What to Eat & Why: Devour, Eat Your Heart Out & Enjoy
VEGETABLES:
All vegetables are good for you (except iceberg lettuce!). They keep hunger at bay and regulate energy levels with their high fibre content. Helping manage your weight.
Are high in defence chemicals, (polyphenols) Decide what veg you fancy first and then add complimentary proteins, whole grains and flavourings
Blend into soups. Microwave for speedy meals. Crunch raw in salads. Roast, steam or stir fry.
FRUITS:
Eat a diverse range of fruits in their natural form (AVOID FRUIT JUICE)
All berries are nutritional powerhouses providing the best value for fibre and polyphenols (there are no ‘superberries’.)
LEGUMES:
Introduce more legumes to your daily diet: nuts at breakfast on yogurt or with fruits: add lentils, beans and chickpeas to lunches and dinners.
WHOLE-GRAINS:
Pearl barley and organic steel-cut oats contain beta-gluten and are good examples of whole grains.
Try rye, bulgar wheat and natural corn - diversity is key to better health and happy microbiome.
Brown rice has more fibre than white rice and a better glucose profile, but if eaten everyday it can cause a blood sugar spike and weight gain.
Couscous is a highly refined fast-cooking pasta and likely to spike your blood sugar levels (potentially lead to weight gain and energy dips)
Pasta can be a healthy part of our diet, especially as whole wheat and a vehicle for plant rich sauces. Some alternative pastas - spelt, lentil, buckwheat and chickpea can be healthier but are harder to cook well. Durum wheat pasta is a high-protein food with around 13% protein.
BREAD:
Chose rye or slow-fermented sourdough
with a low carbohydrate to fibre ratio. Less than 5:1 is ideal
No more than 3 ingredients. (Read ingredients of ALL shop bought bread)
Make your own if possible
FUNGI:
Mushrooms are a rich source of chemicals that play an important role in protecting human cells against diseases such as cancer. Great source of Vitamin D, protein and fibre.
MEAT
Cheap processed meat products are bad for our health
I highly recommend reading or listening to
“Food For Life: The New Science of Eating Well” by Professor Tim Spector
And https://zoe.com. For more information and deeper explanations.
Unbiased food research is now available to us all. Look beyond the deliberately deceptive food labels, marketing and miracle product media claims. Read ALL the ingredients and small print) for us to all make an informed choice about what you are putting in your body.
Our responses to food change with age, menopause and hormone status, stress, sleep quality and illness, making us unique across the course of our lives as well as individually.
you could consider zoe.com personalised nutrition program.
Download a copy of my full nutritional advice, what to eat & why below.