make the most of your food
While we know healthy delicious food when we see it, using whole ingredients we recognise (not a UPF is sight!) it can be a challenge to replicate this on a day to day ongoing basis – especially when we may not have time - or brainpower! - to apply to it. We need to find practical ways to MAKE IT EASY to make the most of our food – more of that later.
Being a nutritionst, people often think I’m going to have some sort of perfect diet. The truth is that there is no perfect diet – because we’re all different. But one thing we do know is that what we eat has a profound impact on how we feel, and on our health longterm - whether that means having more energy, better digestion, keeping a healthy weight, or reducing the risk of chronic disease. So while keeping us healthy is one hugely important aspect, I firmly believe enjoying good food is one of life’s pleasures, so it’s really important to eat in a way you love - and that will vary from person to person as tastes and needs differ (I confess I won’t be eating tempeh any time soon! Though I’m sure it has plenty of fans ).
Talking about things we love to eat, we probably do all have a guilty secret or two (salty snacks or chocolate anyone?) But foods are not so much good or bad (eaten occasionally), rather viewed within the context of our OVERALL DIET, it’s how we eat most of the time that matters. So to make the most of our food in a PRACTICAL way, we don’t have to change our diet wholesale – this is not something I would expect most people to do, or that is realistic. We can however give the same foods a healthier spin.
Hands up who feels confused or even a little anxious around food?
Every newspaper or social media post tells us to eat the latest superfood so we won’t get some horrible disease, and it’s easy to feel other people are doing better than we are…and conflicting information adds to confusion. It doesn’t need to be so complicated – it comes down to a few SIMPLE GUIDELINES to get more from our meals.
1) START FROM WHERE YOU ARE – no matter what your diet looks like at the moment, getting the most from your food means simple tweaks, made consistently, over time.
2) ADD IN – forget cutting out, no food is off the table, it’s more effective and practical to think instead in terms of ADDING IN good things, over time there will just be less room for the rest. You will develop a habit or mindset of looking at your plate and adding that extra element to bump up the nutrition…
-salads add other leaves to your lettuce (maybe some spinach fresh herbs), add crunchy veg such as raw sugar snap peas, radishes, shaved fennel, add some edamame beans or lentils to bump up fibre, plant protein and slow-release energy. I like to use leftover cooked veg such as broccoli or green beans, also throw in some cheese, nuts and seeds and fruit (figs, persimmon, oranges, English pears and apples are all seasonal at the moment, and pomegranate seeds and blueberries add some lovely colour, as well as antioxidants and vitamins).
-sauces and soups add frozen spinach, lentils (fibre, protein and iron), a swirl of kefir or yoghurt (probiotics, protein, calcium), herbs and spices are antioxidant powerhouses, and add flavour of course.
-topper for soups and salads - add ground flaxseed, toasted seed sprinkle, halloumi croutons, crumbled feta, dollop of pesto, squeeze of lemon – all easy ways to elevate taste, texture and nutritional value. I like to keep a jar of toasted seeds and a jar of nuts handy in the fridge to throw on pretty much anything.
-vegetables love a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a scatter of Parmesan, a sprinkle of chilli, sesame or nigella seeds, or even a knob of herb butter (you’ll be doing yourself a favour - fat helps absorb vitamins in the veggies). Fermented veg in sauerkraut work well stirred into steamed veg or coleslaw, adding nutritional value, a bit of crunch and a little tang - and if you haven’t tried sauerkraut yet, adding a spoonful to your veg is a great way to introduce it.
-porridge and yoghurt - add fresh or stewed fruit, nuts and seeds, nut butter, chia, flax (for omega 3 fats and fibre). I also sometimes add kefir or Greek yoghurt and stir that through for an extra creamy version with more protein.
-think about fibre - eat skins on apples, potatoes, roast squash and even kiwi (yes, those fuzzy skins are where much of the nutrients are to be found! Add beans to pasta, eat whole fruit not juice, and cool/reheat pasta and grains, which makes the starch ‘resistant’ and behave like fibre.
3) DIVERSITY – hands up who has the same breakfast every day? We all get into a routine of eating the same foods, but it’s easy to make small tweaks - even within same type of food each has its own polyphenols (plant compounds) contributing to health, so try different types of apples, onions, leafy greens etc.
The key to good health starts in the gut, so you could say GUT HEALTH IS HEALTH. The best way to achieve this is to eat a wide range of foods. It’s not as hard as it sounds, start small – try one new vegetable every week, or just a different variety – or back to breakfast, change up what you have alongside your yoghurt of porridge - tray different fruit or muesli or nuts, or try a blueberry flax muffin (recipe on the blog).
4) MAKE IT EASY – have a store-cupboard tidy. Put things you want to use on display in easy reach on the counter or at the front of cupboards, and banish the chocolate and crisps out of sight! (and out of mind).
Then keep well-stocked with tins/pouches of beans and lentils, tinned fish, herbs and spices, wholegrains, nuts and seeds, olive oil, cottage cheese, cider vinegar, jars of miso, tahini, mustard etc. - all the things you will use on repeat. And a word about freezer vegetables - stock up on spinach, peas, sweetcorn, edamame beans, green beans…you always have options to make your meals deliver more nutrition for you if you’re short on time or haven’t got to the shops. They can be richer in vitamins than fresh, and can be added to stir-fries, soups, salads, curries and casseroles.
5) SMART SWAPS – this ties into earlier point about diversity – again you don’t have to make radical changes, just use alternatives from time to time…
Breakfast: swap shop cereal for overnight oats or porridge, try a chia pudding, swap toast and marmalade for rye/sourdough toast with eggs, beans, avocado with cottage cheese or nut butter.
Lunch: swap mayo in egg/chicken/tuna sandwich for cottage cheese, pesto or hummus, swap shop dressing for olive oil and vinegar, swap sandwich for omelette or make up a colourful lunch bowl of your favourite veg, grains or beans and protein. If you make extra this will do for next day, with bumped up with some different swaps.
Nibbles: swap crisps or crackers for nuts/olives/popcorn, oatcakes or crunchy veg sticks with hummus/guacamole
Staples: swap white rice for wholegrain/black/red, swap pasta for beans/lentils or wholegrains such as quinoa, swap potatoes for sweet potato, celeriac, parsnip, beetroot or squash, either roasted or mashed, and swap your usual sliced loaf for rye/sourdough
Sweet things: swap sweet dessert for dark chocolate and raspberries, or a personal favourite of mine is Greek yoghurt with swirl of lemon curd and blueberries, or stewed apple/poached plums with toasted oats, dates filled with nut butter or ricotta, or whizz up a delicious sorbet blitzing frozen berries with yoghurt, and swap biscuits or cake for homemade healthier versions.
7) BGBGS - stands for beans, greens, berries, grains, seeds/nuts. I’ve borrowed this acronym which I find a very useful reminder for making those add-ins that help us get more from our food. You may not be adding all of them every day, but aim to add one or two. You’ll be upping your vitamins and minerals, fibre, plant protein, healthy fats - plus colour, variety, texture and flavour.
If this feels like a lot to remember, think about point 1) start from where you are. Just begin with one meal on one day - and go from there. Simple tweaks, made consistently, over time - all add up to easy ways to get the most out of your meals.