Healthy Eating Blog

Eating out? Lunch on the run, bought at the work canteen or grabbed from the vending machine? How often do you eat “out of the home”?
In the last decade, we have been eating out of the home more and more. The traditional home cooked meal at the dining table is in danger of becoming a thing of the past. Eating “out of the home” is something that is on the rise in all ages groups with adolescents being the ones to do so the most.
Many factors have resulted in our eating out more often. These include increased choice and availability of food and food establishments, reduced cooking skills, altered working hours and practices as well as the increase in numbers of working mothers.
But is eating out of the home so bad? It’s nice to have the wonderful choice of foods available to us and especially nice to have the treat of eating out on occasion.
Unfortunately, for many people these days, it isn’t just on occasion.
And it can be a problem.

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November 14th is World Diabetes Day, and I thought it would be a good idea to blow some of the most popular myths about Type 2 Diabetes and Diet.

Diet is one of the most important features of the management of Diabetes and it has been shown that adhering to dietary recommendations can make an impact on glycaemic, or blood sugar, control. (DCCT, 1993). Diabetes is one of the areas in which Dietitians have some concrete proof that what we advise people to do can make a difference to their health and well being. It’s a great area to work in and is really rewarding for those of us who want to make a difference.

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You should avoid bread if you are trying to lose weight, right? It’s a seriously big bad guy when it comes to weight loss? Well bread has had a good result in a recent trial testing the effect of bread in a meal on hunger, satiety and amounts of food consumed.

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This time of year, a lot of people are turning their attention to preparing for the winter and the Christmas season. Out comes the winter wardrobe and even winter decor starts to appear. Lots of us like to include warm and inviting fragrances in the home to brighten up those dark and cold days. Scented candles, plug in fragrances and bath bombs and scents give that added appeal. There are cinnamon, clove, sweet orange, spicy floral and even chocolate scents to stimulate our senses. Problem is, the chocolate ones may actually also be stimulating our appetite.

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Have you noticed your weight creeping up since you started that new job? Do you have new responsibilities? Are you working overtime? Working could be contributing to your weight gain.

It’s not unheard of. A 2005 study of 9000 workers conducted in Helsinki demonstrated that 25 % of women and 19% of men gained weight over a single work year. Researchers found that weight gain was associated particularly with dissatisfaction with work/life balance, longer working hours and higher job demands, fatigue and levels of stress.

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When you sit down to your meal, do you tuck into the carbohydrates first? A lot of people with Type 2 Diabetes concentrate on the carbohydrate in their meals, thinking this is the most important part of the meal for blood sugar control. In fact, eating the carbohydrates first may be doing you a disservice.

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Well, Jamie Oliver says “its a cop out” and opinions are strong with regards to the new UK government’s obesity strategy, “call to action on obesity”, released today.

But what are Dietitians and Nutritionists saying?

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Jamie Oliver thinks it's a "cop-out" but what do dietitians and nutritionists think about the government obesity strategy?

There used to be a time when the recommendation was to avoid red meats and go for “white meat” when considering cholesterol and cardiovascular risk. The usual fare for people trying to keep their fat intake down was chicken, chicken and more chicken!
But it doesnt necessarily need to be all “white meat”.

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So you’ve made the choice. You want to stop smoking… But you’re afraid of weight gain? Ultimately stopping smoking is one of the best things you can do for your health. If you experience a small weight gain, you may have to “weigh up” the health risks between the effects of smoking or a small weight gain. A small weight gain may be the least of your worries. Weight gain when considering stopping smoking is, however, as barrier for a lot of people considering the change. So is weight gain inevitable and how can you avoid it?

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This week, I had a query about diet and acne, whether or not there is a link and what sort of dietary changes could help to reduce or avoid acne.

Acne can be very distressing for young people and older people alike. A high proportion of 11-30 year olds are affected by acne (over 80%). There have been many suggestions about the links between diet and acne in the past, but there have been variable amounts of evidence to support many of the claims.

Foods such as sweets, chocolate and fatty foods have been blamed for being acne triggers and suggestions have been made that zinc and vitamin A can help to reduce outbreaks.

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I have recently been very upset to find my seven year old has caries in one of his teeth. Well I say upset; that’s an understatement. I was shocked. I mean, I am a Dietitian; how the heck could my child have caries? His diet is great, generally, for a seven year old. He never drinks fizzy or sugary drinks (except a bit of lemonade when we go abroad on holidays), never ever has sweets or lollies (I’m not keen on them and have been very conscious of avoiding them to protect his teeth) and we brush his teeth twice a day. I had to have a long hard think about what was going wrong.

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Oh no, its the evening and you have done so well with your diet all day but have just blown it on night time snacking! Or you are at that party and even though you said you wouldn’t, you have just dipped into the large bowl of crisps in front of you.
Are you prone to overeating? Is it always at a certain time of day? Why do we do it and what can you do to reduce this habit?

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You’re eating all your vegetables and you’re sitting pretty, right?
Can you be sure you are getting the best out of them? Sadly, fruit and vegetables can start to lose their vitamin content as soon as they are picked. The longer they are hanging about on the shelves and in the refrigerator, the more losses occur. And then there is the cooking. In fact, you can lose your vitamins from fruits and vegetables at every stage before you eat them. The degree of vitamin losses in your vegetables is affected by variety, way of cutting and preparation and method and duration of cooking. The longer a food is exposed to heat, the greater the nutrient loss.

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Frustrated by trying to get your kids to eat their vegetables? Tried everything?
What about hiding them in other foods, sneaking them into muffins and purees or blending them into pasta sauces? How do you feel about that?

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Making dietary changes isn’t always easy. Sometimes when on a diet, we can “lapse”. Many people give up their diets due to lapses, even when they are fairly small ones.
Lapses (setbacks or slips) are a normal part of change. If you can learn to cope with lapses and not let them lead to relapse or “giving up” then you will improve your chances of being able to manage your weight or other dietary changes in the long term.

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