I've added this book to my pile of Michael Pollan books and I love it.

Eating doesn’t have to be so complicated. In this age of ever-more elaborate diets and conflicting health advice, Food Rules brings a welcome simplicity to our daily decisions about food.

Michael Pollan's - Reviews
Instantly makes redundant all diet books and 99 per cent of discussions around healthy eating ... Sense, at last praise for In Defence of Food, Daily Mail

Pollan invites us to grab our pots and pans and cook some real food for dinner praise for In Defence of Food, Time Out

Read this witty book for a healthier life and diet praise for In Defence of Food, The Times

In more than four decades I have come across nothing more intelligent, sensible and simple to follow than these principles -- Jane E. Brody The New York Times

Buy in at Amazon.

So I get the twins all dressed and ready in their capsules, its Sunday - Tim's day off, so we look forward to getting out of the house and going somewhere for coffee and a walk. Well, after about an hour of preparation - I go out to the car - oxygen tank, 2 babies, double stroller, bag, bottles and nappies. BUGGER - my car won't unlock. I have mud up to my eyeballs, 2 capsules, a buggered wrist, an oxygen tank on my back..and my car wont open. Seems I left the driver door ajar 3 days ago and the battery is flat as a pancake.

So (you know where I'm going on this)..back inside, switch over the oxygen tank, take my muddy shoes off, and find out our AA membership has expired. CRAP. Then figured out that I have free roadside assistance with Hyundai. (Thank God). OK, so waited for man to come.. charge battery and told us to drive for 45 minutes to recharge battery. So, again - 2 babies in capsules ( we had to feed them again), change over oxygen tank, set up oxygen tank and load car..we are finally going. We go for a long drive and all is good until we get to the mall 2 hours later to grab a coffee.

After waiting 20 minutes for a park, then getting the twin stroller out, the babies out and the tank out, I notice that Toby is 10 breathes away from running out of oxygen! So back in the car, fold up the stroller, babies back in their car-seats and back home to get another tank at high speed. New tank attached - back to the mall, another 20 minutes for a park ( I'm busting for the loo)- unloading -20 minutes and guess what...that was the best coffee I've ever tasted. Took us so long to get there we stayed until after dark. It was so nice to be out. DIET WISE - I missed lunch, but took a carbrite bar to the mall. I had half a pecan slice at Eve's pantry, but I'm absolutely sure I came in within my calories today.

How was your Sunday, did you run out of air?

Sorry for not being in touch sooner but the last six weeks are a bit of a blur. Tim and I were expecting our twins to arrive (as planned ) on the 17th of March. However, nothing went to plan. Thankfully our twins have fought the odds and survived. At 16 weeks a routine scan identified our problem. Called twin-to-twin transfusion, one twin thrives while the other is deprived of nutrition and blood through the shared placenta while in the womb. It's a rare syndrome that affects just 5 to 10 per cent of identical twins. (About one in 250 pregnancies results in identical twins). We were told that our little twin would probably never make it past 24 weeks. But little Toby defied all odds and kept hanging on. The decision was to get me past 28 weeks and deliver. On New Years Eve we had a routine growth scan. The specialists decided that we needed to deliver the twins in order to save Toby, so on New Years Eve, 11 weeks early, Toby (480g) and Finn (1310g) were born. Both boys are doing well in NICU (Newborn Intensive Care Unit) at Auckland Hospital. Finns already put on a kilo and Toby's doubled his birth weight. I'm spending all of my time with the boys, leaving poor old Tim to man the shop.
PS - we'll post some pics when all of the tubes and monitors are off.

I thought I'd share some interesting things I've learned during  my stay at NICU.

•     C-Sections hurt like hell
•     Morphine is great
•     Prem babies take lots of supplements, nurses fortify their milk with vitamins and whey protein
•     Probiotics do transfer in the breast milk
•     Taking probiotics and Vitamin D does help your baby if you are breastfeeding
•     Finn is the only baby in the infant nursery without nappie rash, and I reckon its because I take Omega 3,     Vitamin D, a Multi and Probiotics.
•     Nurses talk about diets all of the time.
•     Sugar is like morphine to babies.
•     480g babies do not fit nappies.

A study at Washington School of Medicine confirms our suspicions that Saturday is everybody's most fattening day. Researchers carefully monitored energy intake, energy expenditure and body weight of 48 healthy weight adults. Some of the group reduced calories by 20%, some of the group exercised 20% more than usual and the rest of the group made no changes to their current regime.

