I thought you might find the article below interesting. It was forwarded to me by my team at St George’s and was written by the College of Medicine and Integrated Health, an organisation run by senior healthcare professionals who emphasise the prevention of illness through promoting health instead of waiting to become ill. They are open to working with groups across communities and this means, for example, GPs who are as likely to prescribe a gardening club for loneliness and depression as they are anti-depressants. It also means, where they can establish an evidence base, they support integrating complementary therapies with traditional medicine – this could mean, for example, massage to support the psychological effects of cancer. The article, amidst the coronavirus scare, looks at ways to boost immunity. All the advice has been subject to scientific research so is well-worth reading. Anyway, here's the article: https://ourhealth.directory/living-with-coronavirus/ The happiest of happy news is that it mentions red wine and cacao as containing important, immune-boosting polyphenols and states that relaxing can increase resistance to colds, flu and other respiratory infections. You know what I’m thinking?! Yes - chocolate, massage, back home for a small glass of red wine (just a small one, mind). If you would like to relax with a massage, let me reassure you that my towels and covers are hot washed between every client, I wash my hands in the way the hospital has taught me and I will never massage you with cold symptoms. I ask kindly that you also take the same precautions with me. In the meantime, if you don’t have the time or inclination for a massage, here’s a cacao-based recipe which would go well with that glass of red and a good book. Please bear in mind that I’m the type of cook who throws everything in the food processor and hopes for the best.
1 cup of dates (soaked for 2-3 hours and drained)
1 cup of walnuts (or nuts/seeds of choice)
1 - 2 tbsp raw cacao powder to taste (plus extra to roll them in)
1 heaped tsp of stem ginger
I simply blitz all the ingredients together in a food processor. If it seems too dry, I add a spoon of the date-soaking water or if it’s too sloppy, I add more nuts or seeds. Then I roll the mixture into small balls which I coat in more cacao powder. They can be stored in the fridge or frozen if you risk eating them all at once.
Wishing you good health and lots of relaxation this weekend,
Claire x
