Thanks for joining me!

Join me on my nutrition journey…

I am studying an MSc in Human Nutrition and here to share my experiences and knowledge, including how my studies have shaped my eating habits and sparked my interest in bioavailability.

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(Right; tomato, basil and roasted pepper Bruschetta) (Left: aubergine, feta parmigiana)

Here’s a snap of what I cooked today during my nutrition in practice module

We were given a host of Mediterranean ingredients and a couple of hours to whip up something and explain how it represented our nutritional ethos.

So here we created a two course meal aimed at boosting vitamins and minerals and praising the antioxidants found in many fruits and vegetables.

We also used a Med staple, Olive oil , which is a good source of monounsaturated fatty acids and fat is essential for the absorption of fat soluble vitamins like carotenoids.

Carotenoids are organic pigments that give foods like tomatoes and peppers their distinctive red, orange and yellow colour. They are forms of pro-and non pro- vitamin A which are really important for our health, in particular they contribute to normal vision and immune system functioning.

Carotenoids and their sources in these dishes:

• Tomatoes = Lycopene
• Bell pepper = Capsanthin and Beta-carotene

Aubergine is the next vegetable star. This veg gets its deep purple colour from an antioxidant molecule called nasunin. This free radical scavenging molecule has been shown to protect the essential fatty acids that make up cell membranes (cell walls) in the brain. It is also a great source of fibre!