We had a whopping 28 participants for this month’s Zoom meeting with some impressive Halloween head attire and some magnificent make up from Nichola S.  

 

For our November meeting we were joined by Florence Wylde Nicholas, a registered nutritional therapist. Florence’s very interesting and informative talk centred on how to boost our immune system through the foods we eat.  Florence runs a private clinic at the crypt and has another practice with an advanced disease focus.

Concentrating on immune health we found out that this is a very complex system with gut bacteria being hugely beneficial to our own good health.  Over 70% of our immune system is located in the gut, and gut inflammation can cause symptoms such as digestive complaints, fatigue, insomnia, brain fog, depression and anxiety, skin conditions, hormone imbalances and autoimmune flare ups. Our gut is a very efficient environment but our modern way of life can cause it significant damage, such as eating too quickly, alcohol and drug use, stress, antibiotics, painkillers, poor diet and dieting, poor sleep and sugar. So, suggested ways to nourish your gut are to chew food 25 times each mouthful, aim for 12 different fruit and vegetables per day, listen to your gut, does anything you eat cause you to feel uncomfortable or bloated, time restricted eating and oral hygiene.

Food for your microbes include polyphenols (berries, pomegranate juice, olives and olive oil, herbs and spices), prebiotics (root vegetables, beans, pulses, lentils, whole grains, artichoke, leeks, onions, garlic, apples and pears), probiotics (kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir, kombucha, miso, apple cider vinegar, kvass.)

Stress switches off immune activity and alters gut function, impacting digestion. Studies show that people who don’t sleep enough are more likely to get ill after being exposed to a virus, such as the common cold and good sleep helps repair your body; suggestions for reducing stress include stop looking at screens 2 hours before bed; seek nurturing relationships, daily movement exercises, yoga,  mindfulness.  Dietary support for stress includes a diet rich in fresh fruit, vegetables and whole grains, no processed sugar, minimise caffeine, fuel the brain with omega-3 (walnuts, oily fish, hemp seeds, avocado, extra virgin oil.) Calming nutrients include lemon balm, oily fish, magnesium (widely found in powder form and bath salts) and adequate protein; protein, fresh and unprocessed, is made from amino acids which are the building blocks for everything including neurotransmitters, hormones and immune cells.

Florence ended her very informative talk with the suggestion of supporting a small food group of 4 or 5 people with shared goals or similarities in their health, to better health.  If anyone is interested in being part  of the small nutrition group please do get in contact with us at the usual email debeauvoirwi@gmail.com
Florence has kindly sent over lots of follow up information:Podcasts
– Feel Better Live More: Episode 20: IBS, Stress and Gut Health- 

-Feel Better Live More: Episode 33 – The gut-brain connection with Miguel
– Feel Better Live More: Episode 63: Gut Health and Probiotics 
Books: 
Fibre Fuelled – Dr Will Bulsiewicz (gut health science and recipes)Dr Chatterjee – several wellbeing books, all fabThe Doctors Kitchen (recipes) 
Plus a tapping app called The Tapping Solution.

Book Group

Book group will also continue to meet on Zoom next meeting is on Tuesday 17^thNovember,  and we are reading A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende

 

The De Beauvoir Christmas Shopping Trail

 

 

 

 

 

 

In spite of everything that’s going on we want to bring some Christmas cheer to our local community in a socially distanced, responsible way.  Together with other local small businesses and crafts people, we are getting together to organise a community shopping day with a trail of festive street stalls around De Beauvoir, selling crafts, foods, gifts and more from our gardens and drives. 

As we are now back in lockdown this has been postponed to the first weekend in December, watch this space for further information

We are planning our usual Christmas produce, jams, chutneys, pickles plus craft items.  If you would like to make something for the De Beauvoir WI table do let us know. We have jars for jams and chutneys and will reimburse for expenses, such as pickle ingredients or craft supplies

If you are a local business or crafts person and would like to get involved and join the trail email us at debeauvoirwi@gmail.com

 

 

Solace Women’s Aid

We have been in touch with Solace and they hope to be in a position to accept physical donations towards the end of the year.

However, in the meantime, we could support the women and children living in their refuges by buying gift cards (maximum spend £20) which would enable them to buy what they needed.  With a gift card they can choose items for themselves, in itself an empowering act if you have been in a controlling relationship.  If you would like to donate a gift card to Solace then we are setting up a collection point (email in for details) and then we can send a package of gift cards off to Solace.