Author: eattypelive
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A prescription of sea air
“Why can’t I find a doctor who will prescribe ‘sea air’ for my nerves so l can spend a summer in a picturesque costal town in England ‘for my health’ only to be caught up in a local scandal and forced to solve a murder???” That tweet made me actually laugh out loud. And it…
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Vegetable oils: a food industry wet dream
Looking back at my childhood, there are a great many things I am thankful for. From running barefoot in the grass and climbing tress, to carting my baby sister around on my hip and dressing my little brother up like a pixie. And one thing I’m very thankful for is butter. My parents aren’t always…
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Investigating ‘science’
It’s sort of the hot thing to bandy about words like ‘experts’, ‘science’ and ‘evidence’ right now. Throwing one of those words in your sentence is meant to make people take you seriously. Citing a study has become the holy jackhammer of “See? I know what I’m talking about!”. But research can be corrput, biased,…
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Chew your smoothies
“Don’t worry, you’ll be back to having your healthy smoothies in no time,” the midwife said to me. Say what now? I was pregnant with my first baby and throwing up several times a day. I had just told the midwife that sucking on Gingernut biscuits in the morning was helping a little bit. Apparently…
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The headache of electric lights
“Take a video of the light on your phone,” suggested my colleague, pointing up at the long fluorescent lamps that lit up the office. “A video? Why?” “I read that some lamps flicker. You can’t see it but if you take a video then watch the video on your phone you might be able to…
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No, I won’t weigh your daughter
“She just doesn’t understand that she can’t be like her friends. They all go out and get chocolate bars and junk food and I just need someone to make her understand that she’s not a normal teenager. Dancers can’t do those things.” The woman on the phone kept up her diatribe, hardly drawing breath. “I’d…
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Time to ditch daylight saving
As every parent knows, daylight saving is a bitch. The twice-yearly ritual of shifting the clocks is rife with sleep deprivation and bad moods. I have been rubbing my eyes blearily every morning this past week as my four-year-old adjusts back to standard time (I feel like he only recently got used to daylight saving…
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Outsmart food marketing: read your labels
“I eat that high protein Milo cereal stuff.” “Well I buy him Nutri-Grain because it’s got 4 health stars.” “I just use those porridge sachet things. They’re really low in fat.” And that’s just breakfast cereals. I’ve met countless clients who are incredibly misled by food marketing. And it’s amazing to watch their eyes widen…
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Breastfed babies can be fat… and perfectly healthy
I was invited to speak to my local group of Plunket nurses a few years back. I didn’t prepare anything specially for them, I simply rocked up and held a question-and-answer session. They were a fun bunch of ladies and I had a great time. But I left the session chewing my lip, worried about…
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Fitbit – friend or foe?
I was recently gifted a smartwatch. And the first thing I did with it was turn off all of the health tracking features. Seems a bit of a strange move, I know. Having something so fancy and expensive on my wrist but only using it to alert me to select calls and messages… Why not…