Will you take the veggie challenge?

By Hannah Sherwood

Today marks the beginning of National Vegetarian Week – will you be setting aside your carnivorous ways and going cold turkey for seven days? It may sound like a challenge, but meat-free eating has never been so accessible – or delicious. At this time of year, there’s an array of fresh fruit and veg at their seasonal best, and a trip to your local supermarket will reveal a great selection of protein-rich vegetarian options. But if you’re worried going meat-free will mean you're depriving yourself of vital nutrients, HFG nutrition consultant Juliette Kellow has this advice…

Is a vegetarian diet healthier?

There’s no definitive answer to this. Studies show vegetarians have lower mortality rates, particularly from heart disease, compared with the general population. However, this difference disappears when vegetarians are compared with meat eaters who follow a healthy lifestyle – so it’s hard to conclude whether it’s a veggie diet that makes people healthier, or other lifestyle habits, such as not smoking or being active.

The best way to ensure a healthy diet is to apply the healthy eating principles – regardless of whether you do or don’t eat meat: have five portions of fruit and veg a day, base meals on fibre-rich starchy foods, choose low-fat dairy products, eat two portions of protein-rich foods each day, such as beans, lentils, nuts, seeds or eggs, and limit fatty, sugary and salty foods.

Some meat provides certain nutrients, so if you do choose a vegetarian diet make sure you are getting all the nutrients you need from other food sources:

CALCIUM, SELENIUM AND ZINC

It’s easy to get enough calcium if you include low-fat dairy products in your diet. Pulses, nuts, seeds, dried fruits, fortified soya products, bread and green leafy veg also contain some calcium, but it’s in a form that’s harder for the body to absorb. Eating nuts and seeds will give you the antioxidant selenium, needed for a healthy immune system, and for zinc (also immune-boosting) eat eggs, nuts, seeds, wholegrain cereals and pulses. If you cut out all animal foods, it can be difficult to get the vitamin B12 needed for a healthy nervous system, so you may want to take a supplement.

PROTEIN

Going meat-free can reduce your protein intake, so it’s important to know the foods to eat to keep your levels up. Don’t be tempted to rely solely on cheese for this nutrient, though, as many varieties are also high in fat, saturates and salt. If you include dairy products and/or eggs in your diet, you’re likely to be getting plenty of protein. Beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, tofu, quinoa and meat alternatives, such as Quorn, are also good sources. Even foods such as bread, cereals, pasta, couscous and rice contain some protein.

IRON

According to recent findings, low iron intake is a concern for many women in the UK. A deficiency can lead to anaemia, with symptoms including extreme fatigue, poor concentration, shortness of breath and an increased risk of infection. Red meat is one of the main sources of iron, but other good sources include eggs, pulses, fortified breakfast cereals, nuts, seeds and green leafy veg. Vitamin C helps the body absorb iron from plant foods, so eat them with citrus fruit, berries, kiwi fruit or peppers.

National Vegetarian Week runs from 19–25 May. To find out more, visit nationalvegetarianweek.org

Is fruit juice really as bad as cola? HFG reports…

Sugar is currently being touted as public health enemy number one and has rarely been out of the news since campaign group Action on Sugar launched its attack on the white stuff earlier this year. But while limiting trips to the biscuit tin, stopping short of ordering a pud when out for dinner, and avoiding snacking on sweets, chocolate and cake are no-brainers, one area that’s left many of us confused is fruit juice.

Until recently, most of us considered fruit juice to be a healthy drink that helps to boost our vitamin intake and counts as one of our five-a-day. But now fruit juices have come under fire for their sugar content. Indeed, figures from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey reveal fruit juice provides around 8% of the sugar in our diet – a significant amount. But some anti-sugar campaigners have gone as far as to suggest avoiding drinking fruit juice altogether, claiming a glass of OJ is as bad for our health as a can of cola. But is this really the case?

