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IBS AWARENESS MONTH.

Amongst other things, April marks Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Awareness month. IBS is life-long condition, affecting 7-10% of the global population. Symptoms include diarrhoea, constipation, bloating and stomach cramps.

The aetiology of IBS is poorly understood and is still being researched. However, there have been some recent theories suggesting that the microbiome-gut-brain axis could be responsible. Signalling along this axis is controlled by fibres that run to and from the CNS structures and smooth muscle in the small intestine. These reciprocal fibres mean that there is a feedback loop between the gut and the brain.

Our gut microbiome is a crucial feature of our intestines too. This intestinal lining is where immune responses maintain gut integrity, protecting the lining and ensuring that the microbes can flourish and perform their symbiotic functions.

In IBS, there is a change/imbalance in the microbiome, known as dysbiosis. As the relationship between the gut and the brain is bidirectional, this dysbiosis could impact brain function in relation to the gut-brain axis, altering it. Dysbiosis can be caused by a number of factors, including stress, a high sugar diet, alcohol misuse, GI infections, antibiotic overuse or a high protein diet.

Whilst research on the gut microbiome is still ongoing, studies have noted a degree of dysbiosis in many IBS patients (it actually seems to be a key denominator in many gut disorders) and so there is most likely a correlation there. Scientists are currently working towards defining the mode by which these unhappy microbes could lead to IBS. Once some light has been shed on this, we might be one step closer to finding a cure for IBS.

In the meantime, make sure you are taking care of your own gut microbes. Have a look at our Food highlight for some inspiration!
REFs linked in bio.
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#medicalstudent #medicalcommunity#grassroots #lifestylemedicine#youthempwerment #nutrition#medstudent #nutrition#healthylifestyle #nurse #doctor#trainingdoctor #nutritioneducation#medic #health #culinarymedicine#NHS #Medicalnutrition #nutritank#healthcare #ibsawareness #diseaseprevention #gutbrainaxis ...

MEDITATION.

The word meditation comes from the Latin word ‘meditari’ meaning to engage in contemplation or reflection. The benefits of meditation have been known for some time now, but over the last 4 decades much more research has been conducted to figure out exactly how it helps our bodies, both mentally and physically.

Cardoso et al. came up with a great operational definition, they define any practice as meditation if it:

1. Utilizes a specific and clearly defined technique;
2. Involves muscle relaxation somewhere during the process;
3. Involves logic relaxation;
4. Is a self-induced state;
5. And it involves the use of a self-focus skill or “anchor” for attention.

Studies (referenced below) have shown that meditation improves learning ability, memory and attention span. Alongside this, it can also reduce blood pressure, menopause-related symptoms and anxiety.
With so much chaos and uncertainty around us right now due to COVID-19, practicing meditation could be really helpful for all of us as one way tackling any anxiousness or unease that we may have.

Meditation often means different things for different people and so whether you do it for 5mins or 30mins, whether you sit on the floor or a chair or whether do it first thing in the morning, at midday or at night it will be a valuable practice to incorporate in your day to day life.

There are some really helpful apps out there that you could use: @headspace @calm and @insight to name a few. @spotify also offers some great guided meditation too.
NHS workers check out the @beat_covid website for meditation and mindfulness.

REFS:
https://nccih.nih.gov/health/tips/meditation
https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/560/56017068007.pdf
Cardoso et al.
https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/202144/artigos_apoio_meditacao/Artigo_que_define_o_que__meditao.pdf
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#medicalstudent #medicalcommunity#grassroots #lifestylemedicine#youthempwerment #nutrition#medstudent #nutrition#healthylifestyle #nurse #doctor#trainingdoctor #nutritioneducation#medic #health #culinarymedicine#NHS #Medicalnutrition #nutritank#healthcare #activelifestyle#diseaseprevention #aromatherapy#lavender #togetherevenwhenapart ...

About 6% of the population suffer from generalised anxiety in England alone! And with the current pandemic, this feeling is all to familiar to many of us. As we’re trying to get through these unsettled times together, there might be something to give us that little helping hand…and that is AROMATHERAPY.

Aromatherapy, the external use of essential oils for the benefit of both physical & emotional well-being, has been used for 1000’s of years. These plant-based oils have been shown to have a anxiolytic effect, one common one is lavender essential oil. Multiple studies have shown the significant improvement in anxiety people have after using lavender oil aromatherapy. Not only is its effect mediated by reducing serotonin receptor activity but it also increases the parasympathetic nervous system. Furthermore, lavender essential oil has no sedative effect, therefore allowing you to carry on your day…just with a calmer mind.

