Christmas Chocolate Truffle Treat
[24-Dec-11] This is an amazingly simple but tasty chocolate treat – that also counts to your 5-A-Day (and is completely gluten-free)! Most are astonished tasting this and then finding that all it takes is 3 main ingredients (plus some additional spices depending on taste, and some ‘healthy’ decoration) – the main one being – Sweet potato! To have it ready for Christmas day as an additional desert for after dinner or served with coffee or tea – make it the day before and keep in the fridge overnight (it is better served cold). Enjoy a healthy chocolate treat!
Ingredients
750g Sweet potatoes (washed, scrubbed, slightly peeled, cut into chunks)
300g Dark chocolate (e.g. 2x 150g Green and Black’s Cooking chocolate, 72%; OR: 2x 100g 70% chocolate plus 1x Green & Black’s Maya Gold)
200g Dairy butter or coconut butter (add a pinch of salt if using unsalted butter)
Optional/ Additional
Depending on the sweetness of the potatoes and chosen chocolate, you don’t have to add any additional sugar. If you however prefer it sweeter you could add 1 Tbs of Manuka Honey or 1-1.5 Tbs of Xylitol (birch sugar, available from the health shop).
Christmas Spices: 2 tsp of cinnamon, 1 tsp of Allspice, 1/4 tsp of natural almond essence, 1/2 tsp or orange essence
Alcoholic Option: 2-3 Tbs of rum or 1/2 cup of previously rum-soaked raisins
For Decoration: Pumpkin seeds, Hazelnuts, and desiccated Coconut
How to do it
1. Steam the potatoes for roughly 15 minutes and leave to cool
2. In the meantime get the chocolate into a bain-marie (just break it all up into small chunks into a bowl, placed into a saucepan with boiling water so that the hot water only touches the bowl, stir occasionally)
3. Add the butter in pieces to the chocolate so it all melts (takes about 15-25 minutes)
4. Puree the sweet potatoes (in blender) and add the melted butter and chocolate. Add all other spices. If using rum-raisins add at the end and fold into the mix.
5. Use a baking sheet to line and oil (coconut oil) a square brownie dish (or any dish about 3-4 cm high) and spread out the mix evenly.
6. Decorate half with pumpkin seeds, some hazelnuts and the other half with coconut – or as preferred.
7. Chill in the fridge over night.
8. Next day cut into small chunks (about 3cm and finger width) served one its own or optionally with some plain yoghurt and red berries.
9. ENJOY!
Have a very Christmas and a very happy, healthy, successful, exciting and prosperous New Year 2012!!
Recipe of the month: Cauliflower & Stilton Soup
[28-Nov-11] Enjoy a winter warming soup with a edge! As a starter or main – its a delicious and nourishing meal that is tasty as well as healthy with its anti-inflammatory properties.
Ingredients: 2 medium white onions, 4-6 garlic cloves, 2 medium carrots, 2 medium potatoes, 1 small parsnip, 1 large (or 2 small to medium) cauliflower, 2 Tbs bouillion powder or stock cubes, 6-8 strips of anchovies, 1/2 Stilton or blue cheese, 2 tsp of tumeric, 1/2 tsp cloves, some nutmeg, black pepper, thyme (fresh or dry). Additionally: some pumpkin seeds and oil, plain yoghurt and nutmeg.
1. Dice the onions and lightly fry in olive oil for 5 minutes then add the garlic (whole)
2. Now add all remaining vegetables, roughly diced, bouillion powder, spices and 1-1.5 ltr of boiling water
3. Gently simmer for about 25-35 minutes
4. Add anchovies, stilton and thyme at the end and stirr
5. With a hand blended whizz to the desidered consistency
6. Serve with some pumkin seed oil and pumpkin (or sunflower) seeds sprinkled over and 1 Tbs of plain yoghurt and some nutmeg grated over
7. Enjoy! 
Christmas Chocolate Brownies!
