Avoiding all processed and junk food is a start.  Buying organic is also preferable if not for the nutrition content, where there is some arguments about whether organic vegetables have more nutrients than non organic, then for the fact that organic food should be free from pesticides and herbicides etc.  As just mentioned some studies claim that organic vegetables are no more nutritious than non organic.  Is that comparison on a like for like basis.  If you grow ‘organic’ carrots on poor soil and grow carrots non organically on the same soil they will both be lacking nutrients.  The non organic grown carrots though will still contain traces of any pesticides/fertilisers used.

Meat is also a problem.  Try to buy meat that is grass reared and organically produced free from hormones and drugs.  Supermarket meat is becoming more contaminated and not just from horse meat!  Most chickens (other than free range) are now fed genetically modified (GM) feed and most supermarkets are no longer guaranteeing chicken to be  GM free  -  and there is no mention of GM on the labelling which makes life more difficult.

Better to buy meat from a good butcher where you can ask the source and how it is produced.  Often you will be surprised to find it is competitively priced as well.  If it is a little more expensive but better quality buy slightly less or a cheaper cut.  Eating a little less meat is generally good advice anyway.  Then make up the meal by adding more vegetables which will improve your health as well.  You can read more about healthy eating and making good nutrition the basis of your diet in my free (yes free) book to be found at http://www.obooko.com under the heading ‘Health and Self Development).

There is a crisis and austerity everywhere and prices including food keep going up so money saving food and recipes are also wanted.  That does not mean buying cheap products such as ‘economy’ burghers or ready meals.  Look at the latest horse meat scandal going on at the moment or think about mechanically recovered  meat.

Instead you can make your own healthy dishes cheaply and here is one of my own.  Fish cakes.

Take a tin of tuna or mackeral

2 medium potatoes

parsley or chives

spring onion

mustard or horseradish source

Drain the tuna and mash well.  Bake the potatoes in the microwave (my preferred method though you can also boil them). Chops the herbs and spring onion.  Mash everything together in a bowl adding a teaspoon or two of mustard (diijon or grainy mustard) or the horse radish sauce.

Make your fish cakes and fry in olive oil with a little added butter and serve with either a salad, coleslaw, beetroot, peas or any combination you like.

A quick tasty lunch or dinner that won’t break the bank.  You can find more healthy recipes and food tips in my book The Nutrition Diet and Recipe Book available free at www.obooko.com under the heading  ’health and self development’

We do need fat though as there are fat soluble vitamins, vitamin A, D, E and K which are important vitamins for our health.  Fats also provide a source of energy, aid cell growth and are needed for mineral absorption.

We are generally told to eat less fat especially animal fats which contain saturated fats.  (They also contain cholesterol also demonised in many places, but that is another blog).  However no fat is a single fat source even in meat.  For example 170gm (about 6 oz) of lean beef mince may have about 22 gm of fat (depending on the cut etc) but only 9 gm (about 45%) is saturated.  Fats and oils in foods are therefore a mix of fats.  Butter and lard  for instance are 40-60% saturated fat.

Saturated fats are not all bad.  It is stable, does not go rancid and stores well.  It is provided by animal fats and tropical oils.   The body also makes saturated fats from carbohydrates.  So we do need saturated fats.  Saturated fats make up 50% of cell membranes and are also needed for bones to use calcium.  They also help protect the liver.

Other fats are mono-unsaturated fats which are also stable and don’t easily turn rancid.  Olive oil and nut oils such as almond are mono-unsaturated fats.  Poly-unsaturated fats are the other fat that is commonly used and is also predominant in processed foods and junk foods.   These are often touted as the healthy option by big business.  They supply Omega 6 and Omega 3 oils which are not made by the body.  We can get enough Omega 6 from our diet if including meat, fish and eggs in our diet.  They go rancid easily, especially Omega 3 oils and should not be used for cooking.  Omega 6 oils are even more prone to oxidation when sugar is also present which is often the case in our modern processed foods today.

Diets today are high in polyunsaturated oils and research now points to over consumption of polyunsaturated oils as contributing to disease such as cancer, heart, liver, digestion  and weight gain.  When heated oxidation takes place and the oils become rancid and produce free radicals which attack cells causing many health problems.  Ideally cook with a little butter or lard.  Olive oil can also be used for cooking if kept at a low temperature.

I am not advocating eating lots of steaks with saturated fat!! For a start we need to know where the meat was coming from.  As in all diet and nutrition matters things are not what they seem and we all have different metabolisms and dietary needs.  But be aware of the need to eat a healthy whole food diet free of processed and junk foods with lots of vegetables and fruits.  Where possible buy organic eggs and meat from grass reared animals.  Use butter instead of margarine or vegetable oils for cooking or olive oil if using over low heat.  You can also get healthy oils from eating seeds and nuts (sprinkle on cereals or salads or soups etc) and eat oily fish a couple of times a week.  Don’t be afraid to use butter for cooking – it tastes better as well.

The book explains nutrition and how it works in laymans terms (I am not a scientist) and gives advice on nutrition as a basis for diet together with food tips and an easy to follow plan to incorporate nutrition into any diet.  There are also lots of healthy recipes.  

