Food Matters Live 2017

Yesterday saw an exciting day in my nutrition world.  
The excel centre, London, host to Food matters Live.  

A Myriad of colours to feast my eyes on in the food department and some beautiful stands too.  Great graphic design and marketing designs.  Blew me Away!

Having never visited before I was excited and unsure what to expect.  In my years as a salon consultant, I visited the Excel for Hairdressers Journal international and Salon international. 

Which occupied the entire one side of the building.  So, being me, I proudly (efficiently having printed my ticket already) walked up to the person with the bar code scanner to enter the room.
"Wrong show, you need S2."  Opps.  This one was still medical so I guessed that would be us.
Yet I soon figured out (especially after bumping into my old dietetics lecturer) that this is sort of less medical and kind of more for industry.  Lots of 'free from' and 'vegan' and natural products.  For me, that leads to health anyway, especially the free from stuff.  Have you tried eating foods you have an allergy or intolerance to?  Hmm.  Say no more!

Well let me say, I was blown away by the seemingly simple things I learned, such as how vegetables and fruit can be used as a natural food colouring, how so many people have the balls to launch into an industrial kitchen and get their products out there in places like Planet Organic and Holland and Barrett.

The Exhibitors gladly shared their stories of business with me and I'm overwhelmed at how excited both them and I became while chatting about this.  

Since the show, I have been giving lots of thought to all I absorbed.  Please keep watching as I will share details of such companies through this blog and my youtube channel and let you have a look at their products and website links etc. 

My passion for all things health and wellness through food is exactly back where it needs to be thanks to these exhibitions.  I'm fired up and ready to go into the future of my research and dissertation!

Triggers of autoimmune symptoms

Making no apologies for my selfish passion in researching autoimmune illness, I find myself stumbling over papers that I feel you may be interested in too.

As a crohns disease patient who is pretty well these days,  I still find myself aiming to get to the bottom of many other issues that lurk just under the barrier of health for me.

What is autoimmune illness?

The body can have a response to itself abnormally.  Causing damage and symptoms.
While we can currently list at least 80 types of autoimmune diseases, this is a growing list.
Here are some of the better known diseases:

Ulcerative colitis
Crohns disease
Multiple Sclerosis
Type 1 diabetes
Lupus
Rhumatoid arthritis
Coeliac disease
Endometriosis

We also experience may symptoms of the disease which are not the disease itself. Such as gastritis or chronic fatigue syndrome.

This article lists 12 common triggers of autoimmune illness.  You may not be shocked at many of them but it's good to revise once in a while.

Could food really be responsible?

Can we relieve symptoms by eating specifically for the autoimmune illness?

I believe so yes.  As I undertake research into this hypothesis, I will feed back here on this blog any exciting information or findings I can share with you.

Listen to the podcast here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/autoimmune-diet-and-me/id1023129375?mt=2 Choices of sessions one to one coaching £249.00 GBP follow up session £199.00 GBP set of 4 sessions £950.00 GBP Questions via email only £85.00 GBP
Email to book: lusherlifenutrition@gmail.com

What food should you be eating?

The million dollar question.

What should you be eating?  What will suit your body?  Should we all eat the same and follow the same rules?

Great question. It seems few, if any, have the answer.  I don't; that's for sure.


Using my own health and body as an experiment I have been up, down and sleepy all at the same time! Just as I seem to find one answer, another health issue crops up.  Yet there are positives, there do seem to be a few consistent pieces of advice.

Drink water

We all know this one don't we.  Frequently I can be found guilty as not drinking the recommended 2 litres per day.  Yet seldom do you see one diet plan or piece of advice that suggests ignoring water.
So do it.  And see.  

Track your food

A few gurus say just eat.  A few say you can control your weight with your mind.  Whatever you do with your mind, nothing happens without action being taken.  Without tracking your food you are unlikely to be mindful of what is likely to go on in your body.  I always recommend www.myfitnesspal.com to all clients as a great app to pop every single thing that goes into your body on.  You can log weight too! More about that in another post. 

