Some Basic Tips For Dieting

You may be able to spot a cranky diet a mile off, but it can be harder to work through the more subtle shades of, often contradictory, dietary opinion. To help, here’s our guide to all the hottest healthy eating tips to help you stay well and at your ideal weight all year round.

Tips For Cooking

You’ve heard it before, but the golden rule still holds true - avoid too many fatty and sugary foods. Get into the habit of grilling or baking instead of frying or roasting, forgoing salad dressings and spreading less on your bread. Sugar is fine in moderation, but it is an empty form of calories and can harm your teeth, so try not to eat more than 60g a day (fruit doesn’t count).

Look after the vitamins and minerals in your food by storing fruit and vegetables in a cool, dark place. Eat them as fresh as possible. Overcooking or boiling in too much water can destroy valuable vitamins. Try steaming or microwaving instead and serve cooked vegetables immediately to avoid further vitamin losses.

Alcohol Look Out

If you drink alcohol, keep within sensible limits. Women should drink no more than 2-3 units daily. The long-term effects of a higher intake of alcohol are increased risk of gastro-intestinal and breast cancers, reduced fertility, increased likelihood of liver diseases, and vitamin deficiencies (particularly B vitamins). One unit equals half a pint of normal strength beer or lager, a glass of wine or a pub measure of spirits.

Salt

On average we eat about 13 grams (two and a half teaspoons) of salt per day (5.2g of sodium), but we only need about three grams (half a teaspoon) (1.2g of sodium). Although 1.2g is all we need, the practical level of intake that is achievable and still safe (known as the Daily Guideline intake) is 2g sodium for women and 2.5g form men. Too much salt can lead to high blood pressure, so choose low-salt versions of supermarket foods, and try not to add any in cooking or at the table.

Some More Tips

Incorporating the following ideas could help make you trimmer and healthier. Of all the newer developments, these are the ones most likely to stand the test of time.

Increasing evidence suggests that varying the colour of the fruit and vegetables you eat has at least as much impact as getting the recommended five portions a day. Try to include these three colours every day.

Red/orange/yellow Carrots, tomatoes, peppers, sweetcorn, carrots, sweet potatoes, cantaloupe melons, mangoes. These are rich in carotenoids which are linked with lower rates of heart disease and cancer, and improved immunity.

Deep green Broccoli, cabbage, watercress, kale. Rich in folic acid, vitamin C and, in many cases, calcium and iron.

Blue/purple Blackberries, blueberries, red grapes, blackcurrants, cherries. These contain high levels of antioxidants called anthocyanins, which reduce the oxidation of LDL cholesterol, thereby helping to prevent it becoming stuck in arteries.

The Fats

According to dietary fats guru Dr Udo Erasmus, our consumption of omega-3 fats (found predominantly in oily fish and flaxseed oil) has decreased to one-sixth the level found in our food supply in the 1850s. Omega-6 consumption (for example, corn oil and sunflower oil) has doubled in that time. This change may be associated with an increase in heart disease and cancer.

To right the balance, eat at least two oily fish meals a week, or take a flax or hempseed oil supplement if vegetarian. Other good foods that contain lesser amounts of omega-3s are walnuts, pumpkin sees, soy beans, rapeseed oil and green leafy veggies.

Types of Food

Recent research by Dr Barbara Rolls at Pennsylvania State University’s Laboratory for the Study of Human Ingestive Behaviour indicates the body may gauge fullness, not by the amount of calories in a food, but by its bulk, and particularly how much it weighs.

According to Dr Rolls, a pound of food that has 500 calories or a pound that has 1,500 calories will make you feel equally full, because your stomach is stretched to the same degree, facilitating the release in the small intestine of cholecystokinin - a hormone that lets the brain know you’re full.

It’s not surprising that, according to this theory, weight-loss-friendly foods (heavy but low in calories) are fruit and vegetables, while those that add calories but don’t fill you up include crisps and croissants.

But there are some surprises, such as 250 calories of roast potatoes weighing 167g compared with 250 calories of unbuttered French bread weighing only 108g. The theory could also explain why light-as-air slimmers’ favourites such as rice cakes or air-popped popcorn simply don’t make you feel full. Putting the whole thing into practice is made easy with Dr Rolls’ book, The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan, available at www.amazon.co.uk   .      

Bacteria  is Good For You!

Considered weird and wacky just a few years ago, the idea of taking supplements of ‘friendly’ bacteria, or probiotics, to improve your intestinal health and immunity is now almost mainstream. For example, there is reasonably strong scientific evidence that women who suffer recurrent bouts of vaginal thrush can benefit from probiotics, as well as people with urinary infections and certain types of infectious diarrhoea, such as traveller’s tummy. At least one promising report, and plenty of anecdotal evidence, suggests that manipulating the gut flora with probiotics can help people with irritable bowel syndrome.

For a consistent daily dose, take a regular probiotic drink or supplements, rather than relying on bio yoghurts. Brands that pass muster according to recent tests at the Royal Free Hospital in London, include Yakult, Quest, Proviva, Seven Seas, Lifespan and Healthcrafts.

And don’t forget calories that still count...

CALORIES REQUIRED (KCAL) FOR DIFFERENT BODY WEIGHTS

31 August 2008
 

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