The Irish Balance Podcast

Episode 42: COVID-19 - Your Questions Answered Part 2 with Dr. Laura Lenihan and Dr. Clíodhna Ní Bhuachalla

Welcome back to a much anticipated Part 2 episode of COVID-19 - Your Questions Answered, with GP Dr. Laura Lenihan (@drlauragp on Instagram) and Dr. Clíodhna Ní Bhuachalla, specialist in clinical microbiology and public health physician (@c_ni_bhuachalla on Instagram). If you haven't listened to our Part 1 episode, please do! In this Part 2 conversation, we discuss progress to date in Ireland in relation to measures taken to reduce the burden of COVID-19, the danger of complacency as regards our control over the virus here, the most up to date advice for the Irish general public on the use of facemasks and disposable gloves, what antibody testing is and what it's limitations are, and the importance of not ignoring non-COVID-19 related medical symptoms and signs people might be experiencing. Finally, we discuss the importance of following key public health advice - hand and respiratory hyigene, social/physical distancing, staying home and staying informed. Laura, Cliodhna and I also share what we're finding helpful to mind our mental well-being in the current global pandemic. 

If you enjoy this episode, let us know! Tag us in your Instagram stories (I'm @theirishbalance on IG), leave a comment on the podcast or send us a message! As always, please subscribe to the podcast if you're enjoying it and leave a review if you'd like to, all support is greatly appreciated. Thanks for listening. 

Episode 41: Food Is More Than Fuel With Daniel Davey

In this week's episode I am joined by performance nutritionist Daniel Davey, who many of you may follow as @daveynutrition on Instagram. Daniel currently works as a nutritionist with Leinster Rugby and Dublin football – his background is in Science as an undergraduate, followed by a Masters in Nutrition, Physical Activity and Public Health. He is also a certified strength and conditioning specialist. In addition, he has recently published his own fantastic cookbook – Eat Up, Raise Your Game! You can find his newly launched website at https://www.daveynutrition.com/ .

In this episode, we discuss understanding nutrition, challenges to a healthy dietary pattern, what we should know about our three key macronutrients (carbohydrates, fat and protein), and the importance of a healthy relationship with food. I couldn't have enjoyed recording this episode more - Daniel is a wealth of quality and helpful information on all things nutrition and an all round good egg too! As always, let us know if you listen - tag myself and Daniel in your Instagram stories, or leave a comment on the podcast! Please do subscribe and share a review too, all support for the podcast is much appreciated. 

Episode 40: Understanding Gut Health with Orla Walsh

In this week's episode, we’re going to focus on looking after our digestive/gut health and chat a little bit about irritable bowel syndrome. I’m absolutely delighted to have as my guest someone who many of you may already follow, and who I’m a big fan of – Irish dietitian Orla Walsh (@orlawalshnutrition on Instagram). Orla qualified as a dietitian from King’s College London, after completing undergraduate studies in physiology, and she also has a Masters in Clinical Nutrition from Roehampton University. Her personal areas of interest in nutrition are weight loss, disordered eating, irritable bowel syndrome and heart health, and she also has been professionally involved in sports nutrition – she was even involved in the nutritional management of several of the Olympic athletes who went to the Rio games in 2016! Orla holds a clinic in the Dublin Nutrition Centre (http://orlawalshnutrition.ie/), and also has a lot of media experience, operating her own epic Instagram account, and contributing frequently to written and radio media. Her Instagram account is a breath of fresh air – equal parts science, a good laugh and a no nonsense approach to communicating nutritional information. 

I hope you guys enjoy this episode - we discuss what gut health is, why our gut bacteria are important, some myths and misinformation on this area, how to improve our fibre intake and what a health bowel habit looks like, and so much more. Tag myself and Orla in your Instagram stories if you tune in - and of course, subscribe to the Podcast if you haven't! Thanks for listening. 

Episode 39: Being Better with Shane Ryan of Fiid

In this week's episode, I am joined by a very good friend of mine Shane Ryan. Shane is an entrepreneur in the Irish food business - he is the founder of Fiid, an Irish company whose product, plant-based tasty and healthy convenience meals with a difference, you may have seen on in your local Super Value, Tesco, Spar and also in Sainsburys and Ocado in the UK. The reason I’ve brought Shane on is to share the story of Fiid with you guys, with the aim of helping us all to realise how small changes in our daily lives can help us to be better, both in terms of our physical and mental health, and how these changes can help us to contribute to society as individuals through our lifestyle choices. 

I really hope you enjoy our conversation in this episode and that it resonates with you guys. I'm very grateful to Shane for giving up his time to be my guest this week. You can find more information on Fiid at https://www.eatfiid.com/ and on Instagram at @eatfiid. As always, if you enjoy this episode, let us know! Tag myself and @eatfiid in your Instagram stories, leave a comment here, we'd love to hear from you. If you haven't already, do subscribe to The Irish Balance Podcast! 