Without tracking you are likely  to eat 'imaginary' or 'invisible' food.  You know, the type that you will away from your hips  - playing make believe that you ever ate that in the first place!

Of course, this is not all about weight loss.  Should you have some symptoms or other, tracking is a fantastic way to keep an eye on what is making you feel really quite lousy.  As an example, I had gone hard and fast keto lately to aim to bring blood sugars down.  It hasn't been working and I have been feeling terrible.  Working with my Dr to see if this is something else or if indeed I need to change my diet, tracking has helped amazingly.

Should you prefer pen and paper, get a jazzy book (small one to fit in your bag) and carry it along with you.

You're welcome :)

Why we need vitamin D at this time of year

Yesterday we saw the shortest day of the year here in the north.  Some celebrate the solstice.
Some chase around for last minute Christmas gifts.

All the while, your dear body is taking care of everything just the best it can.  Renewing cells,  fighting off infections and viruses and protecting you constantly.

What our bodies cannot do is the impossible.

During the months of October and March we simply do not have enough sunshine to help us out properly.

Sunshine?

Yes,  we need vitamin D in our bodies and the best way to get this is from the sun.  This might well not be a surprise to you.  You may know this already.  In the summer months we can get a little sunshine each day and naturally make the vitamin D we need.  So what do we do in the winter?

Often, the best way to ensure you don't suffer from a deficiency is to take a Vitamin D supplement*.  You know me, I do like all molecules going into the body to be the best they can be and I have found this little gem which is free from all the stuff I personally need to avoid.

After trying out this product and speaking to my friends at Epsilon life they have given me lots of information about their wonderful product.  If you click below you can see the reviews on Amazon which are pretty impressive I must say.  

As readers of my blog, you can enter LUSHERLIFE at the checkout for an extra cheeky discount code! Spread the word.

So what would taking Vitamin D supplements mean for you?

If you suffer from any of the following, it may be worth visiting your GP to get your vitamin D levels checked.  You might just need a simple supplement which is such a minimal investment in terms of finance and it could make the world of difference.

Fatigue and tiredness.
Muscle cramps and spasms.
Depression.
Erectile disfunction.
Osteoporosis.
Light headedness.
General aches and pains.

Yes the body is a miracle.  Every time I revisit information on the cell and biochemistry, I am blown away.  While nothing is a substitute for a well balanced diet and doing things 'au natural' we occasionally need some help.

Speaking with Epsilon they gave me this extra information:

• Epsilon.Life gives a portion of every sale to a Multiple Sclerosis charity
• We are the highest and best reviewed vitamin products on Amazon.co.uk Our vitamin D has a five star rating and close to 600 reviews.
• We are a small family run business and provide outstanding customer service to all of our customers
• All of our products are manufactured and sold exclusively in the UK
• We focus on selling only a small number of products, that way we can make sure that all of our products are of the best quality
• Any orders over £15 (with or without a discount) qualifies for free shipping

As I had mentioned, we are happy to offer all of your readers a voucher code giving them £5 off any order. They can use this code on our checkout page to get £5 off any order: LUSHERLIFE

New year is just around the corner (my birthday too!). I know we all like to make health a priority and if you order today, you will be ready to go on January 1st when you feel fresh and new and ready to make a difference to your health and your life.

Of course, I will be here to hold your hand every step of the way!

Wishing you the very best in health

Louise xoxo

3 top tips to keep healthy this Christmas

3 Top tips to keep healthy this Christmas time

As you are fully aware, Christmas is upon us and it is typically a time we neglect our health and our bodies.  If you are feeling low, under the weather or just a bit grumpy, chances are you might need a little health boost.

Even though you may have heard these simple tips before,  I am here to remind you!

1. Drink water!

Yes, I know you know.  But are you drinking or not?  If not why not.  Want a hot drink?  Drink hot water.  

During the winter, the heating is typically on in the house which will have a dehydrating effect on the body.  Without water,  not only will your skin start to look a bit shrivelled but you can’t function the same either.  

