Katherine Tate, aka The Food Teacher, has a head start when it comes to getting 30 youngsters to engage with healthy eating. Tate is a qualified primary school teacher, who retrained in 2014 as a nutritional therapist, ensuring she knows…
Make yourself ‘as fit as possible’ to beat COVID-19 second wave, says deputy Chief Medical Officer
The UK’s deputy Chief Medical Officer has urged people to lose weight and get fit to equip themselves against a potential second wave of COVID-19. Speaking on ITV’s This Morning, Dr Jenny Harries said it was now proven that being…
VIDEO: ‘We’re like a Duke of Edinburgh for the over 55s’: The Challenge Hub helps new retirees adjust to the post-work life change
Retirement remains one of the biggest life transitions we face, where one can go from a fast-paced career to a much quieter existence in a matter of days. And while many employers are very happy to throw a farewell party…
Gardening with no garden: Producing abundant pots with a £50 budget – using old beer cans and mole hills for compost
‘I’ve been eating fresh strawberries every day for a month now’, keen amateur gardener Piers Day, a Neuro Linguistic Programming trainer and College of Medicine member, tells us. On a sizeable patch of gravel outside his front door, Piers has…
It’s easier than you think: How to cook up an immune-supporting delicious healthy meal in just 15 minutes
Heather Richards, the College of Medicine’s lead on nutrition and Director Of Nutrition at Sano School of Culinary Medicine, tells us how to cook up an immune-supporting chicken stir fry (easily made veggie) in just 15 minutes… In a recent…
Study finds dance health project reduces falls in the elderly by up to 58 per cent
A social prescribing programme designed to encourage older people to dance could help reduce falls by around 58 per cent, a new study has found. Community-led project Dance to Health combines evidence-based falls prevention principles with the creativity, expression and energy…
Video workshop on food as medicine: exploring taste in common herbs and spices
From ancient times humans have eaten natural herbs and spices. Traditional medicine knew how to use them to act as catalysts in enhancing or reducing the power of foods. Food really can be medicine. In June, Harmony in Health held…
Complementary Medicine Roundup – March 2020
DARK HOURS BEFORE DAWN Floating to the surface of sleep, I felt my tears, heavy, wet, unstoppable. Yet they were easing the heaviness that lay between my heart and my throat, filling the dark empty well where my heart had once…
New UK study finds broccoli and tea can play ‘significant role’ in cancer prevention
A new UK study has found that broccoli and tea can be helpful in the prevention of cancer. Research by Bedfordshire Hospitals Consultant Professor Robert Thomas, who co-led a national scientific study, suggests that consuming broccoli and drinking tea can…
‘Social prescribing is as old as the hills…’ Dr Michael Dixon gives a potted history of integrative medicine
It may now be national policy and championed by both the NHS and the Government… but social prescribing still isn’t on the radar of many practitioners, both in the UK and globally. Here, College of Medicine Chair, Dr Michael Dixon,…
Books that changed our lives: College of Medicine course attendees share their favourite inspirational reads
Unthinkable as it might seem now to congregate in large groups, the last few times the College of Medicine held its Foundation Courses on Integrated Medicine, we asked our attendees for some reading tips. And we gleaned almost a hundred…
New study finds regular yoga sessions have positive impact on mental health disorders
Practicing yoga on a regular basis can help alleviate the symptoms of mental health disorders, according to new research. The World Health Organisation says around 264 million people suffer from depression globally. The study’s lead author Jacinta Brinsley, from the…
New UK study suggests that vitamin D could help in the fight against COVID-19
New research from scientists at three UK universities has concluded that vitamin D could be useful in the fight against COVID-19. The study, ‘The role of vitamin D in the prevention of Coronavirus Disease 2019 infection and mortality’, is currently…
College of Medicine joins campaign to help aspiring doctors during lock-down
The College of Medicine is proud to be a partner in the Pre-Medicus Campaign, a new online resource that aims to help doctors of the future access vital information during lock-down. Alongside the NHS Social Prescribing Champion Scheme and the Unofficial…
Lock-down hangover? How a cocktail of fruit, leaves and herbs could help…
A concoction of natural remedies could be the key to staving off a hangover, new research has found. Published online in BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health, the study focused on how antioxidant compounds, vitamins, minerals and specific plant extracts could ease…
Food as medicine: our guide to the best herbs for health
The College of Medicine has teamed up with Pukka Herbs to offer an everything-you-need-to-know guide to herbs that have established benefits for health and well-being. Below, we’ve listed links to Pukka’s hugely informative ‘Wild About Herb‘ resources on some of…
Listening in troubled times: Coping with the universal grief of COVID-19
Anne Pitman, director of the School of Embodied Yoga Therapy in Ottawa and a yogatherapist at the Ottawa Integrative Cancer Center explores the sense of grief that we’re all experiencing during the pandemic and how to deal with it… In…
HEATHER RICHARDS: How can we be healthier during lock-down?
Heather Richards, Director Of Nutrition at Sano School of Culinary Medicine, shares her views on staying healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic… Food and The Immune System This is absolutely a key time when we want our immune systems to be…
DEAN ORNISH: ‘We should remember that simple lifestyle changes can be as effective as advances in medicine…’
Dean Ornish, a clinical professor in medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and president of the non-profit Preventive Medicine Research Institute, has been speaking about the role that easy-to-implement lifestyle changes can play in preventing disease. Speaking…
COPING WITH COVID-19: Updates, advice and useful links from the College of Medicine
The continued spread of COVID-19 continues to challenge countries all over the world, halting daily life as we know it and placing huge pressure on communities, testing our physical and mental resilience. The College of Medicine, pioneers in social prescribing…
NHS produces mental health advice and social prescribing guidance for GPS and link workers during COVID-19 crisis
NHS England has produced new information on mental health resources and social prescribing guidelines to help GPs and link workers during the COVID-19 crisis – including webinars, discussion forums and advice on staying resilient. We’ve included some of the most…
Boosting immunity against coronavirus: ‘Now’s the time to turn to antioxidants and polyphenols’
The College of Medicine Chair, Dr Michael Dixon, has been speaking about how we can boost our immune system by eating well while in isolation in the coming weeks. Advising that food and nutrition can play a crucial role in…
Ruby Wax: “We’re allowed to exercise our bodies but what to do with our minds? As always, there’s no instruction manual”
Mental health campaigner Ruby Wax has been discussing the impact that continued isolation, to prevent the spread of coronavirus, will have on our minds. In a live video for new health streaming service HealthFlix, the entertainer and comedian joined Jamie…
Free health video streaming service launches to help people stay well during the coronavirus lock-down
A new free online video service streaming health-focused content, including classes and interviews with key figures in the world of social prescribing, has launched. HealthFlix, aiming to be the equivalent of Netflix for people interested in health-related content, has already…
How to keep your mental health strong during the coronavirus crisis
For now, the coronavirus pandemic has upturned life as we know it, and it’s hard not to be overwhelmed by the rolling news coverage; Covid-19 is dominating conversation on every level. However, the good news is that there are tried-and-tested…
