Let's all move to Corfu for Christmas
The lurgy. Can you out-eat a cold? What can you do with sprouts? Little honey factories. All about Thomas Thomarto. NEWSFLASH: Best peanut butter ever!
Bless you! Ooh you don’t look well, you should go back to bed, with a mug of Heinz tomato soup.
I’m talking to all of you who are afflicted with the current round of sickliness and misery. I see you.
I like to go around thinking that I’m immune to this sort of thing, being someone who spends most of life with just a few dogs, cats and chickens, with only the odd human thrown in, I think I’m invincible. Not to mention living life on the colourful veg. But pestilence entered the house grinning, and found me. It was a very odd one, too. Like a cold but with the added affliction of a ragingly-burny oesophagus, so when I took a sip of tea it literally felt as if I'd swallowed molten lava. Thankfully I’m over it now, apart from a hacking cough, as If I’d smoked 100 a day since the age of 9, like Joni Mitchell.
It reminds me of the introduction to the great book ‘My Family and Other Animals’ when they’re all sitting around at home on a miserable British day:
“Considered as a group my family was not a very prepossessing sight that afternoon, for the weather had brought with it the usual selection of ills to which we were prone. For me, lying on the floor, labelling my collection of shells, it had brought catarrh, pouring it into my skull like cement, so that I was forced to breathe stertorously through open mouth. For my brother Leslie, hunched dark and glowering by the fire, it had inflamed the convolutions of his ears so that they bled delicately but persistently. To my sister Margo it had delivered a fresh dappling of acne spots to a face that was already blotched like a red veil. For my mother there was a rich, bubbling cold, and a twinge of rheumatism to season it. Only my eldest brother, Larry, was untouched, but it was sufficient that he was irritated by our failings.”
That’s when they decided to move to Corfu, and who can blame them?
But is it good if we never catch ‘bugs’? No, not really. It could just be that a weak immune system mightn’t mount a big response to infection. The infection is still there but goes about its grim deeds more silently, so we may just feel a bit tired out for a while instead of getting bunged-up and proper poorly. And while I take a fair amount of delight from being someone who mostly hangs with dogs, it means that my immune system doesn’t get the developmental opportunities it needs from me catching ‘human’ things right, left and centre. Although I do challenge it by spending a lot of time in dirty old nature, kissing animals’ noses, and picking up dead hares etc.
Anyway, here we are again and I have a few things to talk to you about. So do grab a mug of tea or Heinz tommy soup, relax and read.
After that, do come and join us to support your immunity.
Can you out-eat a cold?
Might as well start were I left off, since everyone and their uncle appears to be struck-down at the mo (it’s all this being banged up in the house together on these dark nights, you see). “Feed a cold starve a fever” - or so the old saying goes. Is there any truth in it? Not so much.
It comes from way back in the 1500s when they didn’t really have ways of looking at what happens in the body. Although they’d have a good go, cutting into bits of alive people, without anaesthetic… arrrghhh. Anyway, they thought that colds came from cold conditions, and that eating sped up the metabolism, thus making the person warmer. Colds don’t actually come from being cold, even though the myth still persists. Conversely, they thought that fevers needed starving, in order to cool the body down - obviously fevers involve being very very hot, and they thought food made people hotter, therefore lack of it made them cooler. You can see their logic.
There isn’t a magic food-cure for colds or fevers. We just need to rest (and more rest), stay hydrated (not with wine) and eat nutritious foods that help to support the body in its fight against the infection. So if you eat a Snickers, it’s not going to help the immune system out as much as a nice bowl of veg and bean soup – this probably doesn’t need too much explanation.
What about vitamin C?
Vitamin C is a great nutrient, and eating plenty of vitamin-C-rich foods – like fruits, vegetables and herbs – is a top idea for overall health. However, it’s not a magic cure for colds. What it may do is slightly shorten the duration of a cold by supporting your immune system.
During an illness, your immune system works overtime, and vitamin C is quickly used up in the process. It acts like a team player, helping your immune cells work efficiently to fight off the cold. So, a diet rich in vitamin C can help your body recover faster, though it’s not a preventative measure.
That said, the real key to avoiding colds and flu isn’t just about one nutrient – it’s about having a healthy lifestyle overall. Eating a balanced diet, getting enough sleep, managing stress and staying active all play a bigger role in keeping you well. I’m always talking about these for a reason—they work!
Vitamin R
What people don’t tend to do is rest (vitamin R). Instead, they keep going to work and giving other people the cold, or they still go for a run (utter madness). And they don’t stay in bed or lie about on the sofa, as they should. So their body has a shedload of extra effort to contend with, instead of putting it all into seeing off the cold. Big mistake, HUGE. Especially the running and exercise madness - fantastic way to draw it right down on to your chest. Bonkers.
