A CHANGE in diet can do wonders for your health. This is the message from Co Derry-born kinesiology and accupuncture therapist Roisin Armstrong.
Food and nutrition have always been of huge interest to Roisin, who began her working life as a home economics teacher. After realising teaching wasn't for her, she travelled to California which opened her eyes to world cuisine.
"I was exposed to so many different cultures and flavours there. Twenty five years ago there was nothing here, only a fish and chip shop. It really opened my mind to food and many of the recipes from that time carried with me."
Roisin returned home to work in sales and marketing and for Belfast City Council before stress-related ill-health gave her a wake-up call at the age of 25 and forced her to change career once again. Suffering from extreme lack of energy and dizziness, when a doctor told her to go home and take a rest, she went looking for answers.
She was then treated by a kinesiologist, who uses a system of muscle testing to identify areas of the body that aren't functioning as they should, and discovered she had a wheat allergy. Then, not only did she begin changing her diet and lifestyle, she was also to study kinesology herself.
"I already had a degree and three postgraduates – why not have another?" she laughed. "I now believe being ill was one of the greatest gifts I'd ever been given. It makes me a better therapist as when patients come to me with similar problems I can honestly say to them 'I know what you mean'."
That was the last career-change Roisin made and she has since dedicated her life to helping herself and others by making healthy food and exercise choices. For the past 14 years she has also written a popular health column every Wednesday in The Irish News and this month, after years of giving her clients healthy recipes to complement their treatments, fulfilled her dream of publishing a cookbook.
Porridge is an Aphrodisiac takes it's title from the fact that porridge has not only slow-release energy-boosting properties, but it contains L-arginine, an essential amino acid which triggers the release of testosterone in men and women. The book contains 80 recipes, most of which can be cooked in under 30 minutes using ingredients that are readily available in local shops and supermarkets.
"Living a healthier lifestyle doesn't have to be hard, painful or lead you to a life of boredom. I hope my book gives people some new ideas and tastes to try and invigorate a lust for food and for better health," says Roisin who says the biggest thing people need to change is their attitude to food. This includes avoiding processed foods, cutting down on meat consumption, including good fats in your diet, always having a little protein with what you eat and eating fresh local produce.
Speaking to Roisin in her garden, surrounded by a mass of potted herbs and an elevated glasshouse, it's clear to be seen she practices what she preaches and uses home-grown produces in her kitchen. Her own favourite recipe and one she regularly serves at gatherings and dinner parties in her house is spicy lamb with lentils.
"Our diets are quite reliant on meat, especially in the country where meat and two vegetables – one of them being potatoes – is a commonplace dinner. My aim is to get people away from the habit of having meat with every meal and move into a rhythm of always having a protein – but to err a little more towards the vegetarian option, eating more eggs, lentils, beans, nuts and perhaps entice you to try some new options."
Through kinesiology, Roisin can identify if a client has a food sensitivity. She has witnessed at first and the positive changes that can occur to improve conditions such as respiratory illnesses, irritable bowel syndrome, skin problems, the menopause and tiredness just by changing their diet.
"Food is one of the biggest ways in which we can take control of our health. If you have no health, you have no life. A change in your diet can do wonders for your health, improve your mood and even help you to sleep better. Tiredness has reached epidemic levels in the Western world; usually we'll put up with it and accept it is just a normal part of growing older – but it doesn't have to be that way."
One of the most common culprits of food intolerances is wheat and in her book Roisin provides some simple wheat and yeast-free alternatives.
"In the space of 20 years the food manufacturing processes have changed immensely. I always advise that if you can't pronounce or spell something that is listed in the ingredients, put it back," says Roisin, who encourages families to get children involved in food growing, food preparation and cooking in order to develop an early interest in eating healthily.
"You need to give taste buds time to change but introduce new foods regularly and if they don't like them initially, keep trying," says Roisin, who even suggests a relatively healthy fish-finger sandwich in wholemeal pitta bread as a quick teatime treat.
RECIPES
Yeast and wheat-free bread
400g pinhead oats
500g natural yoghurt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 dessertspoon 10ml olive oil
1 dessertspoon 10ml honey (optional)
Sunflower seeds for scattering on top.
1. Preheat oven to 180C/160C/ gas mark 7
2. Keep back 4 tablespoons of the yoghurt
3. Mix all ingredients well together. If it is dry add some of the left over yoghurt
4. Grease a 1lb loaf tin really well then toss a small handful of flour around the inside of the tin to coat
5. Top excess flour out
6. Pour in mixture
7. Sprinkle sunflower seeds on top before baking
8. Bake for 40-45 minutes.
Spicy lamb stew with lentils
Serves 4
1 fennel bulb (optional)
1 tablespoon live oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, chopped
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
Half teaspoon chilli powder
salt and pepper
350g/ 1lb lean minced lamb
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
224g red lentils
225g Savoy cabbage washed and chopped
2 tablespoons mango chutney
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1. Trim the root and stalk ends off the fennel bulb and cut into quarters, then into strips.
Heat the oil in saucepan and cook the onion, garlic, and fennel until softened.
3. Add the spices and cook for 1 minute
4. Stir in the lamb and cook until brown, then add chopped tomatoes, lentils, cabbage and chutney
5. Leave to simmer for 25 minutes until the lentils are tender.
6. Serve sprinkled with parsley.
Fishfinger sandwiches
1. Grate a carrot and half a courgette, a sliced tomato and a handful of chopped scallions.
2. Add parsley or fresh coriander leaves if you have them.
3. Toss in some olive oil and lemon juice and stuff into the pitta with the fish fingers.