So, after a long day of work, or if you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed, maybe burning some lavender essential oil might help you out!
References:
1. Mind - https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/statistics-and-facts-about-mental-health/how-common-are-mental-health-problems/
2. The Aroma Therapy Council - https://www.aromatherapycouncil.org.uk/treatments
3. Essential oil of lavender in anxiety disorders - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6007527/ . .
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#medicalstudent #medicalcommunity #grassroots #lifestylemedicine #youthempwerment #nutrition #medstudent #nutrition #healthylifestyle #nurse #doctor #trainingdoctor #nutritioneducation #medic #health #culinarymedicine #NHS #Medicalnutrition #nutritank #healthcare #activelifestyle #diseaseprevention #aromatherapy #lavender #togetherevenwhenapart ...

An innovative information hub of food, nutrition and lifestyle medicine. Promoting the need for greater nutrition and lifestyle medicine education within healthcare training and empowering members of the public to improve their health.
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Join the movement to bring greater nutrition and lifestyle medicine education nationwide.
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Link in bio 👆 any feedback appreciated 💓💓💓
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#medicalstudent #medicalcommunity #grassroots #lifestylemedicine #youthempwerment #nutrition #medstudent #nutrition #healthylifestyle #nurse #doctor #trainingdoctor #nutritioneducation #medic #health #culinarymedicine #NHS #Medicalnutrition #nutritank #healthcare #activelifestyle #diseaseprevention #website #online #hub #innovation #disrupt #nhs #2020 ...

Medical school is now complete and my final exams passed!
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All this has come into play much earlier than is usually the case due to our current situation.
Every day there seems to be a new unpredictable development for all of us and for many final year medical students, like me, it’s looking like we will be given an early medical qualification in April (official graduation + Dr title in July), and an opportunity to gain some form of work within the NHS 6 months earlier then our official training begins in August. .
Now back at home social distancing and waiting for the call up it’s a great time to start growing the veg!
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🌱 Trading in my medical books temporarily and starting to educate myself on all things permaculture and growing seasonal produce.
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I’ve been using my grandads old rotavator this weekend for the first time in 15 years, a friend recently fixed it back up from years of disuse. This petrol run machine helps to turn up the soil, aerating it which helps to improve soil drainage. This one’s a bit of a classic, it’s about 60 years old!
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🥬 The plan is to make a couple of raised beds, but in the meantime I’ve been making bed-rows in preparation to plant a variety of different vegetables and it’s a great time of the year to pick wild garlic too (but only if you are able to do this in the countryside 2+meter’s away from others!).
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☀️ If your not isolating, get out in the sun close to your house whilst keeping your distance from others (2m+), give it a go as the Vit D generated is 👍 for the immune system.
A big shout out to the Nutritank team who have done a fantastic job in creating a facebook group dedicated to collaborative work for healthcare students who want to help out in this situation (check out our bio for the link) + they are collating all of the NHS discounts on offer - check these out on our highlights AND get involved with our #togetherevenwhenapart, take a selfie with a thumbs up 👍 to show support!
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👉🏼 Been working hard on the final edits to our NEW WEBSITE which will launch tomorrow. We are really looking forward to sharing this with you all! Check out our saved highlights for more info ☝🏼 ...

Repost from @thesheiladillon using @RepostRegramApp - My ‘tell me more’ look ( also a bit daft looking too, but that’s just me) I was wearing it a lot at last Saturday’s Food, Nutrition & Health in Medical Education conference put on by @nutritank_official & @roymedsoc Extraordinary day. If every doctor & med student in UK could have access to that research, those speakers, our medical system would be transformed.

We just wanted to do a quick shout out to the wonderful @thesheiladillon who is supporting our campaign #togetherevenwhenapart 🤝 and has been a great source of support and inspiration here at Nutritank, especially for our most recent conference.

If you need some mental stimulation during this unsettling time, be sure to check out @thesheiladillon @bbcfoodprog podcasts which you can find on the BBC radio sounds 🎧 app.

Also, we are excited to announce that our new website 💻 will be up and running very soon! It will be a fantastic resource filled with lots of online courses and informative blogs that might be just what you need whilst working from home 🏠.All the talks from our recent conference were recorded, and will be accessible through our new website if you weren’t able to come to conference or want to rewatch them! .
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#medicalstudent #medicalcommunity #grassroots #lifestylemedicine #youthempwerment #nutrition #medstudent #nutrition #healthylifestyle #nurse #doctor #trainingdoctor #nutritioneducation #medic #health #culinarymedicine #NHS #Medicalnutrition #nutritank #healthcare #activelifestyle #diseaseprevention #togetherevenwhenapart ...