So, if you have a cold or flu, stay in bed or chill out on the settee, eat your veg, and stay hydrated. Simple as that. Obviously if it gets very bad consult your doctor.
Sprouts
I did a sneaky thing today. My lad, who is now a strapping great thing who I need step ladders to be face-to-face with, hates Brussels sprouts. For years I have tried sneaking them onto his plate by hiding them under mash and so on, but he always detects them, with great disgust. But today was different, via the medium of bacon. I invited him round for a roast, knowing he couldn’t resist. Mean time, I chopped the sprouts into shreds, then fried lots of bacon in olive oil until a bit golden and crispy on the edges, threw in the absolute ton of shredded sprouts and splashed in some white wine to sizzle off. Added salt and black pepper, and served it up like a sneaky sprout witch. I knew he wouldn’t be able to say no to bacon, and I was right. I feel I have achieved one of the final frontiers of motherhood – he recently started to like tea as well, which also made me ecstatic. The worry of him not being a tea drinker was becoming hard to live with.
If you know a sprout-hating bacon lover, please do try this cunning trick.
By the way…
Hello to everyone who’s joined us lately. I know that people who join in November and December mean business! A lot of people give up and eat everything, but not you, oh no.
Welcome, welcome.
And love to all the rest of you who stay the course over Christmas and new year. You are special and I love making your festive food very lovely. Not long until Nuush Christmas porridge hits the plans again! xx
Free sugar
No, I’m not giving away sugar but I want to talk to you about the difference between sugar that’s locked inside the cells in food and that which has been released by man, or bees.
Imagine slicing through an orange. Can you see those little cells that each has sweet orange juice inside it? The sugary liquid is bound up inside fibrous capsules. This is how sugar generally occurs in nature, and it’s called ‘intrinsic sugar’. Now imagine table sugar. Can you see any little fibrous cells around it? No. Because this happens:
The sugar cane or sugar beet plants are taken to a factory where they are cut into tiny tiny pieces or shreds. The pieces or shreds are put through heavy duty rollers or soaked in hot water to heat or crush the life out of them and extract their sugary juices. Then they add lime and CO2 to purify the juice before filtering it then concentrating it in evaporation pans, until sugar crystals form. The crystals are then washed and dried.
Now imagine how your body deals with these two types of sugar. When you eat an orange, or other fruits and vegetables, or whole grains, your gut has to break down all the fibrous cells before it can get its hands on the prize. This takes a good while, therefore you don’t tend to get a great big blood sugar spike. Not so with the processed sugar, and that includes ‘fresh’ fruit juices. No, the factory has done all the breaking down, so now your gut just goes “WOW look at all this sugar that we don’t have to work at” and WHOOSH your blood sugar goes sky high immediately. This is not good. It happens when you eat anything processed and sugary - sweets, cake , biscuits, white bread, breakfast cereals, fruit juice and all that stuff
As for honey, well instead of the sugar being extracted from plants, in a factory, it’s extracted by bees’ bodies. They mulch up the plant nectar inside themselves, to refine it, then they regurgitate it and pass it to another bee who does the same, until eventually you have the honey, which they then pop into the honeycomb. Yes it has more micronutrients than table sugar (what doesn’t?) but it is still refined sugar and spikes blood glucose.
So there you have it.
First officially recorded death linked to Mounjaro
A tragic case in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, has raised concerns about the weight-loss drug tirzepatide (brand name Mounjaro), recently approved for NHS use. A 58-year-old female nurse, died on 4 September after taking two low-dose injections of the medication over two weeks.
Her death certificate listed multiple organ failure, septic shock and pancreatitis as immediate causes, with "the use of prescribed tirzepatide" put down as a contributing factor. This is believed to be the first officially recorded death linked to the drug in the UK.
Tirzepatide is a medication designed to help manage blood sugar in type 2 diabetes, and its weight-loss effects have made it a sought-after treatment for overweight and obesity. However, its use requires careful monitoring, as rare but serious side effects like pancreatitis have been reported. This incident proves the need for close supervision and thorough discussions about potential risks with healthcare providers when starting any new medication. Unfortunately these weight loss drugs are becoming increasingly easy to get hold of, with inadequate support around their appropriateness and use.
There are a few potential reasons why GLP1-receptor agonists, such as Mounjaro, may trigger pancreatitis. Firstly, they stimulate the pancreas to produce more insulin, and this may be inflammatory. Added to that, some people might have existing pancreas issues, and the drugs may be more likely to then trigger pancreatitis. Sometimes, sudden large weight loss can increase blood fats (triglycerides) and this can place more pressure on the function of the pancreas.
