Healthy Diet, Healthy Hair!

It's also healthy diet means healthy heart, healthy brain, healthy liver, healthy kidneys, healthy bladder, healthy lungs, healthy skin!
So I skirted over how good nutrition helps your hair, scalp and skin and I'm going to go into it now in a lot more detail. A Healthy diet is not about dieting so don't worry, it's about making sure your body has the right amount of nutrition to keep it working to it's full potential for the length it needs to live. After seeing so many close friends and relatives die way too young because of heart disease is very scary. I think it makes all of us 50 year olds look at at own health and see where we can make changes.
It's really quite simple, if you could just look at how simply our own mothers cooked the food in our young years, porridge, rice crispy, cornflakes, plane roast or boiled beef, chicken or corned beef, all with little fat, boiled potatoes and lots of boiled veg and then of course, plenty of boiled stews. You got homemade fish and chips on Friday, whats the clue here? No saturated fats, no additives, not processed, no rich sauces filled with salt!
If you look at our diet today, It's a lot more variety of foods like pastas with sauces, pizza with lots of the favourite pepperoni, processed white breads which taste divine but have no nutritional value, micro wave foods, processed foods with longevity dates which can only mean one thing, additives. And if we know nothing at all about anything, we do know that there are a lot more young people dying of cancer these days, so we do know, although all these foods are tested and approved, they are not good for everyone.
So what do we do if we are stuck in a rut of unhealthy eating? I myself love coffee, chocolate, wine, Eirdinger beer and cake! I could happily have all those things everyday, but I would be a raving alcoholic and a very large one at that! So, I prioritise things. I make sure I have my coffee and some chocolate every day and I save my alcohol for the weekends. So what else am I eating in between?
Well, a very good nutritionist I took Yasmin to see at age five, (it was part of her overall assessment of her learning difficulties,) pointed out that it was extremely important for Yasmin to have Protein in each meal from there on and have no saturated fats. She also stressed the importance of omega 3,6, and 9, all of which would help her brain grow to it's full potential, I had never thought that protein was needed at every meal, including breakfast, lunch and snacks. But I began to prepare all hers and our meals with protein, which is easy enough to do, chicken, beef, eggs, nuts, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, chickpeas, lentils, the list is endless, even if you don't eat red meat, like myself!
 Yasmin being my third child had a very good appetite for the good foods and the bad foods, so I would make sure I only cooked unprocessed foods at home and limited snacks because like every other child in this day and age, when they go to pals houses she would be able to have treats then. I was (and am) still very concerned about the availability of salty snacks that Yasmin would devour if unattended and I could see how the salt intake effected her badly, she would come home extremely thirsty for hours. My husband has kidney disease, blood pressure and a heart condition. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that salt is not having a good effect already on my child.( Just to give you a little information on my husbands past; his parents died when he was a young child and he admits he ate only fried food, sausages, rashers and other fast food! It answers it's own question on his health today! ) At the precious age of 12, I don't want to give her any food hangups, so I do allow her the bad foods at the weekends with her friends, but I am also giving her the information while I cook about the damage that too much salt, sugar and saturated fats can do to the body and hopefully as she grows she will be able to make the right choices by herself.
The other thing that is extremely important is exercise! Again there is a big difference to us as kids 40 years ago and the kids today, we were never in and they never want to go out! Favouring their electronic devices. And so I know parents are at least wise to this and have their kids in their favourite sports which is a good thing. Kids and adults alike need to be active as often as we can. After working on my own mental health during the last few years, I joined June's fitness factory in Ratoath September 2016, in my quest to get physical health and you know, I thought I was fit enough but you would be amazed that a person can be slim and unfit! And now, I am getting firm abs for my upcoming 50th! Once the kids see that you are active they will follow too. It's not about just sending your kids off to their activity, you have to endure the muck and the rain yourself. Knees deep in the lovely Irish much, Soaking wet on the side of the football pitch, early dawn mornings at the swimming pool. And I know us parents today are really good at being there for our kids!
So, how is this going to make our hair healthy? Oh yes, I forgot to mention, by adding extra protein into your daily diet, it will feed your hair! You will see a marked improvement in three weeks and a thicker crop of hair in six weeks!
So keep it simple! Lots of protein, no sauces, no frying everything, no processed foods, no sodas, (Have a bit of one of your favourite treats everyday to curb temptations) And have lots of lovely healthy soups! Here is a lovely protein filled nutritious favourite soup of mine and my family's:

Gently sautée  a bag of chopped carrots, a small bag chopped potatoes, and a bag of chopped onions in a large pot:
While chopping a bunch of celery, a bunch of leaks and some sweet potatoes then add them into pot also:
Make a large jug of mixed herbs stock and add in pot:
Bring to boil and simmer:
Add in a half bag of split red lentils,  3 cans of chick peas, 3 cans of chopped tomatoes.
And simmer for 40 minutes!
Serve with lovely fresh brown bread with a bit of real butter on it!
And enjoy!
jean xxx