Page 21 - Issue 76 Online

MANEA MATTERS
MANEA MATTERS
and our brain is always in 5th gear. We are amounts of sugar and very little fruit and
overloaded with scheduled activities, busy veg, and expect our bodies to function
careers and housework. We spend a lot of without developing health issues. Instead,
time looking through emails, social media a clean diet, rich in whole foods such as
or shopping online - most of the time late in fruit, vegetables, wholemeal and whole
the evening. We find ourselves exhausted at grain products, fish, lean meat, low fat
the end of each day, often having not done dairy, seeds, nuts and olive oil - will support
much physical activity. Yet still, a lot of us all the organs - including our brain. In fact,
struggle to fall asleep. We fail to prioritise there is an emerging field of nutrition for
nutrition and readily sacrifice quality food psychiatry. We now know how much we
budget in favour of other spendings. have underestimated the impact of our diet
on mental health.

As modern humans we have Last but not least, on the mental well-
greatly progressed in research, being side of things, we know that chronic
science and technology exposure to stress and lack of mindful
down time are detrimental to health. It is
extremely important to set aside some
When we look at modern research, there relaxation time and practice mindfulness or
is an overwhelming amount of evidence meditate. We can all live a happier, longer
highlighting the importance of clean diet, life!
regular physical activity and mindful self- Kasia Scarff
care time.
Prolonged periods of
inactivity increase the
risk of developing serious
illnesses such as diabetes,
obesity and cancer. Our
bodies were designed to
stay active. Exercising
just 3 times per week can
significantly improve your
fitness level.
However, it is worth
noting that 70% of success
is making permanent
changes to your diet. We
must accept that it really
is as simple as 'you are
what you eat'. We cannot
base our diet on fast
food, highly processed
ready-made meals, large

DEADLINE for Issue 77 Summer – Friday 19 May PAGE 21
th