We’re delighted to have our guest blogger, Stacey Mensah, back for more musings on healthy living. This week Stacey asks the question: ‘Should we really be eating meat?’

Should we really be eating meat? A question that I have personally battled with, time and time again. I first became interested in vegetarianism a few years ago when I was simply trying to shed a few extra pounds. My logic was that if I cut out all of these meat products then that would automatically mean that I would lose weight. I was wrong. I chose to replace those foods with unhealthy substitutes as well as stocking up on carbs but that’s a different blog post entirely. I then visited veganism a few months ago as I began watching documentaries and reading up on the composition and nutrition of particular food groups. Surprisingly till this day I still eat meat. However, I have seen a great decline in my consumption and I would go as far as to label myself a pescatarian. I would not be surprised if I became a vegan in the next 2 years or even the next six months.

Many groups have stipulated that the rise in veganism, especially in teenagers is due to Instagram and social media. Now as a millennial I see that as incredibly reductionist and also quite lazy. It’s so simple to hold social media responsible especially if it is feeding into the already negative rhetoric around the millennial and the obsession around social media. Instagram does play a role but so does YouTube, documentaries and books. Various platforms have played different roles for different people.

A 2015 World Health Organisation study found that red meat was classified as Group 2A and could probably be carcinogenic; meaning that red meat has the potential to cause cancer. The classification however is based on limited evidence. Processed meat however, i.e. bacon, salami, hot dogs etc has been classified as Group 1. This means that there is sufficient evidence that highlights the connection between processed meat and cancer.  This disease is really one of many that has been linked to eating meat and animal products. One of the major risks associated with the consumption of meat is the fact that they carry diseases and that factory farmed animals may contain toxic chemicals.

I’m sure we all managed to hear about the Dutch egg scandal that saw over 500,000 eggs contaminationed with the insecticide called Fipronil. With scandals like this in the media every so often many have decided to take their health into their own hands because for the most part you don’t know what you’re putting into your own body. With constant streams of information like this coming to light, people are asking themselves the question: Is it worth it ? And of course, many have decided against it.

For those that have continued to eat meat this could be for a variety of reasons including taste, lifestyle, training, the list is endless. Choosing to not eat meat is a largely health conscious decision but for others it could possibly be cultural, medical or simply all that they have ever known. This debate is definitely not black and white. With some groups confessing that meat eaters are happier and the other group advocating the rights of animals, just like any other important debate you should educate yourself. The controversy around eating meat requires the very same. No one is going to hold a gun to your head because you decided to opt for the steak but you should at least be aware of what consuming meat products is doing to your system.

Please note that this event has been rescheduled and will now be held on 26th November as a one-day event. For more information visit EventBrite

After their successful 12-week, pop-up wellness hub last year, which was a health and fitness club, spa lounge and workshop zone all rolled into one, Noire Wellness will be hosting a fibroids wellness hub. This will run over several weeks starting from 24th September and will cover a range of topics including diet, exercise and the emotional impact of fibroids.

The wellness hub aims to empower women affected by fibroids giving them the information and practical support that they need to improve their well-being.

Noire Wellness is an organisation that aims to improve the health and wellness of the African and African-Caribbean community through the offer of local wellness hubs, community consultancy services and a growing wellness business network.

You can find out more about Noire Wellness by following them on Twitter, liking their page on Facebook or signing up to their newsletter here

More information about the fibroids wellness hub will be available soon, but if you have any questions please email info@noirewellness.com

Smashed Screen Films are to produce and direct a touching new short drama exploring love, identity and faith from a black woman’s point of view.  The story will be brought to life through three women of colour, Maia Waktins (writer), Chloe Tai (director) and Dominique Toussaint (producer), alongside co-producer and executive producer Nathan Adabadze.

Alpha and Omega will be set amongst the thriving multicultural epicentre of South London and will follow the story of Imani, a budding Rastafarian artist and health-stall owner, who upon learning of her diagnosis of breast cancer begins to question her faith, her relationship with her partner and what it really means to be a Rasta.

The film explores the conflict Imani has when she is forced to consider man-made treatments which goes against her faith and she has to evaluate her holistic lifestyle. This is a universal story about doubting your strength, facing your fears and the importance of relationships.

The film is inspired by writer Maia Watkin’s loss of her Godfather to cancer last year and coming from a Rastafarian family herself, the script is based on a world she knows very well, giving her great insight to not only bring this story to life but play the lead role with authenticity. Ms Watkin’s credits include starring in BBC’s East Enders and Channel 4’s The Educatoror as well as being a 3-time winner of the Monologue Slam UK.