#TOGETHEREVENWHENAPART.

Nutritank is an innovative information hub for food nutrition and lifestyle medicine.

We are medical-student run. We have nutritank branches in +15 medical schools and as a result we have one HUGE community and network nationwide #nutritankfamily.

We feel very strongly about community wellbeing. All the nutritank branch leads have been chatting to each other in our WhatsApp group and comparing situations at each of our respective medical schools. On a whole excluding final year medical students, most medical students have had their studies suspended for at least 6 weeks.

It’s a very unsettling time for medical students and other students, but of course the wider public too. Our heart goes out to everyone and we want to thank our NHS immensely and to all the kind people in society who are helping out the elderly and the vulnerable. Please be aware of the harms of stock-piling food!

So what is Nutritank’s current aim during the covid-19 chaos?

We are inviting you all to join our quarin-team. If you stand with us for community wellbeing and want to share tips to stay sane and calm during this time.

Take a thumbs-up selfie, Tag NUTRITANK and use our hashtag #togetherwhenevenapart

Even with the social distancing we’re here for you all.

Love,
The Nutritank Team
So let’s start this off @jamieoliver @sheiladillon @doctorskitchen @thenutritional_advocate @thefoodmedic @drpeterfoley @salihacooks @medednutrition @ncimhealthcare @hellohealthyyou_ @thegutstuff @ottolenghi @thebodycoach @r_mcgregor
Let’s get a photo guys 👍
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#medicalstudent #medicalcommunity #grassroots #lifestylemedicine #youthempwerment #nutrition #medstudent #nutrition #healthylifestyle #nurse #doctor #trainingdoctor #nutritioneducation #medic #health #culinarymedicine #NHS #Medicalnutrition #nutritank #healthcare #activelifestyle #diseaseprevention #togetherevenwhenapart ...

At Nutritank we love our veggies and we love cooking from scratch and meal-prep🍳 🥦

Thanks to @piktfresh for sending this wonderful veggie box to our co-founder Ally 💫
So what did she make with the yummy ingredients ? 👩🏽‍🍳 ( see the checklist of what was sent)
Balsamic beetroot crisps as a snack for her days on placement at the hospital (1st vertical picture) 📸
Roasted cinnamon squash, which she paired with her sweet chilli tempeh from @tibatempeh 🌶 ( 2nd vertical pic) 📸
Grilled broccoli ,courgette and aubergine with fresh pink garlic 🧄 + salt & pepper to go in her tomato basil pasta sauce (3rd vertical pic) 🥦 📸
Tomato basil sauce with grilled veggies paired with brown rice spaghetti 🍝 ( last vertical pic) 📸
YUMMY HEALTHY & FRESH ( although let’s not forget frozen fruit and veggies are great too )😋 .
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#medicalstudent #medicalcommunity #grassroots #lifestylemedicine #youthempwerment #nutrition #medstudent #nutrition #healthylifestyle #nurse #doctor #traininggdoctor #nutritioneducation #medic #health #culinarymedicine #NHS #Medicalnutrition #nutritank #healthcare #activelifestyle #diseaseprevention ...

NEW SPEAKER ANNOUNCEMENT.

Nutritank are delighted to announce that Dr Elizabeth Thompson will be speaking at our conference in collaboration with @roysocmed on the 7th March at the Royal Society of Medicine, alongside our fantastic speaker line-up (see ‘speakers’ or ‘conference’ story highlights for more details.

Dr Thompson is a holistic doctor and the founder of the National Centre for Integrative Medicine (NCIM) based in Bristol. In collaboration with our co-founder Ally, Dr Thompson was instrumental in delivering the first Food for Mood course for Bristol undergraduates and is passionate about the connection between the food we eat and mental health. This venture has been greatly supported by Pukka herbs @pukkaherbs highlighting the connections between health and the use of herbs and spices. Dr Thompson will be speaking at our conference about Food for Mood and some of the other initiatives that she has been involed with.

Purchase your ticket using the link in our bio! Only two weeks to go!
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#medicalstudent #medicalcommunity #grassroots #lifestylemedicine #youthempwerment #nutrition #medstudent #nutrition #healthylifestyle #nurse #doctor #trainingdoctor #nutritioneducation #medic #health #culinarymedicine #NHS #Medicalnutrition #nutritank #healthcare #activelifestyle #diseaseprevention #foodformood ...