The results, people in the calorie restriction group had the best result but still stopped fat burning over the weekend. The exercise group actually gained weight in the weekend because they ate more on both Saturday and Sunday, the control group made a slight gain over the weekend as well. Take home message is this: The average weight gain from our weekend habits equate to 4 kilos a year - or 20 kilos in 5 years! So unless we want to all turn into little dumplings, we need to watch what we do on the weekends. Moderation is the key, dangerous places tend to be, sports clubs, netball fields, food courts and gas stations. The best place to be is at Real Nutrition.

When it comes to supplementation, the biggest mistake we see in our clinic is people using four to five individual products without a broad-spectrum multivitamin. Vitamins and minerals work together as a team in the body, if one team member is off sick (or missing) the other team members can’t do their job properly. The first thing to add if you want to use supplements is a good multivitamin.

Expect to see more products on the supermarket shelves containing Omega 3. As science proves the health benefits of Omega 3 in the diet, many foods will claim to be a good source of this healthy oil. Pay attention to the ingredients panel. Some fortified products give you a very small percentage of healthy Omega 3 and the health benefits vary greatly between different sources. Look for products that differentiate the different types of Omega 3 fats on the label. Products containing the fatty acid EPA, DHA or ALA can all claim to be “a good source of Omega 3” however it is a well known fact that DHA and EPA fatty acids are a better source of Omega 3, compared to ALA which needs to be converted within the body. ALA is common in processed food, however ALA is derived from plant sources and EPA and DHA are derived from oily fish. Supplementing your diet with a good quality Omega 3 capsule may be the best choice if you don’t eat fish. Real Nutrients brand is a professional high strength source of Omega 3, giving 360mg DHA and 240mg EPA per capsule.

Resveratrol continues to be showcased on TV. Baby boomers take Resveratrol - New Zealand's number one dietary supplement.

Researchers reported in the August issue of Alcoholism, Clinical & Experimental Research, that Men who binge drink have low levels of Omega 3 Fatty acids. Alcohol has lasting negative effects on the brain and also changes the way the body uses good fats. For those who drink more than one drink a day on average, it may be very wise to incorporate Omega 3 fats into the diet. Alcohol also depletes B Vitamins, Magnesium, Vitamin C, D, E and K, so it would be wise to use a supplement.

The D in diet stands for “DEPRIVATION”. Dieting deprives your body of essential nutrients that are crucial to your wellbeing. Low calorie restrictive dietary regimes are often low in vitamins and minerals, which can result in muscle and bone loss. Being at a healthy weight is a really important goal for hormonal health, however before you go on a crash diet seek professional help, as short term diets will do you more harm than good.

Food manufacturers claim that they are responding to customer’s requests by offering low fat, low carb and now foods “enriched” with nutrients and pharmaceuticals. (Hence the term “phoods”) They state that they are in now way encouraging people to abandon a balanced diet, instead offering consumers the same product but with added (nutrient) benefits. Many nutritionists and dietitians disagree, often products claiming to be enriched with vitamins, vegetables, grains, or Omega 3 fats contain minuscule amounts whilst simultaneously containing high amounts of sugar, salt and fat.

You don't need a set of bathroom scales to tell you what shape you are in. A glance in the mirror or a tape measure around your waist will be a better indicator. Your body composition and your waist measurement is a more accurate gauge of your health. If you are a woman you should aim for a body-fat percentage less than 30% or a waist measurement less than 80cm, men should be less than 20% body-fat and have a waist measurement less than 94cm.

An international study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) says a diet rich in Omega-3 oils, found in fish and other seafood, can cut the chances of at-risk children actually developing type-1 diabetes by 55%.

Just when you master the saintly habit of drinking eight glasses of water a day or more, the media tells us not to. Could we be drinking too much of it? Jacquie Dale reports on the benefits of water and how much you need to drink every day for health.

Researchers have found that the EPA and DHA in Omega 3 fish oil increase protective antioxidant enzymes in the body. Omega 3 seemed to have a protective effect in the body against high levels of vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions. This is great news for city dwellers.
Environmental Health Perspectives Vol 116.

Now everybody can enjoy the benefits of Omega-3 without the oily taste and texture or swallowing large capsules. Rich in vital and essential Omega-3 fatty acids, Omega Swirl flax and fish oil supplements are the freshest, best tasting and most nutritious, naturally. Omega Swirl is the perfect solution for the whole family! Packed with essential Omega-3s, Omega Swirl was created to nutritionally support our diet that is deficient in essential fats for health.