Posted by kathryn in Nutrition and Snacks

Something else I’ve noticed is the tendency to layer treats. It’s no longer enough to have pizza on a Friday night, as a treat. We now have pizza, plus a few nibblies while waiting for the home delivery, plus two glasses of wine, plus a bowl of ice-cream.

But that scenario isn’t one treat. It’s layer, upon layer, upon layer.

I’ve noticed this in myself. A while ago, going out for coffee in the afternoon was a rarity. But then, the more I did it, I stopped seeing the afternoon coffee as special. It became normal.

So I found the thought of having a piece of cake would pop into my head. A lovely piece of cake, to go with my coffee, “what a treat”. I did this a couple of times, then caught myself – it’s the middle of the afternoon, I lead a good life and I’m having a really beautiful cup of coffee in a cafe, how much more of a treat do I actually need?

So I ditched the regular cake. Instead I luxuriate in my afternoon coffee, taking a break from work and some time away from my desk. No extra treat required.

Again if your aim is managing your weight or simply eating well, layering your “treats” ain’t helping.

1 comment 02 September, 2010

Posted by kathryn in Nutrition and Snacks

I’ve been thinking about treats and occasional foods a lot recently. For quite some time I’ve been noticing how strong the compulsion is for people to treat themselves. Whether their choice is sweets, alcohol or fat-laden foods, people talk of “deserving” a treat. “Needing” a treat even.

But do they really?

I know life can be busy and hectic, but why does that translate into deserving a treat? A busy day is a busy day. That’s it.

Treats are supposed to be things that cause a special pleasure or delight. They are, by their very nature, occasional occurrences. But if you’re having a “treat” every day, then I’d say it wasn’t really a treat anymore. That chocolate bar, those couple of glasses of wine have become your every day foods.

And whether your aim is managing your weight or simply eating well, constantly eating “treats” will not help.

10 comments 01 September, 2010

Posted by kathryn in Vegetables, Ethics & Sustainablity, Salads and Vegan

It’s been a while since I’ve done a Quicklinks post, but here’s what I’ve been reading over the last couple of weeks

• Making a great salad: Lovely piece from Tea and Cookies about how to make a tasty and interesting salad. Piece has the gorgeous title of Pep talk for wilted salad makers. Tea is also collecting salad pictures and recipes on her Flickr page.
• Vegan calcium sources: I think I got this one from Sophie?. It’s a really good list of vegan calcium sources – good for vegetarians, vegans and those who don’t eat dairy – Meeting calcium needs – tips for vegans
• Organic vs non-organic: Balanced round-up of the organic vs non-organic food debate – which contains more nutrients, the problems with the research, sustainability, freshness and so on.
• The junk food children eat: I find the picture which illustrates this article on kids and junk food simple astonishing.
• Grilled salt & vinegar potatoes: I made Heidi’s grilled salt and vinegar potatoes this week. It’s a great idea. I used white vinegar, which yielded potatoes with slightly too much vinegar for my tastebuds. But I’ll be making them again with diluted white wine vinegar or even rice vinegar.
• Using peas: I do like this pea recipe from La Boheme Cherie – Green peas with feta, yoghurt and mint. It’s easy and I’m imagining packed full of flavour.

For Sydney-siders

I’m running more cooking and health seminars at my clinic – Balance2health in Gladesville:

• Five ingredients: rather than spending your time buying, chopping and prepping long lists of ingredients, find out what can be made with just five. During the session I’ll be demonstrating four different meals, each of which is made with only five ingredients. For dates and details click here.
• Dinner in 30 Minutes: I’m also launching a new series of quick, 30 minute, one dish lunch-time sessions – called Dinner in 30 Minutes. In the first session I’ll be demonstrating how to make Fish in a spicy yoghurt sauce.
• Group weight loss: I also run a regular, five week programme of Group Weight Loss Meetings. Each week will include a weigh-in. We’ll also talk about the myths and facts of weight loss, as well as practical ways to improve your energy levels and minimise food cravings. The next session starts in August – click here.