‘A 330ml can of cola typically contains around 140 calories and 35g sugar – that’s equivalent to almost 9tsp sugar,’ says HFG nutrition consultant Juliette Kellow. ‘In reality, that’s not dissimilar from a 330ml bottle of fresh orange juice, which has around 150 calories and 33g sugar – just ½tsp sugar less. With figures like this, it’s easy to see why some people are confused and think they’d be better off drinking the cola.’

But it’s not so much fruit juice that’s a problem – it’s the vast serving sizes we tend to have these days, explains Juliette. ‘Unlike cola, which contains sugar and no other nutrients, pure fruit juice can boost our intake of vitamin C and antioxidants. But as is the case with many of the foods and drinks we now consume, we have a tendency to supersize them, which doubles – if not triples – the calories and sugar contents and leaves us with a drink comparable to no-nutrient fizzy drinks.

But while fruit juice provides nutrients, it doesn’t contain the healthy fibre you get from eating the whole fruit. ‘Drinking fruit juice won’t fill you up in the same way as eating fresh fruit will, meaning it’s easy to take in excess calories,’ explains Juliette.

So what should we do about our morning glass of OJ? ‘You can only count 150ml fruit juice as a portion of your five-a-day – anything more than this does not count,’ says Dr Susan Jebb OBE, a nutrition scientist and obesity expert. ‘The fact that juice is only considered to be one portion is intended to signal that a small amount is fine, but since it doesn’t have all the healthy components of intact fruit, it should be consumed in strict moderation. And five-a-day does not include fruit drinks with added sugar.’ In other words, it’s fine to include pure fruit juice as part of your five-a-day – but only in controlled amounts.

‘A 150ml glass of freshly squeezed OJ contains around 65 calories and 3½tsp sugar – roughly the amount that occurs naturally in an orange,’ explains Juliette. ‘So if you stick to that serving size, there’s no reason not to include fruit juice as part of a healthy balanced diet.’

However, Juliette believes the juice industry could do far more to promote this message. ‘I’d like to see a move towards producing individual 150ml cartons or bottles, and watered-down juices for adults that contain just 150ml juice – there are plenty of similar products aimed at children,’ she says, ‘I’d also like to see 150ml given as the typical serving size on nutrition labels for large cartons of juice, rather than the 200ml or 250ml that’s commonly used.’

As for fizzy drinks such as cola, the advice is simple. ‘Swap them for calorie- and sugar-free versions – or better still, water,’ says Juliette. ‘Research shows regular soft drinks provide 15% of the sugar in our diet, rising to a massive 30% in teenagers. Cutting them out is a really easy way to reduce our consumption of sugar and, therefore, empty calories.’

But it’s not just drinks we need to be wary of. According to data from market research company Kantar, presented yesterday at a conference held by The Food & Drink Innovation Network, since sugar hit the headlines sales of chilled fruit juices have dropped among certain consumer groups, but overall sales of biscuits have seen very little change!

The sugar saga: is the food industry really to blame?

By Rebecca Almond

The issue seems deceptively simple: sugar is calorific, harmful to teeth and has no nutritional value, so manufacturers should remove it from their products – case closed. Well hang on just a minute Mr Prosecutor, this is far from a cut and shut case…

You see, while sugar isn’t essential in the diet, it does serve other key functions in the production of foods and drinks beyond adding sweetness – such as providing texture, bulk and extending shelf life – so removing sugar completely isn’t always a feasible solution. 

Encouragingly, though, members of the UK’s Food and Drink Federation(FDF) have pledged to help improve public health by reducing the amount of sugar in products where this will result in an overall calorie reduction. But to extract some of the sugar from a product requires something else to take its place, and looking at the options it’s slim pickings: 1g sugar contains 4kcal, 1g protein contains 4kcal and 1g fat contains 9kcal. So is it time to stop wagging the finger at the food industry? Well, not quite…

This year sees the rolling out of mandatory on-pack labelling as part of a new European Regulation – great news for those of us who are keen to make healthier food choices. But there’s a big gap between manufacturers providing labelling information and consumers understanding what it truly means. If I’m honest, a front-of-pack label that tells me there are 9.5g sugar in a pot of fat-free yogurt isn’t all that helpful. What does 9.5g sugar look like? Aside from whipping up the occasional weekend bake, I’m not in the habit of weighing out sugar. Teaspoons, sugar cubes… that sort of measurement I can relate to.