Episode 38: COVID-19 - The Challenges Our Pharmacies Face with Laura Dowling

Welcome back to another episode of The Irish Balance Podcast! This week I am delighted to be joined by Irish pharmacist Laura Dowling, who is @fabulouspharmacist on Instagram! Laura is a fantastic person to follow on Instagram - known for her hilarious dance videos and no nonsense approach to communicating health information. I love the insights she provides to our pharmacies in Ireland. In this episode we discuss the challenges our pharmacies face in the COVID-19 pandemic, what Laura loves most about her job and how she navigates social media on top of her day job. We also discuss the key steps we can all take to protect ourselves and our loved ones from COVID-19. As always, if you enjoy this episode let us know! And don't forget to subscribe to the Podcast if you haven't! Thanks for listening.

Episode 37: COVID-19 - Your Questions Answered with Dr. Laura Lenihan and Dr. Clíodhna Ní Bhuachalla

I think this is one of my favourite Podcast episodes I have recorded to date. In this episode I'm joined by two fellow doctors - Dr. Laura Lenihan, general practitioner and @drlauragp on Instagram, and Dr. Cliodhna Ní Bhuachalla, specialist in Clinical Microbiology and public health doctor. and @c_ni_bhuachalla on Instagram. It's fantastic to have been able to get the three of us together to discuss COVID-19, both broadly and especially in the Irish context as that's where we all work.

In this episode, we decided to address some commonly asked questions by looking at key areas in relation to COVID-19 - spread/transmission, survival of the virus on surfaces, pregnancy and the key steps we can all take to protect ourselves and our loved ones during this pandemic. 

I want to say a big thank you to both Laura and Clíodhna for giving up their time outside of the valuable work they are doing to record this episode. Hopefully we will be able to record a Part 2 chat soon! If you tune into this episode please do let us know - tag myself @theirishbalance, Laura @drlauragp and Clíodhna @c_ni_bhuachalla in your Instagram Stories, send us a message, or leave a comment on the Podcast. Don't forget to as always subscribe if you haven't and give the Podcast a bit of love so it reaches more people. Thanks for listening. You can find my blog at https://theirishbalance.com/ . 

 

Episode 36: COVID-19 and Minding Your Mental Health with Joe O'Brien

This episode is all about minding our mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. My guest today is Joe O'Brien - trainee health psychologist, educator, researcher and writer, and creator of the @headfirst0 Instagram page and the Head First podcast. Joe has been a guest on my podcast previously (check those episodes out if you haven't already!), and I'm very grateful to him for giving up some time to come back on to chat about mental well-being in the current situation we find ourselves in.

We discuss the uncertainty we all face, using daily routine to take back a sense of control over our day, maintaining a balance between staying informed and avoiding information overload, and the importance of using technology to maintain social connection while we are being asked to stay far apart. I hope you guys enjoy this episode - if you give it a listen, tag us in your stories, let myself and Joe know what you thought, and thank you for tuning in! 

Episode 35: COVID-19 and Nutritional Considerations with Maeve Hanan

In this week's episode I chat to Maeve Hanan, consultant dietitian and health writer. Maeve is @dieteticallyspeaking on Instagram and @DieteticSpeak on Twitter. She is the creator of the https://dieteticallyspeaking.com/ website - and an all round breath of fresh air to follow on social media. Maeve advocates an evidence-based, no nonsense approach to nutrition and if you're not following her already, get on it!

In this episode we chat about nutritional considerations in the current COVID-19 pandemic. We discuss bringing nutrition back to basics, having structure to your day with regular meals and how to plan those, shopping tips to make your grocery haul last longer, and Maeve also shares some super tips for ingredients to pick up to have handy in your cupboard. We hope you enjoy this episode - do tag us in your Instagram stories if you give this episode a listen, and let us know what you think! Thanks for listening. 

Episode 34: The Podcast is Back - Chatting COVID-19, Challenges & Coping

Guys, I am so delighted to be bringing the Podcast BACK to you all! During these uncertain times, I wanted to use The Irish Balance platform to connect with those following, and to bring some COVID-19 related and non-COVID-19 content to you in audio format. The episodes to follow this short re-introduction to the Podcast will be mostly with guests, talking about looking after ourselves during this pandemic, hearing the stories of others, and hopefully making us feel more connected together despite being apart. 

This first episode is a little hello and update, a bit of a chat about why there is no right way to feel right now and hopefully just a few minutes of positive ramblings from me. I hope you enjoy it, and I look forward to sharing more episodes with you guys over the next few weeks! 

Episode 33: Public Health and Nutrition with Jenny Rosborough

Welcome back to the FIRST Podcast episode of 2020! I’m so excited to share this week’s guest with you - UK-based registered nutritionist and head of nutrition at the Jamie Oliver Group, Jenny Rosborough. Jenny’s career background is quite diverse, working as Campaign Manager at Action on Sugar, and in child and family nutrition, designing and delivering evidence-based weight management treatment and prevention programmes for families, and delivering the UK MEND programme training (Mind, exercise, nutrition, do it!) to health, education and social care professionals, nationally and internationally. I’ve been following Jenny on Instagram @hellohealthyyou_ for quite a while now, and absolutely love her perspective on public health nutrition, particularly campaigning for a healthier food environment. We chat about public health nutrition, changes to our food environment over the last few decades, and challenges around regulating our food environment too. If you enjoy this Podcast, as always let myself and Jenny know - get in touch via Instagram or leave a comment on the Podcast here! 

Credit: Music https://www.purple-planet.com