Being that the body, and cells, are made up so much of water it makes total sense that we need to keep hydrated.

Drinking more alcohol will need a good flush.  Removing toxins needs a helping hand with water.  Toxins floating around in the body will help you play host to viruses like coughs and colds.

2.  Get some sleep

As we all chase our own tails at Christmas time,  it is easy to forget to get an early night.  Without that extra hour before midnight, it is easy to want to pull up the duvet for an extra 5 minutes. 

You will create dark circles under the eyes, you will stop thinking so sharply and often you will find you don’t function so efficiently.

3.  Eat some vitamin c

Not only will it help you fight off colds and flu (you knew that - right?) but citrus fruits this time of year are delightful.  Well, Satsumas specifically.  The supermarket will sell you a packet from £1-£2 and satsumas make an excellent snack.  Healthy.  Provides you with energy from the natural sugars.

When you pour your drink (alcohol or soft drink) why not add a splice of lemon.

Going for coffee?  Ask for a glass of lemon water.  Coffee will make your body become acidic.  The lemon water gets you back into the favourable alkaline state once again.

Keep healthy, happy and smile lots.

Q and A coming soon

As the title suggests, I will soon be organising a Q and A session which I will post over on youtube.

I have a few questions I regularly get asked but if you would like to add to the list please get in touch.  No matter how simple your questions seem, there might well be someone else thinking exactly the same thing!


We all know the season has arrived when we still would love to look amazing in the little black dress,    feel less bloated,  wish we had more energy to dance the night away...
We also know that January the 1st will see us full of promises to ourselves to make things different.  I am here to help.  Should you need it,  I will be focusing so much on my online membership site this coming few months.  Want to know more?  Click here.  

Plus, the first 10 to sign up will get a free 121 coaching session with me worth £60 (while stocks last!).

So get in touch with your questions via email and let me know what you would like to see me post next year.  That's right, I'm organising 2016 right now!

What foods cause histamine intolerance?

Recently, I have been looking more and more into the chemistry of foods!

C5H9N3 is histamine!

How about that?

Ok, lets get down to the stuff you really want to know about!

Could you have histamine intolerance and what is it?

Histamine is a chemical compound which occurs naturally in foods.  It is involved in a local immune response as well as regulating physiological function in the gut.  The body is super clever! It does all this because we need it to.  It also works as a neurotransmitter. Basically sending messages from one place to another.  So,  we need it.  What we don't need, is an intolerance to it!

If we have an intolerance to it, this won't stop us from eating it but there are ways to limit what we consume at once in order to prevent a reaction.  It's like filling a cup with water.  A little bit in the bottom won't make the cup overflow.  Keep filling it (like filling your body with histamine) and it will flow over the top (cause a reaction).

Diamine Oxidase is an enzyme we all have which breaks down any histamine we consume from food containing the chemical compound histamine.  However, some of us can have a low level of the enzyme.  This, coupled with eating too much histamine food, we can suffer a reaction.   These can be allergy type reactions which cause
* Rashes
* Itching
* Sneezing
* Diarrhoea
* Vomiting
* Headaches

These high histamine containing foods are:

• Champagne, wine, beer, cider and other fermented drinks and spirits
• Sauerkraut and other pickled foods
• Vinegar and foods containing it such as dressings, pickles, mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard
• Tofu and soya sauce
• Parmesan cheese and other cheeses
• Sausages and other processed meats (ham, salami, gammon, bacon)
• Mushrooms and quorn
• Tinned and smoked fish (tuna, salmon, herring) and crustaceans
• Prepared salads
• Tinned vegetables
• Dried fruit, seeds, nuts
• Yeast extract, yeast
• Chocolate, cocoa, cola

Many foods which are not high in histamine can stimulate the release of histamine in our mast cells in our body.  These are a type of immune cell.  These foods include:

• Bananas
• Tomatoes
• Strawberries
• Nuts
• Peanuts
• Shellfish
• Egg white
• Chocolate
• Pumpkin
• Spinach
• Aubergines
• Avocado
• Papayas
• Kiwi
• Pineapple
• Mango
• Raspberry
• Tangerines
• Grapefruits
• Red prunes
• Pea
• Spices

Try skin prick testing?  No,  this will not show a reaction.  The IgE food allergy indicator  will not show as this is not what causes the reaction at all.  

