Healthy Eating doesn't have to mean Boring or Restricted

With the inevitable shift in our eating patterns as we head closer to Christmas, the staff parties, the visits to friends with their tasty treats and mulled wine and of course the large meals on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day, there is always a renewed surge in healthy eating in January. This year we have teamed up with House of the Rising Sun in Shrewsbury and their visionary owner Sam Taylor to bring you a January menu that is not only a treat for all the senses but is packed with healthy goodness as well. In this article we will explore this healthy collaboration and how it can help you with your health kick.

This idea started after Sam and I had been chatting about healthy eating, diet and detoxification earlier in the year, and I had explained why I rated the food House of the Rising Sun (HOTRS) so much. It is a very common practice for me to advise business owners on what they can do to maintain their health and well being through the challenges of owning and managing, in some cases, very stressful multi-million pound businesses. The discussion focussed around how lucky (and thoughtful) Sam was to have centred HOTRS's menu around a diet model that was very easy for him to use for maintaining health.

The key elements that are already present there are quality ingredients with an emphasis in healthy protein, especially in the sushi and sashimi dishes; a broad range of vegetables and then healthy condiments, such as pickled ginger and kimchi to support the basic dish. The other simple aspect that makes the diet approach here much healthier is the emphasis on quality rather than quantity. By having a much healthier portion size, your body is struggling less to digest an overly large and rich meal, which would stress your liver and pancreas far more and lead to more conversion to stored fat and loss of energy. It also means that your digestion will extract more of the beneficial nutrients from the food, which will not only help you to be stronger and healthier, but will keep energy levels higher as less is having to be diverted to digest your food.

This is what I love about the food at HOTRS is that it already contains so many beneficial elements. Working with Sam and his head chef, we have developed the menu even further to support you in your new year health drive. Read on to explore all the beneficial features of food that can be enjoyed at one of Shrewsbury's top dining locations.

One of the most useful aspects of the special detox menu planned for January is that most of it will be gluten free. HOTRS are shifting to using more gluten free flour and using Tamari (gluten free soy sauce) for marinades and dressings and making rice noodles available in certain dishes. With an estimated 18 million Americans having a gluten intolerance and 1 in 133 with some level of gluten problem, it is not unsurprising that to remove it helps your health enormously. In the wake of books such as Wheat Belly,The Gluten Syndrome and Lose Wheat, Lose Weight; we are now seeing research that suggests gluten intolerance could quite reasonably be affecting between 5-30% of the population. To have access to a gluten free diet is becoming an increasing requirement for members of the community and is something I work a lot with at Centre for Integral Health. It's great for me to know that I can recommend somewhere that offers such high quality healthy options to more of my clients. Avoiding wheat can alleviate such symptoms as foggy head, numbness and tingling in extremities, join pain, as well as the whole spectrum of gastrointestinal symptoms such as bloating, constipation, gut pain etc. Best of all the gluten free options will be clearly labeled on the menu as GF.

While we are on the grain front. Its great to see that for the special set menu in January (and hopefully beyond if you love it), HOTRS will be using brown and wild rice in some of their sushi dishes. Whole grains are significantly healthier for us than refined white grains and as the menu at HOTRS generally already supports, the less grains we have overall the better. Whole grains have been associated with reduced diabetes, improved heart health, weight loss, improved blood pressure, reduced risk of asthma and colorectal cancer ans less gum disease and tooth loss.

Along with this, many of the menu options are also dairy free. This is so useful for people who are trying to improve their health as it is estimated that as much as 65% of adults have a reduced capacity to digest dairy. Plus research shows that dairy consumption has been associated with higher risks of osteoporosis, hip fractures, certain cancers and diabetes and is known to cause wheezing, itchy skin, abdominal cramps, constipation and diarrhea and sinus problems. With the special menu you will find dairy in almost none of the dishes and we are even working on a coconut butter based chocolate brownie which will hopefully be gluten and dairy free.

Ok so we've talked a bit about what you will be avoiding with the special detox menu, but what else do you gain. HOTRS are offering us a double edged sword here with many more benefits for health and detoxification.

