Taste the rainbow

Ideas for Eating More Vegetables

Your mum was right: eat your vegetables! But did you know that very few of us eat the recommended amounts of vegetables and fruit daily?

People know that they should eat more produce. Vegetables and fruits are stuffed full of vitamins, minerals, and fibre. They are also low in calories and can help you lose weight.

Vegetables and fruits contain substances called "phytonutrients." These are compounds that help the plant fight off disease. They are powerful defenders of our own health, too, fighting chronic diseases like cancer, heart disease, and blood pressure.

The Challenge

How to eat more veggies? Convenience is the key. Explore all forms of vegetables: fresh, frozen, canned, pre-washed and pre-cut.

• Frozen vegetables are a nutritious choice, as they are processed and flash frozen soon after being picked. In doing so, the vitamins and minerals, colour and taste is preserved. Think of frozen sweetcorn, peas, green beans, and mixed baby vegetable blend. They can be the start of, or an important part of, a great meal.
• Canned vegetables are very healthy as long as you choose the no-salt-added version. tinned tomatoes, mixed beans, mixed veg, water chestnuts, bean sprouts, and peas are all widely loved.
• Support your local farms and produce stands by buying fresh produce in season. A love of good, healthy food often starts with fond memories of eating fresh produce in season. Check put your local farmer's markets and support local traders. Market trader's often sell vegetables at a fraction of the supermarket costs and there is always a deal to be done!
• Try new veggies whenever possible, and experiment to see if you like them cooked or raw. Add them to the dishes you're making. Never serve a meal without vegetables.

Beige food is bad

More Quick Ideas

• Drizzle low-fat salad dressing or a yoghurt dip on baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, pepper strips, cucumber sticks, celery sticks, asparagus stalks, and any vegetable you like.
• Toss pre-washed salad greens with tomato, avocado, red onion, and low-fat dressing, or add some beetroot, radish ,walnuts, sliced pear, and a bit of cheese. Baby spinach goes very well with sliced cucumber, sliced strawberries or mandarin oranges and a light dressing of oil and rice vinegar.
• Lettuce and tomato are always great on a spelt or rye  sandwich, but what about roasted peppers, eggplant, avocado, or portabella mushrooms?
• Homemade Pizza is a vehicle for a wide array of roasted vegetables in order to get them into the kids or the fussy man in your life!, as are soups, stews, and omelettes.

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Ingredients

For the pizza dough

• 250g plain white flour
• 250g strong white flour
• 1½ level teaspoons fine
• sea salt
• 1 teaspoon easy blend
• (instant) yeast
• 1 tablespoon rapeseed or
• olive oil, plus a little extra
• For the topping
• About 300g kale or cavolo
• nero, leaves stripped from
• stalks and cut into ribbons
• Extra virgin olive oil
• to trickle
• 25g butter
• 3 onions, finely sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 200g cooked peeled
• chestnuts (vacuum-packed
• are fine)
• Sea salt and freshly ground
• black pepper

To make the pizza dough, put the flours in a large bowl with the salt and yeast. Mix well. Add the oil and 325ml warm water and mix to a rough dough. Flour your hands a little. Tip the dough out on to a work surface and knead for 5–10 minutes until smooth.

This is quite a loose, sticky dough – as it should be – so try not to add too much flour. It will become less sticky as you knead. Trickle a little oil into a bowl, add the dough and turn it. Cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place to rise until doubled in size, 1–2 hours. Preheat the oven to 250C/Gas 9, if it goes that high, or at least 220C/Gas 7. Put a baking sheet in to warm up.

Meanwhile, add the kale or cavolo to a pan of boiling salted water and cook for about 3 minutes until tender. Drain in a colander and refresh under cold water. Drain, then squeeze out excess water.

Return the pan to a medium heat. Add a dash of olive oil and the butter. Sweat the onions for 10 minutes or until soft and golden.

Take out half and combine with the kale. Add the garlic and chestnuts to the onions in the pan and cook for 5 minutes. Add 200ml water and simmer for 2–3 minutes. Reduce to a rough puree with a handheld stick blender. Season.

Tip the dough out on to a lightly floured surface and deflate with your fingers. Rest it for a few minutes, then cut into three. Roll out one piece as thinly as you can. Scatter a peel (pizza shovel) or another baking sheet with a little flour (or polenta) and place the dough base on it. Spread one-third of the chestnut puree over the base, then scatter over one-third of the kale and fried onion. Give the whole lot a generous trickle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt.

