Trans fats: why food manufacturers use them
Posted by kathryn in Fat
Food manufacturers use trans fats because they’re cheap and easy.
Fats used to be an expensive ingredient. However through hydrogenation, cheap poly-unsaturated vegetable oils can be converted into a semi-solid form. This product is much more useful to food manufacturers.
Hydrogenation changes the physical properties of the fat:
- hydrogenated fats have a longer shelf-life
- they can be re-used without spoiling
- they’re cheaper to transport
- hydrogenated fats mix well with flour, to make better biscuits and pastries.
These trans rich fats make chips crispier and baked goods better.
For better health we need to lower trans fat levels, while also keeping saturated fats at bay. Alternatives to the current crop of hydrogenated vegetable oils need to be found.
To date it’s been relatively easy to develop trans fat free margarines, that are also low in saturated fats. Many of these are on the market in Australia.
However, replacement of the trans fat rich oils used in baked goods, fast foods and other processed foods may be more difficult.
Call me crazy, but there is another alternative. We could reduce our trans intake and improve our health overall by eating less of these foods?
Photograph by mwri under the terms of a creative commons license.
Would you support a world-wide ban on junk food advertising?
Posted by kathryn in Food Labelling and Kid's nutrition
Should manufacturers be allowed to advertise junk food to children?
This is one of the key questions being discussed at the Consumers International conference in Sydney.
The cartoon character Shrek featured heavily in food promotion earlier this year. Toys are regularly used as giveaways in cereal boxes and at fast food outlets. Many food manufacters have websites featuring games and giveaways. It’s no longer enough to market food products to parents. Instead manufacturers are now directly targeting kids.
Concerns about childhood obesity and healthy are prompting many consumer advocates to question this.
At the Consumers International conference a a World Health Organisation led restriction on junk food advertising was suggested. This would ban the use of popular cartoon characters to sell foods high in fat, sugar and salt. The ban would cover advertising on television and the internet.
What’s happening in other countries?
The level of government control over junk food advertising varies between countries:
- Finland and Germany: cartoon characters can not be used in the sale of children’s products
- Norway and Sweden: adverts aimed at children under 12 are banned
- In the UK: children’s TV personalities cannot appear in ads before 9pm
- Currently in Australia there are no such restrictions. The Children’s Television Standards were introduced 17 years ago and have not been changed since.
What do you think?
- Should food manufacterers be banned from advertising junk foods to children?
- Or is this unnecessarily restrictive and it’s up to parents to monitor their children’s intake?
- What do you think?
For more information
Should you eat the whole egg, or just the white?
Posted by kathryn in A Balanced Diet and Eggs
I’m a great admirer of the egg. They’re an excellent package of dense nutrition, easy to use and highly adaptable.
Eggs contain protein, along with a plethora of minerals and vitamins.
With eggs you’re getting a lot of nutrition for your money.
The white vs the yolk
Diet books and bodybuilders recommend restricting yourself to the egg white only. But, if you do that you’re missing out on loads of wonderful nutrition.
The egg white is mostly protein and water.
In contrast, the yolk carries all the egg’s extra goodness. The yolk is what converts eggs from being a cheap source of protein into something a whole lot more special. Inside that golden yolk is:
- calcium
- iron
- zinc
- Vitamin A
- carotenoid antioxidants
- vitamin B1
What about the fat?
The yolk does contain most of the fat. Concern about saturated fat and cholesterol, has led many to exclude eggs from their diet. A reality check shows one egg contains 5g of fat, of which only 1.5g is saturated. The rest is the more healthy unsaturated fat.
Eggs are also free of trans fats and in the past year they’ve been given a Heart Foundation tick.
How to use eggs
Eggs can be cooked in a variety of ways, from boiled through to scrambled. They can be made into frittatas, quiches and omelettes. Eggs are a quick, affordable and highly nutritious food.
Why not try the following?
What’s your favourite way of using eggs?
