Putting Health and Wellbeing at the Heart of Manor Walk, Market Harborough

In our blogs, we often talk about ourselves – what we’ve been up to, the new frames we’ve just had delivered, or the latest equipment we’ve purchased to enhance the customer experience at Respectacle Company. But this time, I wanted to shine a light on Manor Walk. As well as being our home and a wonderful place to work, Manor Walk is also home to a diverse range of interesting, independent businesses, tucked away in a lovely little shopping precinct, just a short stroll from the centre of Market Harborough.

Here at Respectacle, we love to support Market Harborough’s small business community – either by shopping in one of the many independent stores or using local services. I recently spent an interesting and informative hour with Sarah Phipps, a naturopathic nutritionist based at Manor Walk Wellness. Sarah is extremely knowledgeable about nutritional therapy, and once a month, she hosts a breakfast club, where attendees can enjoy a light breakfast and listen to a talk about health and wellbeing.

The Breakfast Club with Nutritional Therapist Sarah Phipps

Gut health was the theme for this month’s talk, which is a hot topic right now. Not surprisingly, there was a lot to cram into the hour, but I found the information illuminating. Sarah gave us a real insight into how it’s so important to consider what we eat and how food can affect our whole wellbeing. I came away with some great tips about improving my diet – specifically the foods I should be eating for better gut health, how this can improve my digestive system and the impact this has on every part of my body and how I feel. Our guts can be the root cause of fatigue, digestive issues, low immunity and low mood. It was all very eye-opening.

Sarah Phipps is a Naturopathic Nutritionist

Manor Walk Wellness

Sarah’s talk focused on not just diet and the foods we eat – she also talked about how lifestyle and the environment can help improve our wellbeing. For example, getting out into nature is well known to have a calming effect on our mood. Meditation and keeping hydrated also help with digestion and our overall gut health. Sarah gave us a great analogy – to think of our gut as a garden. Gardens need to be nurtured; we feed, water and weed them. The same applies to good gut health.

We also discussed inflammation, fibre, eating a rainbow, fermented foods, and different types of diets. It was quite enlightening, and I learnt a lot, with some take-away snippets I can easily implement into my daily life. Sarah’s talk reinforced the important role diet has in our lives. After all, they say our stomach is the second brain, and a good, balanced diet can impact all our organs – including our eyes.

Eating certain foods can improve gut health

Understanding Your Lifemeter Score

Second Lifemeter Screening Day – Coming Soon!

Speaking of eye health, some of you may remember that earlier this year, we hosted a wellness day with The Body Doctor. We invited customers to take part in a Lifemeter Screening Day, where they could have their carotenoids measured.

Our macular pigment consists of three key carotenoids – Lutein, Meso-Zeaxanthin and Zeaxanthin – which help protect the light-sensitive cells in our eyes. This natural protection has an important role to play when it comes to reducing the risk of macular issues like degeneration, contrast sensitivity and glare disability.

These carotenoids are also found elsewhere in our bodies, including the brain. Low levels of carotenoids have been linked to memory loss and Alzheimer’s. But the good news is you can boost your carotenoid levels through your diet by eating lots of green leafy vegetables, eggs, pumpkins, and sweetcorn. It goes to show how powerful good nutrition can be for our health and wellbeing.

Due to the success of our first Lifemeter Screening Day, we have decided to run another wellness day later this year. If you came along last time – and want to recheck your levels – or if you want to have your carotenoid levels checked for the first time, keep an eye on our socials for more details about the event. We’ll let you know when we can start to take bookings. In the meantime, you can read more about carotenoid levels and Lifemeter screening here.

If you’d like to learn more about Sarah, gut health and making healthy changes to your diet, check out her website. Sarah’s monthly Breakfast Club – which launched in June – is a great place to start your journey to better health and wellbeing. I really enjoyed it!