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Welcome back to the What Supp Blog. Today’s post is about how to get sh*t sorted and prioritise. With this in mind, I’ll introduce you to the Eisenhower Matrix.

The Esinhower Matrix is a method used by a former American president Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States from 1953 until 1961. Before becoming President, he served as a general in the United States Army and as the Allied Forces Supreme Commander during World War II. He also later became NATO’s first supreme commander. Needless to say he needed to make some pretty tough decisions.

Prioritising tasks by urgency and importance results in 4 quadrants with different work strategies:

1. Do first

2. Decide

3. Delegate

4. Don’t do

The first quadrant is called Do first as its tasks are important for your life and career, and need to be done today or tomorrow at the latest. You could use a timer to help you concentrate while trying to get as much of them done as possible. An example could be a work document, paying a bill or an unexpected crisis.

The second quadrant is called Decide. These are for tasks to schedule and are important but less urgent. You should list tasks you need to put in your calendar here. An example of that could be a long-planned study or exercise program, family or friend commitments.

Competent time managers leave fewer things unplanned and therefore try to manage most of their work in the second quadrant, reducing stress by terminating urgent and important to-dos to a reasonable date in the near future whenever a new task comes in.

The third quadrant is for those tasks you could delegate as they are less important to you than others but still pretty urgent. You should keep track of delegated tasks by e-mail, telephone or within a meeting to check back on their progress later.

An example of a delegated task could be somebody calling you to ask for an urgent favor or request that you step into a meeting. You could delegate this responsibility by suggesting a better person for the job or by giving the caller the necessary information to have them deal with the matter themselves.

The fourth and last quadrant is called Don’t Do because it is there to help you sort out things you should not being doing at all. Use this quadrant to identify and stop bad habits, which cause you to procrastinate. These items are the ones which give you an excuse for not being able to deal with important tasks in the 1st and 2nd quadrant.

Try limiting yourself to no more than eight tasks per quadrant. Before adding another one, complete the most important one first. Remember: It is not about collecting but finishing tasks. You should always maintain only one list for both professional and private tasks. That way you will never be able to complain about not having done anything for your family or yourself at the end of the day.

Till next time

Welcome back to the What Supp Blog! Today’s post is about why it’s so important to choose the right oils and fats for cooking. Some may (rightly) just think this comes down to the taste, unfortunately though it’s far more impactful on your health than just what it means for you taste buds.

Many of the fats used in today’s cooking are vegetable and seed oils. These are often comprised of a number of highly processed polyunsaturated fats that are incredibly unstable when heated. The processing of these fats alone can impact your health negatively, but add to heat to the mix and you’re at a heady mixture of inflammation and free radical damage.

These polyunsaturated fats are made up of both omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. The modern diet should be composed of a combination of both of these with an ideal ratio being anything from 4:1 to 1:1 of Omega 6 to 3. As already stated, these fats can be very unstable so getting them from natural sources such as oily fish for omega 3 and nuts & seeds for omega 6 is the preferred option.

The ramping up of omega 6 oils in your diet can be completely unintentional and unavoidable, with them being used in so many foods from persavatives to dressings. In his excellent book Genius Foods, Max Lugrave explains that a healthy brain cell needs membrane fluidity to respond to the world around us. This happens through receptors which need to be able to surface and hear the messages contained by neuro transmitters. Omega 3 helps keep this pathway fluid. Unstable oxidised omega 6s however will cause neuro rigidity, which impairs the ability of the receptor to surface from the cell. In turn this all impacts the accessing of memories, excutive functioning and even mood.

One interesting Australian study showed vegetable fats destroying endothelium function. The endothelium is a thin membrane that lines the inside of the heart and blood vessels. Endothelial cells release substances that control vascular relaxation and contraction as well as enzymes that control blood clotting, immune function and platelet (a colourless substance in the blood) adhesion. A cigarette can negatively impact this system for 4 hours. One box of deep fried fries (like the ones from you know where) was shown to suppress the endothelium for 24 hours! The effects of this already unstable polyunsaturated fats being heated can act to actually mutate your genes.

When choosing a decent fat to cook with, a good rule thumb is opt for monounsaturated or saturated fats. What’s the really important bit though is where the smoke point is, as this is when the oil gets unstable and oxidation occurs.

There are a number of good choices that have high smoke points. Check out the following options:

– ghee

– avocado oil

– macadamia oil

– light/pure olive oil

– algae oil

– refined coconut oil

– lard – both a monounsaturated & saturated fat

– duck fat (pasteurised)

You might note I recommend refined rather than cold pressed coconut oil. Refined coconut oil has a smoking point of at least 204c/400f (some sources I’ve read say 232c/450f). This is an easier temperature to work with when cooking on the stove or baking at higher temperatures. Just be mindful of the product quality as the very cheapest will use bleaching and deodorising in the processing of it.

The same can be noted for olive oil where I haven’t advised extra virgin olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil is essential in your diet for so many reasons but again, it’s smoke point is not as high as light or just olive oil. Similarly to coconut, don’t just buy the cheapest so to ensure some quality control.

