mind and body - eat well
Eat well
"Food is an important part of a balanced diet."
Fran Lebowitz, American author, born 1950
Top ten tips for healthy eating ...
There’s a mass of confusing and sometimes conflicting information out there about what we should and shouldn’t eat for optimum health. Some ‘experts’ seem to think we can spend hours scouring the shelves of health food shops for obscure ingredients, whilst the reality for most of us is that healthy eating will only happen if it’s quick and easy! The following guidelines are based on those provided by the UK Food Standards Agency and the European Food Information Council (EUFIC), and are reassuringly down-to-earth:
- Go for variety
- Say yes to starchy foods
- Eat a rainbow of fruit and vegetables
- Fancy a bit of fish
- Ban "bad" fats
- Sack the salt and sugar
- Get active
- Drink up
- Eat regularly
- Make it easy for yourself
We need more than 40 different nutrients for good health and no single food, however “super”, can supply them all. That’s why it’s important to incorporate as wide a variety of foods as possible into our diet, from across the five main food groups:
- fruit and vegetables (33%)
- bread, other cereals and potatoes (33%)
- milk and other dairy products (15%)
- meat, fish and alternatives (12%)
- fatty and sugary foods (7%)
Instead of obsessing about every meal, just aim to balance your intake from the different food groups over time. So, for example, if you only have a little bit of lettuce in your sandwich at lunchtime, have a whole heap of vegetables at dinner. If you eat a lot of meat one day, perhaps choose fish the next day. And, if you can be bothered to count them up, see if you can achieve 20 different types of food each day. Why not make it into a game for the whole family?!
Starchy foods such as bread, cereals, rice, pasta and potatoes are a really important part of a healthy diet, and should make up about a third of the food we eat. They are a good source of energy and the main source of a range of nutrients in our diet. As well as starch, these foods contain fibre, calcium, iron and B vitamins. Some people think starchy foods are fattening, but gram for gram they contain less than half the calories of fat. You just need to watch the fats you add when cooking and serving these foods, because this is what increases the calorie content. Try to choose wholegrain varieties whenever you can.
3. Eat a rainbow of fruit and vegetables
Most of us know we should be eating more fruit and vegetables, as they provide important protective disease-fighting nutrients. But many of us still aren't eating enough. Try to eat at least 5 portions of fruit and veg every day and, again, variety is key. The more colours of the rainbow the better! Here are a few suggestions to help you sneak a few extra in to your daily diet:
- Start the day with a glass of fresh, unsweetened fruit juice. One of your five portions of fruit and veg can be in liquid form – and it’s good to get your first portion in nice and early. But remember: a glass or more of 100% fruit juice only counts as one portion per day, no matter how much you drink.
- Chop fruit onto your cereal. It doesn’t have to be the ubiquitous banana – try pineapple, strawberries or grated apple as alternatives. Remember, you can use tinned fruit, too (but avoid those canned in syrup!).
- Don’t forget frozen fruit – it’s just as nutritious as the fresh stuff, and is a real convenience food. Try leaving out a bowlful of frozen mixed berries before you go to bed, and then adding yoghurt and a handful of mixed nuts to it in the morning to get a tasty breakfast.
- Make a smoothie. Add fresh or defrosted soft fruit to yoghurt, add a little milk or soya milk, and blend.
- Mash a ripe banana onto toast for a yummy snack. If you also add peanut butter you’ll be getting a great balance of protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamins and minerals.
- Dried fruit makes a great on-the-move snack, as it’s easy to carry and packed with fibre. Apricots, raisins, prunes or figs are all tasty options. But be aware that dried fruit can only count as one of your five a day, no matter how much of it you eat.
- Never leave the house without a piece of fruit in your bag. If travelling in the car, keep fruit in the glovebox or other shaded place.
- Get raw power! Snack on raw veggies such carrot, celery and cucumber. Dip them in salsa and you pack an even greater antioxidant punch.
- Pile extra salad (tomatoes, onion, lettuce) into rolls and sandwiches that you have ordered by takeaway to eat at your desk at work.
- Try making or buying vegetable-based soups, such as carrot, tomato or watercress. You can even add extra tinned or frozen veg, which will cook while the soup is heating through.
- Ensure you have two types of veg with dinner. Remember: you don’t necessarily have to prepare and cook two types – you could go for no-fuss options such as tinned tomatoes, tinned sweetcorn or frozen veg instead.
- Go for the convenience options! These include pre-chopped veg that you can throw into the steamer, pre-chopped mushrooms that you can pan-fry in a couple of minutes, pre-prepared stir-fry mixes, and pre-washed salad leaves. These options all make getting your ‘five a day’ that little bit easier…
- Have your finger on the pulse! Beans and other pulse vegetables – such as kidney beans, lentils and chickpeas – count towards your total, but only count as one potion per day, no matter how much you eat. Add canned mixed beans to a soup, stew or salad.