Slide the pizza on to the hot baking sheet in the oven (for a really crisp crust). Or, simply lay the baking sheet on the hot one in the oven (to avoid the tricky pizza transfer). Bake the pizza for 10–12 minutes until crisp and golden brown at the edges – even a little burnt in places. Repeat with the remaining dough and topping.

This recipe is one of hundreds of new recipes which can be found in the book which inspired the series, Hugh's Three Good Things.

Re-think Your Plate

Put the emphasis on veggies at mealtime. Fill half your plate with vegetables.  Learn about the different subgroups of vegetables: dark green, orange, starchy (limit your intake of these), other vegetables, and dry beans and peas. Did you know that you need a serving of dark green or dark orange vegetables or fruits at least every other day?

Veggies are an important part of everyone's diet. They contain dozens of important nutrients and have loads of dietary fibre. So what are the top veggies you should be eating to boost your disease-fighting potential? Read on to find out.

Tomatoes

Though technically a fruit, tomatoes are most often served like a vegetable. Full of lycopene, these beautiful red orbs (and all tomato-based products) are renowned for their cancer-fighting capabilities. Not only are they chock full of vitaminy goodness (from vitamins A to K), they also keep our blood pressure in check and help to reduce the number of free radicals in our bodies.
How to eat them: Heirloom tomato recipes

Broccoli

Few foods measure up to the disease-fighting potential of broccoli. This cruciferous veg is packed with antioxidants that help reduce the risk of stomach, lung and rectal cancers. And because broccoli is rich in beta-carotene, vitamin C and folate, it is also good at boosting your immunity to colds and flus.

How to eat it: Sesame-Ginger Frittata with Broccoli and Prawn

Brussels sprouts

These little green veggies are especially important for pregnant woman because they're packed with folic acid, a B-vitamin that prevents neural tube defects. Brussels sprouts are also packed with vitamins C and K as well as fibre, potassium and omega-3 fatty acids.
How to eat them: Stuffed Chicken Breasts with a side of Brussels Sprouts (cooking video)

Carrots

These orange-wonders are loaded with eye, skin and hair-enriching nutrients. They're also the richest vegetable source of some important antioxidants, like vitamin A. And because they're rich in vitamin C, carrots protect your cardiovascular system from damage.
How to eat them: Carrot Raisin Muffins

Squash

A good source of anti-inflammatory nutrients like vitamin C and beta-carotene, squash, especially summer squash, can help treat dozens of conditions including asthma, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Squash is also rich in potassium, magnesium and fibre.
How to eat it: Summer Squash Ravioli

Sweet potato

This root vegetable has dozens of anti-cancer nutrients like vitamin A, C and manganese. They're also a good source of fibre and iron, so not only do they give you energy, they can also help regulate your digestive system.
How to eat them: Sweet Potato Soup

Aubergine

High in heart healthy nutrients, eggplants are rich in antioxidants like nasunin (a unique compound that protects your brain cells from damage). And because eggplants are loaded with fibre and potassium, researchers believe they may reduce your risk of stroke and dementia.
How to eat it: Eggplant Parmesan

Bell Peppers

Whether you prefer red, orange or yellow, bell peppers are packed with dozens of heart-healthy nutrients like lycopene and folic acid. And recent research suggests digging into a pepper every day may lower your risk of developing lung, colon, bladder and pancreatic cancers.
How to eat them: Stuffed Roasted Bell Peppers

Spinach

This chlorophyll-packed type of produce is an excellent source of almost every vitamin and nutrient you need. Scientists believe a diet heavy in spinach may be able to prevent everything from heart disease to colon cancer, and arthritis to osteoporosis.
How to eat it: Spinach Salad

Onions

These pungent smelling veggies are particularly good for people suffering from (or at risk of developing) osteoporosis. That's because onions are loaded with a peptide called GPCS which scientists believe slows your body's loss of calcium. Onions may also be useful in the fight against heart disease and diabetes because they're loaded with vitamin C and folate.
How to eat them: French Onion Soup

And the best thing is combined with all those extra health boosting ingredients in your lotuslite and an increased vegetable intake - your bound to glow inside and out! 

Exquisite taste

Specifics:
No cold meat
No meat and two veg or salad meals
Less fruit
No fish, tofu, mushrooms or eggs


Hmm - this is no small task but here goes... Our first task will be to ensure that there is enough protein in your diet and that the nutrients that these foods would provide are not missed out.