So, what is the king of the oils you may well ask. That be the mighty avocado oil. What it does have is the highest smoke point upward of many oils and is stable up to 260c/500f. Obviously this is a pretty expensive option and maybe best to leave specifically for those dishes you need to cook at a high heat.

One easy and implementable action is simply ensure, wherever you can, you’re cooking your food at a low heat. Not only will this avoid the fat your using hitting it’s smoke point, but it’ll also ensure you don’t completely destroy the nutritional content of your food.

Till next time.

Welcome back for some little short sharp snippets that are bought to you via some of the leading lights in the health and wellness space. Today’s post focuses on the power of the humble mushroom and is bought via mushroom extraordinaire and all round fungi (sorry, it was crying out), four sigmatic founder Tero Isokauppila.

Tero’s first hot tip is the oyster mushroom. Oyster mushrooms are especially good in the evening as they are high vitamin b6 which supports the production of serotonin. Serotonin helps to regulate sleep and mood, making oyster mushrooms the perfect accompaniment in your dinner. On that note however, ensure your oyster mushrooms are eaten cooked and not raw, as cooking eliminates a toxic protein they contain.

Ok, next we have the super shroom Chaga. Chaga has a number of health benefits including it being good for gut health, safeguarding against cancer and having a super high antioxidant count.

Chaga is also a particularly good choice for athletes. One reason for this is it’s power to reduce both chronic and acute inflammation. This is down to the high betulinic acid content, which reduces inflammation across the body and especially in relation to digestion. Chaga’s positive effects on gut health is likely due to the mushroom’s extraordinary levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), an enzyme that fights cell damage caused by oxidative stress.

Another damn good reason to get chaga in you is Melanin. Melanin is a broad term for a group of natural pigments found in most organisms. In humans it’s the dark-ish pigmentation produced by tyrosine found in our eyes and skin. When taken from Chaga it serves as a natural sunscreen, helps to combat stress, regulates biological rhythms, enhances the appearance of hair, skin and eyes, and can even help protect us against cancer. Last chaga tip; make sure it’s birch tree grown to ensure maximum goodness!

Our next mushroom of choice is the cordycep. These little beauties are known for their power to increase sexual and physical performance as well as producing all round general higher energy levels. In addition to having a positive effect on training athletes, Cordyceps has proved beneficial for the general population as well. This is done by increasing how much of the energy molecule ATP (Adenosine Tri-Phosphate) is created through the cellular respiration process, and even more importantly, improving how thoroughly the body uses oxygen.

Lastly, the regal sounding Lion’s mane. This mushroom is a powerful aid to both brain function and central nervous system,(CNS). It increases focus, sharpness and general cognitive functioning. Lion’s mane also passes the brain barrier and as such, is particularly neuro protective.

Lion’s mane contains large amounts of the compounds erinacines, which are especially effective at stimulating the production of NGF (nerve growth factor), a protein that’s central to the growth and health of neurons in our brains. Since the blood-brain barrier prevents NGF from entering the brain, that stimulation is essential for making sure that the brain synthesizes the protein on its own. When our brains cannot induce NGF on their own, we become more susceptible to degenerative conditions, particularly dementia, so an external source of NGF production is imperative to maintaining our cognitive health.

Ok, hope there was a couple of take aways there, till next time.

Welcome back to a long overdue recipe. These are low cost, nutritious and tasty choices. Today’s recipe is a probably the best gluten and grain free bread option I’ve ever tried, so hope you enjoy!

The ingredient that may stick out in this little recipe is gram flour. Gram flour, or chickpea flour or besan, is a pulse flour made from a variety of ground chickpea known as Bengal gram. It is pale yellow and powdery and has an earthy flavour best suited to savoury dishes. Gram flour contains no gluten, a high proportion of carbohydrates, higher fiber relative to other flours, and a higher proportion of protein than other flours.

Right, so to crack on. This bread recipe is super quick and boasts a pretty good macro and micro nutrient ratio. You’ll find this recipe particularly sustaining due to its high protein content from the gram flour, eggs and even almond. The eggs, seeds and almonds also contain some healthy fats, vitamins and minerals.

Ingredients:

– 1 x sachet 7g yeast

– 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

– 250g gram flour

– 100g ground almonds

– 100g mixed seeds (chia/flax/sesame)

– 50g linseed

– 1.5 tsp of rosemary

– 4 large eggs

Method:

– Preheat oven to 190c

– Fill jug with 375ml of Luke warm water. Add extra virgin olive oil and the yeast. Mix with fork till dissolved and place to once side for 5 minutes.

– Mix gram flour, ground almonds, all the seeds, rosemary and yeast together. Crack in the eggs and start to beat together.

– Add the water and continue to beat, bringing in the mixture from the edges to ensure a smooth batter.

– Place the batter in a greased or parchment paper filled bread baking tin. Place in the preheated oven for 45 minutes.

– Remove bread from oven. Stick a bread knife through the middle and if it has sticky residue, left, put it back in for longer. If the knife is clean, allow bread to cool and serve with a nice grass fed butter.