Costcutters

I popped into my local health food (Spitalfield Organics) on my way home to pick up a few supplies - nut butter, various nuts and seeds, gluten free noodles, nori sheets etc. - and had a bit of a shock when it added up to £40 at the till!

This kind of expenditure is a far cry from my student days shopping at costcutters on campus! And reminded me how expensive healthy eating can be.

Infact nowadays it is more expensive to eat unhealthily on a diet of ready meals and processed foods, than it is to eat a healthy diet of fresh foods, fruit and veg and wholegrains. However despite todays expenditure, I have infact over the years picked up a few tips and tricks to keep down my food bill:

Grow your own - definitely the cheapest way to get your fruit and veg and it doesn't need a lot of space - just room for a couple of grow bags to get you started with some tomatoes. This does however require some effort (I sadly haven't inherited my mum's green fingers) and isn't recommended if you live next to a busy road or in a polluted area. Even if you can't grow your own, buying fruit and vegetables that are in season is usually cheaper than buying those that have been shipped half way round the world.

Make your own - buying ready made food, especially in the city, is a sure fire way to burn through your cash. Instead make up a packed lunch - I like to make up random salads or use up dinner leftovers, but if you're short on time then make a healthy sandwich. Our canteen also charge a small fortune for breakfast cereals so it's definitely woth bringing in your own box of cereal or muesli.
For snacks it's again worth preparing your own, crudites and hummus, shoyu sesame seeds, salt and pepper cashew nuts and muesli bars are all easy to make at home. Make up a couple of batches of snacks for the week on a Sunday to save mid-week hassle.
If you're feeding a family it is also probably worth investing in a bread maker - not only will you save money but you'll also be able to make delicious homemade bread according to your tastes.

Freeze - Rather than throwing away fruit and veg that's reached it's best before date make use of your freezer to save these for later. Cut up ripe mango and banana and freeze in portions to use in fruit smoothies, stew apples, pears and other orchard fruit to make into fruit puddings and steam and then freeze vegetables to add to casseroles and stir fries. Leftover fresh herbs can also be frozen to add flavour to stews and casseroles.

Freeze leftover bread for toast, or if it's just gone stale make into bread crumbs in a food processor and freeze for instant bread crumbs when a recipe requires them.

Go veggie - meat and fish, particularly organic, are one of the more expensive food items, so save yourself some money by having a few vegetarian meals a week. Stock up on tinned pulses and tofu and use in salads and casseroles instead of meat. And for something quick make a healthy veggie sarnie with hummous, grated carrot, spinach, a squeeze of lemon and some fresh ground pepper.

Don't eat mindlessly - eating when you're bored rather than hungry isn't just bad for the waistline but it is also bad for the wallet. Pre-prepared snack foods are usually less good value than full size meals, and the cost soon adds up.

Quit the caffeine - the price of a coffee in Starbucks could get you a sandwich somewhere else, so quit the caffeine and switch to much cheaper, and better for you, herbal teas.

NITC will be escaping the London royal wedding extravaganza in favour of some fresh air in the countryside and will be back on Monday evening. Have a good weekend.
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Springtime blues

I'm sure I'm not the only one who was put in a great mood by the wonderful weather we had in the UK over the bank holiday weekend, and equally whose spirit was dampened on finding the sunshine had disappeared this morning.

The correlation between mood and the weather is not a new discovery, however in an interesting interview in this evenings 'All in the mind' on radio 4, John Sharp, a clinical psychiatrist at Harvard University surprised me when he stated that suicide levels peak in April with the changing seasons from Winter to Spring.

For most of us the increased sunshine and daylight hours brings on renewed energy and a positive mood however, whilst depression peaks from november to january, it is thought that the contrast of mood in those with depression compared to others becomes more apparent in the spring and it is this that causes the increase in suicide.

This was news to me, but makes me think that we should be paying more attention to our mood and health with every change of the seasons, rather than just focussing on the change into winter when there is an increased incidence of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) . In fact Mr Sharp also revealed the existence of reverse SAD, where sufferers feel depressed in the summer and have lower serotonin and dopamine levels in the summer months.

