5 easy ways to increase the variety in your diet
Posted by kathryn in A Balanced Diet
This week I’ve been talking about eating a variety of foods. I’ve blogged about why it’s important, and I’m also in the process of listing the variety of foods I’m eating this week. Plus I’ve asked you to keep a track of how many different foods you’re eating.
With fruit and vegetables we are told to aim for 2 + 5 serves a day. But there’s no magic figure for the number of different foods you should eat. No guarantee that if you eat 10, 20, 40 different foods every day, you’ll be healthy. Nutrition doesn’t work like that.
However, if you try to eat a greater variety of foods, you will be healthier for it.
Eating a wider range of foods may seem like a lot of work. But it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact there are a number of easy, low fuss strategies you can use to increase your food variety. Things you can do today and this week.
1. Choose a different bread
Bread is a staple food in many people’s diet. Most of what we eat is made from wheat. But even in the supermarket there are a wide, wide range of breads available.
You can therefore increase the variety of foods you’re eat, simply by choosing a different bread each week.
If you regularly choose a plain wholemeal, then next week pick up either a rye or multigrain. You could buy some corn tortillas and take wraps to work for lunch. Alternatively try one of the growing number of breads containing seeds.
Choosing different breads increases the variety of grains and seeds you’re eating.
2. Switch to muesli
If you’re used to corn flakes or weet-bix for breakfast, make the change to muesli. This one dietary tweak will add at least three foods to your daily diet. Switch to muesli and your breakfast will change from a one-food meal, to a mixture of grains, nuts, seeds, fibre and dried fruit.
3. Eat seasonal fruit and vegies
While it can be tempting to buy the same fruit and vegies every week, it’s much healthier and cheaper if you shop seasonally. Firstly you’ll be geting produce at it’s peak. Moreover, this way of shopping naturally varies your diet over the course of a year.
This week my fruit bowl contains bananas, pears, mandarins and grapes. Which isn’t a great deal of variety. However six weeks ago I was eating figs, plums and passionfruit. In another six weeks I’ll be eating ruby red grapefruits, navel oranges and fresh dates.
As the seasons change, my diet changes. Which means over the months I’m varying my food sources.
4. Snack on dried fruit & nut mixes
One of the food groups I regularly ask clients to eat is nuts and seeds. They are so full of goodness and make an ideal snack.
If you’re not eating nuts and seeds, by adding them into your diet you’re immediately upping your intake of antioxidants, fibre, good fats and zinc.
But they are also a really easy food to vary around. If you select almonds one week, then the next time you go to the supermarket purchase cashews and pepitas. Or even better, make up your own fruit and nut mix. Choose three types of nuts, a couple of seeds and add in some dried fruit. This makes a perfect mid-afternoon snack to help you avoid energy slumps.
I also regularly make tahini bars. These contain at least eight different ingredients and make a perfect breakfast or snack.
5. Get experimental once a month
Set aside one meal a month as your experimental meal. Use this time to try a new ingredient, or a new recipe. Have a go at cooking quinoa, try out some seaweed, mix up your mushrooms’ test agave nectar as a sweetener’ or “use rhubarb in a savoury dish.
Get out of your routine and try something new.
How many different foods do you eat?
This week on Limes & Lycopene I’m discussing the importance of eating a variety of foods. I’ll be regularly reporting in on the variety of foods I’m eating each day
But I’d also like to know how many different foods you’re eating. Leave your thoughts and progress in the comments below.
The variety of foods I eat
Posted by kathryn in A Balanced Diet
During this week on food variety I’m keeping track of how many different foods I eat each day.
I was originally going to post this information in the comments section. Instead I’ve decided to list it all in one separate post. I’ll add to this over the next few days.
Wednesday
- Quinoa & oat croquettes with strawberry jam: quinoa, rolled oats, sesame seeds, sugar, strawberries
- Mandarin
- Soy coffee: soy milk
- Lentil soup & bread: red lentils, tinned tomatoes, onion, garlic, spices, spinach, wheat
- Tahini breakfast bar: prunes, tahini, dried apricots, oats, pecans, walnuts, pepitas, spelt flour
- Almonds
- Sweet potato & black bean burritos: sweet potato, olive oil, onion, garlic, beetroot greens, black beans, spices, chilli, tortilla with rye, corn & wheat flour, fetta cheese
- Banana & yoghurt
Which I think makes 31 foods. I’ve had the same food in a couple of different forms, eg sesame seeds & tahini; wheat in bread & tortilla, milk in yoghurt & cheese – so I’ve only counted those once.