Breakfast

Porridge or try Rude Health Early Bird Muesli with natural yoghurt and add some honey or maple syrup for sweetness and some mixed summer berries (these can be bought frozen and are cheaper then fresh, you can also blend the berries and the yoghurt with the honey or maple syrup for a home made flavoured yoghurt or smoothie, add milk or water to reduce the thickness, you can even add ice cubes if you prefer and or sprinkle muesli over the top). Try to avoid bananas as these are very natural sugar dense and can cause your insulin to spike early in the AM leaving you hungry. I find the best yoghurt is Yeo Valley natural organic (green one). Add a lotuslite and you are n to a winner!

Blueberry Bircher Muesli

First developed by a Swiss doctor back in the 1890’s, this easy, super healthy breakfast can be mixed together the night before, then left in the fridge to soak in a plastic container or smaller individual ones if that suits you better.  Stir in grated apple and top generously with blueberries, honey and nuts and you’re good to go.

Serves: 6
Preparation time: 10 minutes

500g (1lb 2oz) tub Natural or Greek yoghurt (the fat free Total version is brilliant for this and the only fat free food i will advocate)
200g (7oz) rolled oats
40g (11/2oz) wheat germ or bran
40g (11/2oz) desiccated coconut
50g (2oz) hazelnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
200ml (7fl oz) pressed (cloudy) apple juice
To serve per portion:
½ Granny Smith apple, cored but not peeled, coarsely grated
50g (2oz) blueberries
1 tsp runny honey
Little ground cinnamon - good fat burner, raises metabolism!
Few extra chopped hazelnuts, optional

Method:

1)     Mix the yoghurt, oats and wheat germ in a bowl then stir in the coconut, toasted hazelnuts and apple juice. Transfer to a plastic container, clip on the lid and chill overnight in the fridge.
2)     When ready to serve, stir in grated apple and a few blueberries then spoon into dishes, top with extra blueberries, a drizzle of honey, a sprinkle of ground cinnamon and a few extra nuts, if liked. The remaining soaked muesli will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days, just add a little apple juice if needed, as the oats will continue to swell.

Read more at http://www.sportsister.com/2013/02/07/healthy-eating-week-blueberry-bircher-muesli/#pddAwH0yTiAwDDoJ.99 

Even when you are at work there is no excuse for skipping breakfast with a breakfast to go container - you can make it the night before and take it to work or on the school run with you!










So that is breakfast sorted. Now for lunch...

How about a quark and salad wrap.... What the chuff is quark? I hear you say, 

Quark is a type of fresh cheese. It is made by warming soured milk until the desired degree of denaturation of milk proteins is met, and then strained. Dictionaries usually translate it as curd cheese or cottage cheese, although most commercial varieties of cottage cheese are made with rennet, which is not vegetarian whereas traditional quark is not. It is soft, white and unaged, similar to some types of fromage frais. It is distinct from ricotta because ricotta (Italian: "recooked") is made from scalded whey. It is quite similar to the Indian paneer. Quark usually has no salt added and is cheap as you like. However it is fairly tasteless so it is best combined with something else.

Falafel is also a brilliant alternative to increase your protein intake and it is vegetarian too! Cheap and dead easy to make - stuff them into pittas with salad, or serve with couscous and houmous.

• 
  Ingredients 
• 2 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil
• 1 small onion , finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 400g can chickpeas , washed and drained
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander (or use more cumin)
• handful parsley , chopped, or 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
• 1 egg , beaten

1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large pan, then fry the onion and garlic over a low heat for 5 mins until softened. Tip into a large mixing bowl with the chickpeas and spices, then mash together with a fork or potato masher until the chickpeas are totally broken down. Stir in the parsley or dried herbs, with seasoning to taste. Add the egg, then squish the mixture together with your hands.
2. Mould the mix into 6 balls, then flatten into patties. Heat the remaining oil in the pan, then fry the falafels on a medium heat for 3 mins on each side, until golden brown and firm. Serve hot or cold with couscous, pitta bread or salad.

Per Falafel

105 calories, protein 5g, carbohydrate 8g, fat 6 g, saturated fat 1g, fibre 2g, sugar 1g, salt 0.27 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, October 2006.

Do chickpeas have any health benefits?

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-145244/Do-chickpeas-health-benefits.html#ixzz2MT7hbDLi  

Chickpeas are indeed very good for you, not least because two to three tablespoons equate to one portion of the daily recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables.

Chickpeas also contain phytoestrogens which are weak plant versions of real oestrogen. There's evidence that these may modulate the body's own production of the hormone in a way that could lower the risk of breast cancer, protect against osteoporosis and minimise hot flushes in post-menopausal women.

