Simply Nutrition

An evening of "Bill's" Vegetable Heaven!

...And it was just that! Last night, off I went to a vegetable preparation Masterclass put together by "Bill's of Lewes" ... part of this year's Feastbourne Food and Drink festival down here in Eastbourne, East Sussex.

Now for anyone who knows of Bill's Produce Store in Lewes, they would understand my excitement and enthusiasm about watching and learning the secrets of how Bill's chefs prepare and put together their culinary delights! As Bill says himself, "Yes, supermarkets make it easy to shop", which is certainly true, BUT... you don't go to Bill's "to shop"... you go to chill out, to watch the "theatre at play", and to get a true "live" workout for ALL your 5 senses. It is quite simply my favourite place to read, write, eat, drink and to just escape!

So what did we (the audience) do last night...We watched, we tasted, we laughed, and we all literally purred at the colours, textures and tastes of Pumpkin soup, green tea and ginger, raw salad leaves, grated raw root vegetables, different coloured varieties of "common" vegetables (such as stripy beetroot and yellow beetroot), herbs galore, freshly picked ceps or wild mushrooms (picked from Ashdown Forest that morning) and pan-fried in butter and garlic, "real" Sourdough bread with homemade Quince and Damson Jam, delicious dressings of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, wholegrain mustard, Tamari, and maple syrup, local pears with pecorino (an "aged" Italian sheep's milk cheese) and one of my favourites of the evening was a "Mexican-style" sweetcorn with lime, salt and chilli, or for the less adventurous... with paprika!

The most wonderful thing about Bill's and what was seen last night, is that all the amazing fresh produce is sourced as locally as possible... "Sussex is alive with vegetable growers" said Martin, who hosted the class, along with an equally lovely guy, Simon, head chef at the Lewes Store. Did you know that the UK's largest sweetcorn growers are in Barcombe, near Lewes? Oh... and we have a chilli grower in Ovingdean... amazing! check out "Sussex Food Finder" for local producers, and farmers markets.

The Culinary Arts Centre, at the University of Brighton's campus in Eastbourne, was the ideal venue for this sort of presentation... an amazing state-of-the-art kitchen theatre that was opened by Rick Stein back in June. It really was one of the best evenings I have had in a long time - and even better when I earned a £10 "Bill's" voucher, as a "blind-folded taste tester" of English Apples... well you didn't expect me to just sit there did you?!!

A big "Thankyou" to Bill, Martin and Simon, and all the staff at the Culinary Arts Centre... the evening was quite definitely "right up my street!".

Could learning to relax be anti-ageing?

We all know we should relax more... but after reading this - I promise you will take it VERY seriously indeed!

Today, within any area of health prevention, and even with regard to treatment of any disease, we are beginning to appreciate far more the link between (and co-existence of) the body and the mind. Many "alternative" or "natural" health therapies consider the mind to play a key role in treating, "curing" and preventing disease. As someone who is studying Ayurvedic Medicine, a holistic health system, that considers self awareness, meditation and yoga as prime treatments of disease, and also describes health as "Sattva" or harmony in the mind...you don't have to convince me of the power of our minds in achieving optimal health!

Ayurveda forms the basis of Tibetan Medicine, and thats why I was very interested to read about Dr Mark Hyman's latest experience, when he attended a special conference at the Menla Centre in Woodstock, New York. He was there with some very well known and respected physicians, including Dean Ornish, as well as the Dalai Lama, Tibetan monks and doctors, Buddhist scholars, meditation researchers, and prize-winning biomedical scientists in the field of aging, the immune system, stem cells, genetics, brain ageing, stress physiology, and more.

Boy... I wish I had been a fly on the wall!

The subject of the conference was "Longevity and Tibetan medicine". Dr Mark Hyman, MD, describes the conference and his experiences in the extract below, followed by my commentary about his findings... IT IS REALLY WORTH A READ - I PROMISE!