This just underlines how biochemically unique we all are which is why we need to listen to our bodies to look after our health. Have a think about which season you struggle with and prepare yourself in advance with supportive nutrition (protein and healthy fats are particularly important for mood) and supplements as necessary and reduce foods that can destabilize mood such as alcohol, sugar, caffeine and processed foods. It is also not the time to make radical dietary changes so hold off on your detox til spring has really taken hold. You can then make a smoother transition into the next season and avoid any sudden mood changes.

However, once the wintery weather is finally behind us I am sure I won't be alone in putting in an extra effort with my diet and exercise to get myself beach ready, and for this I will be coming up with a "Beachcamp' programme just as I did with my post christmas Bootcamp. But this time I'd like your input, so if there are any particular problems you'd like me to deal with specifically (bingo wings, man boobs, cellulite etc) or if you have any diet must haves or total turn offs (eg. you want a diet that let's you still eat pudding but you can't stand counting points or calories) let me know and I'll see if I can incorporate them.
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Crumbly goodness

My mum is a passionate gardener and has turned one corner of her garden into something akin to a mini-agri business, growing a whole range of fruit and veg. This means that one of the perks of going home in the spring and summer months is coming back up to London with some fresh goodies from her garden.

This Easter weekend I came back laden with rhubarb - which is by far the easiest fruit (well actually it's a stem) to grow and is rich in iron and vitamin C. It is however one that requires more preparation than most, and whilst I would usually eat any fruit mum gives me raw on it's own, rhubarb definitely requires cooking and a bit of sweetness.

Sadly the traditional crumble recipe combines gluten (flour), dairy (butter) and refined sugar which rules it out for me. But fortunately one of my favourite gluten-free blogs, Elena's pantry, has come up trumps with this almond flour recipe for Cherry Blueberry Crumble from which I just used the crumble topping recipe and sweetened up the stewed rhubarb with some agave syrup. I like to add a bit of texture to the topping with either flaked almonds or chopped nuts, and if making an apple crumble add a bit of cinnamon. This crumble would work with any stewed fruit and is lovely on it's own, or on a colder day served with some custard (made with rice milk for the dairy free) and great as a healthy recipe for fruit-averse kids.

The art of substitution

On my way home this evening I stopped off at Holland and Barrett and bought myself a dairy free dark chocolate easter egg for Easter Sunday. This is my reward for giving up crisps and nachos for lent, although I did accidentally break it last saturday when I was given some corn chips as an appetizer in a restaurant and totally forgot I'd given them up!!

Lent is a long period and has helped me kill a lot of bad habits over the years. But you don't have to restrict yourself to lent to break bad habits and make new ones, all it take is 30 days and a bit of self-discipline.

So as the weather warms up and you start thinking about summer holidays and baring all on the beach it might be worth identifying any bad habits you got into over the winter months and giving them up one at a time, to avoid the harsh reality of having to crash diet two weeks before your summer break.

A few baddies to give up are listed below for inspiration, and are especially good to give up if you are thinking about doing a detox at some point in the next few months so it won't be such a shock to the system.

The key to success is in being prepared so have a think about what you want to give up, when you usually eat it and what you could substitute it for, and then stock up. For example I made sure I had lots of healthy crunchy snacks (nuts, rice cakes, seeds) at work and at home where I'm most likely to fancy eating a bag of crisps. So to help you out I've listed some possible substitutes for these foods.

Coffee and tea - start by weaning yourself onto decaff or green tea, but ultimately aim to get yourself onto herbal caffeine free teas. Closest caffeine-free substitutes are Dandelion coffee and Rooibos tea which both have the comfort factor of tea and coffe.

Wheat - fortunately the supermarkets are now well stocked with wheat and gluten free breads for toast and sandwiches, for pasta try spelt (a less harmful form of wheat) or gluten free. You can also now get yummy gluten free cakes and biscuits in most supermarkets, but save these for occasional treats as they are very sugar-laden.

Dairy - milk is easy, switch to rice or soya varieties, butter is easily swapped for Pure sunflower margarine and Sojade soya yoghurt is a good switch for natural yoghurt. Finding a healthy substitute for cheese is a lot more difficult - you can buy fake soy cheese in health food stores which is a lot better than it used to be and makes a decent cheese on toast. But this is a super processed food so should be used as a stepping stone to giving up cheese of any kind.