The best way forward is to try a low histamine diet for a couple of weeks.  Track everything you eat and eliminate the foods above.  Then also track your symptoms, feelings, sleep patterns and any reactions.  

As with any elimination diet,  you need to be aware of nutrient deficiency.  Therefore re-introduction of the foods is paramount.  Take one item per 3 days and slowly reintroduce them to your diet.  Keep tracking! This is super important.  

I'd love to know how you get on with this if you are a sufferer.  

Wishing you the very best of health. 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lusherlifenutrition

Twitter:      http://www.twitter.com/louiseusher...
Blog:          http://www.louiseusher.co.uk (blog)
Instagram:http://www.instagram.com/lusherlife...
Podcast:    https://geo.itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/autoimmune-diet-and-me/id1023129375?at=1001l626&mt=2&ls=1
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/motivweight
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Advertise on my blog: 
http://lusherlifenutrition.blogspot.co.uk/p/disclaimer.html

Books:  My amazon author page: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Louise-Usher/e/B00C1KEE5E 

Recommended books for your Lusher Life: http://astore.amazon.co.uk/lusherlifefavouritebooks-21

Email: lifenutrition@virginmedia.com

I'd love to catch up with you. Come and say HI.......


Motivational Merch:  Mugs, t-shirts and stuff http://www.cafepress.co.uk/profile/108959736

Health Stuff: https://www.foreverliving.com/retail/entry/Shop.do?store=GBR&language=en&distribID=440500051320

Food allergy or intolerance?

You want to understand the difference between a food allergy and a food intolerance?

The best way for me to understand it might help you too.  A food allergy is something you really can't live with.  Sometimes there may be more extreme reactions although not always.  An allergy to something means your body is going to attack as if a foreign object is in your body often creating an immune response.

As an example, if you are allergic to gluten - and you eat it - the body will begin the attack process needed to deal with it.  
However,  if you have an intolerance to gluten this process won't happen.  

What does happen with an intolerance?

You can feel sluggish,  bloated,  tired,  not have proper bowel movements.  There are many symptoms you could find.  The body simply does not function as it should if you are eating a food to which you are intolerant.  



There have been many theories on this.  It's suggested that you need to eat what you direct ancestors ate in the Blood grouping diet.
Eat right for your type in Amazon





Other readers of my blog have found the theories in this book have been a massive help too - the Optimum Nutrition Bible.
Optimum Nutrition Bible on amazon



Although I do think there are foods which suit us and foods which don't,  the best way to find out is to keep a food journal and to begin the elimination diet which can help you to listen to the body and adjust what you need to adjust to make your health feel better. 

Something that is important to understand is that the body is a complex tool and these days we are finding it a struggle to give it what it needs.  Keep the body moving to keep the lymph system flowing and detox,  don't eat food loaded with chemicals,  try and keep a balanced diet....the list goes on.

One rule to take away just for today is to start listening more to the body.  You will find a massive help there just with that one change alone.

Wishing you the very best of health.

Are carbs the enemy?

So if you've been watching your carb intake,  you might be noticing differences and changes in your body.

Some will be changes you want,  some won't.


Carbohydrates are a source of energy provider for the body.  When we eat carbs,  we convert them into a useful energy which we can then burn throughout our day.  Maybe you already know that.  Ok, so what happens when you eat less carbs?

On occasion,  you might initially drop some extra water you have been hanging onto.  This isn't a bad thing.  Keep an  eye on your fluid intake and just make sure you are hydrated at all times.

Folks who eat very low carb diets (VLC) can sometimes put the body into a state of "Ketosis".  This means that there are no stores of sugar for energy in the body and you will be burning fat reserves to use for energy.  During this transition,  you often find that there will be a lull in energy before a spike.