Quicklinks
Posted by kathryn in Mental & emotional health and Salads
- Beetroot recipes: Here in the Southern hemisphere we’re moving into summer. But how can I resist two more beautiful beetroot recipes? Lisa’s Kitchen features a beetroot and fetta salad, while Mostly Eating has posted a beetroot, sumac and sweet potato salad.
- Snowpea Salad: Much more suitable for summer – Chocolate & Zucchini has a recipe for triple sesame snow pea salad. Blanched snow peas are livened up with a nifty dressing containing the sesame trifecta of seeds, tahini and oil.
- Vegetarian food in the Middle East: Veggie Friendly has always been one of my favourite sites. It’s the Sydney food guide for vegetarians. However, over the last couple of months, Veggie Friendly has gone global. Kate’s been travelling through Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Israel and many other places, talking about vegetarian food from the region.
- The Biggest Loser: Refrigerator Raid has posted about why the Biggest Loser is unrealistic for real people. As the Midnight Raider says “who has time to exercise for five hours a day”.
- Alcohol and your mood: I touched on this in my Mental Health Week posts. In the last week Paula Goodyer has also blogged about how alcohol can affect your mood. In the article she links to the Controlled Drinking by Correspondence course run by the Australian Centre for Addiction. I’ve looked at this programme before and it’s an excellent way of changing your attitude to alcohol.
- Using different grains: If you’re trying to expand your grain repertoire, Bear Necessities has posted a fresh vegetable barley recipe. The barley is cooked in stock with zucchini and cherry tomatoes. It’s then finished off with fetta and fresh parsley – a lovely balanced meal.
Photograph by Vicky TH under the terms of a creative commons license.
Do you know anything about sugar beet fibre flakes?
Posted by kathryn in Q & A Thursday
The next question in Q & A Thursday is one I can’t answer! Antti-Juhani has asked about sugar beet fibre flakes:
Do you have any comments about sugar beet fiber as a fiber supplement? Are there any reasons one should prefer it to, say, rye bran, or vice versa? Any good or bad points one should be aware of?
I’ve never heard of sugar beet fibre flakes and I’ve never seen them in Australian stores. So far my research is only bringing up information on horse nutrition?
Do any of you know about sugar beet flakes as a fibre source for humans?
What is Q & A Thursday?
This post is part of Q & A Thursday – a weekly 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, then either leave a comment or send me an email. For more information you can take a look at the Q & A Thursday archives.
Should you detox to get more energy?
Posted by kathryn in A Balanced Diet, Seasonal Health and Q & A Thursday
Imagine if you stopped drinking alcohol, ate well balanced meals, cut out junk food, drank lots of water and went to bed early.
Hands up who doesn’t think they’d feel better and have more energy?
If you eat well and look after yourself, you will feel better. You will have more energy. Those black circles under your eyes will disappear. Your skin will be clearer.
But feeling good and having lots of energy, is not rocket science. It’s not magic. And you don’t need a detox to attain it.
I’m a huge fan of eating and living well, but I hate detoxes.
There are no quick-fixes
Detoxes promise much. The rationale is, if you follow the strict diet, drink certain liquids and take specific supplements, your body will be cleansed of it’s toxicity. Plus you’ll lose kilos of weight.
Most people are struggling with too little energy and feeling below par. Detoxes are attractive, because they offer a quick-fix. They promise much, for only a short period of commitment – it seems perfect for our modern lives. Moreover, most people do feel better after a detox.
However, the effect of most detox plans are rarely long-lasting. After the five or ten day programme, you return to your normal way of eating. The weight goes back on and you feel like rubbish again.
A five or ten day programme is not the answer. It’s not going to cure your lack of energy, keep you at a healthy weight, or cure your tiredness. Health is just not like that. Health rarely has quick-fixes that work.
The truth is much more boring
The real answer to the question of how to have more energy and feel good, is much more simple. It’s also much more boring and much less spectacular. Eating well, getting plenty of sleep, cutting back on alcohol, managing your stress – these are the guaranteed ways to feel better long-term.
These are not quick-fixes. It’s harder to do this long-term. However, if you want more energy and better health long-term, this is what you need to do.
You don’t need a detox, but you do need a healthy diet.
What is Q & A Thursday?
