My meagre brain seems to suffer from information overload on a daily basis. We live in an age dominated by discovery, progression and consequently choice – lots of choice. And so I am always excited about anything that will de-saturate my brain a little by making choosing easier.

When it comes to skin care and the billions of products to help us do so, there is a nifty little skincare app by My Skin that offers personalised advice on what skin care products work best for your unique skin profile.

Firstly, it’s free – woop woop! – and secondly… did I mention free?

Once you’ve downloaded the mySkin: Skincare Advice app, take the ‘skin assessment test’ and you’ll be given a recommendation on what would work for your skin from over 160,000 skincare products across all brands and retailers.

The advice on the skincare app is based on your skin condition, lifestyle, diet and skin concerns.

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Research says that we need to eat more meat. If your vegan or vegie, the core of your being will be shrieking in horrified defiance – so ignore this post. But if you’re interested to know why, read on…

A new study has found that UK diets for people of all ages are often low in the nutrients normally found in meat, including vitamin A, vitamin D, iron, magnesium, zinc, selenium and potassium. The implication: we need more meat. Or at least more of other foods that contain the aforementioned nutrients.

How they worked this out was:

A bunch of professionals – independent dietician Dr Carrie Ruxton, Emma Derbyshire, Senior Lecturer in Human Nutrition, Manchester Metropolitan University and Prof Robert Pickard, Emeritus Professor of Neurobiology, University of Cardiff – got together and analysed data from 103 previous scientific research papers, many of which drew from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS).

The professionals then compiled a new report entitled “The seven ages of man – is there a role for meat in the diet?” which is to be published in the British Nutrition Foundation’s Nutrition Bulletin. Here’s what it says – in a nutshell:

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For these winter mornings, we need a little extra fuel to warm us through and set us up for leaving the cosy house and battling through the ice and snow to work and school.

Those of us who are of a certain age have fond memories of the Ready Brek advert from our youth, featuring children all wrapped up and being sent off to school with that famous warm orange glow that they carried with them as they stepped out into the cold.

Well, if you don’t have kids in the house or haven’t browsed the cereal section for a while, you might be forgiven for forgetting about Ready Brek in favour of more ‘grown-up’ breakfasts, eating on the go, or, even worse, no breakfast at all!

But take yourself back in time to when you used to drizzle honey in circles into that steaming bowl before mixing it up ready to eat! Why not relive the memory?

Ready Brek is still out there, and is one of the healthiest easy breakfast options you could go for, the original flavour is still made from nothing but vitamins, minerals and oats.

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Okay – we’re British; we’re allowed to complain about our junky weather. It’s a national past time and is part of our character. So there!

While we bemoan the rain and all-round lack of warmth, we also feed the European economy by holidaying in sunnier destinations – the Amalfi, coast, the Algarve, the Greek isles, the Dalmatian coast.

And boy, do we make the most of it!

Living in the land of cloud and cold has birthed a nation of short-term sun-worshippers. We have to make up for the lack, you understand – and usually, we have only a couple of weeks at our disposal.

That said; we are well aware that the sun can damage our skin. One of the niftiest beauty gadgets on the market at the moment is the Oregon Scientific EB612 Personal handheld UV Monitor with Exposure Timer – what a mouthful!

Translation: it’s a portable, handheld UVmonitor that aims to protect your skin by telling how long you should stay in the sun.

The monitor measures and records UV levels and displays a UV reading from low to high. It will calculate UV exposure time based on your skin type, sunscreen factor and UV reading.

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Of late, an eating regime known as ‘the cabbage soup diet’ seems to be gaining a lot of press. Neither bad, nor good; just… people are doing it, so it’s being talked about.

The cabbage soup diet is meant to be a way to lose weight fast (for a special occasion perhaps, or to initiate an eating plan) and only lasts a week.

Actually, the title is a bit deceptive. Low-calorie, high fibre cabbage is the crux of the diet but you’re also allowed fruit, veg and even a potato and some rice – and as much home-made cabbage soup as you like!  Here’s the cabbage soup diet schedule:

* Day One: Soup and fruit (except bananas), unsweetened teas, cranberry juice and water.

* Day Two: Soup and vegetables – and a potato.

* Day Three: Soup, fruit and vegetables.

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