Yearly Archives: 2017

September 15, 2017

FROZEN FOOD COULD BE YOUR SECRET HEALTH WEAPON.

Nutritious, cheap and speedy – yet our relationship with frozen food seems to be thawing. Frozen food often gets lumped together with processed food, but that reputation isn’t always fair.

Freezing food is like pressing a pause button, slowing down food’s degradation and nutrient loss. This process helps to maintain the original nutritional value and can often be more nutritious than when fresh.

Freezer Heroes

Chilli, garlic and ginger – these all fare brilliantly in the freezer, keeping their flavour and intensity.

Salmon – frozen salmon is usually cheaper than fresh and tastes exactly the same.

Mango – forget the faff of peeling and chopping fresh mangos. Frozen mango tastes great and can be blended without defrosting.

Peas – studies show that frozen peas have higher levels of vitamin C than fresh, they taste great and are so convenient.

Ice cubes with a twist – freeze grapes or slices of lemon and lime to use as ice cubes with added vitamins.

 

August 14, 2017

FEEL-GOOD FOOD.

Dark green leaves
They have a great strong flavour as well as boosting dopamine – the ‘happy hormone’ in our brain.

Apples, berries and bananas
All of these contain the antioxidant quercetin, believed to help the brain prevent dopamine loss.

Eggs
Rich in filling protein, they also contain the amino acids that help stimulate dopamine production.

Salmon
Oily fish contains omega-3 fatty acids, essential in preventing fatigue, memory problems and mood swings.

Cheese
This provides you with the amino acid tyrosine, which helps increase dopamine levels. Switch your Cheddar for cottage cheese, for a low-fat alternative.

July 14, 2017

SUGAR IN NUMBERS.

30 the number of minutes it takes to go from a sugar rush to a full on sugar crash. This sugar spike and crash makes you crave more, leading to a very sweet but vicious cycle.

6 the maximum number of teaspoons of table sugar we should consume per day. Watch out for hidden added sugar in foods, as these all count.

31.7g the amount of sugar in a tall skinny chai tea latte.

1,120 that’s how many calories you lose if you cut your daily teaspoons of sugar by 10. That’s just one pain au raisin and a tall skinny mocha.

8.2g save this amount of sugar by switching your Starbucks tall skimmed latte for a Starbucks tall soya latte.

22.5g this amount of total sugars per 100g is considered high, so avoid products with this on their label. Anything below 5g is considered low.

12% researchers found that a 15 minute walk can curb cravings for sugar laden chocolate bar by this much. So get moving around 4pm!

3x this is how much more sugar kids are eating over the RDA.

1:1 as they have the same sweetness, it’s easy to swap table sugar for naturally occurring low-cal xylitol. Simply switch the ingredients, without changing the amounts.

150ml the maximum amount of fruit juice we should drink in a day, to minimise our sugar intake. Although it contains vitamins, there is little fibre in it to prevent a blood sugar spike, so only drink with meals.

June 21, 2017

HOW TO BEAT THE SNACK ATTACK #5.

Here’s how to kill off unhealthy cravings whenever they hit…

Problem – late evenings.
Even though we’ve eaten dinner and we aren’t really hungry, many of us still snack. The trigger is often boredom or stress, but another reason may be that you haven’t eaten enough during the day.

Solution – eat regular meals.
Sensible and regular eating throughout the day will make it easier for you to avoid mindless evening grazing. You could also try cleaning your teeth or filling your evening with an evening class, for example.