Lets start with the pickled ginger that accompanies the sushi and sashimi. It may look like its there to garnish the plate or to add a nice extra flavour, but aside from its obvious palate cleansing effect (in fact owner Sam suggests you eat it between your sushi to clear your taste buds for the next flavour explosion), did you know that ginger has been used for centuries to aid digestion and reduce nausea? But did you also know that it has been shown to lower cholesterol, reduce risk of heart disease and stroke, reduce arthritic inflammation and joint pain, improve circulation (great for this cold time of year) and fight infections from colds and flu's.

A regular (and much loved) ingredient of at HOTRS is chilli. Not only is this fiery little character great for improving circulation, but research has also show that it is a great reliever of pain and inflammation (most modern pain relief creams contain capsicum and is a key ingredient in Tiger Balm). But it is also anti-bacterial, anti-carcinogenic, anti-diabetic and best of all can help you lose weight.

HOTRS now serves kimchi with a number of its dishes. This traditional Korean fermented dish has a wealth of health benefits which led partly to the discovery that the Korean diet is one of the healthiest in the world. Kimchi by its nature is probiotic and encourages healthier gut bacteria in you. This alone improves detoxification, digestive health, immune strength and weight loss. But in over 130 studies that have been done, kimchi also shows benefit for reducing cholesterol, protecting against certain cancers, improving certain skin conditions, helps control diabetes and has an anti aging effect. What more could you want on your plate? And as the kimchi looks set to be a fennel based kimchi we can also add on the digestive benefits of this amazing plant which reduces inflammation, boosts immunity, supports cardiovascular health and reduces anemia.

As part of the special detox menu and as regulars available there will continue to be avocado and seaweed. Both of these have enormous health benefits from a nutrient point of view. Avocado is a very important source of vegetarian essential fatty acids. The key benefits of avocado include lowering cholesterol, reducing risk of diabetes, promoting weight loss and preventing cancer, plus they help you absorb more nutrition from other plant based foods. See this article for a great review of the benefits of avocado Seaweed generally has a very high trace mineral content which is important for many natural body processes which are surprisingly deficient in many other foods. It also helps to purify our blood of toxins, reduce acidity in the body (a common cause of inflammatory diseases) and boosts weight loss.

To round off this wonderful detox focus, HOTRS are also serving Jasmine tea with their meals. Know for centuries as being a calmative, it has also been shown to be beneficial to heart health, cancer prevention, diabetes control, improving mental alertness, weight loss, immune strengthening and reducing arthritic pain.

And we can't finish this article without a quick reference to the Sake and other digestive tonics available all the time. Sake isn't just a palate cleanser or tasty tipple to have on the side. Research shows it has many benefits to health including being cancer protective (especially for the liver), it raises good cholesterol, improves circulation and supports the joints. I love HOTRS for its quality range of natural digestive tonics that are used in their native countries for aiding digestion and taken after a meal, these include Ouzo, Lemoncello, Frangellico, Benedictine, Campari, Gin, to name but a few. The extensive skill of the staff enable them to make up some great digestive cocktails so that even if you are not totally off the wagon in your January detox, you can still choose something that has at least some benefit for your health.

The special set menu will be available on Wednesday's throughout January and right up until Valentine's Day and I will be at the restaurant each week with information on how you can deepen your detox and what else you can do to get yourself off to a good start next year. I'm happy to chat with you before, during or after your meal to extend free advice on how to make 2015 both healthy and enjoyable. For more information and bookings contact House of the Rising Sun direct through their websitehttp://www.hotrs.co.uk/or for more info on new year detoxes you can comment below or email me direct onben@integralhealthshrewsbury.com

Get involved as well by leaving your comments and experiences from trying the special menu and how you felt. Remember healthy doesn't have to be boring or difficult, so let us know how you get on.

References:

http://www.celiaccentral.org/non-celiac-gluten-sensitivity/

http://celiacdisease.about.com/od/glutenintolerance/a/How-Many-People-Have-Gluten-Sensitivity.htm

http://wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101/what-are-the-health-benefits

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/whole-grains/art-20047826

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/milk-allergy/basics/symptoms/con-20032147

http://www.allergyuk.org/common-food-intolerances/dairy-intolerance

http://www.pcrm.org/health/diets/vegdiets/health-concerns-about-dairy-products

http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/lactose-intolerance

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/ingredient-focus-ginger

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/benefits-pickled-ginger-10875.html

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2010/04April/Pages/chilli-peppers-fat-burning-and-appetite.aspx