This post is part of Q & A Thursday – a weekly 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, then leave a comment or send me an email. For more information you can take a look at the Q & A Thursday archives.
Food labelling: nutrition information panel basics
Posted by kathryn in Food Labelling and Q & A Thursday
It’s Q & A Thursday and the first question is about something which appears on every packet of food: the nutrition information panel. LeAnne has asked:
I’ve been eating a lot of soy products. Everything I buy is dry and I have to soak it in water before I cook it. The nutrition information is on the box for 100 grams of product. Is that 100 grams before or after I soak it?
When it comes to food labelling, the nutrition information panel is your friend. It’s one of the few areas which gives you unbiased, un-marketed, factual information on what’s in the product you’re about to buy.
Most packaged foods have to include a nutrition information panel. The information is presented in a standard format and must include:
- the number of servings in a packet
- the quantity of a standard serving of that food, as determined by the manufacturer
- nutrition information per serving and per 100g or 100ml
- the amount of energy, protein, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, sugars and sodium in that food
- the amount of any other nutrient about which a claim is made on the packet. If the label claims the food is “a good source of fibre”, the amount of fibre must be shown on the nutrition information panel
Unless otherwise stated, all the information listed is for the food product as it is in the packet. The nutrients shown are for the pre-cooked and pre-soaked product.
A manufacturer doesn’t know how you’re going to use their product. If you soak, cook or add to that food, it does change the nutritional value. Therefore the nutrition information panel gives details on a food as it is in the packet.
What is Q & A Thursday?
This post is part of Q & A Thursday – a weekly 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, then leave a comment or send me an email. For more information you can take a look at the Q & A Thursday archives.
A reminder & a warning
Posted by kathryn in Blogging and Q & A Thursday
The reminder
Tomorrow is Q & A Thursday. Let me know if you have a question, by leaving a comment or sending me an email.
And the warning . . .
Limes & Lycopene will be unavailable for about 30 minutes this evening.
From 7.30pm AEST we’re upgrading hardware. I know some of you have experienced problems accessing L&L and at times it’s been very slow. The funky, shiny new hardware should sort this out. Thanks for your patience.
Food labels: how manufacturers disguise the baddies
Posted by kathryn in Food Labelling
Most of us know to reduce the fat, sugar and sodium in our diet. However these can be hidden away in the ingredients list.
For example, while “salt” may be listed at the end of the ingredients, the product may still contain a lot of sodium, The salt is simply disguised as other ingredients. Similarly fats and sugars also often travel incognito.
The many names for fat:
- margarine
- butter
- vegetable oil
- lard
- shortening
- full cream milk powder
- mono-, di- and triglycerides
- hydrogenated vegetable oil
The many names for sugar
- sugar
- honey
- malt
- sucrose
- molasses
- glucose syrup
- fructose
- dextrose
- corn syrup
- golden syrup
The many names for sodium include:
- salt
- sodium chloride
- yeast extract
- soy sauce
- MSG
Ingredients like honey, molasses, yeast extract and soy sauce all add flavour to the product. However, they’re often also used to hide the true nature of what’s being added.
Be sceptical. Use the nutrition information panel to compare the total amounts of fat, sugar and salt per 100gm. This is a more reliable guide to how low or high a product is in fat, sugar and sodium.
What do you need to eat well?
Posted by kathryn in Blogging and A Balanced Diet
A question for you today – do you eat well and if not what would help you improve your diet?
I’m not checking up on who’s having their vegies! At the moment I’m working on some better content for this site. I want to make it easier to access the information and resources you need to have a good diet.
So, my question is – what do you need to eat well?
- How do you like to access information? Do you want it in different formats?
- Are there any sites or online tools you’ve used and liked?
- What’s missing from Limes & Lycopene that would help you to eat well?
- Do you want more specific information, or do general rules help?
- Do you use the recipes on Limes & Lycopene and if not, why not?
- What lets your diet down?
What would make it easier for you to eat well? Leave your thoughts in the comments below – it would be great to get some discussion going on this topic.
