Why is ice cream and chocolate so irresistible?

Not one of life's great philosophical questions but I think an important one for a lot of us and one that needs answering!

It actually came to mind when reading an invite for a full day conference on fats. Fats are so important for good health that it's common in nutrition to have entire seminars dedicated them. These are more and more focussed on the importance of eating the healthy 'essential fats' rather than on just the downsides of eating saturated or processed fats such as transfats.

The fact is that the functioning of every cell in our body is reliant on the presence of flexible unsaturated fats in the cell walls, so it's not surprising that they're on the body's checklist when it comes to food. This is why following a strict low-fat diet is so unsatisfying and leaves most people feeling hungry all the time.

Unfortunately the body isn't so good at differentiating between sources of healthy and unhealthy fats, so if you don't eat enough healthy fats your likely to experience indiscriminate fat cravings leaving you yearning for crisps, chips, cheese, butter and fatty cuts of meat.

And once you combine fats with sugar, which has well-proven addictive and drug like qualities, then you have a truly irresistible combination ... chocolate, ice cream, cookies ... Mmmm!

I digress! The point is that if you eat healthy fats every day your desire for the unhealthy types can be dramatically reduced.

It's good to start early in the day - with a couple of tablespoons of chopped nuts and seeds in your muesli or with your fruit salad or yoghurt. If you don't like either then take a good omega3+omega6 supplement with your breakfast or stir some ground flax seeds into your porridge.

Having some oily fish at lunchtime is another great way to keep afternoon crisp pangs away ... Mackerel, fresh tuna and salmon are all filling and satisfying because of their fat content. Just limit them to 3-4 times a week due to pollutant content.

Otherwise add some vegetarian healthy fats to your lunchtime salad - have some avocado or olives in your salad, add an olive or flax seed oil dressing and make sure you choose a seeded roll to go with your soup.

By dinner time your body should be fat happy and not craving steak and chips, followed by cookies and cream haagan daas. But if you are then start your dinner with a vinaigrette dressed salad or half a wholemeal roll from the bread basket dipped in olive oil. Fats also slow down stomach emptying so can help you feel more full ... by the time you get to dessert you'll feel too full to order!

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Time for a grope

I was reading an article on testicular cancer last week which quoted the shocking statistic that 41 per cent of men who find a lump in their testicles don't go to the doctors to get it checked.

Now I haven't checked the stats but I would bet that if a woman found a lump in her breast the first thing she would think to do would be to book an appointment with her GP. So why would a man do the exact opposite?

It's well known that men are more reluctant to visit their doctor if they're ill than women and I was pondering why this in the gym when I spotted the following slogan on the back of a guys T-shirt - 'There is no finish line'.

It made me think that maybe the resistance to going to the doctors is down to guys not ever wanting to be defeated. This is of course a sweeping generalisation, but men hate to admit weakness and feel they should be able to deal with anything life throws at them.

Unfortunately there are some things in life that you no one can deal with on their own, and when it comes to serious illness the sooner you get help the better.

So whether you're a guy or a girl have a bit of a feel when you get home tonight and if you find any strange lumps book yourself a checkup with your GP immediately. You don't need to tell anyone you're going and believe me your doctor has seen way more embarrassing conditions so won't even bat an eyelid (watch 'Embarassing Bodies' if you don't believe me).
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The creme egg calorie index

Ms Haribo here, wishing you all a happy easter. I am a massive xkcd fan, which is a great comic with a slightly geeky twist. The other day they had this awesome comic (I’ve included the link for those who want to check out more and read the funny caption behind the comic). But I really liked this one. Probably because I sometimes take the position of the girl in the strip and find ways to justify eating chocolate eggs, but also because it reminds me that we don’t think much about the amount of sugar in calories in what we drink and tend to forget about them when totting up our calorie and sugar intake for the day. Partly because they don’t fill us up and we don’t really pay attention to what we are drinking and tend to forget about it. But we also forget because mentally we don’t expect a ‘drink’ to have as many calories as food and don’t account for it properly.

