We are delighted to introduce you to our Founder, Abi Begho.  In the video below Abi tells us a bit about herself, our work and what inspired her to start The Lake Foundation.

Adopting a healthy lifestyle is hard and one of the biggest hurdles many of us face when attempting to turn to a healthy diet is…sugar (cane sugar). We love sugar, we put it in and on almost everything and of course there is hidden sugar, the sugar that has been unnecessarily added to many processed foods.

After years of being conditioned to depend on sugar many of us are addicted and this sugar addiction has created a number of health challenges with our love of sugar being linked to type two diabetes, cardiovascular disease (heart disease and stroke) and obesity.

Reducing our sugar consumption is tough and many of us have tried various strategies. These have included switching from white sugar to brown sugar because we mistakenly think it is healthier but white sugar and brown sugar are very similar, i.e. they provide no nutritional benefit, consist of sucrose and fructose and provide us with quick energy. White sugar is slightly more processed because it is bleached to achieve its colour and brown sugar contains molassess but the bottom line is that high consumption of both brown and white sugar is bad for our health and should be avoided.

Other strategies many employ to reduce their sugar intake include switching to other sweeteners like honey and synthetic sweeteners but again these are not ideal.  Honey is better than cane sugar in that it contains small amounts of vitamin C, vitamin B, calcium and iron (I stress SMALL amounts), it has a lower glycaemic (50 versus 64-68 for brown/white sugar) and so it doesn’t raise our blood glucose levels as fast as cane sugar and research has suggested it is good for our immune system . But, honey is 70-80% sugar and contains more calories than cane sugar so it has to be consumed in moderation. The advice from many nutritionists is that if you don’t have any underlying health issues (diabetes or any issues with your metabolism) then having honey occasionally is ok.

Synthetic sweeteners are also used by many as they have no calories and don’t adversely affect blood glucose levels. Whilst most synthetic sweeteners have been deemed safe by food regulators there are mixed feelings about these products. Early studies linked some sweeteners to cancer and other health conditions but these studies have been refuted with organisations like the National Cancer Institute and the Cancer Research UK stating that they pose no danger to our health. With this in mind use of these products is down to personal preference and how confident an individual feels about the long-term effects of synthetic sweeteners. It is a good option from the point of view of blood sugar levels and calories but if you’d  prefer to stay away from highly processed products then this is not a good option.

There are some newish natural alternatives such as agave nectar and stevia. Agave nectar  has a much lower glycaemic  index (GI is 15) than both white and brown sugar (GI ranges from 65-68) as well as honey (GI is 50), but there are concerns over its high fructose levels which can lead to insulin resistance, diabetes, obesity and metabolic syndrome. Therefore there are questions over whether the benefits of its low glycaemic index are cancelled out by its high fructose content (70-90%) so it’s probably best to avoid agave nectar altogether because as Dr Johnny Bowden has said “Agave syrup is basically high-fructose corn syrup masquerading as health food”

Stevia-based sweeteners are made from the stevia plant and contain no calories. Their sweetness comes from the presence of glycosides which are not stored in our body and are rapidly excreted.  Stevia-based sweeteners have a glycaemic index of zero and hence have no negative effectives on our blood sugar or insulin nor does it contribute to obesity and cardiovascular disease with researchers  writing in The Open Obesity Journal  that “Stevia leaf extract and their constituent phytonutrients promote caloric balance and can be beneficial components of a  healthy dietary lifestyle”

The main components of stevia-based sweeteners are stevia glycosides and safety tests have shown that they pose no harm to our health. There have been concerns over the long-term effects of whole-leaf and crude extracts of stevia, the misrepresentation of stevia-like products which are not stevia but highly refined stevia preparations and the additives that are included in some stevia products.  The recommendation is: if you are going to try stevia  do your research and opt for a high quality product.  A high quality stevia-based product appears to be one of the healthiest alternatives to sugar.

Finally, we’d like to talk about coconut palm sugar which we were recently introduced to at a health and wellbeing day by Mother Nature. Coconut palm sugar is made from the sap of the coconut. It is healthier than cane sugar due to its significantly lower glycaemic index (GI is 35 versus 64-68 for white/brown sugar). It also contains small amounts of fibre, zinc, iron, potassium, calcium, magnesium, vitamin C, short chain fatty acids, phytonutrients and antioxidants, but it does contain fairly high levels of fructose (35-45%). As mentioned previously high levels of fructose have been linked to diabetes, insulin resistance, obesity and metabolic syndrome. The levels of fructose in coconut palm sugar are lower than white sugar (50%) and agave nectar (70-90%) so in this respect it is also better than white sugar and agave nectar. If you need a sweetener and you’d like to have it from a source that is unprocessed then this is a better and  healthier alternative than white cane sugar, but should be consumed moderately due to its fructose content.