Three avocado recipes for busy people
Posted by kathryn in All In A Day's Work
The latest issue of Life etc magazine is out, complete with my Ten Minute Kitchen recipes. These simple, no-fuss recipes are designed to take minutes. They also provide a well balanced meal and at least two of your daily vegetables serves.
The theme ingredient this issue is avocado and the recipes are:
- herb fishcakes with avocado salsa
- warm lima bean and avocado salad with ginger
- chilli chicken skewers with chickpea and avocado salad.
You can download these recipes from the Life etc website. The download button is in the middle of the right-hand column. The magazine also has an article by me: 5 tricks used on food labels.
Quicklinks
Posted by kathryn in Fruit and Soups
- Eating more fruit: It’s a topic I’ve been writing about this week. Veggie Chic also has a useful post on 3 easy steps to eating more fruit. I particularly like the suggestion to find your own best time to eat fruit. Jul says “eating fruit when I’m at my hungriest makes me enjoy it more”.
- How to change eating habits: Rudd Sound Bites asks why isn’t education enough to change eating habits?. There’s also an interesting discussion going on in the comments.
- Chronic fatigue syndrome: Laura at CFS Squared has written a post on the good stuff chronic fatigue syndrome has given her. It’s a positive list, useful to all of us.
- Obesity: Weighty Matters has a post about the new UK government report on obesity. The fact it’s titled Duh! might give you an idea of what he thinks . . .
- Thai soup: A Wee Bit of Cooking has a made a vegetable-packed tom yum-ish soup. There’s a few ingredients, but it’s a simple recipe. You could also replace the prawns with cubes of tofu.
Q & A Thursday is over
Posted by kathryn in Q & A Thursday
Q & A Thursday is over for this week. I haven’t answered all the questions I received. I’ll save the extra ones over for next week.
A big thank you to everyone who asked a question, or left a comment.
This week’s questions
Next week’s Q & A Thursday
If you have any questions for next week then either leave a comment or send me an email.
For more information you can take a look at the Q & A Thursday archives.
Yes, I have been over-simplifying the fruit and vegetable issue
Posted by kathryn in Antioxidants, Fruit, Vegetables and Q & A Thursday
I’ve been pulled up on my last two posts in Q & A Thursday:
As Meg and Joanne have both commented there are other “vegetables” that are actually “fruits”. How do these fit into the whole fruit vs vegetables debate?. Hmm, I wasn’t counting on botany being used against me!
Okay, it’s true I’ve over-simplified the message – something we nutritionists often do. Sorry about that.
What are fruit and vegetables
The dividing line between fruit and vegetable is blurred. While a fruit has a specific botanical definition, vegetable is primarily a culinary and dietary term. Vegetables are basically plants we can eat and the group includes a whole lot of different plant parts:
- fruits (example tomatoes, eggplants and cucumbers)
- legumes (snowpeas and sugar snap peas)
- stems (asparagus)
- leaves (spinach and rocket)
- roots (carrots, beetroot and radish)
- flowers (broccoli)
- bulbs (garlic)
Colloquially we think of vegetables as the plants we use for savoury purposes. While we regard fruits as being sweeter and something usually eaten raw.
Do you need to eat fruit as well as vegetables?
- The most important dietary advice is to eat a variety of plant foods.
- It is possible to get enough vitamin C from vegetables. However it is easier for most people to include fruit in their diet as well, to ensure adequate vitamin C intake.
- The foods we generally regard as fruits do have different antioxidants than those we regard as vegetables. Eating a variety of antioxidants is another important dietary strategy. So it’s a good idea to include both fruits and vegetables in your diet.
- It’s unwise to rely on fruit alone, as it’s higher in kilojoules than most vegetables.
- It’s almost impossible to eat too many vegetables. When the dietary guidelines talk about five servings, this is the minimum you should eat.
Is that a better answer?
This post is part of Q & A Thursday – a weekly 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, then either leave a comment or send me an email. For more information you can take a look at the Q & A Thursday archives.
Are tomatoes part of your fruit or vegetable intake?
Posted by kathryn in Fruit and Q & A Thursday
The next post in Q & A Thursday partners the previous question: can you count tomatoes as part of your daily fruit allowance?