Ancient times showed us that occasionally,  fasting (and hence getting into Ketosis) can aid the body with repair,  digestion and just give it a good old break.  Also,  many individuals report that illnesses such as Epilepsy can find relief of symptoms from keeping the body in Ketosis.

So when are carbs a good thing?

If you have no extra fat to burn and use as an energy supply,  you will need to ingest more energy in the form of carbs.  Without this,  you could create more issues as the body looks elsewhere for energy such as the muscles and eventually,  your organs.

Carbs are not the enemy in my opinion.  Overeating can be and folks often get the two confused.

What are carbs?

Very often,  clients speak to me about carbs.  They think they are things like bread,  doughnuts and outer dough made items.  Often these items have yeast added too which can cause issues for those intolerant of yeast and if bloating issues arise,  carbs get blamed when in fact it may simply be the yeast.

There are healthy carbs too.  It doesn't mean flour.  It means food sugars.  The best way to think of healthy carbs are items with natural sugars such as fruit and honey.

Carbohydrates are a main nutrient that we are designed to eat.  In the right way of course. 
A healthy balance of all nutrients within your best calorie range is what will serve you best.



This months sponsor: Herts Mere Leisure.

Would you like to advertise on this blog? Click here 

Healthy food haul and juicing

Hello there!

I've been busy in the shopping aisles of Tesco!  Bringing you some foods which you can get on great deals and are pretty healthy.

Let me know your favourites and what helps you!

It's nice to see the prices and know it's possible to eat well for less.

Soon I will be creating more blog posts on cooking tips and tricks for you.  Let me know what you would like to see.

Juicing - how to do it!

Finally, a new Youtube video.  I'm so excited to share this video with you.  After many technical issues it seems I've cracked it so please hop over and subscribe to my channel and you can help me to grow this into a lovely way to share the knowledge.



Summer is a fantastic time to get juicing.  So refreshing and hydrating.  Anyway, go ahead and watch the little film and you will see so much more!

Get all your juicing supplies here! 

How's the 'diet' working for you?

Are you on a diet? It's such a massive subject isn't it!

There seems to be a 'pull' in the direction of wanting to get slim and 'going on a diet'.

We see all over the magazines that we could lose a stack of weight in just a week and still get all fired up to try it.  Yet we still seem to be ignoring the fact that....

DIETS DON'T WORK...

And here's why.  

Now I realise this is bad news for most of us as we just want a little bit of magic in our lives to make us feel better, slimmer, more energetic.... but it's a change for life that we need.  Not a quick fix.

How many friends do you hear talking about their recent slimmers diet and they say, "as soon as you start eating normally again it all just goes straight back on."

If you want to know the reason for this, read on...

It's not so much that the weight goes straight back on or as some say 'clings to me as I've been starving myself' or whatever crazy excuse they come up with,  it's because of this:

The reason the person, or you, needed a slimming diet in the first place is because something was going wrong with your everyday diet.  Too many calories, too much junk food.  Likely just too much.  So,  as soon as you start eating too much once again,  you will gain weight.  Now there are theories behind this such as it slows your metabolism and so you end up storing more fat.

Hmm, a possibility.

Although I suspect far more than that it's simply that you have not changed any habits whatsoever.  Which is the HARD bit.  Things are so tasty out there and we are in a lovely social fashion of going out for coffee and a cake and it gets very tempting.  I recognise this too.  However..... changes need to be made in order to sustain a new you.  This starts from day one and must follow right through until after you get your ideal body.  Yes... that's right,  it's a life change.

Now no need to thank me for sharing this information with you for you see while you might want to click off from the truth in favour of a quick one week diet and then back to eating what caused the unhappiness in the first place,  you need to listen up about the 80/20 rule.

The 80/20 rule

Ok so here's the really good news.

You don't need to be an angel.  You can still have what you call 'treats'.

If you eat healthily for 80% of the time (be honest with yourself) then you will be fine to eat other things for 20% of the time.  This will only work if this is always the way you do it and only if you do it for good.

