15th April 2016

Love your gut and it will love you back

We rarely think about our gut, let alone its contents. The microbial community (or microbiome) that resides within it outnumber the cells within the body by 10 to 1! What do we know about these mysterious bacteria that live within us, how could they benefit our health and can we influence them? Registered nutritionist Claire Baseley investigates.   The role of gut bacteria in digestion The food we eat is digested at several points within the body and the nutrients that are released are mainly absorbed in the small intestine. However, it’s when what is left over from the digestive process reaches the large intestine or colon that things get really interesting. These leftover nutrients include forms of starch that […]
8th April 2013

Red meat on trial again… but should we first look at our gut’s occupants?

Today’s media reports again highlight a potential link between eating lots of red meat and cardiovascular disease (CVD).  This time, the culprit is allegedly a small molecule called carnitine, which is naturally present in red meat but are we getting the full story here?  Read on to find out…   Red meat itself has been linked to cardiovascular disease owing to its saturated fat content for many years, leading to recommendations to limit intake to 70g a day or around 2 portions a week.  Recently, the link between saturated fat and CVD has been questioned, with diets high in refined sugars, processed meat and trans fats being more closely linked to disease risk.  The benefits of red meat consumption such as the source […]