I was amazed to find out recently that calories from soda are the third biggest source of calories for Americans (number 1 is “grain based desserts” http://www.chow.com/food-news/80135/if-you-are-what-you-eat-you-re-donuts-chicken-and-energy-drinks/ )

So this Easter Miss Haribo will be eating her crème eggs, savouring and remembering their sickly goodness and definitely counting it as her 20% ‘bad’.

http://xkcd.com/1035/

Soupy Sundays

Despite my comments earlier this week about my healthy influence on hot doc I have to admit he's actually a very good influence on me too.

I probably have healthier eating intentions than he does, but he's much more useful than me in the kitchen and much more organised about what he eats.

This evening when I got home late from work I scarfed down some sardines and avocado on toast and fruit salad whilst stood up making my breakfast for lunch tomorrow. Definitely breaking all my usual advice about eating slowly sat down at a table!

In contrast hot doc is much more organised and usually has something healthy defrosting in the fridge awaiting him when he's home from a late shift. Along with freezing stews and curries he also freezes batches of veggie soup.

Vegetables are the healthiest thing you can eat and fresh veggie soups make a filling and healthy addition to any dinner, but for some reason I don't eat them that often. I think this is partly a time thing, if it takes more than half an hour to cook it's probably not going to get made on a weeknight. However if you make a big batch of soup on a Sunday you can freeze portions for the rest of the week and defrost them during the day for your dinner.

To get you started here's an easy and tasty recipe for red pepper and tomato soup, courtesy of hot doc of course!

For most of us this weekend is a long weekend so tomorrow is effectively Friday which means I'll be enjoying the long weekend and blogging again on Tuesday!

Happy Easter and enjoy your chocolate eggs!

Red pepper and tomato soup

Ingredients
2tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped

2 large red peppers, seeds removed and roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

600g (21oz) ripe tomatoes, quartered

1 x 400g (14oz) tin chopped tomatoes

1l chicken stock or vegetable stock

1tbsp chopped fresh basil, to garnish

Method:
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Sauté the onion, peppers, garlic and chilli for about 5 minutes. Add the fresh tomatoes and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
Add the tinned tomatoes, the stock and a cup of water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool a little. Purée the soup in batches in a food processor or with a hand-held blender.

Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve hot, and garnished with the basil / coriander and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
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A balancing act

As per yesterday's blog, whilst a certain set of healthy eating recommendations may hold true for most healthy individuals, the truth is that most nutritional therapy clients can't just follow the same diet and need something taylor-made to keep them in top health.

I'm actually an excellent example of this - due to digestive and endocrine imbalances I've had quite a range of symptoms and conditions in my life. Each on their own might benefit from following distinct diets but combined these conflict in certain areas so they require a bit of a balancing act.

Something I suffered with from quite a young age was impaired absorption of nutrients, in particular Vitamin C and iron levels. Whilst alot of people don't need to eat meat to get sufficient iron, and are fine with plant sources and maybe a good supplement, I find that if I totally avoid meat I tend to get a bit low in iron and my energy levels can suddenly drop. Vitamin C is also really important for proper iron absorption so I have higher requirement than average for both nutrients.

Unfortunately, due to an overly sensitive digestive system, I have problems digesting fructose so can't eat too much raw fruit. I therefore have to generally stick to lower sugar fruit such as berries and orchard fruit, and I find that cooking them helps me digest them. In addition I eat plenty of fresh vegetables and treat these as my main source of vitamin C.

I have also suffered in the past from skin breakouts due to disregulated hormones, but find that if I follow a meat and dairy-free diet my hormones are much more balanced and my skin is perfect. However I have to balance this with my need for iron, so do eat meat but only once or twice a week.