Accepting this is the first part of the mindset for you.  Diets, slimming and health are all about balance, mindset and motivation.  If you would like to know more I will be addressing lots of this on the blog here so make sure you sign up.  

Feel free to email me any questions you have and I will be addressing these over on my Youtube channel later on.  

Wishing you the very best of health.

Nutrition advice - Youtube channel

Hey folks

Here's the thing.  I need your help really.  I am in the throws of designing and updating my Youtube channel.  This is the channel which relates directly to the stuff I talk about on this blog.

I did wonder if I should begin just adding the new videos to the Youtube channel I already own which is gaining in subscribers.  Although having learned the marketing tools stuff I took the decision to keep the two separate.  There are a couple of videos over there which may make you chuckle just now but to be honest, it needs some TLC and I have been creating new videos which are not uploaded just yet.

Please be so kind as to hop over to there and subscribe to my new channel as this will motivate me highly to get these new videos up there for my new subscribers to see.

Thanks so much.  Let me know what type of videos you would like to see.  I'm a bit of an expert at cooking for the SCD diet to help intestinal issues so come on over and tell me what more I can help you with.

As a gift for you,  I totally recommend this FREE SCD lifestyle ebook to get you started on your way into health.  It breaks things down so easily for you to understand.  Click below to claim your free book.

SCD Lifestyle E-Book (Free Guide)

Pizza Hut does gluten free

I'm more than thrilled to announce that I've just discovered Pizza Hut does gluten free dough!

Perhaps I'm behind the times here as it was approximately 6 years since I've been out for Pizza. Just before my coeliac blood test. 

Fully prepared to treat my daughter to a pizza while I ate salad, we looked at the menu with excitement as she exclaimed

"Mum they do gluten free!!!"

I had no idea and HAD to take a couple of photos to show my lovely blog audience!

While Pizza shouldn't be an every day menu item, it's great to know the option is there for those avoiding the usual wheat based dough. 

Also, if you are a student with an NUS extra card, like me, they will give you 25% off the bill!

Well done Pizza Hut! Service was great too. 

Healthy and simple flavoured water!

This heat wave we are enjoying in the UK is amazing! It's important to keep hydrated for so many reasons. Yet lots of us find plain water is a bit like hard work.

For some reason, it seems easier chilled in a water bottle. Some folks try this approach. I have a new idea for you. 

Filter your water in the usual way to remove toxins. 

Find a gorgeous "blog friendly" bottle and fill with your fruit or herb of choice and simply top up with water. The infusion gets your taste buds going as well as adding the goodness of the ingredients. 

My favourite is lemon and mint. Which is your favourite?

What is the 80/20 rule?

Here's the thing.  When I posted this photo on my social media,  so many readers had a big AHA moment.

Amazing statement.  One lovely lady, Yvonne, suggested people fail on typical diets as they don't feel they can have a treat.  This is what is an issue with 'diets' that you 'go on' for a quick fix.  Really, there needs to be a life change.

That sounds so off putting and frightening.  Which is why there are far better sales in:
"lose a stone in a week" type of marketing.  However this isn't looking at your health as a whole and won't make you feel better in the long term.

So what can you do if you have the motivation and the wish to make a long term life change?

Well, many health gurus are sick and tired of the "Food Police" chasing them around when they are out at a restaurant with the family.  Even these heroic types can have a 'moment' from time to time.

It's not falling off the wagon.  Nor is it a treat.  Forgive me if I slip up in my Youtube and call it a treat! What is the best thing to do?

As the title suggests, there is an 80/20 rule.  Which means that for 20% of the time you can be more relaxed in your healthy eating.  This will not throw your diet off completely.  Although you really should exercise some caution when you are using your 20% and use common sense.  
Generally though,  using your 20% will be a sure way of keeping you motivated and on track without doing damage to your hard work on the 80% times.

Have you tried this approach?  Let me know in the comments below what has worked for you in the past.

Please feel free to subscribe to the list to get more updates like this!

Wishing you the best of health

Louise