Thursday
Today was Richard’s birthday, so we ate out in the evening.
- Muesli, yoghurt & raspberries: oats, pepitas, coconut, sultanas, currants, honey, yoghurt, frozen raspberries, soy milk
- Soy milk coffee
- Chocolate
- Fetta & olive muffin: cottage cheese, fetta, olives, spelt flour, walnuts, lemon peel, oregano, eggs
- Cauliflower soup: onions, garlic, carrots, cauliflower, chickpeas, spices
- Banana
- Pizza & haloumi salad: lettuce, snow peas, green beans, olives, haloumi, mustard, wheat, cheese, red onion, tomato, spinach, parsley, mushroom, yoghurt
Which makes about 32 foods.
Friday
- Banana
- Fetta & olive muffins: cottage cheese, fetta, olives, spelt flour, walnuts, lemon peel, oregano, eggs
- Soy latte
- Sweet potato & black bean wrap: sweet potato, olive oil, onion, garlic, beetroot greens, black beans, spices, chilli, tortilla with rye, corn & wheat flour, fetta cheese, cucumber, lettuce
- Mandarin
- Quinoa & oat croquette with strawberry jam: quinoa, rolled oats, sesame seeds, sugar, strawberries
- Soy chai
- Pistachios
- Pasta & tomato sauce: tinned tomatoes, garlic, capers, olive oil, wheat, cheese
- Pear betty: pears, spices, mandarin juice, sugar, butter, wheat breadcrumbs
- Ice-cream: milk & sugar
Which is about 35 foods.
Saturday
How many different foods do you eat?
This week on Limes & Lycopene I’m discussing the importance of eating a variety of foods.
And I’d love to know how many different foods you’re eating. Leave your thoughts and progress in the comments below.
Why it's important to eat a variety of foods
Posted by kathryn in A Balanced Diet
As I noted yesterday, most health authorities publish lists of dietary principles to follow. In amongst the advice to lower saturated fat, eat more vegetables, choose lean protein and avoid trans fats, the principle most commonly overlooked is the exhortation to choose a variety of foods.
Variety of foods means variety of nutrients
Variety of foods is important, because it’s the best way of ensuring you get all the nutrients you need.
Lists of the healthiest foods in the world are a common feature of magazine articles, TV programmes, blogs and other websites. However there is no one food which contains all the nutrients you need. It simply doesn’t exist.
There aren’t even five or ten foods, which contain all the nutrients you need.
Instead it’s through eating a wide variety of foodstuffs that you ensure your body gets all the protein, fat, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins it requires for good health.
Variety of foods means variety of antioxidants
By eating a variety of foods you’re also ensuring you get as many different antioxidants as possible. Despite all the fuss about superfoods there is no single food that contains all the antioxidants you need. Not acai, nor pomegranates, blueberries or Indian gooseberries. Not one of these foods has the depth and variety of antioxidants you need.
We don’t need antioxidants in large quantities, but the more different kinds you can consume the better. Antioxidants are not one homogenous thing. Instead they come in many different forms and are found in a range of foods. Different antioxidants also improve your health in varying ways.
Therefore by consuming spices, vegetables, fruit, different wholegrains, tea, nuts, seeds you are ensuring you get enough antioxidants. Both in quantity and variety.
Variety of foods helps to offset food boredom
Eating the same foods every day is easy. In a busy life it can be tempting to stick with what you know. The same breakfast, a revolving menu of three dinners and lunch bought from the same shop every day.
But really, could there be anything more boring?
Food is a wonderful, marvellous, joyous thing. Just think about all the different forms that food comes in. The myriad of colours of vegetables. The different seeds we can eat. How lamb, fish, chicken and tofu are all full of protein and yet they’re so different in flavour and texture.
In my experience, food boredom is one of the main reasons people deviate from their healthy eating plan. If you eat the same foods every day, it’s little wonder the chocolate machine and biscuit tin tempt you each afternoon. Or you cave-in and buy that tub of triple fudge brownie ice-cream at the supermarket. Or stop by McDonald’s on the way home.