Despite primarily being used as a savoury ingredient, tomatoes are actually a fruit. Botanically they’re the ovary and seeds of a flowering plant, the classification of a fruit.
Tomatoes are therefore nutritionally flexible. You can count them as one of your vegetable serves or as part of your fruit intake.
Tomatoes contain vitamin C and many antioxidants, including my all-time favourite – lycopene. If you’re counting tomaties as a fruit, I’d advise you to eat them raw. This means you’ll maximise the vitamin C. If you consider tomatoes to be part of your vegetable intake, then raw or cooked is fine.
What is Q & A Thursday?
This post is part of Q & A Thursday – a weekly 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, then either leave a comment or send me an email. For more information you can take a look at the Q & A Thursday archives.
Is fruit really important to a healthy diet?
Posted by kathryn in Antioxidants, Fruit and Q & A Thursday
I was asked a question about fruit this week: if you eat plenty of vegetables, do you need to eat fruit?
Both vegetables and fruit are necessary in a healthy diet. While we sometimes clump them together in our head, and they come from the same part of the supermarket, they provide different nutrients.
Why you need fruit
Fruit and vegetables do contain many similar nutrients. For example they’re both rich in potassium and fibre. However, you need to eat fruit because:
- it’s the main source of vitamin C in your diet
- it provides different antioxidants to vegetables
It’s when you look at the antioxidants that the difference is most striking. Quite simply, fruit and vegetables contain different antioxidants and you need this variety to have the best health.
How to eat more fruit
The basic recommendation is to have at least two pieces of fruit per day. This can include fresh, dried and tinned fruit – all are good sources of nutrition. If you’re not a fruit fan, then you can try masking it in other foods. For example:
- add a handful of raisins to your breakfast cereal
- make a smoothie with frozen berries, skim milk and yoghurt
- mash up some bananas and strawberries and stir it through yoghurt
- make some fruity muffins
- grating some apple into a salad
For more suggestions on eating fruit take a look at these two posts: 31 days: eat some fruit and how to eat more fruit.
And, if you’re wondering the opposite: if you eat fruit, do you really need to eat vegetables? Again the answer is yes you do. Take a look at one of my very early posts why you need your vegies.
What is Q & A Thursday?
This post is part of Q & A Thursday – a weekly 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, then either leave a comment or send me an email. For more information you can take a look at the Q & A Thursday archives.
How to get enough calcium when you don't drink milk
Posted by kathryn in The Micronutrients, A Balanced Diet and Q & A Thursday
The next question in Q & A Thursday is from Sarah. It’s one for the lactose intolerants: is it possible to get enough calcium when you don’t drink milk?
Calcium and bone health
I’ve written a number of posts about calcium in the past, including a three part series on bone health:
In the final part of this series I discuss how much calcium is enough. While the current Australian RDI is 1,000mg per day, there is considerable debate on this topic. My recommendation is to aim for at least 700mg per day.
Dairy-free calcium sources
Dairy isn’t the only source of calcium. There are a wide range of foods that contain this important mineral. If you’re not eating dairy, then include the following foods in your diet:
- sardines or salmon: 100g of this fish with the bones gives about 300mg of calcium – almost half your daily total
- dried fruit: 3 dried figs = 100mg calcium and 10 dried apricots = 42 mg calcium
- tofu: 80g or about 3 cubes = 96mg calcium
- leafy green vegetables: 1 cup of spinach, silverbeet, bok choy, Chinese cabbage = 75mg calcium
- legumes: 1/2 cup chickpeas, lima beans or soya beans = 70mg calcium
- tahini: this is a paste made of sesame seeds. 1 tablespoon = 70mg calcium
- nuts: 20 almonds or 10 brazil nuts (about 30g) contains 65mg calcium
- parsley: 1 tablespoon = 65mg calcium
- orange: 1 orange = 35mg calcium
- bread: 1 slice wholegrain bread = 30mg calcium
Meal suggestions
You could use these calcium-rich foods in the following ways. I’ve given two different choices for each meal and put the total amount of calcium in brackets after each suggestion.
