Helix Clinic blog

We all know that we need fruit and vegetables every day to provide the body with the fibre, minerals, vitamins, phytonutrients and trace elements it needs to prevent deficiency related diseases such as scurvy, depression, heart disease and cancer.

Most of us in the UK manage to eat just 2 to 3 servings a day and few realise that ‘5-A-Day’ is the absolute minimum. Other countries exceed our guidelines – some almost double them! For example the Australian government recommends 7-a-day and in Greece it is 9-a-day.

One portion is about 80g of fruit or veg which roughly equates to an apple, an orange, two plums, a handful of grapes or berries, two serving spoons of cooked veg, a dessert bowl of salad, two serving spoons of beans and pulses and a 150ml glass of fresh juice or smoothie

It is not that easy however, otherwise more people would be following the government guidelines. So, to move forward, our nutritionist Anneliese suggests the following.

Keep a note of how many portions of fruit and vegetables you eat each day over the course of a week and then pledge to increase this figure by 1 portion per day each week until you are eating a minimum of five but ideally eight to ten servings a day – at least three of which should be vegetables.

Some easy ideas…

• Eat a piece of fruit mid-morning and mid-afternoon with a few nuts.
• Add chopped apple, pear or berries to cereal or porridge.
• Cook a bowlful of frozen veg with each main meal.
• Drink fresh vegetable juice.
• Add veg to omelettes, lasagne and other typically veg-free meals.
• Eat raw veg with hummus.
• Order salads, soups and side dishes of veg when eating out.

Best of luck!!

Tags: fruit, vegetables

One of the best ways to get the most out of your acupuncture treatment is to allow your mind to switch off while you are on the couch so that your body can start to heal itself unhampered by the thinking mind.

A time-honoured method for this is to give your mind something to focus on to stop you thinking random thoughts, and if you focus on your breathing you will naturally start to shift out of the mind and into the body.

Physiologically, it is impossible to be in a state of stress when you are breathing deeply. So by allowing your breathing to become a little bit slower and a little bit deeper, you will start to change your body’s state to one of relaxation and calm. As you breathe deep down into the belly and stay focused on your breath,  gradually you will slip into a state somewhere between waking and sleep where your body can truly relax.

We always recommend that in between treatments, you should try to find 5 minutes each day to do some deep breathing like this. Regularity is more important that quantity - 5 minutes daily is preferable to 60 minutes once a week. Also, the more that you practice deep breathing, the easier it is to get to a relaxed state the next time you try. So the next time you come in for treatment you will be able to go even deeper into relaxation.

Why not give it a try? It’s an amazingly simple yet powerful technique to promote calm and relaxation in your life.

Tags: breathing