4 comments 16 July, 2010

Posted by kathryn in Vegetables, Recipes, Fish, Salads and Winter

I’ve been surrounded by fennel recently. I’ve been buying fennel, cooking with it and eating it. But also clients and friends have been asking me for tips on using the stuff. I’ve included fennel recipes in recent cooking classes. It’s appeared in my weekly vegetable box. And I keep on spotting amazing fennel recipes.

While I love cooked fennel, one of my favourite uses is in a simple salad. This dish is easy and yet packs a superb flavour punch.

Plus eat a portion of this and you’ll be getting about three of your daily vegetable serves.

The sardines are optional, as many people don’t like this strongly flavoured fish. However, they are fantastic for you. Sardines have one of the highest levels of Omega 3s. Plus they tend to be a more sustainably managed fishy. In this salad, the combination of capers, lime and mint counter-acts and balances the fish flavour.

Fennel salad with sardines, capers and mint

Serves 2

1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
½ red onion, finely sliced
½ bunch fresh mint
2 teaspoons capers
1 × 400g tin of white beans, drained
2 teaspoons olive oil
Juice of ½ lime
200g tinned sardines*, drained and cut into thick chunks (optional)

Place the fennel, onion, mint, capers and white beans into a bowl. Pour in the olive oil and lime and mix together. Add the sardines and gently toss to combine.

Serve immediately on a slice of wholegrain toast.

*Tinned sardines are easy to use. They’ve already had the head and tail removed, so just prize the two halves of the fish apart using a knife and fork and then take out the most obvious bits of bone. Don’t worry about removing the smaller bones, they just add an extra bit of calcium to the meal.

6 comments 14 July, 2010

Posted by kathryn in Myths

There’s a great piece on the ABC’s website about middle-aged weight gain. A lot of people think it’s inevitable. There seems to be a widely held belief that as you age there’s a dramatic slowing of the metabolism, which means no matter how hard you try weight gain is going to happen.

But this is not really true. There is a slowing of the metabolism as people age, but it’s relatively slight. What’s more significant in the development of middle-aged spread, is the drop in activity which occurs as we age and our lifestyle changes.

It’s a really well explained article and I’d encourage you to take a look Fact Buster: is the middle-aged spread inevitable?.

3 comments 08 July, 2010

Posted by kathryn in Fish

Mercury is a heavy metal which occurs naturally in the environment. However it’s also present in our world as a result of pollution. Mercury is used in the manufacture of a number of common products, including:

• car parts
• batteries
• fluorescent light bulbs
• medical products
• thermometers
• dental amalgams

When these products are not disposed of carefully, they end up in landfill. As the products degrade, mercury is exposed and free to pollute both land and waterways. Mercury is highly toxic and most industrialised countries have made efforts to limit its use and ensure safe disposal. There have been campaigns in some countries to ban its use entirely.

Mercury does nasty things to our bodies. It damages the central nervous system, endocrine system, kidneys and other organs. Given this it’s wise to limit your exposure to this heavy metal. Fortunately, here in Australia most of us don’t come into contact with enough mercury to cause serious health damage. When toxic problems do occur it’s usually because of industrial exposure.

How does it get into fish?

Mercury is found in our waterways as a result of pollution and landfill run-off. Anaerobic bacteria which are found in lakes, rivers, soils, wetlands and the oceans then convert mercury into an organic form called methylmercury. As well as being highly toxic, methylmercury accumulates in organisms, working its way up the marine food chain by a process called biomagnification.

The anaerobic bacteria that work on mercury are consumed by plankton, which are then eaten by small fish, which are in turn consumed by larger and larger fish.