- Go for as great a variety of colours as you can. So, if you’ve had lots of green salad, opt for yellow peppers, carrots and tomatoes. This ensures you get the broadest range of disease-fighting phytochemicals.
- Try something new every week. There are bound to be tons of fruit and veg varieties that you’ve never tasted – so vary what you buy and eat, rather than get into a rut of buying the same five things every time you go to the greengrocers. Globe artichoke, anyone?
Most of us should be eating more fish - including a portion of oily fish each week. It's an excellent source of protein and contains many vitamins and minerals.
Aim for at least two portions of fish a week, including a portion of oily fish. You can choose from fresh, frozen or canned - but remember that canned and smoked fish can be high in salt.
To stay healthy we need some fat in our diets. What’s important is the kind of fat we are eating. There are two main types of fat:
- saturated fat - having too much can increase the amount of cholesterol in the blood, which increases the chance of developing heart disease
- unsaturated fat - having unsaturated fat instead of saturated fat lowers blood cholesterol
Try to cut down on food that is high in saturated fat and have foods that are rich in unsaturated fat instead, such as vegetable oils (including sunflower, rapeseed and olive oil), oily fish, avocados, nuts and seeds.
Lots of people think they don't eat much salt, especially if they don't add it to their food. But don't be so sure! Every day in the UK, 85% of men and 69% of women eat too much salt. Adults, and children over 11, should have no more than 6g salt a day. Younger children should have even less. Three-quarters (75%) of the salt we eat is already in the food we buy, such as breakfast cereals, soups, sauces and ready meals. So you could easily be eating too much salt without realising it.
Eating too much salt can raise your blood pressure. And people with high blood pressure are three times more likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke than people with normal blood pressure.
Eating too much sugar is just as bad for you, and most people in the UK do! High sugar diets have been linked with all kinds of horrific health problems, including heart disease, strokes, diabetes, osteoporosis, depression and even cancer. Not to mention obesity and tooth decay! For long term wellbeing, we all need to limit our consumption of food containing added sugar, such as sweets, cakes and biscuits, and drink fewer sugary soft and fizzy drinks.
The weight that is right for you depends on many factors including your sex, height, age and heredity. Being overweight increases your chances of a wide range of diseases, including heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer. Being underweight can also affect your health.
Excess body fat results when you eat more calories than you need. Physical activity is a good way of using up extra calories, and helps control our weight. It benefits the heart and circulatory system, and contributes towards our general health and wellbeing. And, as if that wasn’t enough, exercise also triggers the release of endorphins into the bloodstream and these can boost your mood and make you feel great. But you don’t necessarily need to join a gym. Just make physical activity part of your daily routine and build up the amount you do. Use the stairs instead of the lift (up and down!). Go for a walk in your lunch break. You don't have to be an athlete to get on the move!
As adults, we need to drink about 1.5 litres (6 to 8 glasses) of fluid a day. Or more if it's very hot or we’re physically active. Plain tap water is obviously a good source of liquid but variety can be both pleasant and healthy. Choose from juices, tea, coffee, herbal teas, milk and so on, but avoid drinking soft and fizzy drinks that are high in added sugar. And wine doesn’t count!
Missing meals, especially breakfast, can lead to out-of-control hunger, often resulting in careless overeating. Some people skip breakfast because they think it will help them lose weight … and then end up grabbing a muffin mid-morning because they’re starving! Snacking between meals can help curb hunger and maintain energy levels, as long as you snack healthily. Avoid eating so much that it becomes a substitute for a proper meal, and remember to count your snacks as part of your total calorie intake.
The secret to sustainable healthy eating is to make it as easy as possible. For example:
- Plan your meals for the week ahead, concentrating on simple, nutritious recipes. Write a shopping list and stick to it. And never shop when you're hungry - this is a fatal error that inevitably leads you to stuffing your shopping trolley full of junk!
- Keep a supply of healthy snacks to hand so that you don’t end up eating rubbish. These could include fresh and dried fruit, wholesome cereal bars, rice cakes, low-fat fruit yoghurts and wholemeal pitta and hummus.
- Only eat things you like the taste of. Find what works for you, and don't force yourself to eat things just because they're good for you. Food should be enjoyable.
- Reduce, don’t eliminate foods. It’s unhelpful to think in terms of 'good' and 'bad' foods, and if you deny yourself something you’ll only end up craving it! Don't feel guilty about the foods you love, just eat them in moderation, in small portions. In other words, two squares of chocolate rather than the whole bar! Choose other foods to provide the balance and variety that are vital to good health.
So there you go, it’s as simple as that!