Crisps - I found it was the crunch factor I missed the most when I gave up crisps, but nut and seed mixes hit the spot, along with vegetable crudites, whilst rice cakes were a good substitute when I needed some carbs. I also made some herby pita triangles (recipe below) for a comforting sofa snack to have with dips instead of nachos (I made
them with Tesco gluten free pitas).

Chocolate - oh the wonderful cocoa bean, how we love you. What isn't so good is all the fat and sugar that gets mixed with it to make chocolate. If you're giving up cocoa altogether you may need to find an alternative sweet treat (see below) but if it's just chocolate then allow yoursellf some cocoa rich sweet low-fat treats such as my favourite bean brownies RECIPE or Dr Merrell's chocolate mousse substitute (recipe below).

Sugar - sugar is extremely addictive so can be hard to give up but because of this it may be easier to go cold turkey, rather than having small amounts every now and then. Ideally stick to fresh or cooked fruit and dried figs, prunes or apricots to satisfy any sweet cravings, but if you're used to puddings then start making them with fructose or agave syrup and then gradually switch to more fruit based puds. Read all labels, even for savoury food - you'd be surprised how often sugar crops up. Once 30 days are up you'll be surprised how little you miss sugar and how easily you can satisfy a sweet craving with some fruit. Not to say I won't be enjoying my Easter egg on Sunday!

For NITC readers not in the UK, we have a four day weekend from Friday, so NITC will be back Monday night.

Have a good weekend.

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Baked pita triangles

Ingredients

12 wholemeal pitas

110ml (4 fl oz) olive oil

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon garlic salt, such as Schwartz

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried parsley or chervil

1.	Preheat oven to 200 C / Gas mark 6.
2.	Cut each pitta into 8 triangles. Place triangles on a baking tray.
3.	In a small bowl, combine the oil, pepper, garlic salt, basil and parsley. Brush each triangle with mixture.
4.	Bake in preheated oven for about 7 minutes, or until lightly browned and crispy. Watch carefully, as they tend to burn easily!

Eat fresh from the oven

Dr Merrell's Dark Chocolate Mousse

Place the following ingredients in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth and creay, Smooth into a bowl or individual reamkins and chill for 1 hour or overnight before serving, serves 2-4

340g silken tofu

5 tbsp cocao powder

1.5 tsp vanilla extract

150ml agave syrup

1/8tsp cinnamon (optional)

The home dining experience

The sun had seriously got his hat on in London today and so I made the most of it and for the first time this year I ate my dinner alfresco on the balcony.

What I noticed, other than the people pootling by below, was that without the distractions of the tv, newspaper or whatever else was going on in the flat my pace of eating slowed right down and I just enjoyed my food at a leisurely pace. This is in strong contrast to what often happens, where I inhale my dinner as soon as it's on a plate, or more often than not out of a bowl with just a fork to hand!

For some reason, us Brits love the experience of dining out, but massively neglect our food rituals when we're at home, compared to our European counterparts. However presentation and environment play such a big role in our enjoyment of food and the pleasure of mealtimes that we should all make more of an effort to turn our home dining experience into fine dining, even if we're eating solo.

This doesn't have to mean spending hours preparing three course cordon bleu meals every evening, just a few small touches can make all the difference:

- first up, set the table, even if you're eating alone - minimum knife, fork, spoon, water glass, but the more you have on the table the more it will feel like a luxurious dining experience; napkins, flowers, candles, even just a nice salt/pepper set. And don't save your best china and glasses for christmas dinner - enjoy using them to enhance the presentation of your food every day.

- when you serve up your food take some inspiration from Masterchef and present it on the plate as nicely as possible, even if it's a very basic dish. Do the same for side dishes and keep some fresh herbs to hand to add as a garnish.

- spend two seconds creating a calm environment before you start eating - clear the pile of post off the dining table, turn off the tv/radio/other noisy distractions and set the appropriate lighting. If you do have an outdoor space then make the most of it and dine alfresco, the natural lighting and fresh air creates a much more relaxed ambiance. This doesn't have to be a costly endeavour - my super cheap fold up dining set from Argos has stood up to the extreme weather conditions on my balcony.