Getting enough protein on a vegan regime is tough, the main sources are pulses, tofu, soya protein, tempeh, seitan (which I can't have due to it being wheat derived) and nuts and seeds. Unfortunately my sensitive digestive system can't handle too much soya milk so I tend to rely on pulses and occasional tofu for main meals and nuts and seeds in snacks. I have a protein shake in the morning with breakfast, but of course being dairy intolerant I can't have whey protein! So I have rice protein instead. I also have oily fish a couple of times a week for some extra protein and omega three fats.

Energy and weight wise I feel best on low GI carbohydrates balanced with healthy proteins but unfortunately my intolerance to gluten, and some other grains, means I can't eat the nice super low GI wholegrains such as oats, rye, buckwheat and spelt. Instead the only wholegrain my body can cope with on a regular basis is brown rice, which does get a bit dull, so I do allow myself some of the processed higher GI gluten-free pastas and breads.

This approach may sound overly complex and quite frankly pretty restrictive, but it isn't a diet I suddenly switched too overnight. It has evolved over time and I fine tune it according to how I feel. Plus I only follow these restrictions eighty per cent of the time, allowing myself offplan indulgences, but infrequently enough as to not de-rail my health.

The point is, that we should all base what we eat around some healthy fundamental principals, but we then need to pay attention to how our body responds to food, both positively and negatively, and adapt accordingly. Just because your colleague feels great on a low-carb diet doesn't mean it will suit you, but that shouldn't stop you trying it out ... just remember finding that right diet can be a balancing act, and if you don't feel good you probably need to change something.
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Should we all be on the same diet?

One of our tutors at the Institute for Optimum Nutrition used to calm nervous second years before their first supervised consultations by pointing out that at the end of the day we are all recommending pretty much the same diet.

Infact this isn't the case, as a nutritional therapist you approach all clients individually and always have in mind that everyone is biochemically unique and so reacts to foods in different ways, but what he was saying is that the fundamentals of a healthy diet are pretty constant and a good place to start for most people.

More on the individual approach to diet tomorrow, but I thought it would be worth sharing the more common recommendations that hold true for most clients:

These are:
- Eat a healthy/lean source of protein with every meal and snack to balance blood sugar levels
- eat wholegrain carbohydrates, rather than refined grains, so whole oats, rye, wholewheat pasta and bread
- eat at least five portions of fruit and veg daily, varying the types and colours
- drink 1.5-2 litres of water throughout the day (preferably filtered or mineral)
- eat oily fish 3 times a week
- eat a palmful of natural nuts or seeds daily
- eat at regular times, preferably leaving a minimum of 3 hours and a maximum of 5 between meals and snacks
- always have breakfast and avoid having a large late dinner

- avoid sugar whenever possible
- minimize intake of refined carbohydrates such as white rice, white flour and processed goods such as crisps, biscuits, cakes
- don't eat wheat every day
- avoid dairy products with the exception of live natural yoghurt
- limit red meat to once a week and eat only lean, skinless cuts of meat to limit saturated fat intake
- avoid all stimulants - caffeine (tea/coffee), cigarettes, stimulant drinks
- limit alcohol intake to one glass of wine per day and have at least two alcohol free days per week

The final part is to eat healthily 80 per cent of the time but also allow yourself to indulge 20 percent of the time. This bit is for your mental health :-) which should never be neglected!
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A healthy nudge

It must be annoying to go out with a Nutritional Therapist .. hot doc has to put up up with me wittering on about food a fair bit, regularly going awol in the supermarket whilst I examine the latest health foods on offer, plus giving a running commentary in the kitchen on the various ingredients he's using. To be fair he eats very healthily, but an NT can always see room for improvement, so I do have to try and stop short of giving him a full blown lecture on what he should and shouldn't be eating!!

Still I think by natural osmosis and listening to some of my ramblings his diet has gradually evolved in a healthier direction, and he was even quite happy to have soya sausages in his breakfast buttie this morning, rather than regular ones!! This is courtesy of Sainsbury's having come up with some pretty passable soya sausages from their new 'love soya' range (I don't think I could have got away with a Linda Mccartney vegetable sausage). But what it made me realise, is that whoever is responsible for doing the shopping and cooking in a household has great potential to improve the health of whoever they live with.

