Nutritional Medicine

The Food Programme on Radio 4 today discussed how good nutrition can help reduce the chances of contracting viruses and it has never been more important to look after your health. However we may need the comfort of a cake during this challenging time. Let yourself have this if it really helps your mental health and having the comfort of your cake in the afternoon can minimise the blood sugar spike. But what can we do for ourselves to give us some nutritional medicine during this difficult time ?

This Tuesday in England we have a super full moon, this means it is nearer than usual to the earth and so appears bigger in the sky. At the time of a full moon we reach our peak of absorption. We can take advantage of this and increase our liquids and reduce our food intake, as we generally have a tendency to over eat and under drink water. Drinking water may not be so appetising and we often revert to cups of tea or juices. Try this recipe out for something different - you can always heat it up if you wanted something warm. It involves grating apples and pears (or other vegetables) and leaving to soak so the flavour comes into the water which you then drink. You can use the grated food to eat at another time. I invented this whilst I was trying to detox with 2 young children and did not have the time to do any juicing. It tastes very refreshing and minimises the sugars from the fruit and vegetables.

Evening Drink - substitute for your evening meal on a full moon if you like

Ingredients:

1 apple, 1 pear, grated ginger (optional)

Method:

Peel and grate the pear and apple and place in a large jar. Cover the grated fruit with water and leave for 8 hours at room temperature with the jar lid on. This will go brown but it is still suitable to drink (or eat later). After the soaking period drain the liquid off and store in a separate jar in the fridge for your evening drink. Ensure it is at room temperature when you drink it unless it is a very hot day.

The grated mixture can be used for your breakfast or frozen for use at a later time . You can add a little ginger or other fruit to bring back some taste if needed when re-using the grated fruit. You could try out some vegetables like celery, cucumber, or fennel with apple. See what you feel like for your own body and enjoy!