The take home message is we should really be avoiding sugar no matter what form it comes in due to its negative effect on our health. If we do need to sweeten the food we eat then a healthy option is using high quality stevia. Alternatively, if you have no underlying blood sugar problem you could occasionally opt for a good quality honey or coconut palm sugar.

The Lake Foundation is pleased to announce that we have a new corporate partner. Evolution Media Lab has selected The Lake Foundation as its charity of the year and will be donating 10% of its profit to our organisation.

We would like to say a big thank to Evolution Media Lab for their support and look forward to working with them in the coming year.

Friday 20^th March is International Day of Happiness, a day that focuses on getting everyone to consider what we need to do to be genuinely happy and thus improve our mental wellbeing and live a fulfilling life.

The Lake Foundation believes this is an extremely important day which should be a time to reflect on the positive in a very negative climate.  We need to make it a priority to improve our mental wellbeing by finding a way and a reason to be happy. Research has shown that happiness and health are connected with happiness having a positive effect on our health. Additionally people with a positive (happy) outlook on life have a better outcome when  ill. So, there are health benefits to being happy.

What can we do to live a happier life? Based on research, Action for Happiness has put together ten things we can all do to live a happier and more fulfilling life and this is summarised in the diagram below.

This International Day of Happiness let’s commit to living a happy life by attempting follow these ten tips. A great way to start this is by getting involved in the #GlobalHappyParty. The UN Foundation and Pharrell Williams are inviting everyone to their Happy Party. We’ve taken part and you can too!  Let’s get the whole world dancing for a happy planet!

We are absolutely delighted to be featured in the debut edition of AFRO RETRO  magazine, which was officially published on 14th March 2015.

AFRO RETRO magazine aims to celebrate Afro-Caribbean and African culture with a view to enlightening future generations about the richness of African culture and history.  The magazine focuses primarily on showcasing black history, Afrocentric businesses and African writers, fashion designers and chefs.

We are honoured to be featured in the first edition of this excellent magazine and would like to thank the editors for giving us this opportunity to raise awareness of our work.

You can read the first edition of below.

The Lake Foundation is happy to hear that Public Health England has published its new framework to build mental health skills in a range of professions working with children and adults in all areas of life including work settings.

With mental health conditions being a particular challenge for the black community we hope that this framework will go some way towards addressing some of the inequalities that exist in the mental health field where the black community are more likely to be diagnosed with a mental health condition and less likely to report being satisfied with the care that they receive.

Public Health England’s framework aims to promote good mental health, prevent mental illness and suicide and improve the quality of life of people living with mental illness.

We look forward to the framework’s implementation and hope that this will truly make a difference in our community.

For more information you can download a copy of the executive summary of the framework below or visit Public Health England’swebsite

On Saturday, we attended the Croydon Tabernacle Women’s Breakfast to deliver presentations on both breast cancer and fibroids.  This was a lovely event that brought together the women of Croydon Tabernacle to discuss important health issues over a delicious breakfast.

We were given a one hour slot to discuss two important health conditions. We started with breast cancer and gave attendees some background discussing what is cancer, what happens in breast cancer, the different types of breast cancer, stages, diagnosis, treatment, risk factors and current statistics.  Once we had set the scene with a bit of background we then provided attendees with information on what they can do to prevent breast cancer or ensure an early diagnosis. Here we focused on three areas, understanding the signs and symptoms, taking part in breast cancer screening and adopting a healthy lifestyle.  We finished the breast cancer session with a lively Q&A and then moved on to fibroids.

Wonderful programme. Very educational, informative and interesting. I learnt a lot – Bosola

For our fibroids session we covered what are fibroids, the types of fibroids, causes, risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, facts and figures and prevention. It was stressed that fibroids are not usually life-threatening but can be very painful and affect fertility. We discussed the importance of understanding the risk factors and symptoms and that if they have symptoms they should visit their doctor. Information was also given on the lifestyle changes that women can make to reduce their risk of developing fibroids – being more active and eating a healthy diet.  Furthermore we noted that fibroids are more common in black women and when black women develop fibroids they tend to be more aggressive, bigger, multiple and develop at a younger age than their white counterparts.

We finished off our presentation by stressing that if women are diagnosed with fibroids they should ensure they have enough information to make an informed decision about how they’d like to manage and treat their fibroids. Women were advised to speak to a gynaecologist who specialises in fibroids to get the best possible advice.

After our session, Pastor Yinka Ayeni gave an excellent, inspiring presentation on self-esteem.

We thoroughly enjoyed this event and would like to thank Croydon Tabernacle for inviting us to attend and for their very warm welcome.

March is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month in the UK giving us the perfect opportunity to focus some attention on a disease that gets very little attention. In this week’s blog we would like to share the key things that you need to know about ovarian cancer.