Breakfast:
- 2 slices of wholegrain toast with tahini and honey (130mg)
- 50g sardines and tomato on 1 slice toast (180mg)
Lunch:
- 100g tinned salmon with salad, including baby spinach leaves (375mg)
- Sandwich with 2 tablespoons hummous and tabbouleh (200mg)
Dinner:
- tofu stirfry: 150g tofu stirfried with broccoli and bok choy and 10 almonds (360mg)
- Salad with 1/2 cup chickpeas, 100g fish, vegetables and rice (450mg)
Snacks:
- 30g almonds and 3 dried figs (165mg)
- an orange (35mg)
How to have healthy bones
But note: calcium alone will not ensure you have healthy bones. The number one, most important thing you must do for bone health is exercise:
Physical activity strains and stresses your bones. Cells within the bones react by making them stronger and denser. Regular physical activity makes it possible to retain and possibly even increase bone density. Exercise also improves balance, thereby reducing the risk of falls and resultant fractures.
For more on this, take a look at the last post in my bone health series: how to ensure you have strong, healthy bones
What is Q & A Thursday?
This post is part of Q & A Thursday – a weekly 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, then either leave a comment or send me an email. For more information you can take a look at the Q & A Thursday archives.
Converting dry weights to cooked weight
Posted by kathryn in Shopping Basket and Q & A Thursday
First up in this week’s Q & A Thursday, Peta asks if there’s a simple way to convert the dry weight of carbs like rice and pasta, to cooked weight or volume?
Carbohydrate foods like rice and pasta absorb a lot of water during cooking. However, there’s no one rule you can follow to convert from dry to cooked weight.
Instead I’ve found this list of conversion measures at Ellen’s Kitchen to be really useful. It covers a wide range of foods and converts from volume to weight and dry to cooked.
It gives imperial measures, so I then use the google calculator function to convert into metric.
What is Q & A Thursday?
This post is part of Q & A Thursday – a weekly 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, then either leave a comment or send me an email. For more information you can take a look at the Q & A Thursday archives.
Kicking off Q & A Thursday for this week
Posted by kathryn in Q & A Thursday
Q & A Thursday is open for this week. It’s going to be a bumper edition, as I already have a long list of varied and interesting questions.
Let me know if you have any other topics, either by leaving a comment or sending me an email.
As always, at the end of today I’ll add this week’s topics to the Q & A Thursday archives.
5 ways to be cold-free this winter
Posted by kathryn in Seasonal Health
Here in Australia, we’re slipping gently into summer. However, it’s a different story for my northern hemisphere readers.
Days are shortening and the weather is getting cooler. Which also means cold and flu season is looming.
Earlier in the year I posted my top five ways to keep a cold at bay. While winter hasn’t set in, start looking after yourself now, in preparation for the cold weather. If you can follow these five strategies you will have a better cold and flu season.
More winter health posts
For more information about managing your health in winter, take a look at these posts:
Do you have a question for Q & A Thursday?
Posted by kathryn in Q & A Thursday
A reminder – Q & A Thursday is on tomorrow.
Do you have any questions about food, diet and health?
You can lodge a question by leaving a comment or sending me an email.
Want to know what the heck Q & A Thursday is? Then take a look at the introductory post and the Q & A Thursday archives.
"Healthy" & "lean": two food label words you can't trust
Posted by kathryn in Food Labelling
A couple of weeks ago I asked what’s wrong with these ready meals?. In amongst the excellent answers, a couple of readers talked about food label trickery.
And they’re right. Like natural, lite and light, the words healthy and lean don’t have any legal definition.
Food manufacturers can slap those two words on any products they want. It gives the food the aura of wellbeing. The hope is you’re a time-poor consumer who wants to eat well. So you’ll pick up the “healthy” product, instead of it’s nearest competitor.
Ignore the marketing. Compare the nutrition panels for yourself and make up your own mind about what’s healthy.
Comments are back up and working
Posted by kathryn in Blogging
Thanks for your patience, comments are now working again!