- get in the habit of having three elements to any meal - this keeps your food varied and interesting. It can be three courses but doesn't have to be that elaborate, for example get in the habit of serving a side salad and another vegetable side along with your main course. Or have a soup to start your meal and a natural yoghurt to end it. You can even apply this to breakfast, start with a fruit course and then have your main breakfast dish and for the third element a cup of green or herbal tea.

- pause at the end of the meal to appreciate the lovely food you've had and the relaxed dining experience. You will feel so much better than if you've eaten your dinner standing up, straight out the saucepan (you know who you are!).
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No more tears

I recently reintroduced the humble onion into my cookery, having avoided it for sometime due to problems digesting them. I still find I can't eat onions raw, but once cooked the cellulose fibre is partially broken down making them easier to digest.

The onion is often undervalued as a vegetable but it counts towards you five (eight!) a day just like any other veg and for good reason. Onions are rich in quercetin, a powerful anti-inflammatory, so good for hay fever, allergies and other inflammatory conditions. They are also good for anyone concerned with heart health as they are thought to thin blood and lower LDL cholesterol and also have antibiotic, anti-inflammatory and anti-viral properties so a good idea to eat if you are feeling under the weather.

They're also a pretty great addition, taste wise, in any cooked dishes (see last weeks paprika salmon recipe http://nutritionistinthecity.blogspot.com/2011/04/something-fishy.html). This evening I enjoyed them with squash as a veggie side dish (see recipe below).

However the one thing I haven't ever enjoyed about cooking with onions is the tears when I chop them. I'm not sure if I'm particularly susceptible but chopping an onion gets my eyes streaming terribly leading to amusing/unattractive red eyes and mascara smudges - that is until I came across this tip for chopping onions. My mum also suffers a lot when chopping onions so this is a tip for her and any other onion cryers out there!

How to chop an onion without crying

Before you start chopping rinse both the knife and onion under the tap (and don't dry) and then chop ... no more tears!

Squash 'N' Onions recipe from The Kind Diet, by Alicia Silverstone.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 3

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Butternut Squash

1 medium White Onion (feel free to add more)

1/2 tbsp Spices, Oregano Leaves

1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/8 tsp Sea Salt

1. heat oil in sauce pot

2. cut onion in half and slice

3. sautee onion until transparent

4. add oregano, sea salt, butternut squash and 1/2 cup of water

5. cover and simmer for 30 minutes

Why being stressed makes you old

A few years back I was at a presentation by the excellent Dr Jeffrey Bland on developments in nutrition and health and he mentioned something I'd never heard of before which really caught my attention - and that was Telomeres.

Jeff described telomeres as fuses on the end of your chromosomes, however in last weeks Economist they were wonderfully described as 'to chromosomes what plastic caps are to shoelaces - they stop them fraying at the ends'. I loved this description which gives a great analogy for explaining their importance - telomeres protect your chromosomes from damage, but they are constantly shortening over time and when they run out the chromosomes can no longer replicate.

This is why controlling the rate at which the telomeres 'burn' is the key to slowing down the ageing process and keeping your body young through your cells replacing themselves.

It has been known for some time that chronic stress causes accelerated shortening of the telomeres, however what warranted a mention in the Science and technology section of the Economist is the recent suggestion by a group of researchers from the University of California that active stress management not only stops the telomeres from shortening but it can even lengthen them again. The supplement Resveratrol, derived from grapes, has already been shown to do this, but the idea that non-food/drug related telomere regeneration is possible is very significant.

It's very early research, so not conclusive, but it suggests that talking therapies such as counselling can actually lengthen the telomeres. So by neglecting to address stress or anxiety you can speed up the ageing process, but if you make a conscious effort to manage your stress you can also slow it down.

The impact of your state of mind on your health is well documented which is why I often make recommendations to clients that have nothing to do with nutrition but a lot to do with stress management. These include breathing exercises, scheduling 'me time', identifying the stressors in their lives and making changes to avoid or minimise them, as well as counselling for anxiety or depression.

Whilst talking therapies still might have some stigma attached to them, I hope that more research in this area will lead to greater emphasis on the importance of mental health in looking after an individuals physical health.
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