Through this film Ms Watkins hopes to raise awareness of cancer and its devastating consequences, open up dialogue about how people cope with cancer and promote a better representation and understanding of Rastafari culture.

“I wrote this film first and foremost because I wanted to see untold stories on screen.      Having never seen Rastafari culture explored or represented in a positive light before, and coming from a Rastafari background myself, I wanted to portray a journey of consciousness and understanding of self through film, that is so rooted in the culture.”  Maia Watkins

The Lake Foundation is delighted to see this much-needed film produced. We believe it will provide an  engaging and effective way to raise awareness of cancer within the black community, addressing not only the myths but enabling discussion around some of the challenges that black women face when diagnosed with this serious condition.

You can help bring this story to life by supporting their IndieGogo fundraising campaign. You can also support them with in-kind donations or help promote the great work they’re doing. You can find out more about their work on Facebook and Instagram

“Alpha & Omega is a refreshing new perspective on the universal experience of fear, doubt and acceptance. Told through the eyes of a strong independent black woman, so rarely seen in film, but also entrenched in the Rasta culture barely explored in media, we have to make this film!”

In this week’s blog post Stacey Mensah discusses the misleading marketing strategies that influence our decisions about the food we eat using milk as an example.

I’m sure that we can all agree that knowledge is power. I would like to take it one step further however, and suggest that applied knowledge is power, especially when dealing with the various amounts of marketing strategies that tell you what you should be feeding your family and why. Now as this is a safe space so let me share something with you all. I don’t know why but for some reason my millennial brain is attracted to the most outrageous marketing gimmicks. I’ve spent ludicrous amounts on various types of water and that was only because one was in a can, the other was in a box and the last one was black. I mean really, Stacey? Four years of university education and this is what you’re contemplating. But thankfully over the years I’ve grown a lot smarter, and I think society has in general. We are more aware now than ever of what we are putting in our bodies.

An example of a misleading marketing strategy would be that of dairy. Growing up my mum would constantly rattle on about drinking more milk so that I could have strong bones when I grow up. Every child in the playground would be sipping on their milk cartons, or perhaps two, if they had managed to barter with a fellow classmate, everyone was quite blissfully unaware. Fast forward a couple of years and the consumption of milk has dramatically declined. This can be seen in the sale of milk as sales have declined by £240 million. There are now dairy alternatives that many more of us are now opting for. When looking back I realise the power of advertising because I now recall the children’s adverts promoting milk as the key to calcium to the point where many of us, with myself include,  thought that you could only get calcium from milk and boy was I wrong! Did you know that there is more calcium in Kale than there is in milk ? Now that’s something…

As a society I believe we are getting more educated about what we are putting in our bodies. The rise of alternative lifestyles including the vegan diet and the paleo diet shows that people are no longer willing to consume so much processed foods due to the way it makes them feel afterwards and because of ethical reasons. I, myself, can no longer consume dairy as I have a hard time breathing once it has been consumed. It’s all well when you say I’m going to have a cheat day but if you consistently keep eating what doesn’t agree with you, sooner or later you will pay the price. Now this is such a hypocritical statement coming from me as I’m known to be quite indulgent – but let’s roll with it. In ‘theory’ this is what we all should be doing.

A recent documentary called, ‘What The Health’, has got everyone talking and has even converted a few people to veganism. This is a documentary in which they lay bare the secrets of the food industry. This is a must watch for anyone who cares about  what they are putting into their body. I personally found it incredibly insightful and wouldn’t rule the vegan lifestyle out completely. Since watching the documentary I have seen a reduction in my consumption of meat which has been quite surprising to be honest.

With something as complex as diet there is no singular answer. My one piece of advice is this: read, watch, listen. Read articles and studies on the affects of animal products or any foods you want to consume. Just make sure that it’s contributing to your inner health and not simply satisfying a temporary craving. Watch – YouTube is your best friend when it comes to this. You have people across the world who are sharing their stories with you. They are doing the hard work so you don’t have too. And finally, listen to professionals and always seek more than one opinion.

Feel free to comment down below and let us know what you think about the documentary we mentioned…

On 9^th July, we had a great time at the third annual Croydon Inter-Faith Bike Ride organised by  Faiths Together in Croydon. This is the only bike ride of its kind that brings different faiths and cultures together.

This was a well-attended event which attracted a diversity of people – old, young, different ethnicities and of course people from various religious backgrounds.

 We started the ride at Croydon Arena where about 20 of us set off for the Box Park in central Croydon where we were met by 15 more riders, and were treated to a free drink and snack (yay!).