14-Dec-10: Here is a great “Low GL” (Glycaemic Load) recipe for a delicious Christmas Chocolate brownie for those who are on a Low GL diet or just like to watch your carb-intake over the Christmas festivities. It makes about 12 pieces in a 22cm (9 inch) square baking tin. Enjoy and induge!!
1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees (or gas mark 4). Oil a square baking tin (with coconut butter, or butter) and sprinkle a bit of ground almond flour onto it).
2. Melt 100-150g organic dark chocolate (>70%, e.g. Green and Black’s, cut into smaller pieces) in a bain marie (in a pot over hot water).
3. Blend 150g coconut butter (or normal butter) with 50-75g Xylitol until soft; then add 2 bananas (mashed), 4 eggs (large, ideally organic free-range omega-3), 2 tsp vanilla extract. Add the melted chocolate, 150g ground almonds, 2 tsp baking powder, 1-2 Tbs of cocoa powder and 200g chopped hazelnuts. Optionally for Christmas: 2 tsp of ground cinnamon, 2 tsp of mixed spices, zest of 2 large organic unwaxed oranges (add juice of 1/2 orange), 1 large handful of sugar free dried sour cherries (e.g. from CherryActive) and if you fancy 1-2 shots of Rum or Brandy.
4. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and sprinkle a handful of any or all of the following: almonds, pumpkin seeds, hazelnuts, sesame seeds over the top. Bake for around 20-30 minutes until the mixture no longer ‘wobbles’ when shaken. The top should be firm to touch, not over cooked – to keep them ‘soft and slightly gooey’.
5. Leave to cool and serve each brownie with natural yoghurt and 1-2 Tbs of raspberries (fresh or defrosted, you can also heat them up as a contrast with the cool yoghurt). Garnish with some holly leaves and berries (or mint sprig) for ‘looks’.
Enjoy & Happy Christmas 2010!
Michael Pittilo Essay Award 2010
Sir Graeme Catto, President of the College of Medicine
28-Oct-10: The Michael Pittilo Essay Award is presented annually for the best student essay on integrated health and care. In line with Michael Pittilo’s vision of integrating conventional and complementary approaches, the award is open to both medical and complementary therapy students. Excitingly, Dr Michael Dixon presented me with a merit award today, at the launch of the new College of Medicine, (fittingly) in the Cabinet War Rooms of the Churchill Museum, London. Dr Dixon’s comments on the achievements: “Ladies and Gentlemen”, pointing at the winners, three medical students (UCL, Imperial, Newcastle) and a now graduated nutritional therapist (Middlesex), “you are looking at the future of healthcare.”
Michael Pittilo Essay Ceremony with Dr Michael Dixon, Chair of Council
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Michael Pittilo Essay Award Winners
My essay was entitled “Nutritional Therapy For Integrated Health: Creating Sustainable Behaviour Changes”. For more on the essay and full access, have a look at the article section.
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The event was packed with prominent speakers and attendees.
Sir Graeme Catto (President of the College of Medicine, and former president of the General Medical Council (GMC), 2001-2009), Dr Michael Dixon (Chair of Council, and Chairman of the NHS Alliance), Sir Donald Irvine (College’s Advisory Council and a former GMC President), Professor Mustafa Djamgoz (Professor of Cancer Biology at Imperial College, London and a member of Council), Professor Andrew Miles (Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology and Social Medicine, and is a member of the College’s Science Advisory Council), Professor Jane Plant (Professor of Geochemistry at Imperial College, London, Chair of the College’s Patients’ Council), Professor George Lewith (Vice-Chair of the College of Medicine, and leader of the internationally respected Integrated Medicine research group at Southampton University), Professor David Peters (Clinical Director of the School of Integrated Health at Westminster University, member of Council and former Chair of the British Holistic Medicine Association), Simon Mills (Medical herbalist and project lead for the Department of Health’s Integrated Self Care in Family Practice research project, and MD of SustainCare), Professor Aidan Halligan (former Deputy Chief Medical Office for England, member of Council and leads the Faculty for Homeless Care).
For more on the programme, speakers and their biographies, see here.