Then there’s the ingredients list. ‘Where sugars are included in products, the different sources are clearly labelled in the ingredients list and the amount of total sugars is provided in the nutrition table,’ says Barbara Gallani, FDF Director of Regulation, Science and Health. Clear, yes, comprehensible, no. Sugar comes in many guises: sucrose, fructose, glucose, lactose, treacle… Sometimes these sugars occur naturally in foods (milk, yogurt and fruit) and other times they're added (biscuits, cakes and chocolate). The reality is, unless you know the lingo, even detailed food labels won’t always be that useful. So what’s the solution?

‘While there’s certainly room for the food industry to reduce the amount of added sugar in products, without them having to add more fat or salt, it’s crucial that we help consumers understand the often complicated information provided on pack,’ says HFG nutrition consultant and registered dietitian Juliette Kellow. ‘As a rule, foods that contain no more than 5g sugar per 100g are ‘low sugar’ products.’ Websites such as nhs.uk/Change4Lifetranslate the sugar jargon and provide useful sugar swap suggestions, and of course there’s the expert advice in your Healthy Food Guide magazine. But perhaps the easiest way to cut back on added sugar is for us to eat homemade meals: ‘Cooking meals from scratch using fresh ingredients means you’ll know exactly what’s in them and you won’t need to worry about hidden sugars,’ says Juliette.

What changes, if any, would you like to see the food industry make to their on-pack sugar labelling?

Beat the barbecue binge

By Juliette Kellow

Last week, I enjoyed my ninth barbecue of the year. To be fair, we started early with our first one on a very chilly and windy February afternoon (new kitchen, loads of people for Sunday lunch – and no electricity! You get the picture). But, I’m not alone in my love of the griddle. Apparently, Brits hold more barbies than any other European country, with the average family hosting nine each year.

And it’s not surprising that we love them so much – they’re the perfect opportunity for relaxing and enjoying sunny days with family and friends. But at the risk of having a burger or two thrown at me, if you want to stay looking good in your swimsuit, it’s time for a waistline warning.

A study carried out three years ago revealed the average person consumes around 3,000 calories at a barbecue – one and a half times what a woman needs in a day; twice the amount if she’s trying to lose weight. On average, we munch our way through two sausages, one and half burgers, two chicken drumsticks, one-and-a-half meat skewers, a small piece of fish, a small jacket potato, green salad, pasta salad and two spoonfuls of mayo, all rounded off with double dessert. And that’s without any booze!

So how can you cut calories without cutting enjoyment? To start with, it’s usually the sheer abundance of food and drink that makes it so easy to overindulge – as the aforementioned study showed. My advice: if you’re holding a BBQ, buy the same amount of food as you would for a dinner party and fire up the barbie just once; if you’re at a BBQ, fill your plate just once, then step away from the trays of cooked food that are constantly being added to.

Most BBQs are a meat feast, so swap fatty burgers and sausages for low-fat versions (or make your own burgers with lean beef or turkey mince). Try chicken, turkey, lean pork, salmon, mackerel, fresh sardines, white fish, prawns or tofu as alternatives – and keep portions small. A serving should be about the size of a deck of cards (see the September Healthy Food Guide magazine, out now, for my guide to portion sizes). Alternating chunks of meat with veg on skewers makes a small amount of meat go a long way. And fill the grill – and your plate – with low-cal, antioxidant-rich veggies like aubergines, courgettes, peppers, asparagus, corn on the cob and mushrooms.