Whilst at the Box Park we were welcomed by the Leader of the Council, Tony Newman, and Councillor Hamida Ali who spoke about the importance of this event in bringing people together to create a more positive atmosphere to combat some of the negative events of the past few months.

After our little break at the Box Park we cycled to the Croydon Gurdwara where we received a very friendly welcome and were invited inside for refreshments and a short interesting talk about the Sikh faith. We then carried on with our ride cycling through Addiscombe and made our next stop at the Croydon Synagogue. Here we were once again warmly welcomed with refreshments and then were delighted to hear from the synagogue’s rabbi who told us about the history of the Jewish community in Croydon, provided an overview of the Jewish faith and took questions.

The ride ended with the group making their way from the synagogue to Park Hill for a picnic. Sadly we missed the picnic, but have since heard a great time was had by all who attended with more people joining the group including the Mayor of Croydon.

We really enjoyed the interfaith bike ride. This was a perfect opportunity for the community to get active, come together and learn about each other’s faith and culture. We’d like to say a big thank you to Faiths Together in Croydon and Croydon Council for organising this event. We’d also like to say a big thank you to the Croydon Gurdwara and Croydon Synagogue for their warm welcome.

Look out for next year’s event on the Faiths Together in Croydon’s website. We may see you next time!

Croydon CCG in collaboration with Croydon Council are hosting a Healthy Weight workshop on July 26^th at 11am to 1pm.

It is being held at Bernard Weatherill  House on the Ground Floor in the Community Space rooms with lunch and refreshments provided.

The aim of the workshop is to raise awareness about healthy weight topics within Croydon and to invite stakeholders, patients, clinicians and front line staff, to talk about how we can build the best services for Croydon residents.

The workshop aims to cover the following topics;

• Healthy weight within Croydon
• Identify priorities to promote healthy weight
• Raising awareness of healthy weight initiatives within the community
• Gain feedback from Patients and Clinicians on current services and how we can improve them

You can book a place on EventBrite or by emailing mark.darocha@croydonccg.nhs.uk

In this week’s blog our guest blogger, Stacey Mensah, who is a freelance journalists, asks the question: ‘Is the constant exposure to negative news affecting our wellbeing?’

I’ve always wondered how my profession affects my health. Is the constant exposure to news, be it good, or bad, affecting me? How often do you watch the news? I’m guessing you watch it in one of five ways. One – you watch it before the school run, trying to become as informed as possible before you hit those school gates; Two – You listen or watch the hourly updates; Three – You find yourself consuming as much information as possible throughout the day; Four – You hope the talk around the lunch table will fill you in on all of the latest details. Or, possibly, you don’t watch the news.

Due to my profession I have to consume a lot of news. And according to some people, because of this, I should be under a desk somewhere, pulling my hair out and shivering in a nocturnal state. Ok, I must admit that’s a bit of an exaggeration on my part but there is truth to this and of course I have a study on hand to back this up. The lovely psychologists over at the University of Sussex found that the less negative news participants heard, the better off their health was. Those that were exposed to the negativity spent more time talking about their worries and persistently thinking about them. It also proved to exacerbate their own personal worries. With every day worries climbing upon the mountain that is life, it’s all too easy to drown yourself in ‘negative news’.

As an individual who has a keen interest in politics I beg to differ with this point of view. I accept that it’s plausible, but I still disagree. Being able to tune out of ‘negative news’ is a luxury. It’s not Western however, as the catastrophic events of the last few months will go to show. The idea of being able to ‘pick n mix’ what we can tune into is an interesting one, as we’re selectively choosing which bits of news – or as I like to call it, someone else’s reality – we can tune into. And of course, yes, it is sad. Seeing events that mark the end of someone’s life or that of a society’s way of life, is hard. Let’s accept that. But choosing to completely stop is simply doing yourself a disservice. Watching the news allows you to discover new things in the world and it also challenges the way you think.

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you will know that one of the main things we look to promote is moderation. That glass of wine is not going to hurt you, it’s only once we push towards the barrel do we start to feel it. The same should be said for the news. I mean you don’t want to be that person in the grocery aisle that doesn’t know who our prime minister is! Everyone is different and watching the news 24/7 works only for the few. Instead of ‘watching the news’ and all of the connotations that comes with it lets aim to just be aware.  Aware of what’s going on around us and if we have the power to change it.

As always we welcome your opinions. Comment down below.

See you next week.

The University of Northumbria would like to say a big thank you to everyone who took part in their survey. The survey is now closed and they are no longer collecting data.

