‘Porridge Is An Aphrodisiac’: A family cookbook to make life easier

But the wily Scots have kept the secret safely under their kilts for fear of triggering a worldwide demand and subsequent shortage of their staple dish!

Science shows that the reason that porridge can make this claim is that oats are a rich source of L-arginine, an essential amino acid which allows the release of testosterone in both men and women.

There is an often hidden knowledge about what our foods do for us and Garvagh author Roisin Armstrong’s new book is not only an easy-to-read guide, packed full of straightforward and tasty recipes, but the reader will gain a better understanding of the food they eat and how it provides the life energy, vitamins and minerals needed to live a healthy positive life.

Porridge is an Aphrodisiac is the first book by Roisin, a successful kinesiologist with a special interest in nutrition and she knows how foods affect people’s physical and mental wellbeing.

The recipes are a selection of main courses, soups, salads, a selection of non-wheat and yeast free breads and some tasty treats which, for the most part, can be put together in less than 30 minutes to make life easier for busy people who still want to fit the benefits of fresh home-cooked foods into their hectic lives.

Whilst the recipes follow the newest guidelines on healthy eating, they are also sensible with an eye to producing good food for a family living within budgets.

Roisin has a special interest in nutrition and she knows how foods affect people’s physical and mental wellbeing.

She runs successful clinics in Holywood and Portglenone, and she works within Northern Ireland’s first specialist eating disorder clinic in Belfast.

And for the past 15 years shehas written a very popular health column every Wednesday in The Irish News.

The research for these articles keeps her up to date with current thinking on complementary medicine, diet, exercise and new developments in nutritional supplementation, and up to date on expert opinions and research studies.

She has always been passionate about health especially in terms of what control we each as individuals have on our food and exercise choices and therefore what we can do to keep ourselves as healthy as we can for all of our lives. Roisin says “ Our health is our greatest gift and it is ultimately our responsibility to take the best care of it that we can. Our bodies are like a car and we need only five basic factors to maintain it.

“We need good quality fuel, oil, air and water and we need regular servicing to ensure optimum performance.

“I would like to see every person treating their body’s to at least two “service” treatments every year. “Whilst complementary medicine can be amazing for treating health issues, health maintenance in terms of preventative health is so much easier than trying to repair a body once it has become ill.”

In her clinics Roisin uses food testing to establish if there are any foods causing difficulty for the body.

Eating the wrong things for your system, and everyone is different, can trigger any number of unpleasant reactions from skin rashes, breathing difficulties like sinus problems, asthma and snoring, to joint pain, foggy brain and insomnia.

If such a food is identified advice is given to Roisin’s clients on how to gently remove it from their diet and alternatives given to ensure sound nutrition and the least possible stress.

Speaking of her book, she says: “The idea is to make life easier in terms of feeding a family but to also introduce tasty, quick and nutritious recipes from a wide range of easily accessed ingredients.”

“This book is a culmination of many years of training in complimentary medicine combined with many of my own recipes and those contributed to me by friends and family.

“The whole idea is to make life easier in terms of feeding a family but to also introduce tasty, quick and nutritious recipes from a wide range of easily accessed ingredients.

“The recipes are a selection of main courses, soups, salads, a selection of non-wheat and

yeast free breads and some tasty treats. Most of the recipes can be put together inless than 30 minutes in an attempt to make life easier for busy people who still want to fit the benefits of fresh home-cooked foods into their hectic lives.”

Roisin adds: “The book is also the perfect opportunity for readers to really learn little nuggets of information about the fantastic local foodstuffs and local producers in our own country.

“I also go through the basic vitamin and mineral content of commonplace foods to encourage a greater interest in how our bodies use the nutritional benefits from our daily foods.”

The authoris keen to promote local foodstuffs and local producers. In her book, you can pick up many little nuggets of information detailing the basic vitamin and mineral content of commonplace foods to encourage a greater interest in how our bodies use the nutritional benefits from our daily foods.

Roisin graduated from the University of Ulster in 1989, she first became fascinated by Kinesiology in the early 1990’s and qualified first as a practitioner in 1997.

Following three years of study in London she became an acupuncturist in 2004.