Healthy Eating Tips
Here are a few tips and suggestions to increase your nutritional levels. But basic healthy eating begins with fresh food simply cooked with an abundance of fresh vegetables, salad and fruits with a scattering of seeds, nuts, pulses and wholegrains.
- Try to include at least 5 different portions of fruits and vegetables a day – but 7 or 8 is better. That doesn’t include potatoes
- Snack on fruits and vegetables, seeds, nuts and dried fruits instead of sugary foods (but keep mainly to vegetables – dried fruit contains high levels of fructose a sugar, so stick to a small handful a day, nuts contain high levels of fat – but are very nutritious so a small handful will do you good)
- Hide and bulk up extra vegetables in main meals, like grated carrot, celery, mushrooms, courgettes etc in meatballs, bolognaise and chilli etc. also extra vegetables in casseroles, stews, curries, bakes and stir-fry, etc
- Always start with a basic base of onions, celery and garlic when cooking a meal
- Accompany every meal with a side salad and / or several vegetables
- Fresh soups, smoothies and juices are great way to boost the 5 a day
- Drink plenty of water, 8 small glasses are recommended, spread out through out the day
- Keep the caffeine levels down – one or two cups a day are o.k. But try herbal, green or fruit teas or boiled hot water
- Trim the fat off meat and skin poultry
- Steaming is the healthiest method of cooking
- Try cooking in foil the food remains fresh, tasty and very nutritious. The foil method works well with poultry, fish, seafood and vegetables
- The majority of fast foods are very high in calories, saturated fats and sugar and low in nutritional value - if you feel like a take away every now and again try a chicken kebab, with no pitta and extra salad and chilli sauce
- See CookeryClubs healthy recipe section for healthy desserts, I recommend the Greek Lemon pot
- Cook fresh fish at least once or twice a week, one being oily fish great for omega 3 and 6, Brain food
- Try vegetarian food once or twice a week, there is plenty of recipe’s on CookeryClub
- Try not too eat too much too late as our bodies don’t have the opportunity to burn of the calories
- Healthy eating comes with a healthy lifestyle, so include a little exercise and time for your self to de-stress
- Keep sugary foods down to a minimum, read labels some foods contain high levels of sugar there is over 20 teaspoons of sugar in a well known chocolate bar
- Keep salt down to a minimum the RDA for an adult is 6g a day and some would say even that’s too high. Some crisps contain 0.5g, some cereals 0.5g+ per bowl; some fast food meals can contain the RDA for the day. Think of a preserved leg of pork like Palma ham, think how hard it is – that’s what excess salt does to your arteries
- Make healthier mash by mixing in a spoon or two of natural yogurt or Greek yogurt instead of milk and butter
- Make Vegetable mash by smashing over boiled root vegetables and mixing with a spoon of crème fresh or Greek yogurt and a touch of seasoning
- Boost your nutrient content in food by adding fresh herbs. Herbs also contain great medicinal content.
- Use fresh spices like chillies, garlic and ginger in cooking and dressings to increase your health benefits
- Eat a rainbow of fresh fruits and vegetables to increase nutritional range