Each larger fish then absorbs the body burden of mercury from the smaller fishes it consumes. Therefore the danger to your health comes from eating a lot of the larger fish, those at the top of the marine food chain. These fish contain more concentrated levels of mercury, which may be ten times that found in smaller fish.

Higher mercury containing fish include shark (or ling), swordfish, barramundi, gemfish, orange roughy and Southern bluefin tuna.

For more on which fish to eat and how much is safe take a look at the Victorian government’s website and this post about fish and pregnancy.

Photo by Joseph Wu Origami

4 comments 01 June, 2010

Posted by kathryn in Grains and Labels & advertising

Wheat, rice, quinoa, oats, barley, rye and millet are all grains. There’s often quite a difference between the grain that is harvested from the plant and the way we eat it. You can see this with wheat, the grain we eat most often. In Australia we rarely eat the wheat grain itself, instead it’s ground into flour and then made into bread, pasta, crackers and biscuits.

Wholegrains are a nutritional buzz word at the moment. If you wander around the supermarket you’ll see it emblazoned across a whole range of products.

What is a wholegrain?

Grains have several different layers and components:

• a bran layer around the outside – this protects the grain and contains fibre and B vitamins
• the germ – the part of the seed which grows into a plant and which contains antioxidants, vitamin E and B vitamins
• the endosperm – which is made of carbohydrates and some protein

All these components have nutritional benefits and all these components are present in wholegrain foods. In contrast white flour, white bread and white rice have had parts of the grain removed during the refining process. So they are not as nutritious.

Eating more wholegrains is associated with a reduced risk of stroke, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.

How much should you be eating?

Here in Australia the general guidelines are currently to eat “plenty of bread and cereals, preferably wholegrain”. Which is a pretty vague and not very useful.

You may have seen recommendations to consume at least two serves of wholegrains per day, aiming for 48g of grain. This recommendation is from the industry group Go Grains Health and Nutrition, who obviously have a vested interest in you eating more grains.

The Heart Foundation currently recommends eating 6g of wholegrain fibre per day, which corresponds to about two slices of wholegrain bread plus a serve of wholegrain cereal.

Wholegrain foods include:

• wholegrain bread
• wholegrain breakfast cereal
• rolled oats or porridge
• wholegrain crispbreads
• wholegrain rice cakes
• brown rice
• wholemeal pasta

Beware the hype

Wholegrains are in and fashionable. Many food manufacturers push the wholegrain-ness of their products. But treat these claims with scepticism, as the food may only contain a tiny percentage of wholegrains. The ingredients list will tell you the percentage of wholegrains in the foodstuff, so read the label before you make a purchase. Choice has some good information on this, including some of the tricks and traps, as well as a piece on wholegrain bread.

14 comments 26 May, 2010

Posted by kathryn in Miscellanea

• What could be worse than the Double Down? You may have read about the kerfuffle over KFC’s new sandwich – the Double Down. It’s a nutritional horror, but as Yoni Freehoff points out there are several fast food sandwiches which are worse.
• The rise of ingredientism: Interesting piece from NPR on restaurant menus where the Adjectives Overpower the Entrees. They call it the “tyranny of the ingredient” and chart the history of ingredientism.
• Should we be talking up the speed of cooking? A thoughtful article from Michael Ruhlman on whether people are really too busy to cook.
• The GI of wholegrains: I’ll be posting a piece about wholegrains next week. In the meantime the GI group answers the question why some wholegrains have a low GI and others don’t?
• The best multigrain breads: More on wholegrains, this time a review by Choice of wholegrain breads. They do a taste test and compare nutritionals. Not all wholegrain breads are created equal.
• Supermarket tricks: Another one from Choice, this time they’re uncovering some of the techniques supermarkets use to encourage you to buy more.

3 comments 21 May, 2010

Posted by kathryn in Myths

This isn’t going to be a popular post.

The health message that chocolate and red wine contain antioxidants has really cut through. The idea that previously unhealthy foods, like chocolate and red win,e could actually be good for you, has been picked up with alacrity by both the media and individuals.

