Rugby player Matt Dawson: "I hope my children will never eat junk food"

Matt has just launched his own range of superfoods, a selection of health-boosting seeds and powdered nutrients which can be used for cooking or added to salads, smoothies, yogurts or cereals.He hopes the range, produced by Bioglan, will encourage more people to try some of his favourite superfoods and ensure they hit their five-a-day target of fruit and vegetables.

“Ingredients such as chia, flaxseed and acai berries are a great way to ensure you are getting the right nutrition into your body, plus they taste great.”

Matt has good reason to take his diet seriously. His grandfather died of bowel cancer and his mother Lois was diagnosed with the disease in 2007. “Fortunately she came through it but my family history means I’m at risk,” he adds.

Every year 40,700 people in the UK are diagnosed with colorectal cancer but screening and improved treatments mean half will still be alive 10 years later.

Early diagnosis is key to beating the disease, although Matt knows this is not always easy. “My mum had gone to the doctor because she had symptoms but still had to push for a diagnosis.”

Anyone aged 60 to 69 who is registered with a GP should be offered screening via a home testing kit which detects traces of blood in stools. From 2016 all 55-year-olds will be offered a one-off test which uses a camera to check the lower bowel for signs of the disease.

Warning signs include bleeding from the back passage or blood when you go to the loo, a change in normal bowel habits (such as diarrhoea or looser stools) lasting longer than four to six weeks, weight loss and tiredness as a result of anaemia.

Obesity, alcohol and a high-fat diet laden with processed meat all add to the risk of developing bowel cancer while eating fruit and vegetables appear to lower the risk.

Experts at Cancer Research UK say: “No single diet can guarantee you won’t get bowel cancer but changing your diet could help to reduce your risk in general, as well as improving your health.”

Matt says: “I would be very disappointed if I didn’t eat my five a day and I think it’s getting so much easier if you look at the guideline daily amounts.” GDAs appear on many food labels and give a guide to the recommended targets for different nutrients.

Matt admits he doesn’t always find time to work out. “People always assume I am at the gym every day. I work and do a lot of travelling and I get to the gym twice a week if I am lucky. I walk a lot. I often get off a stop early and walk and I always take the stairs rather than the lift or get on a bike rather than drive.

“I keep myself active to keep my metabolism active but I love being at home. I would rather spend that extra hour and a half at home with my family and cooking.”

Matt Dawson’s Bioglan superfood range is available at Holland Barrett, priced from £8.99

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/25835922

Rugby player Matt Dawson: "I hope my children will never eat junk food"