Note that incidence of pancreatitis from taking these drugs is generally VERY low, but it is a known risk.
Check out my last newsletter for more in-depth discussion around GLP1-receptor agonists, such as Mounjaro.
Using these drugs and want to eat well alongside so that you give your body all the things it still needs? You need a Nuush plan.
Addicted to…
…Mediterranean feta quiche. The dependance started at a beautiful local farm café, Rectory Farm Kitchen, where they sell such a homemade Bobby -dazzler. I found myself visiting about three times a week until eventually figuring it would be cheaper to make it myself, and I wouldn’t become known as ‘The lady in wellies, who comes in and eats all the quiche all the time.’ I do still go and buy it there occasionally though, as I just love their vibe and being waited on for a change.
So here it is, and it’s beyond simple to make. If you don’t want to be a pastry purist just buy a roll of ready-made shortcrust. It goes beautifully with our fraiche potato salad.
Mediterranean vegetable and feta quiche
Folic acid being added, by law, to non-wholemeal flour in the UK
When wheat is ground into white flour, a lot of the nutrients are removed. That’s why some are added back in, and until now it’s been iron, niacin and thiamin, but from the end of 2026 it will be UK law to also add folic acid (other countries have been doing it for a while).
You might know about folic acid in relation to pregnancy and prevention of some birth defects. Folate is the naturally occurring form, found in foods like green leafy veg, pulses, organ meats, seafood, nuts, seed and whole grains. Folic acid, that comes in supplement form, is just the manufactured version. There has been a decline in people’s folate status, plus lots of women don’t plan a pregnancy and therefore aren’t necessarily taking a supplement; that coupled with its safety has led to the flour fortification plan. Wholemeal flour doesn’t need fortifying because it hasn’t had the nutrients wrung out of it - there’s a lesson there somewhere!
You may read, in places, that taking folic acid, or eating foods fortified with it, can in itself cause birth defects. There is absolutely no strong evidence to back up this claim whatsoever, but there is plenty of strong evidence showing it reduces the incidence of birth defects like spina bifida. Do ask me about it if you want more detail behind the claims, so I can help to put your mind at rest.
Thomas Thomarto
I already told you about Iain, and I don’t want to leave Thomas out because while Iain “Ain’t heavy, he’s my brother”, Thomas (or Thomarto as we call him) “Ain’t heavy or my brother” but I wish he was my brother, but not heavy. Confused yet? Anyway.
Thomarto appeared in my life ages ago, I think in about 2011 or 2012, when he wanted some help with nutrition for his running and somehow we hooked up on Twitter, via one of his 5,000 cousins. That was in the days when Twitter was a lovely place where you made proper friends and had a laugh every day, unlike now. Gawd.
Anyway, as soon as he joined, he started to tell me that how I was presenting the nutrition plans and the website was all a piece of sh*te (‘scuse French). I don’t know what was wrong with my homemade website or the plans I was giving people in Excel spreadsheets…. but Thomarto was highly affronted by it all, and offered to help me make it a lot less of an embarrassing mess.
I would now like you to look at our website and how beautiful it is, and know that it is all the work of Thomas. And it isn’t just what you can see – behind it is a complex ‘thing’ that does all sorts of magic in the client accounts – it feeds people their beautiful-looking plans, tracks their progress, takes payments, sends them messages – you name it.
This wasn’t even Thomas’s profession, he worked in the press office at HMRC before, but he just has the incredible natural ability to do it all. We originally commissioned a website from an external company; it was quite nice but we had a relationship breakdown as they wanted to go on to bigger, more lucrative things and seemed to find us a bit of a bore. Since then we’ve kept it all in-house, and it’s all done by the mighty Thomarto, thank goodness.
Let me tell you a bit about him. He’s the youngest of nine children and is from that Northern Ireland. He has the most beautiful accent – I could listen to him nagging me in it all day long. I often find myself secretly trying to practice it, but while my Yorkshire accent is quite convincing, my attempt at a Northern Irish accent is an absolute joke.
He enjoys running, especially half marathons and marathons, and constantly shares his woes about running performance and various aches and pains and mysterious symptoms. We often consider that he might have some terrible disease, yet can never find any actual evidence to support it – the tests all come back top dollar. Then he goes out and puts in a stellar performance, of course!
He is married to Clive, who is also incredibly lovely. They enjoy playing golf and walking in the Mourne Mountains, and he often sends me pictures that make me very jealous while I am stuck here on the edge of the fens in East Anglia.