White rolls and French bread are low in nutrients and fibre. Instead, I make a ‘healthier’ potato salad – new potatoes in their skins, low-fat Greek yogurt, reduced-fat soured cream, spring onions, chives and lots of black pepper. For the kids, I cook jacket potatoes – and for burger lovers, I buy granary rolls. Bowls of green leaves usually end up in the bin so I make a Greek salad with cucumber, tomatoes, green peppers, reduced-fat feta and olives. Olive oil and white wine vinegar are on the side if anyone wants to add them. The mayo stays in the supermarket.

Chips and dips can be a calorie disaster, so I buy just one or two bags of crisps (depending on how many people there are) – once they’re gone, they’re gone – and put out carrot and pepper sticks with reduced-fat hummus, tzatziki and salsa, which are lower in calories than creamy or mayo-based dips.

Finally, it’s worth remembering booze calories aren’t even included in the average 3,000 calories we consume at a barbecue. Plus large amounts of alcohol can give us the munchies so we eat even more (and forget just how much we’ve eaten). If you’re heading to a barbie, offering to drive means you can stick to alcohol- and calorie-free drinks. And if you’re hosting, stock up on soda water, diet lemonade, slimline tonic and plenty of ice – great calorie-free ways to dilute the booze.

Take a stand against extreme diets

By Melanie Leyshon

 

As you'd imagine, being the editor of Healthy Food Guide magazine, I check the daily newspapers for health breakthroughs. And there's no shortage of stories – some based on reliable scientific evidence, others rely on more flimsy statistics. 

Putting aside the well-researched advances in overcoming cancer, finding a cure for Alzheimer’s, etc, at this time of year, when the beach beckons, many health sections become obsessed with diets – and extreme diets. Yet, despite the growth of the dieting genre – juicing, fasting, no carbs, feeding tubes – we continue to upsize as a nation.

When we read about a diet that promises you'll lose 7lb in a week, it can be tempting to give it a go. 

I’ve taken shortcuts myself. There was the miserable, stinky week of the Cabbage Soup Diet (dire daily doses of soup, fruit and a hellish day of 5 bananas that left me too weak to think), then there was the anxiety-inducing South Beach Diet (I was so shaky after day 6, I made straight for the sandwich shop for a cheese bap).

Now I eat in moderation or semi-moderation and factor in exercise to offset the excess. I’m no Jessica Ennis, but even I’ve found a mix of running, cycling and yoga works. It's helped me maintain a healthy weight and BMI, which my recent NHS Health Check confirmed.

Health professionals, such as British Dietetic Association (BDA) registered dietitians, know it’s not necessary to go to such extremes to lose weight. Doing so can mess with your metabolism and compromise your health, as you may miss out on vital nutrients. What’s more it’s almost impossible to stick to restrictive diets that cut out food groups, or expect you to exist on under 1,400 calories a day - so any weight loss achieved is short lived.

That’s why at Healthy Food Guide magazine we decided to launch our mission to Fight the Fads: Make Every Meal Healthier, which has gained the backing of the BDA, Diabetes UK and the British Nutrition Foundation.

Our aim is to encourage both women and men to eat healthily every day instead of resorting to extreme, yo-yo dieting. Healthy Food Guide magazine is the only dedicated food magazine with a panel of health and diet professionals (qualified dietitians, not self-styled nutrition therapists), registered fitness experts and fully-trained recipe consultants. They bring their expert know-how to our fully referenced features – we don’t print facts that can’t be substantiated.

In our September issue (which comes out tomorrow), our nutrition consultant, registered dietitian Juliette Kellow, has put together a visual guide to portion sizes (no scales required) that will help you reduce your calorie intake without missing out on any of your favourite foods. We also have 46 taste-tested and nutritionist approved recipes, including slimmed down versions of your favourites, such as steak and chips and chicken kiev – that are full of flavour, but easy on your waistline. Plus, we’ve investigated the claims surrounding cancer and diet, to bring you the latest scientifically supported advice about what to eat to help reduce your risk. 

Pick up your copy of Healthy Food Guide magazine in larger supermarkets, Boots, WH Smiths or M&S; download a digital edition or purchase a subscription.