Other ways you could consider using chickpeas are in salads, (they are particularly good with tuna and sweetcorn), toasted as a snack (stir fry them in some olive oil until golden) or as the basis of a spicy Indian dahl.

Tinned chickpeas are fine, but fresh boiled ones are slightly higher in vitamins and minerals. Both are equally good sources of fibre, including soluble fibre which can help to lower cholesterol.

Whichever sort you eat, don't go too mad as they can cause wind!

Dinner - Squash and coconut curry

Take five ingredients and whip up this quick, healthy, vegetarian curry

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• Ingredients
• 
  

1 large butternut squash (600g/1lb  oz peeled weight), chopped into medium size chunks

small bunch coriander , roughly chopped

2 tbsp Madras curry paste

1 red pepper , halved, deseeded and roughly chopped into chunks

400g can reduced-fat coconut milk

• 
  

• 

  1. Heat a large frying pan or wok, tip in the curry paste and fry for 1 min. Add the squash and red pepper, then toss well in the paste.
  2. Pour in the coconut milk with 200ml water and bring to a simmer. Cook for 15-20 mins or until the butternut squash is very tender and the sauce has thickened. Season to taste, then serve scattered with chopped coriander and naan bread or rice.
  3. Serve with brown rice and salad

  You can vary the vegetables that you add or try aloo gobi. Lots of indian and eastern foods use vegetables to better effect than we do as meat would often go off quickly in these climates. The added spice also increases your metabolism if the recipes include chilli, often Thai recipes lack cream and as a consequence are extremely healthy. But watch for the fried recipes :0(

  458 kcalories, protein 7.0g, carbohydrate 35.0g, fat 33.0 g, saturated fat 28.0g, fibre 6.0g, sugar 23.0g, salt 0.64 g
  Recipe from Good Food magazine, October 2006.
• 
  

Snacks:

Always try and include a natural protein source with some healthy fat.

Oatcakes with peanut butter or avocado!

Seeds

Nuts

These are the best oatcakes ever!!

Helpful links 

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/recipes/cuisines/thai/ 

http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/popular-cuisines/thai

http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipes/thai-recipes.aspx

More Protein please vicar!

Protein

Apologies if this gets a bit sciency, but I will try and keep it simple. Lots of you have asked how do I get more protein in my diet and why do I need to cut back on the fruit. So here are the basics; there are 7 components that make up a balanced diet...

1. Protein
2. Carbohydrate
3. Fats
4. Water
5. Vitamins
6. Minerals
7. Fibre

These are found in varying quantities in foods. 

A balanced diet provides the body with all the necessary nutrients and vitamins, thereby improving the functioning of the immune system.

Eat a healthy, balanced diet and stay active

The key to a healthy balanced diet is not to ban or omit any foods or food groups but to balance what you eat by consuming a variety of foods from each food group in the right proportions for good health.

So we should be aiming for the best ratio of these macro-nutrients in order to balance our energy intake against our energy output in order to maintain or lose weight.

It’s adjusting the amount of three key macronutrients you eat to keep your body in hormonal balance. The ideal is to:

• Provide enough low glycemic carbohydrates to feed your brain and keep you sharp mentally, without spiking your blood sugar and triggering an insulin response.
• Provide enough protein to maintain muscle mass, and to trigger fat burning through release of the hormone glucagon.
• Provide enough fat that the body can absorb fat-soluble vitamins - A, D, E, and K, and Linoleic acid (necessary for growth and reproduction).

What is the Zone Diet?

It's a specific nutritional balance of 40 percent calories from carbohydrates, 30 percent from proteins, and the remaining 30 percent from fat.

Dr. Barry Sears originally created The Zone Diet for cardiologists, to teach them to use food as if it were a drug. He advocated diet as treatment for heart disease and diabetes. Those two diseases are also tied to excess production of the hormone insulin, the underlying hormonal disturbance that also causes obesity.

Patients on the program quickly reported that eating balanced meals made them feel better. Most of them also noticed that they were losing weight. When you eat a nutritionally balanced diet, your body naturally adjusts to keep you healthy - including dropping those extra pounds you don't need. Add Lotuslite and you are on a winner!

Eating within the “Zone” principles enables a slower rate of carbohydrates being released into the bloodstream, a smaller insulin release, which means less fat stored and a faster transition to fat burning.

Hidden sugars

Fruit delicious as it is, contains a lot of carbohydrate in the form of naturally occurring sugar. This is produced from a process called photosynthesis. Keeping it simple, sunlight provides the energy to make glucose from carbon dioxide and water. This is in turn stored as starch and sugars in fruit. So eating a lot of fruit can skew your 40:30:30 ratio.