Thomarto’s favourite foods are wine, crisps and toast, yet somehow he stays in great shape because he has been following Nuush plans for ages and just runs-off the extras. He once shared a recipe for a toast sandwich with me (yes, a piece of buttered toast between two slices of buttered bread), which I tried and can confirm is gorgeous. He can now make ALL THE toast using his new grill in the stunning new kitchen he shares with Clive. Oh and I once tried to buy him a toaster, but he rejected it – some people just can’t be brought into the 21st century!
And here is a selection of our recent Skype conversations.
As I said before, I come out in cold sweats when I think that Iain or Thomas might leave Nuush. I love them, and am so grateful to, both.
Personal Christmas shopper
That’s me. The person who hates Christmas shopping, bringing you lots of lovely ideas from the comfort of my festive-period hideaway – a rabbit warren up the fields. Luckily the rabbits have Wi-Fi here.
So here we have:
Cotton napkins, set of six, hare design £55
Honest Toil extra virgin Greek olive oil £51 for 3L
Get closer conversation game relationship bundle £48
Fitbit Charge 6 £139.99
Passenger bobble hat £29.95
Hilly running socks (THE best running socks!)
Merry People ankle wellies £89.95
Midnight star, Polish pottery butter dish £38
Best peanut butter ever. So far.
I have been delighted by the rise of unadulterated peanut butters over the past few years, and have just discovered this one, which has surpassed all others. Crikey, the crunch of it! They’ve left the nut pieces bigger, so you can really get your teeth into them. It makes peanut butter on toast a total crunchfest. Recommend.
What even is nutritional therapy?
Like any nutrition profession, nutritional therapy can attract a contingent of, errmm, ‘alternative’ practitioners. I want to tell you that I am most definitely not one of them. To this end, and in defence of highly qualified Nutritional Therapists, I wrote the piece below, so you know who’s who.
If someone suggests sticking a pipe up your rear end and washing things out, or if they start making you rattle with the entire contents of Holland & Barrett, run a mile and find someone who has been put through their paces to degree level!
From the dog basket
I had to open all the windows the other night, as there seemed to be a highly pungent smell that I couldn’t find the source of. Moss was lying asleep on his side looking all lovely and innocent, Lottie hadn’t moved from her bed for ages, Evie, well yes she had a smell, but Evie always has a smell. The smell somehow seemed to follow me up to bed; I thought I was going to suffocate from it, and wondered if it was actually me who had started to rot. Anyway, after covering them all with blankets, on account of having the windows wide open, I eventually fell asleep, regardless. In the morning I woke to find Moss at the side of the bed as usual, all smiles and thumpy tail wags. And that’s when I spotted that one entire side of his white ruff was covered in what looked like the remnants of something very dead, including feathers. A glance out of the back window confirmed a flattened, rotting, pigeon on the lawn, having been massacred by the cats and clearly steamrollered by Moss-Moss. “Oh Moss you stinky old collie, why do you do this??!!” Moss grinned back at me, happy as Larry. Almost as bad as the time he rolled in a dead seal on the beach and I had to get him home from Norfolk without being asphyxiated to death by absolute seal pong.
Mean time he’s developed a phobia of the front room. This is since he encountered the previously-mentioned furry toy pheasant in there. I now have to carry him in to join us of an evening, but he just spends his time trying to look away from where he last saw the terrifying stuffed toy.
His training is ongoing, and at the moment it’s all about taking him out in built-up areas and into pubs and cafés. He is just like Scout in the urban environment – Crocodile Dundee, i.e. very out of place. But while Scout loved meeting strangers and making friends, Moss thinks everyone is going to kidnap him (or me*) and take him/us to a place patrolled only by furry pheasants. Although I have to say he doesn’t mind squatting down right in front of the pub window while people are having their pie and chips, to do a ‘barker’s egg’. I expected applause!
*I wouldn’t attempt to kidnap me while Moss is present, if you value hanging on to your legs or other vital body parts.
Evie and Lottie are going to have a home spa-day this week – this entails a full bath and a going-at with me sewing scissors. Evie’s mono-brow has become ridiculous and Lottie has half the fields lodged in her ear flaps.
Emily-cat has been braving the house more, lately; chaperoned inside by me and the dogs, past the Gestapo (Inca the Stinka). Em sleeps in the bedroom with us while Inca stands outside the door with a tiny kalashnikov waiting for Ems to get up in the morning. My advice is NEVER get two girl cats.
That’s it ‘til next time.
Lots of love,
All of us xx
Why buy peanut butter when you can make your own using your own brilliant recipe? I never buy any now! Loved the animal pics at the end!
Oh Sal, I’m sat in Florida with the family (Evie and Lottie of course) they are all asleep and I’m laughing my little head off at this wonderful piece of literary magic. X