I have made the book available on Obooko as the easiest option for me to get the book to as many people as possible and it is FREE.  I hope you enjoy the book and carry on reading the blog.

Christmas is coming and maybe it is not just the goose that is going to get fat.  We all tend to over indulge to a varying degree at this time of the year.  Why else is the main new year resolution dieting, either for health or weight loss.  It must be our guilty conscience.

There is no need to have a guilty conscience.  You can indulge and join in the festivities without watching what you eat or drink.  I don’t mean stuffing your face or drinking to excess just because it is Christmas,  but you don’t have to watch your diet too carefully.  Anyway if you  normally eat healthy nutritious food and avoid junk and processed foods you will not be going crazy anyway.

If you follow my advice in this site and in my website at http://www.thenutritiondietclub.com and eat a healthy nutritious diet already the traditional Christmas dinner will be little different  - other than maybe quantity.  Turkey, potato, brussel sprouts, carrots, peas and stock based gravy, gives a healthy meal.  Pudding and pies are perhaps an excess but once the day is over we will no doubt revert to our normal diet and no harm is done.

If you avoid over indulging too much on the chocolate and alcohol and nibbles, things you may not eat much of during the year, you can have a ‘normal’ guilt free Christmas and no harm done.  There is also the new year resolution if all else fails!  So eat drink and be merry.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 

There are many diets around, and knowing which diet is best for you is hard to work out.  There are low fat, low carbohydrate, low calorie, low gl, raw food, paleo, vegetarian, vegan, food combining (one of the better diets), and even ‘the perfect diet’; though nothing is perfect in reality.

We are not perfect either so trying to stick to a rigid diet routine is difficult enough without wondering if it is the right diet.  So what is the answer.  We all want to have a better diet, either for weight loss or health reasons.  If it is a diet that is ‘low’ or restrictive in some way then it is probably not balanced and the nutrient content is not complete.

A complete diet is the answer and should be one that provides all the nutrients the body needs.  Though I doubt any diet can do that in reality today without a lot of care and work.  A diet with healthy nutritious food and few rules to follow is a good start.  A diet that is not too difficult to follow and fits in with everyday lifestyles and uses everyday foods.  A advocate a diet based on nutritious food and some simple rules.  The main one being avoid processed foods, junk foods and soft drinks and colas including diet drinks (another story) and eat more fruit and vegetables.

You don’t have to starve yourself or count calories, and can eat as much fruit and vegetables as you like but eat more vegetables than fruit.  The following is a list of foods to base your diet on and none are exotic, expensive superfoods.

Apples, Bananas, Berries, Pineapple, Broccoli, Lentils, Garlic, Onions, Mung Beans, Flax Seeds, Sunflower Seeds, Nuts, Oats, Olive oil, Green Tea, Tomatoes, Sprouts (as in sproutings), Yoghurt (plain), all Vegetables, other fruits (grapefruit, grapes, kiwi, oranges, peaches, pears, prunes (high in anti oxidents)

Plenty of choice there and if you are not vegetarian make sure any meat etc you choose is organic,  free range chicken and eggs, meat from organic grass reared animals and oily fish such as sardines and salmon.  You don’t have to have large amounts of these or eat them every day, so the cost is not out of reach.

Age is another factor to take into account when working out a diet.  While on the subject of ideal foods, the following are good for us oldies  -  cherries, oats, almonds, oily fish, tomato, chicken (free range), full milk (organic), together with the rest of the above foods.

Add to this  healthy nutritious diet more fresh air and exercise and you have the potential for a healthier lifestyle that will make you feel good and look good.

The problem  here though is that as usual the research is done to provide a pill to prevent the illness ever occurring.  It might be the case that the illness never would have occurred in the first place and you finish up taking unnecessary drugs with possible side effects that have other consequences. 

Certainly being able to predict the likelihood of getting a disease like type 2 diabetes is useful but it does not need a pill to prevent it happening.  Lifestyle and diet changes are probably just as good.  The same can be said for other illnesses such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, and gout for example.  All helped by healthy nutritious food and lifestyle changes including more exercise.

The pill for all occasions is only a winner for the drug companies who want us all to be hooked on their products whether we need them or non.  Why take a pill for high blood pressure caused by poor diet and lifestyle so that you can continue with the poor diet and lifestyle.  Other illnesses such as cancer may then result  from staying on the poor diet. So at the first signs of illness caused by poor diet and lifestyle surely you should be advised on correcting things so that you are healthier and don’t need the pills. 

If more was done to educate people on diet and nutrition and to curb the powers of the large multi national drug companies and food manufacturers with their processed and junk foods containing possible harmful additives and sweeteners, we would al be healthier.  The burden on the health services would also be less.  So the last thing we need is more pills.  

The arguments go on as to whether organic food is really worth the extra price usually charged.  That is in the supermarkets anyway.  Don’t  forget that the local grocers shops and farmers markets as they can be just as cheap or cheaper and the produce may even be fresher.  Also while not all produce may be certified organic many small producer will grow their produce using more traditional methods.  There are often reports that organic fruit and vegetables are no better than normal grown produce anyway.

