Simply Woman & Home

GROUP SPECIALS DIRECTOR Charlotte Richards HEALTH & FITNESS EDITOR Lucy Gornall DEPUTY HEALTH EDITOR Faye M Smith SENIOR HEALTH WRITERS Natalia Lubomirski, Ali Horsfall JUNIOR HEALTH WRITER Rose Goodman ART EDITOR Katie Simas GROUP PICTURE DIRECTOR K

Welcome to Simply woman&home. This new series incorporates everything you love about Feel Good You plus other great subjects, from food and gardening to wellbeing, all brought to you by the experts at woman&home. As ever, this issue is packed with ad

PHOTOS: @DAVIDCOTTERPHOTOGRAPHY, GETTY IMAGES, © DAN JONES ■

If you’re struggling with your hormones, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) could be the answer. It’s an approach that identifies negative thought patterns to create positive changes in feelings and behaviour and has been found to help menopausal wo

▸ Reading… I’m reading a great psychological thriller called All In Her Head by Nikki Smith. And lovely Dawn French’s new book, Because of You. Billy’s amazing uncle David (Walliams) has given us all his books. I want Billy to be old enough to unders

Oestrogen has many functions, including maintaining bone health, keeping hair and skin healthy and balancing our moods. As our levels drop, we see symptoms such as hair and skin thinning, an increased risk of osteoporosis, vaginal dryness and loss of

You can add essential oils of your choice to these electric pods. Simply remove the lid and fill the reservoir with water to the ‘max’ line, and then add in the specified amount of oil drops. The diffuser will then release scented mist into the air.

WHY? To look younger! The Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago found that when men smelt grapefruit on a woman, they estimated her age to be five years younger. The citrussy oil is a great energiser, skin cleanser and toner, giv

Bust the dust, clear the clutter and make some space for a big clean that doesn’t just rid your home of dirt, but also does wonders for the mind, too. Vicky Silverthorn is a professional organiser and founder of decluttering service, You Need A Vicky

One standard sized crumpet can have the same amount of salt – 0.81g – as two portions of fast-food fries. Two rashers of bacon can provide as much as 2.84g salt – that’s more salt than eight bags of ready salted crisps. Shop-bought bottles of this co

Food Standards Agency guidelines say that fish may be labelled as fresh if it has ‘been kept chilled on ice, but not stored deep frozen.’ But one report found a lot of the ‘fresh’ fish on sale at supermarket counters was nearly three weeks old. It’s

3 OF THE BEST Soulful Vegan Butternut Mac, £3.50, soulfulfood.com A creamy sauce made from tofu, cashews and almond milk - it’s the perfect cosy-night-in treat. Planty Butternut & Mango Madras, from £49.50 per box on a 10-meal subscription, planty.uk

✢ This NEOM Real Luxury Reed Diffuser from their Scent To De-Stress Range blends 24 essential oils including lavender, Brazilian rosewood and jasmine. Place in your bedroom to unwind at the end of the day (£38.00, neomorganics.com). ✢ Whether you wan

Buy from your local independent butcher, fishmonger or greengrocer, and they’ll be able to tell you exactly where food has come from, as they often work with smaller producers and a shorter supply chain. Better still, if there’s a farmers’ market nea

Beauty Pie Superactive Capsules Pure 3% Resveratrol + Exotic Fruit Oils x 60, £13.85 (for members), beautypie.com Fight pigmentation and sun damage. Oskia Super-C Smart-Nutrient Beauty Capsules x 60, £62, oskiaskincare.com Encapsulated vitamin C help

A rigorous scientific analysis at a Dutch university that compared diets of equal calories but differing carbohydrate and fat content found that both regimens produced similar body fat loss. In fact, lower-fat diets with at least 100 grams of carbohy

Us Brits eat an estimated 11kg of chocolate each, every year. But while the odd piece is fine, if you’re eating it all the time you could pose a few problems. The problem isn’t the cocoa – that’s been shown to have health benefits including helping l

A healthy scalp equals healthy hair. A scalp detox is a bit like giving your complexion a deep cleanse. It shifts any build-up of dead skin cells and rejuvenates the hair follicles to help your hair grow well. Try Kerastase Scrub Apaisant Soothing Sc

‘Juices have all the sugar of the fruit, but they lack the fibre-rich skins and pulp that slows sugar absorption and controls insulin levels,’ says nutritionist Mays Al-Ali. Blend one or two fruits (to prevent a fructose overload) with fibre-rich veg

Join the world’s biggest female fitness community from £15 per month. Includes high to low intensity at-home workouts, fitness tracking and meal plans. Highly rated app with a two-week free trial. Set your personal goals from the Pilates body to the

I knew something wasn’t quite right in 2014 when I started experiencing odd symptoms, including migraines, mood swings and pins and needles across my face. They continued for years, and I saw my GP many times, but I didn’t seem to be taken seriously

A colourful addition to your gym equipment collection, these are great for toning and sculpting, plus they come in a variety of weights so you can work your way up. (2x2kg for £10.49, argos.co.uk) They might look harmless, but a pair of gliders can c

How often do you clean your gym kit, honestly? After every wear? Once a week? When it starts to smell? The fact is, our dirty gym clothes are a haven for germs and bacteria, and if we don’t clean them enough, they could make us ill. Environmental hea

Look for one with a good level of omega-3 fatty acids and especially EPA as this is most helpful for reducing inflammation. TRY Og Omega-3 plus with EPA (£39.99 for a month’s supply, ogwellbeing.com) These provide the building blocks for cartilage pr

Whether you can’t leave the house without your morning coffee or you find yourself relying on chocolate during the afternoon slump, caffeine has long been associated with boosting energy and therefore, productivity. But having too much can also disru

3 OF THE BEST L’Occitane Hand & Body Wash 500ml, £20, loccitane.co.uk Planet friendly, this contains no palm oil, and the packaging is 100% recycled plastic. Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint Pump Soap, £20.49, drbronner.co.uk Contains peppermint oil to cool

✢ You struggle to say no ✢ You feel guilty when asked what you need ✢ You worry that when you disagree with someone their feelings will be hurt ✢ You’d rather everyone else is happy, even if you’re unhappy ✢ You find it difficult to express anger and

After the year we’ve all lived through, many of us have learned how to be more understanding, kinder and more grateful for what we have. And part of that is learning how to look at the world from someone else’s point of view – known as radical empath

My exercise regime…I wake up and I’ll take the dog out for a walk. And then I do 45 minutes of strength training and cardio – that’s things like skipping, burpees and bodyweight exercises. Because I’m 50 now and I’m on HRT, I really need to build my

It’s that time of year when torrential downpours, driving wind and unpredictable forecasts can cause havoc with our hair and make-up. But thanks to these weatherproofing fixes, you can say goodbye to streaky mascara and frizzy flyaways, and brave the

✢ Continental breakfast: 25g slice Emmental cheese, 50g wafer thin chicken, large tomato, slice of wholemeal toast spread with 1tsp light olive spread. ✢ Chop a large portobello mushroom and microwave for 1-2 mins in a covered bowl until soft (no oil