Manage your mood by managing your blood sugar levels
Posted by kathryn in Mental & emotional health
Eating irregularly and eating the wrong foods can make you moody, tired and irritable.
Each time you eat, some parts of the food are broken down into glucose – the primary source of fuel used by your body and brain. However, a few hours after eating, that glucose supply dwindles – leading to a drop in blood sugar levels.
When blood sugar levels are low many people experience mood changes. Feelings of depression, annoyance, anger and inability to cope are common. If you’re not eating regularly and not eating the right foods, these feelings can dominate your day.
There are several things you can do to prevent this.
1. Eat regularly
- make sure you eat at least three meals per day, particularly breakfast
- most people also need a couple of snacks during the day to regulate blood sugar levels
- try to eat something every four hours
- if you do start feeling cranky, ask yourself when you last had something to eat? It may be your blood sugar levels need topping up.
2. Eat low GI carbohydrates
Managing your blood sugar levels doesn’t mean you have to eat all day. Instead, blood sugar levels can be maintained by eating low GI foods and regularly having three meals and a couple of snacks. Try this for a week and notice the difference. If you manage your blood sugar level, you’ll feel calmer and less prone to mood swings.
It’s Mental Health Week here at Limes & Lycopene and this post is the last in the series: five food and diet strategies you can use to improve your mental health.
Technorati tags: “mental health week” and mental health week
Cut back on the grog, for your mental health
Posted by kathryn in Mental & emotional health
Alcohol is a depressant. Just think about that. It’s Mental Health Week, we’re talking diet strategies to improve your mental health, and one of the most common drinks we consume is a depressant.
While a glass of wine at the end of the day can be relaxing and you may use a couple of drinks to rev up for a party, alcohol is not a stimulant. Small amounts calm and reduce inhibitions, because it’s a central nervous system depressant.
- Drinking less grog, will give you better mental health.
- If you suffer from depression, or are prone to low moods, abstaining from alcohol will help.
- For everyone else, reducing your alcohol intake is still an important health goal.
Detoxifying alcohol takes valuable nutrients
As well as being a depressant, alcohol uses up vitamins and minerals. As it’s processed by your liver, B vitamins, zinc and other nutrients are used to detoxify alcohol.
These wasted nutrients could be put to much better use by your body. If your diet is poor, you run the risk of nutrient deficiencies. B vitamin deficiencies in particular are common in heavy drinkers. This can cause low moods, irritability and aggressive behaviour, as well as more serious and long-term mental health problems.
How much is too much?
- Women: no more than 2 standard drinks a day, with at least 2 alcohol-free days per week.
- Men: no more than 4 standard drinks a day, with at least 2 alcohol-free days per week.
- Binge-drinking – women: consuming more than 4 standard drinks during a day.
- Binge-drinking – men: consuming more than 6 standard drinks during a day.
What’s a standard drink?
- one 425ml glass (a schooner) of light beer
- one 285ml glass (a middy) of regular beer
- one 100ml glass of wine – a usual pub measure of wine is at least 150ml
- one 30ml nip of spirits
- one 60ml glass of port or sherry
Make a commitment to reduce your alcohol intake, for the sake of both your physical and mental health.
Mental Health Week
It’s Mental Health Week here at Limes & Lycopene and this post is part of a series: five food and diet strategies you can use to improve your mental health. For more information on the safe use of alcohol, see the National Drug & Alcohol Research Centre’s website.
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How eating vegetables will help your mental health
Posted by kathryn in Mental & emotional health
Your brain is an organ, just like your heart, liver and kidneys.
There’s a lot we don’t know about how the brain works. One thing we do know, is you need to feed your brain for it to be healthy.
Carbohydrates, Omega 3 essential fatty acids, protein, vitamins, minerals and water – these are the nutrients your brain needs.
Vitamins are needed by your brain, because they assist biochemical reactions. For example, vitamins are catalysts in the production of neurotransmitters.
Low levels of folate, as well as vitamins B1, B2 and C have all been linked to depression. It’s also been suggested that a lack of vitamin C and E are linked with Alzheimers. While population studies have shown a link between high vegetable diets and low levels of dementia.