Instead, mixing up your foods increases the likelihood you’ll make healthy choices. By eating different things each day and each week, you’ll remain interested and are less likely to give in to the easy gratifications of junk food.
How many different foods do you eat?
This week on Limes & Lycopene I’m discussing the importance of eating a variety of foods. I’ll be regularly reporting in on the variety of foods I’m eating each day
But I’d also like to know how many different foods you’re eating. Leave your thoughts and progress in the comments below.
Update: I’ve posted my first day’s list in the comments section of this post. I’m posting my daily foods lists here.
Photograph by Svenwerk.
How many different foods do you eat?
Posted by kathryn in A Balanced Diet
This week on Limes & Lycopene I want to talk about one of the fundamental principles of good nutrition: eating a variety of foods.
Almost everywhere you look, health and nutrition bodies recommend variety as one of the key dietary guidelines.
So this week I’m going to be talking about why it’s important and what variety actually means. I’ll end the week with the most important part – how to increase the variety in your diet. Some simple and practical suggestions.
But first a question: how many different foods do you eat in a day?
While most people would say they were eating different foods all day, often when you scratch the surface it’s the same fundamental ingredients over and over again.
Say you breakfast on Weet-bix. milk and a banana. Have a ham, cheese and tomato sandwich for lunch, and a couple of biscuits mid-afternoon. Then finish the day with pasta, sauce, parmesan and a side salad.
While you may think you’re eating different foods, the same basic ingredients pop up in each meal:
- Wheat is in the breakfast cereal, the bread at lunch-time, the biscuits and it’s the main ingredient in pasta.
- There’s milk for breakfast, but also a couple of doses of cheese – which are based on milk.
- Tomato is found in the lunch-time sandwich, but it’s also the most likely base for the evening pasta sauce.
- On top of these three there’s a banana, sugar in the biscuits, ham, a few vegies in the salad and pasta sauce, as well as some salt.
If this is your daily diet, then you may only eating about ten different foods a day.
Keeping track of how many foods you eat
Over the next few days I’m going to keep a track of the number of different foods I eat. And I’ll report back. Update: I’m posting my daily food lists here.
But I’d also really like to know how many different foods you’re eating. It’s not a competition – I’m just endlessly curious about what people eat.
I’m looking for basic ingredients. Don’t worry too much about food additives, it’s the fundamental components of your diet that I want you to track.
So, how many different foods do you eat each day?
Photograph by Svacher under the terms of a creative commons license.
The end of Q & A Thursday for this month
Posted by kathryn in Q & A Thursday
That’s it for Q & A Thursday for this month. As ever, thanks to all the readers who lodged questions.
If you have any thoughts or comments, then join in the discussions underneath each post.
Otherwise the next Q & A Thursday will be in June – on Thursday 5th. If you have any questions for then let me know by email.
Q & A Thursday: the nutrient content of sourdough bread?
Posted by kathryn in Q & A Thursday
The last question in today’s Q & A Thursday is from Antti-Juhani:
what is the effect of sourdough fermentation on the macronutrient content of a bread dough?
Really, really, really good question . . . but one I’m not able to answer.
So I’m wondering if anyone else can help?
What I do know about sourdoughs:
- Sourdough bread is made with a starter culture, which is a blend of bacteria and yeast. This culture reacts with the starches in flour and water to produce gas. The gas is trapped as bubbles in the dough – making it rise and form the texture we know as bread.
- Sourdough cultures do impact the texture and taste of breads.
- They can also affect the bioavailability of some nutrients.
- Sourdough cultures affect how we breakdown and absorb carbohydrates: they have a lower GI than yeasted breads.
- The Australian food tables do not differentiate between yeasted and sourdough breads in their nutritional breakdown.
So, while sourdough might affect how we breakdown and use macronutrients, I’m unsure if it changes the overall levels of protein, fat and carbohydrate in the food stuff itself.
So I’m throwing this one open to you. Does anyone have any further information on the effects of sourdough fermentation on the macronutrient content of bread?
What is Q & A Thursday?