I am not advocating that we cut fruit totally from our diet, far from it  as it contains other vital nutrients that contribue to our balanced diet but we do need to monitor our intake of it.

Blocking

Now to gain an ideal 40:30:30 ratio would involve a lot of  calculations and annoyance, so here we introduce the idea of blocking...A block is a unit of measure used to  simplify the process of making balanced meals.

7g of protein = 1 block of protein

9g of carbohydrate = 1 block of  carbohydrate

1.5g of fat = 1 block of fat

(There is an assumption that there is about 1.5 g of fat in each block of protein, so the total amount of fat needed per 1 block meal is 3 g.) 

When a meal is composed of equal blocks of protein, carbohydrate, and fat, it is 40 % carbohydrate, 30 % protein and 30% fat.

This “block chart” is a convenient tool for making balanced meals. Simply choose 1 item from the protein list, 1 item from the carbohydrate list, and 1 item from the fat list to compose a 1 block meal. Or choose 2 items from each column to compose a 2 block meal, etc

Within a week of weighing and measuring you’ll have developed an innate ability to 

estimate the mass of common-food portions, but, more importantly, you’ll have formed a 

keen visual sense of your nutritional needs. 

In the Zone scheme everyone calculates to either “2”, “3”, “4”, or “5 Block” meals at breakfast, lunch, and dinner with either “1” or “2 block” snacks between 

lunch and dinner and again between dinner 

and bedtime.

Being a “4 Blocker”, for instance, means that you eat three meals each day where each 

meal is comprised of 4 blocks of protein, 4 blocks of carbohydrate, and 4 blocks of fat. 

Whether you are a “smallish” medium sized bloke or a “largish” medium sized guy would 

determine whether you’ll need snacks of one or two blocks twice a day. 

The “meal plans” stand as examples of 2, 3, 4, or 5 block meals and the “block chart” 

gives quantities of common foods equivalent to 1 block of protein, carbohydrate, or fat. Once you decide that you need, say, “4 block” meals, it is simple to use the block 

chart and select four times something from the protein list, four times something 

from the carbohydrate list, and four times something from the fat list every meal. 

#

One-block snacks are chosen from the block chart at face value for a single snack of protein, carbohydrates, and fat, whereas two block snacks are, naturally, 

chosen comprised of twice something from carbohydrates combined with twice 

something from the protein list, and twice something from the fats. 

Every meal, every snack, must contain equivalent blocks of protein, carbohydrate, 

and fat and breakfast should contain your Lotuslite! The Zone plan neither prohibits nor requires any particular food. It can accommodate paleo or vegan, organic or kosher, fast food or fine dining, while delivering the benefits of high performance nutrition. 

Some disclaimers...

• I'm not a nutritionist - these are things that have worked for me. Use at your own risk.
• I'm not a medical professional either - I don't know your fitness level, family history, illnesses, meds, etc. Use at your own risk.
• I'm not a medical professional either (part deux) - there are probably a lot of medical/terminology errors. Let me know and I'll see if there's a better way to make the point.
• Everyone is different - make sure you're doing what works for you, not just following what's listed here.

TFI Friday

TFI Friday

Ok, time to be honest, I've slipped off the nutritional wagon recently as the sugary treats and repeated birthday celebrations have led to the repeated request "would you like a piece of cake" and to answer "no" always seems so rude and although I know my friends and colleagues are sympathetic to my nutritional aims I cannot help but think they get more satisfaction from watching me eat the cake then I do eating it!



Tonight is further sentiment to that - night out and in a pie restaurant. So I have pre-ordered from the menu and selected my fishy treats in an attempt to ward off those diet saboteurs and i'm driving so the alcohol will not pass my lips either. Now although I may not end up dancing on the table, I will wake up tomorrow with the satisfaction of knowing I can tackle my day without a muzzy head!

So this weekend is all about positive thinking - several of my lotuslite buddies are experiencing the diet demons and struggling to stay on track. It's time to go back to basics and remember why we started this journey in the first place. There are no guarantees that skinny people are happier, there is no evidence that fat people are miserable but we all started this journey with lotuslite to help ourselves feel better about ourselves and therefore as a result of our own positivity make those around us happier too. The journey is long and I can't promise it wont be hard, or challenging but I can promise I will be there to help support you every step of the way.

It's time to decide who you want to be?

Often a personal mantra can help -




So this weekend - get outside, breathe, eat well and reap the benefits. Life is short, make the most of it and dance!