It maybe true that in theory both organic and non-organic foods contain the same vitamins and minerals but that can only be true if both are grown in similar soil and that can also be true of one organic produce against another organic produce. Even if it was true that both organic and non organic are equal there is still the use of pesticides and artificial fertilisers on non organic crops and the resultant residues.

Large scale agriculture also has soil depleted of essential nutrients and micro organisms, leaving poor soil quality which means less nutrients in the crop.  Chemical based agriculture, where the growing of a single crop such as wheat or soy on the same land year after year is not only lacking in the essential nutrients but is bad for the environment.  It also increases the use of pesticides and fertilisers because the land has not had chance to recover its richness.

So I still think organic is best.  I would also prefer meat from organic grass fed animals.  Large scale factory farmed meat has the possibility  of contamination by drugs such as antibiotics and growth hormones and other toxins.  As well as the drugs used in meat production there is also the concentration of pesticides in animals.  Pesticides used to spray the crops fed to animals that we then eat. There are also the illegal practices that crop up now and again, the most extreme recently being pork dyed red and sold as beef!

The best way to be more sure your food is safe is to buy organic.  Buy local products and use the farmers markets that are now widespread.  Buying food this way is also better environmentally as organic and locally grown food producers take more care of the land, the soil, etc.

You are also helping the finances of your locality since the money spent locally helps keep good food and produce alive and the money also stays in the area instead of disappearing  into supermarket profits.  So buy organic if you can and buy local produce anyway and you will benefit from healthier more nutritious food.

Vitamins! (Photo credit: bradley j)

The supplement industry is big business and like the drug industry has many vested interests.  So do we need supplements and who is telling the truth about the benefits of taking nutrition in a pill.  

We do need nutrients.  Our body needs vitamins and minerals to function and maintain health.  Ideally we should be getting our nutrition from the food we eat.  Increasingly this is becoming more and more difficult.  So if we cannot get our vitamins and minerals from our food we must need supplements.

That is one aspect.  Then science gets involved and will find that a particular vitamin or mineral is good for our health, helping to protect us from some disease or other.  Vitamin C is an anti oxident and protects us from heart disease and cancer.  Calcium is needed for bones to help prevent osteoporosis.  So do we than start taking these and more every time we are told how good they are for us.  Again our food is often unable to provide the nutrients we need at the levels we need.  Is there an answer to this problem?

I think we may need some supplements at least some of the time, such as recovering from illness or old age.  We may also need supplements at other times due to depleted soils where the produce is grown or processing etc.  The argument tends to come down on the side of needing supplements in some form for general health.  A good example is Omega 3 oil which most of us don’t get enough of in our diet and is necessary for health.  Also some sort of multi vitamin and/or mineral may be advisable.  It is all very well saying that a healthy varied diet (as recommended by me) is able to provide all the vitamins and minerals we require, but it is not always the case.  A fruit or vegetable is only as good as the soil it is grown in and if that lacks minerals so will the produce.

Taking a multi vitamin and mineral supplement may be too much of a scatter gun approach and create other problems with imbalance of nutrients.  It may be better to try and look at your diet and see where there may be a shortfall in nutrients in your diet.  This could well be minerals due to poor soil quality where the vegetables are grown.  Then a good mineral supplement may be all you need.  You can even check your own diet with online diet software and see exactly what nutrients you need.  A free one is Cron-o-meter found at http://www.cronometer.com.

Then there is the picking, processing, storage, cooking, etc that also depletes nutrients, so better safe than sorry and take a supplement.  But avoid taking large doses of single vitamins or minerals without advice.

Whatever supplement decision you take, a healthy diet is the first priority.  Healthy nutritious foods, with plenty of benficial herbs and and spices is ideal.  If you have a chronic deficiency or disease that can be corrected by specific nutrient supplementation there is a case for that as long as you have consulted your health practitioner or doctor for advice/diagnosis.  Try then to be aware that you might not need lots of mega vitamin supplements and with a little effort you can have a more healthy and targeted approach to you nutritional needs.

July’s Tomato Haul (Photo credit: statelyenglishmanor)

A new study has found that eating lots of tomatoes can help prevent strokes.  Tomatoes are also high in lycopene and anti oxidents which are thought to have anti cancer properties.  They also contain quercetin which has anti cancer, anti microbial and anti iflammatory properties.  Tomatoes are also one of the foods where cooking increases these benefits.

Like many fruits and vegetables today, are they really as beneficial as they should be.  Tomatoes are a seasonal, sun ripened summer fruit.  Unless you grow your own or buy organic outdoor grown tomatoes they may be lacking in these vital nutrients.  When they are artificially grown under cover and then picked before they are ripe, how much of the nutrients that should be in a tomato have actually developed.

That is the same with many of our fruit and vegetables today.  Back to tomatoes and have you noticed how most shop bought tomatoes all taste the same and all have tough skins – some genetic engineering to make it easier for them to be carted around and handled.

One final thought on the study that tomatoes help prevent strokes.  Why is it then that in countries where tomatoes are a large part of the diet people still get strokes.

As always there are always more questions than answers when it comes to diet and nutrition.