This post is part of Q & A Thursday – a monthly burst of blogging, where you get to dictate the subject matter. Q & A Thursday is all about simple, practical answers to food and diet dilemmas sent in by readers.
If you have a question you’d like answered send me an email. For more information you can take a look at the Q & A Thursday archives.
Q & A Thursday: are you all stuffed up?
Posted by kathryn in Seasonal Health and Q & A Thursday
I know that most of you are headed into Spring and Summer. I read enough Northern Hemisphere blogs to know you’re excited about asparagus season and the onset of warm weather.
Here in Australia though, we’re moving rapidly into winter. And . . . the cold and flu season has already kicked off.
Stephanie, Patrick and Helen have all asked about beating winter illness. So I’m going to combine all the questions into one answer.
Beating a cold, flu or respiratory virus is mostly about time. Under optimal circumstances you should be over a cold in a few days, while a flu will take longer – about 7 days.
However, for many people colds and flus linger, weakening your system and generally getting you down. This leaves you open to catching more illness, more viruses and generally perpetuating the misery.
1. If you’re sick you have to rest
It’s what every doctor will tell you. It’s what your mother will tell you. If you are sick, you need to rest. Let me say that again, if you are sick YOU NEED TO REST.
Soldiering on, dosing yourself up on cold and flu tablets, going to work and putting in long days will perpetuate the sickness. Instead of being over it in a couple of days, it will take a couple of weeks.
It can be hard to take time off work and time out from being busy. But think of it as a short-term investment for the sake of your long-term health.
2. To prevent and treat a cold drink lots of ginger tea
My favourite winter remedy is ginger tea. Fresh ginger, lemon and honey in a teapot or plunger. Fill up with hot water and leave to steep for 5 – 6 minutes.
I drink this regularly throughout winter as a general prophylactic. I’d have at least one or two cups every day during the cold months.
But at the first sign of congestion or sickness I start drinking this stuff by the bucket-full. At least five cups. If not more. It’s effective, but you need to drink a lot of it to get the benefit.
3. To prevent a cold or stop one from perpetuating use Echinacea
There are always reports saying Echinacea is good, no it’s bad, no it’s good. In my experience it’s a great herb – provided you use a good quality product. There are a number of echinacea plant species which end up in retail products. Some work really well, while others are basically useless.
If you have the right product, at the right dose it can prevent you from getting sick. It should also reduce the lifespan of your illness and prevent it from perpetuating.
Last year I wrote a post on this subject: echinacea – does it work.
In my work I regularly come into contact with sick people. However I don’t want and can’t afford to be ill myself. If I’m sick I can’t work. This disrupts my diary, annoys clients and interferes with their management plans. Plus if I don’t work I can’t earn income.
So at the beginning of each cold and flu season I take a course of echinacea plus vitamin C and zinc. I do this for about two weeks. I also look after myself during the winter and this generally keeps me illness free.
4. When you’re unwell eat simple, light foods
If you’re sick, it’s not the time for KFC and pizza every night. Your body needs nourishment. It needs the best nutrition you can give it to fight the infection.
Vegetables, low fat protein, wholegrains and fruit are the optimal basics for your diet. Simple soups, steamed vegetables and fish, a warmed bean salad, ginger mushroom not-quite salad, a flavour-filled seaweed soup, green beans with tamari almonds, tofu with green beans in a lemongrass broth, some simple fish parcels.
These are the kinds of foods to eat. Foods that nourish. Foods that don’t tax your system. Foods that provide your body with the building blocks it needs to fight the infection.
3. If you’re sick keep off the grog
Always the most unpopular piece of advice I give. But if you’re sick one of the best things you can do is lay off alcohol for a few days. Alcohol interferes with your sleep, depresses your system and uses up nutrients that could be put to better use. It may make you feel better in the short-term, but alcohol is not helping. So have a few days without that evening beer or glass of wine. Drink ginger tea instead and you’ll feel better for it.
How do you deal with winter illness?
What is Q & A Thursday?
This post is part of Q & A Thursday – a monthly burst of blogging, where you get to dictate the subject matter. Q & A Thursday is all about simple, practical answers to food and diet dilemmas sent in by readers.
If you have a question you’d like answered send me an email. For more information you can take a look at the Q & A Thursday archives.
Q & A Thursday: is vegemite healthy?