The best way to make sure you’re getting the vitamins for your brain, is to eat vegetables. Having at least five serves a day, preferably more.
While five serves can sound daunting, eating this much veg during a day doesn’t have to be hard. To get an idea of how much five serves of vegies actually is, take a look at my pictorial guide to five serves of vegetables post.
How to increase your vegetable intake
If you’re not eating a lot of vegies, including more in your diet will really help your health. Try to find ways to include a couple more serves in your day.
- Breakfast: have hummous and cucumber on toast, instead of butter and jam. Other choices are avocado and tomato, or make a toasted sandwich with cheese, tomato and baby spinach.
- Sandwiches: If you’re buying a sandwich for lunch, try to include three different salad vegetables.
- Take-away: Choose Thai or Vietnamese stir-fries with plenty of vegies or if you’re ordering pizza and pasta, get a salad as well.
- Grocery shopping: when buying groceries, try to get one extra vegetable a week. Use this to gently up your mid-week vegie intake.
- Weekend breakfast: if you’re breakfasting out or doing a fry-up at home, include some mushrooms, tomato and spinach leaves.
- Making salads: make smaller portions of dinner and have it with a side salad. Add handfuls of fresh herbs to give more flavour. Alternatively make a side dish of mixed seasonal greens.
- Eat vegetarian at least once a week: boost your weekly vegie intake by having at least one meat-free meal every week.
I’m not saying that upping your vitamin intake will cure all mental health problems. However, these nutrients are needed by your brain, so why not make sure you’re getting enough?
It’s Mental Health Week here at Limes & Lycopene and this post is part of a series: five food and diet strategies you can use to improve your mental health.
Technorati tags: “mental health week” and mental health week
Mental health week: radio talkback
Posted by kathryn in Mental & emotional health
Are you in Australia and close to a radio? This morning Triple J’s weekly science talkback is all about mental health. Natasha Mitchell will be talking to Zan Rowe about mind, brain and behaviour. They’ll also be taking questions from listeners.
- Time: 11.00am – 12.00pm AEST
- Ratio station: Triple J – in Sydney it’s FM 105.7
I’ll check later if there’s a podcast of the session.
pdate: there’s no podcast for thIs session. However All in the Mind does release a weekly podcast of their programme. Go to their website for more details.
It’s Mental Health Week here at Limes & Lycopene. Technorati tags: “mental health week” and mental health week
What bloggers are saying about Mental Health Week
Posted by kathryn in Mental & emotional health
Yesterday was World Mental Health Day. The following are some links to people who’ve been talking mental health:
- Down to earth has blogged about depression and rural suicide here in Australia.
- Sue is a mental health nurse and has posted about her experiences, training and the difficulties of working in the mental health arena.
- Mental health notes asks When did you come out with your mental illness?
- The Transparent Hypnotist celebrated World Mental Health Day by writing a post on hypnosis and mental health.
- At Difficult Relationships, Rod E Smith has written about the emotional exhaustion. He’s included ten simple, although not necessarily easy, ways to build a stronger emotional health.
- In Dr Deb’s post on World Mental Health Day she includes a useful list of links to worldwide mental health bodies.
- According to the Earth Trends blog “up to 30 percent of the global population suffers from some form of mental disorder”.
- Experiments in living talks about the personal experience of having depression: “there is part of me that feels ashamed. On an intellectual level I know this is nonsense, and that depression is an illness, but it doesn’t seem to help me when I’m on that road”.
It’s Mental Health Week here at Limes & Lycopene.
Technorati tags: “mental health week”, mental health week
A reminder: Q & A Thursday is tomorrow
Posted by kathryn in Q & A Thursday
A reminder that Q & A Thursday is on tomorrow. Do you have any questions about food, diet and health.
Given it’s Mental Health Week, I also thought I’d throw the forum open to mental health questions and topics for discussion.
You can lodge a question by leaving a comment or sending me an email.
Want to know what the heck Q & A Thursday is? Then take a look at the introductory post and the Q & A Thursday archives.
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31 October, 2007