Italy the week before I found out I was pregnant a few years back 😬). If eating fresh tuna - limit to 2x 140 g portions/week (can anyone afford to eat fresh tuna more often? 🤣). Pregnant women are also advised to limit consumption of canned tuna to 2-4 cans per week. The guidance around fish is partly to do with the mercury content of fish. Low mercury fish: Oily fish - mackerel, herring pilchard, sardine, trout & salmon. White fish - cod, haddock & plaice. Hope that's helpful