Researchers from the Northumbria University are conducting a new piece of research that will investigate the advice that cancer patients are receiving about physical activity after their diagnosis. They will explore whether the advice given to patients is appropriate for them and their needs. The findings from this work will help inform the development of future interventions to try to optimise the nature of physical activity advice being given to people after a cancer diagnosis.

If you have experience with cancer, you can take part in this important piece of work by completing an online survey. The survey asks participants about their current health, their physical activity habits and about any physical activity advice they received. Most of the questions have multiple choice answers with only a couple asking for further details.

This research has been approved by an institutional research ethics committee. Participation in the survey is completely voluntary, and all answers people provide will be kept anonymous and so no one can be identified from any information they provide.

You can complete the survey here: https://goo.gl/forms/GaAK81TJVu877Tj93  and if you have any questions or would like any additional information please email us and we will contact the researchers on your behalf.

In the UK, it is estimated that 10% of people suffer from claustrophobia (including our founder) which is a type of anxiety disorder where a person has a fear of confined spaces – such as lifts, tunnels, underground trains, small rooms etc. It tends to develop as a result of a one-off trauma and causes people  a great deal of anxiety when they are confronted with confined spaces, or even the thought of a confined space.

This type of phobia, like many phobias, seems to go largely unnoticed, but this week London Underground recognised the plight of many claustrophobia  sufferers by creating a new London Underground Map for passengers with this condition.

The new map highlights the locations where the underground trains are in a tunnel and pinpoints routes that can be taken to avoid long stretches of tunnels. Although the London Underground train system is called “The Underground,”  55% of this transport system is tunnel-free and not underground. This means that claustrophobia sufferers who have avoided the Underground completely can now use the new map to plan a route that is tunnel free.

The UK charity, Anxiety UK, welcomed this move by London Underground saying:

“For those with anxiety conditions such as panic attacks and claustrophobia, we know that travel by the underground can be problematic and challenging. This new map is an excellent resource for those wishing to avoid journeys where there are tunnels; serving as a great pre-journey planning aid and increasing access to public transport. I sincerely hope that the map will encourage those with claustrophobia and/or panic attacks who have previously avoided this form of public transport out of fear, to re-consider their use of the Tube.”  

You can download this new map here: https://tfl.gov.uk/tubetunnelmap and if you have claustrophobia or any other anxiety disorder visit Anxiety UK’s website for more information and support.

In this week’s blog we’re delighted to hear from Veronika Lazarenko, the Founder of Löyn Toys. Veronika discusses sensory play and its wellbeing advantages for children.

From birth through to early childhood, children use their senses to explore and try to make sense of the world around them. They do this by touching, tasting, smelling, seeing, moving and hearing.

Sensory activities facilitate exploration and naturally encourage children to use scientific processes while they play, create, investigate and explore. The sensory activities allow children to refine their thresholds for different sensory information helping their brain to create stronger connections to process and respond to sensory information.

What is sensory play?

Sensory play is simply play that encourages children to use one or more of the senses.  Often called “messy play,” sensory play experiences focus on stimulating children’s senses of sight, sound, smell, touch, taste, balance, and movement.

The sensory integration theory focuses on the idea that through changing your experiences you can change the way your brain works. So, through sensory experiences, a person can gain a better ability to learn and function. Therapists practice sensory therapy through the use of play, designed to change a child’s brain when reacting to touch, sight, texture and sound.

For example, initially a child may find it difficult to play appropriately with a peer when there are other things going on in the environment with conflicting noise. However, through sensory play exploring sounds and tasks a child learns to adapt to being able to block out the noise which is not important and focus on the play which is occurring with their peer.

Research tells us…

• Young children rely on sensory input to learn about their environment.
• Sensory play helps build neural connections that support thought, learning, and creativity.
• Sensory play supports language development, cognitive growth, fine/gross motor skills, problem solving/reasoning, and social interaction.
• Children’s exposure to sensory play opportunities is declining.

Toys such as stress balls can help a child develop their senses as this helps them practice gripping their hands, along with catching and throwing the ball which adds motor skills and coordination, which requires an increase of concentration and attention. Sensory socks or eggs are also a useful form of sensory therapy as this gives the child a space to become aware of their surroundings, gives them alone time for relaxation and most importantly helps them grow their imagination.

So in short, the answer to your question is yes, sensory play is crucial for your child’s development. And since children today are no longer given ample opportunities for naturally occurring sensory play, it is up to us as parents to be sure their needs are met.

For more information on products which help with sensory deprivation visit Löyn Toys.

Veronika Lazarenko,

Founder of Löyn Toys

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