College of Medicine Inauguration, Cabinett War Rooms, Churchill Museum, London
The new College of Medicine brings is a new college that aims to bring together doctors, nurses and other health professionals with patients and scientists. No other health body does that. The College is unique – aiming to redefine what good medicine means. That includes a renewal of the traditional values of service, commitment and compassion. Their mission is to focus on patients, believing that science, systems and structures must fit patients’ needs – rather than forcing patients to fit the needs of technology and administration. It aims to ensure that patients are at the centre of medicine and of all of healthcare policies and systems. The College promises to support a new breed of health professional who respects the culture, belief and choices of every patient, and promotes self-healing and health improvement wherever possible. Full members can be statutory registered health professionails as well as professions regulated by the Health Professions Council (HPC). Certain Complementary Medicine Practitioners can join as Associate members, subject to some rigorous requirements and criteria. With a Patients’ Panel there will also be scientist members and student members.
Enjoy Eggs & Butter?
24-Sep-10: As explained in my previous thread (“Eat Fat! Beauty comes from Within…”) – where I talk about ‘good fats’ (e.g. omega 3 from fish other sources) here another recent scientific journal article from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, which shows that saturated fats (e.g. butter, milk, animal sources) are not necessarily linked to heart disease http://bit.ly/bNQ9me
Yes, ok it’s in Japanese men that are thought to have still a better diet and lifestyle (and probably gene pool) then us here in the West – BUT it’s another study that could crush the still popular myth that ‘FAT’ (=saturated fat) and dietary cholesterol is ‘bad’ for your heart. Good news! It isn’t! [Though of course you should watch your intake of it if you are overweight and if you planning to have it as your main source of calorific intake 
].
Dr Briffa offers again some great thoughts and explanations around this new study: http://bit.ly/9gy10Z
So why ‘heart disease’? Forget the ‘cholesterol’ myth when thinking about eggs. Eggs are a fantastic protein food, but choose organic free-range (ideally ‘omega-3′) versions. Only roughly 20% of dietary cholesterol may be absorbed. The rest you produce ‘in-house’. Some of the biggest factors of increased cholesterol levels are stress and excess sugar in your diet. There are other markers and tests that can helpf identify your cardiovascular risk. However, overall, multifactorial factors are involved. This can include genetic factors – but often chronic inflammatory processes are some of the underlying causes. Having a family history of cardiovascular events could certainly encourage you to go get your heart health checked. Ask a qualified nutritional therapist (BANT registered) in your area for a healthy dietary approach. If you have serious concerns, go to your GP and request a routine check.
Eat Fat! Beauty Comes From Within…
23-Sep-10: FAT is good for you – but the ‘GOOD’ stuff – e.g. from oily fish, nuts, seeds, olive oil! Latest news on good fats versus bad fats – it’s astonishing again how big companies try to massage some research to continue with big bucks for their products on our shelves… A study with heart patients, which could be awarded a ‘Bad Science’ badge, in the respectable New England Journal of Medicine recently dismissed heart health properties of omega-3; though they have been using fortified margarine as the main source of this important source of fat! For more see study here: http://bit.ly/cVTOrv and a good explanation why this is contradictory to good scientific biochemistry knowledge: http://bit.ly/c1UV4T.
Time for you to throw away the margarine for good (despite its label recommending ‘polyunsaturated fats’ (PUFAs) or ‘healthy’ or ‘rich in omega 3′). Don’t be fooled! What the manufacturers don’t tell you is, that after processing the PUFA’s change to a chemically unnatural structure that disrupt the body’s normal fatty acid metabolism pathways – you may have heard of those BAD FATs = Trans fats (= hydrogenated vegetable fats). Choose some ‘GOOD’ oils from oily fish, olive oils and those from nuts and seeds instead! It’s important for every single cell ‘insight’ and outside of your body, so get those brain cells working (>60% of our brain is ‘FAT’) – as well as for beautiful skin!
For a good book explaining of why “Fat doesn’t make you FAT” see http://amzn.to/bTcdHP.