FOOD FOR THOUGHT

MEATY MATTERS  Dietitian Nicole Senior ponders finding health in the happy medium Eating meat kick-started the evolution of modern big-brained humans. But we can actually live long and healthy lives without eating it, and many millions do. However, it’s a highly nutritious food that provides us with essential nutrients more difficult to obtain from plant …

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

FOOD, DIET AND HEALTH: HOW YOU CAN CHECK THE EVIDENCE Low carb diets. Low fat diets. Owning a dog. Eating leafy greens. Fermented foods. Dairy foods. Eggs. Salt. Sugar. We are bombarded with conflicting messages about food, diet and health in the media and on-line. Universities and research organisations keen to promote their staff and …

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

NICOLE SENIOR TAKES A LOOK AT THE LARGE PINK ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM  “Seeing pink elephants” is an expression describing drunken hallucinations, and a pink elephant is the name of a cocktail containing vodka, cranberry juice, raspberry liqueur and limoncello (lemon liqueur). The expression “the elephant in the room” describes a huge and obvious issue …

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

FIVE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT PROCESSED FOODS  These days, processed food seems to be associated with either “junk food” or food additives – things that many people would rather avoid if they could. Prof Jennie Brand-Miller reminds us that food processing is nothing new. It’s something our paleolithic (stone age) ancestors were doing long …

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

4 STEPS TO BETTER BGLs FOR POTATO LOVERS STEP 1: KEEP PORTIONS MODERATE. Why? Potatoes are carb rich. A typical medium potato (150g/5oz) has around 20g carbohydrate to help power your day. They are what we call good carbs – they put a lot of really good stuff on your dinner plate like dietary fibre …

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

GOOD CARBS: THE ORIGINAL PLANT-BASED DIET In some quarters, carbs get an undeserved bad rap. But students of human evolution know that dietary carbohydrates (fruits, berries and tubers) played an instrumental role throughout our long 3-million-year journey from a small upright walking ape (Lucy, Australopithicus afarensis) to the tall, smooth-skinned creature with a very large …

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

PROTEIN QandA: OUR EXPERTS ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS Prof Jennie Brand-Miller and Dr Alan Barclay answer the most common questions we are asked about protein. WHAT IS PROTEIN? People talk about “protein”, but in fact there are many proteins. They are chemical compounds made up of chains of smaller building blocks called amino acids. There are …

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

GOING VEGAN QandA: OUR EXPERTS ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS  Dr Neal Barnard, Prof Jennie Brand-Miller, Dr Alan Barclay and Matthew Lore answer the most common questions we are asked about vegan diets. Whether it’s for better health, a better environment or animal welfare, choosing to go vegan is one of the biggest diet trends. The plant-based/vegan …

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

FATS Q and A: OUR EXPERTS ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS  Prof Jennie Brand-Miller and Dr Alan Barclay answer the most common questions we are asked about dietary fats.  WHAT ARE FATS? They are an essential nutrient like protein and carbohydrate playing numerous roles in our bodies including: Forming the structure of our body cells  Helping make …

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

SUGAR ALCOHOLS (POLYOLS) QandA: OUR EXPERTS ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS  Prof Jennie Brand-Miller and Dr Alan Barclay answer 7 of the most common questions we are asked about sugar alcohols.  WHAT ARE SUGAR ALCOHOLS (POLYOLS)?  Erythritol, glycerol, hydrogenated starch hydrolysates, isomalt, lactitol, maltitol, mannitol, sorbitol and xylitol are sugar alcohols. They are a type of carbohydrate. …