Could 50% off a Le Creuset Casserole Help You Live Longer

Andrew on holiday, and Jeannes return.

I sometimes fear I’m a bit of a pushover when it comes to trying new lines from our suppliers, not least when Tara, our Le Creuset account manager, persuaded me that I really couldn’t afford not to list Le Creuset’s new colour, Lapis (as in Lazuli) on a short one off run, and at very good pricing…

Presumably I thought… it was a blue (always popular) and 30% ish off, so what could possibly go wrong….

Can eating together,  lengthen your life?

Talking, not of 'staying alive', but of life enhancements, I’m a bit of a fan of Tim Spector and his Zoe organisation. Earlier this week the people at Zoe sent me an interesting email entitled “Sharing meals is caring for your gut”.

 The mail and attachments were rather too detailed to go into here, but the sound bites below give an indication why this email made me sit up and think:

•  “We evolved to eat together”
• “Social eating is linked to better health”
• “We often eat better food in company, and eat slower”
• “Fermented foods such as yoghurt, kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut and some cheeses help support a diverse gut microbiome, improve mood, energy and can help reduce weight”

Briefly, the Zoe study shows a corelation (not proof it must be said) that there appears to be a link that shows people who regularly share meals with others tend to:

• report greater happiness and life satisfaction
• experience lower levels of loneliness and depression
• have stronger social connections
• often live longer than those who eat alone regularly
• This got me thinking about both aspects of the email, eating together and fermented foods.

And in turn, how efficient we’ve become at eating . You know, we can do it whilst sitting at our desks, watching TV, driving the car, answering the phone, painting the ceiling or walking down the street, such are the “clever” ways the food industry has packaged their wares.

Yet I wonder, in doing so, have we stripped away the very thing meals were also designed to achieve? Not just to nourish our bodies, but also to nourish our minds. A balance we seem to increasingly understand is crucial to our overall well being. Is it not a rather lovely thought that, for those of us lucky enough to have that option, sitting around a table talking over supper, maybe doing far more good to our long term health than merely filling our stomachs…?

As for fermented foods, there is more research to do to be able draw conclusions, but a growing body of evidence seems to suggest that they are nutritious, relatively inexpensive, and easy to add to our everyday meals. At present, the current evidence suggests that adding live yoghurt, kefir, kimchi or sauerkraut improves our digestion and mood! For me, this seems like a worthwhile gain with apparently little downside.

If you want to know more, click here to read their full article

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There are 10 pieces in the range. Round casseroles, Oval casseroles, a lovely shallow 30cm Casserole, a skillet and a grillit. 

Now all at 50 % off.

The last word

There is also, I realise, an underlying theme that runs throughout this email.

And it’s a theme of care.

Taking care of each other and ourselves ....  especially when travelling to Ceylon!