Ovarian Cancer is the 5^th most common cancer in the UK with 7,000 new cases diagnosed each year.  Unfortunately it is the biggest gynaecological killer with just under 4,300 women dying from ovarian cancer each year. Survival rates are pretty poor with only 43% of women surviving  beyond 5 years of their diagnosis compared to 85% of breast cancer patients.  There are many reasons why survival rates are so much lower than breast cancer.  It is a complex cancer which is extremely hard to diagnosis because the symptoms are vague and non-specific with over 50% of patients in the UK being diagnosed at a late stage making treatment challenging.

We can improve these bleak statistics by empowering women with the information that they need to take quick action. Increased awareness leads to early diagnosis and early diagnosis saves lives; over 90% of women diagnosed early will survive beyond 5 years compared to only 4-19% diagnosed at a late stage.

Being aware of the symptoms and acting quickly if you think you have them is thus very important.

There are four main symptoms of ovarian cancer and they are
· Persistent pelvic/tummy pain
· Persistent bloating
· Difficulty eating
· Needing to urinate more frequently

If you have any of these symptoms for more than 12 days per month, then visit your GP. It’s a good idea to make a diary of your symptoms in the days and weeks leading up to your appointment so you can have a really good discussion with your GP. The charity Ovarian Cancer Action provides an easy to use symptoms diary. Download this, complete it and take it with you to your appointment.

It’s also important to be aware of what increases your risk of developing ovarian cancer.  The two main factors that increase a person’s risk of developing ovarian cancer are: age and family history.

Age: As we get older our risk of developing ovarian cancer increases. The majority of ovarian cancers (80%) occur in women who are aged 50 and over. If you are in this age group it’s important that you are aware of the symptoms and visit your doctor promptly if you have any concerns.

Family History/Genetics:  10-20% of ovarian cancers are hereditary. If you have two or more family members who have been affected by breast and/or ovarian cancer then you might be at a higher risk of developing ovarian cancer.

If you have a family history of ovarian cancer, visit your doctor to discuss your risk and for more information about hereditary cancer please read our recent blog post.

Between the 2nd and 13th of March 2015, UK Active, Public Health England (PHE), the County Sports Partnership Network (CSP Network) and the Local Government Association (LGA) will deliver the second round of the Moving More Living More Physical Activity Fora.

Physical inactivity is the fourth largest cause of disease and disability in the UK and action is required by a collaboration of partners at a national and local level in order to address the problem and create a more active nation.

The Moving More, Living More regional physical activity fora were established to provide national insight into what can be done to tackle physical inactivity from a national level, as well as fostering conversations and producing partnerships at a local level to make an impact on local outcomes.

The second round of Moving More, Living More regional fora will present the most recent developments in the national movement for a more active England  and develop tangible actions that will make a difference at a local level.

The events will move the local agenda for physical activity forward and drive down into the details of how we can begin to tackle inactivity and create happier, healthier societies.

They will explore the evidence behind physical activity interventions from across the country – as well as giving a more localised focus to individual initiatives – and begin to assess the next steps for how local partners can work together collaboratively to combat physical inactivity.

Events news you:

Taunton: Monday 2nd March
Somerset County Cricket Club,
The County Ground,
Taunton,
Somerset,
TA1 1JT
South East Region: Wednesday 4th March
Etc venues (The Hatton),
51-53 Hatton Garden,
London,
EC1N 8HN
London: Friday 6th March
The Grange St Pauls,
10 Godliman Street,
London,
EC4V 5AJ
Blackpool: Wednesday 11th March
Winter Gardens
97 Church Street,
Blackpool,
Lancashire,
FY1 1HL
Birmingham: Friday 13th March
The Studio,
7 Cannon Street,
Birmingham,
B2 5EP
For more information and to book a place please visit  UK Active’s website. The Lake Foundation will be attending and we hope to see you there!

Wednesday was our last session of AfroFit for the season. We had a great six sessions and now it’s off to evaluate it and see how we can make it bigger and better for, hopefully, the summer season.

Wednesday’s session was great fun and our instructor Eunice focused mainly on muscle toning. After  our warm-up Eunice brought out some resistance bands which we made use of for a series of strength training exercises. Resistance bands are not something that I have used before when exercising and it was a great addition to the workout. This very simple piece of equipment was very versatile and allowed us to perform a variety of exercises that worked our entire body. They are in effect a simple and cheap way to strength train without going to the gym or using weights

Our series of exercises included band squats, band lunges, leg lifts, biceps curls and much much more. This was a painful yet effective workout.

After the core part of the workout we cooled down and then went on to my favourite part, relaxation. Lovely!

We’ll be back with AfroFit later in the year and would like to say a big thank you to everyone who attended and a very big thank you to Eunice Adu-Appiah for leading a great set of sessions.

See you next time!