Posted by kathryn in Q & A Thursday
I’m going to tread carefully here – commenting on the nutritional value of an Australian icon.
Despina has asked – is vegemite healthy?
The short answer is – it’s not too bad. There are better foods and there are worse foods.
Vegemite is a dark brown paste made from yeast extract, that was first invented in the 1920s. For those living in the UK and New Zealand, it’s similar to marmite.
Vegemite is a concentrated source of some of the B vitamins. One teaspoon contains 50 percent of your daily requirement of B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin) and B9 (folate). Unlike Marmite, it isn’t fortified with vitamin B12.
Vegemite is practically fat free and is also low in kilojoules. Which are all positives.
The main problem with Vegemite is it’s high in sodium. One teaspoon contains 150mg of sodium. This is 16 percent of the daily Adequate Intake (AI) level and 7 percent of the recommended Upper Level (UL) of intake.
This is a lot for one teaspoon of a condiment.
It depends how you use Vegemite
As I’ve blogged before the health value of a food is rarely black and white. It usually depends on how you use it.
And this is my main concern with Vegemite. It’s not the product itself which is potentially unhealthy, but what it replaces. The occasional scraping of Vegemite on toast in the morning, or as an afternoon snack is okay, but it’s not an adequate filling for a lunch-time sandwich.
Lunch and dinner are where most people eat the majority of their daily protein. It’s also where we have most of our vegetables.
If you’re having a vegemite sandwich for lunch then you’re missing out on protein, antioxidants and the full spectrum of vitamins and minerals.
As with most foods Vegemite is healthy if enjoyed in moderation.
What is Q & A Thursday?
This post is part of Q & A Thursday – a monthly burst of blogging, where you get to dictate the subject matter. Q & A Thursday is all about simple, practical answers to food and diet dilemmas sent in by readers.
If you have a question you’d like answered send me an email. For more information you can take a look at the Q & A Thursday archives.
Photograph by Dramagirl under the terms of a creative commons license.
Q & A Thursday: the B12 in your diet
Posted by kathryn in The Micronutrients and Q & A Thursday
Continuing from Naomi’s question about iron and B12 . . .
B12 is a whole different kettle of fish. It’s a curious, complex vitamin. Instead of being one molecule, B12 is actually a group of compounds, which are structurally similar and all contain cobalt.
What is vitamin B12?
B12 can’t be made by either plants or animals. Instead it’s manufactured by bacteria and it ends up in our food as a result of this bacterial activity.
And the bacteria in your digestive tract can also make B12, which we can then absorb.
It’s only required in tiny amounts, but B12 is hard to absorb and deficiency is common.
To absorb this vitamin your digestion needs to be in relatively good shape. It takes actions and enzymes produced by your stomach, pancreas and small intestines to absorb B12.
Is it stored in the body?
There are about 2,000 – 5,000mcg of B12 stored in the body. Mostly in the liver.
B12 can be stored for years. The average intake needs to be about 2.4mcg per day to maintain these stores. But losses and gains occur over time, so this is an average figure.
Deficiency symptoms can take five years or more to develop.
Sources of B12
Our main source of B12 is animal foods and products, including milk and dairy.
Plants only provide B12 when the soil they were grown in has not been washed away. For a long time mushrooms were advertised as being high in B12 and “meat for vegetarians”. But this is a myth. It is the soil surrounding the mushrooms that contains B12, not the mushroom itself.
Some foods like tempeh and other cultured foods may contain small amounts of B12 – but these are not reliable sources.
How much do you need?
Current Australian RDIs specify 2.4mcg per day, although more is required in pregnancy and lactation.
- 1 cup of low fat yoghurt contains 1.4mcg
- 50g tinned salmon contains 0.75mcg
- 100g lean beef contains 1.9mcg
- 100ml fortified soy milk contains 0.3mcg
These a full list of the B12 in different foods at Food Standards Australia New Zealand.
What is Q & A Thursday?
This post is part of Q & A Thursday – a monthly burst of blogging, where you get to dictate the subject matter. Q & A Thursday is all about simple, practical answers to food and diet dilemmas sent in by readers.
If you have a question you’d like answered send me an email. For more information you can take a look at the Q & A Thursday archives.
1 comment
16 May, 2008