But . . . as per usual, it’s more complicated than that.

Last week the Heart Foundation released a comprehensive report on the antioxidants in food, drinks and supplements. They’ve reviewed all the studies, weighted all the evidence and found the health benefits of chocolate and red wine just don’t add up.

But surely dark chocolate is good for you?

Cacao is the basis of all chocolate. It’s a bean, from which cocoa solids and cocoa butter are extracted. Cacao itself is a rich source of flavonoid antioxidants. However these flavonoids are bitter and astringent – they don’t taste great – so they’re often removed in the chocolate manufacturing process.

This is true of dark chocolate manufacturing, as well as white and milk chocolate.

And at the moment it’s impossible to say which brands are high in these flavonoids and which brands are low. Cocoa processing techniques differ across the industry and the levels of flavonoids in the resulting chocolate also vary.

You can’t tell from the wrapper, or the manufacturer’s marketing, whether the chocolate your eating is high in antioxidants, or if it’s just fat and sugar.

Studies from the US do show that natural cocoa powders are high in the flavonoid antioxidants, but these are quite hard to find and expensive.

Therefore the Heart Foundation does not recommend:

Consuming milk or dark chocolate for the prevention or treatment of CVD. Due to processing to remove the bitter taste, most chocolate is a poor source of antioxidants, and contains saturated and trans fats.

And red wine?

The idea that red wine was protective against heart disease came out of studies in France. Looking into peoples’ diets, reseachers were puzzled by their high saturated fat intake and yet low rate of heart disease – which became known as the ‘French Paradox’.

The suggestion that antioxidants in red wine protected against heart disease took hold. But the evidence for this is sketchy. While antioxidants do exist in red wine, there’s no conclusive evidence that they protect against heart disease.

Given the problems with excessive alcohol consumption, the Heart Foundation’s position is:

Conflicting and insufficient evidence exists regarding the CVH benefits of polyphenols in red wine.

Take home message

The best sources of antioxidants are plant based foods: vegetables, fruit, wholegrain cereals, nuts and seeds and legumes – these are the foods you should be concentrating on, if you want to reduce your risk of heart disease.

The Heart Foundation recommends:

• Eat at least two serves of fruit and five serves of vegetables every day.
• Drink black or green tea, and if you add milk, use reduced, low or no fat milk.
• Use raw cocoa powder in drinks and cooking as most commercial cocoa and chocolate will be poor sources of antioxidants.
• If you drink alcohol, drink no more than two standard drinks a day.
• If you drink coffee, drink less than five cups of paper-filtered, percolated, café-style or instant coffee a day.

I’m not saying don’t eat red wine or chocolate. If you enjoy them, there’s no reason why they can’t be part of a healthy diet. But ignore the hype and marketing and remember they are treat foods, not health foods.

10 comments 18 May, 2010

Posted by kathryn in Blogging

I’ve been taking a mini break from blogging this week. A few reasons – other deadlines, the need to put some energy and focus into clinic, as well as a desire for time away from the computer.

I should be back next week, with some new content.

In the meantime I wanted to point out this excellent, excellent post answering the question “Should I eat breakfast if I’m not hungry?”, which I came across via Sophie’s handpicked links.

Remember to download the free extract from the new Autumn edition of An Honest Kitchen. It has a piece on puddings and how they fit in with healthy eating, a lovely recipe for Berry, Ginger and Ricotta Puddings, and one of my favourite photos by Lucy.

And for those of you on the northern side of the planet, there’s also an extract from Spring to download – you’ll find it on this page. The Spring extract has a really useful recipe for Gingery Beef with Spinach, as well as instructions on how to make a vegetarian version of this, and Lucy and I discuss our fairly lazy approach to cooking.

So lots for you tor read and discover. Have a lovely weekend and I’ll be back soon.

1 comment 01 May, 2010