Let's face it, most adults will eat whatever you put infront of them (within reason), and most people will eat what's in the cupboards rather than make a special trip to the corner shop for their favourite snack. So even if your partner/children naturally gravitate towards KFC you can gradually nudge them towards healthier eating without having to get them offside by announcing that they need to go on a diet or start eating healthier.

You can of course go all out and ban unhealthy foods from your house - but this is likely to lead to opposition, resistance and even secret visits to MacDonalds!! Instead I'd suggest making small changes gradually and still keeping some 'naughty' foods in the house, so no one feels their under a fascist food regime.

Top tips for giving your household a healthy nudge:

- Add some healthy goodies to the snack cupboard mixed in with the unhealthy stuff so it doesn't stand out .... start with muesli bars alongside the double deckers, and salted nuts in with the crisps ... but gradually evolve to small packs of natural nuts, dried fruits and no-sugar healthy treats such as nak'd, EAT natural and fruitus bars, fruit roll-ups and dark chocolate dipped raisins.

- Make up a batch of healthy snack bars or cookies, see elanas pantry for some great ideas, and put these in a glass cookie tin on the worktop ... being in line of sight these will be more likely to be snacked on than the regular biscuits you have in the cupboard.

- Put some no sugar muesli and lower sugar cereals in the cupboard alongside the special K and frosties. In the winter make-up some porridge - if it's hot and available most people will eat it when it's cold outside. Chop up some fruit in advance and leave it on the table with some chopped nuts, dried fruit and other healthy breakfast toppings ... again if it's infront of your family but not forced upon them they'll probably try it. In the same vein you could try putting out some milk alternatives, start with sweetened soya milk as it's more palatable, but also put out rice milk and coconut milk (the one specifically for use as a milk substitute) as not everyone likes the same ones.

- Take the saturated fat out of as many recipes as you can without your household noticing ... most recipes that involve frying in butter can use olive oil instead and lots of dishes that recommend a sprinkling of cheese at the end, can easily go without. Your family also won't notice if you start using more tomato based sauces, rather than cream-based. When it comes to meat dishes gradually cut down on red meat til you're just serving it once a week. Instead cook with skinless white meat or fish and try serving a vegan supper a couple of times a week (no dairy, meat or eggs). If presenting a bean chilli to your family for dinner will get a bad reception then serve it up as a side dish .. perhaps as another option alongside chicken to go in your fajitas .. once it's on the table someone is bound to try it and they might even like it.

- Serve multiple side dishes of vegetables rather than one big mix .. once they've taken a tablespoon from each bowl they'll end up with more veggies on their plate.

- Pulses and beans are very good for you, they are rich in fibre, minerals and phytoestrogens, low in fat, but not everyone loves them. So rather than serving up a lentil casserole, just add some whenever you cook a stew, casserole, tagine ... anything with a sauce and vegetables in it can easily hide some pulses. You can also blend white pulses such as cannelini of flagolet beans into most soups to thicken them up (instead of using a potato) and no one will notice.

- Add some variety to your bread bin ... always have a wholemeal option if you usually have white bread, but also put some rye bread and wheat/gluten free rolls in there and they'll probably get eaten.

- Always put a jug of water on the table and pour everyone a glass whether they've asked for one of not ... most people will drink it, even if it's just so they can have a glass of something else once they' finished.

- Put some crudites and hummous out on the dinner table 20 minutes before you serve dinner ... it's an easy way to get hungry little ones to eat some vegetables before anything else.

- If you're serving dessert always offer a healthy pudding alongside you're usual unhealthy one - no one likes to feel left out by not having any dessert, but they might go for fruit salad with greek yoghurt rather than cheesecake if it's on offer.