With summer in full bloom and the forecast for fabulous hot weather this weekend why not give this simple and super tasty Greek salad a try.

85g feta cheese, cubed

3 vine ripened tomatoes, de-seeded and cut into chunks

10cm cucumber, cut into chunks

55g black olives

1 tsp dried oregano

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

Method:

1. Place feta, cucumber, tomatoes and olives in a bowl.

2. Whisk together the olive oil and lemon juice, black pepper and oregano to make the dressing.

3. Pour the dressing over the salad, mix well and serve.

Serves: 2

Are stimulants affecting your energy & stress levels?

Does this sound familiar to you?

You reluctantly crawl out of bed and head for the kettle for a strong cup of tea or coffee, perhaps light up a cigarette or have some fast releasing sugar, such as jam on toast. Up go your blood sugar and adrenalin levels and you start to feel normal. Or, do you lie in bed thinking about all the things that have gone wrong, could go wrong or will go wrong? You start to worry about everything you've got to do, haven't done or should have done. About ten minutes of this gets enough adrenaline pumping through you to get you out of bed.

If either of these scenarios sound like you, you're caught in a vicious cycle of stress, sugar and stimulants, with all its negative effects on your mind, mood and energy. Stimulants promise instant energy, but just make the problem worse.

As you know by now, balancing your blood sugar is the key to sustained energy. Stimulants also promote the brain’s feel good chemicals. In times of stress, the adrenal glands release a combination of hormones, including cortisol and adrenalin, that break down stores of glucose and raise your blood sugar levels, tapping into your energy reserves to provide instant fuel to deal with the apparent danger (in case you need to run away from a sabre tooth tiger for example).

Of course, today’s emergencies take place mainly inside our heads (overdrafts, relationships, etc.), but we still produce adrenalin, and that still raises blood sugar levels. Stimulants have the same effect, stirring up adrenalin and dopamine seriously messing with your blood sugar and so encouraging your body to store fat.

Changing any habit can be stressful in itself, so it’s best not to quit everything in one go. A good strategy is to start with your diet and, as you feel better, you will feel more motivated to kick other bad habits along the way. Cut down on stimulants until you feel able to give some of them up for good. Work out how many you consume daily; you’ll probably find it is more than you think, so make a plan to reduce your intake. You’ll be surprised how much better you will feel simply by cutting back.

Here are a few handy tips for cutting down on stimulants.

A good strategy is to avoid something for a month and then see how you feel.

Pick one stimulant you use frequently. Could you realistically cut it out for a month? If not, what could you reduce your intake to?

Coffee drinkers don’t feel any better than people who never drink coffee. They just feel better than they did when they first woke up!

All coffee does is relieve the symptoms of coffee withdrawal.

To find out what effect it has on you, quit for just two weeks. You may get withdrawal symptoms for up to 3 days (e.g. headaches, irritability). These reflect how addicted you've become. After this, if you begin to feel perky and your health improves, that's a good indication you're better off without coffee.

Reduce cravings with an excellent low GL diet, a good breakfast, and avoid going hungry, to keep your blood sugar balanced.

If you would like to find out more about how you can improve your stress, fatigue and anxiety levels I have a few free 30 minute Health and Energy assessment slots available in my diary week commencing 4th July. Why not click here to book https://my.practicebetter.io/.... In three months’ time you will be glad that you did.

Fruit and veg is good for you. No one would argue with that. But It can be a challenge to eat five portions of fruit and veg each day, even when you like vegetables. And now a new report suggests that eating 10 portions is what we need to stay healthy for longer. Most people don’t come nearly close to having enough, and I bet you’re wondering how on earth you’re going to manage that!

Juicing offers the possibility of getting in a greater concentration of nutrients, increasing your fruit and vegetable consumption, and possibly making it easier on your tummy if you have a hard time digesting the fibre in vegetables.

Whereas when you make a smoothie, the whole lot is whizzed up in a blender. The juice and the pulp go in. This means that smoothies contain fibre. For fatigue fibre is super helpful. It slows down the absorption of sugar into the body, meaning that fruit and sugar-rich vegetables like beetroot and carrots are less likely to give you a blood sugar spike albeit a natural one.

Adding nuts and seeds to the smoothie makes it more nutritious and also help to reduce the sugar spike.

With summer brimming with berries here is a super tasty recipe you can try.

Blueberry + kale

Handful blueberries

Handful kale

1 small banana

1 tsp cashew or almond nut butter

1 tbsp sunflower seeds

Small handful of ice

250ml coconut or almond milk

Put all the ingredients in the blender with the coconut or almond milk and increase liquid if necessary to the desired consistency.