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Making a few small changes to your diet may not seem like much at the time but slowly, over a period of time, as these small changes start to build up, they actually make a big difference.  Here are a few, easy to implement changes you can make straight away.

Ditch the vegetable oil, Switch to coconut oil

Polyunsaturated oils such as vegetable and sunflower oils are the worst oils to use in cooking.  Heating these oils destroys the antioxidants and oxidises the oil.  And these oils are really high in Omega-6 fats so when we cook with these oils we create a huge Omega-6 / Omega-3 imbalance.  While there are some benefits to Omega-6′s , maintaining the right balance between Omega-6′s and Omega-3′s is essential to human health.

So whenever you need an oil to cook with use coconut oil.  It is stable enough to resist mild heat-induced damage, plus it has numerous other health benefits:

• Promotes your heart health
• Promotes weight loss, when needed
• Supports your immune system health
• Supports a healthy metabolism
• Provides you with an immediate energy source
• Keeps your skin healthy and youthful looking
• Supports the proper functioning of your thyroid gland

 I recently put a link on my Facebook Page “160 Uses for Coconut Oil”  so you won’t just be using it for cooking!

Ditch white sugar, Switch to coconut palm sugar

White sugar has absolutely no nutritional value whatsoever – it’s empty calories.  It will send your blood sugar and insulin levels soaring and encourage your body to store fat.  But we all enjoy the occasional dessert or slice of cake so try swapping white sugar for coconut palm sugar.  Coconut palm sugar is made from the nectar of the coconut palm tree.  It has a lower Glycemic Index (35) compared to table sugar (64) and tastes amazing.  It has a really smooth caramel flavour and can be substituted for traditional sugar at a ratio of 1:1 when baking or cooking.  Do check the label carefully though.  I found some palm sugar in my local supermarket but it was blended with regular white sugar so make sure you are buying 100% pure coconut palm sugar.  If you’re in the UK you can buy it from Amazon.

Ditch farmed salmon, Switch to wild salmon

Oily fish, particularly salmon, is high in Omega-3 fats which are essential for our health.  However, farmed salmon contain a higher percentage of Omega-6 fats which are not nearly as beneficial.  Even the organic farmed salmon can’t compete with the wild fish when it comes to Omega-3 levels.  I wrote an article on this topic a little while ago which you can read here.

Ditch fruit yoghurt, Switch to plain or Greek yogurt

Yogurt is basically fermented milk and is a fantastic source of probiotics, the good bacteria that support a healthy gut.  These live cultures help to prevent all kinds of diseases, especially chronic degenerative ones, by controlling inflammation.  Yogurt is marketed as a healthy, low calorie, low fat food but many of the fruit flavoured variety are highly sweetened, contain a long list of ingredients and are far less nutritious than a simple plain yogurt.  The healthier option is to choose a plain or Greek yoghurt that contains some fat.  Yes fat!  Many vitamins and minerals, including calcium, are better absorbed with some fat.  If you can’t bring yourself to buy Greek yogurt with 10% fat, choose a low fat (2%) variety rather than the “no-fat” option.

Ditch margarine, Switch to butter

We’ve all seen the TV adverts; a spread that thinks its butter, the ‘healthy’ one made from olives, the ones that will lower your cholesterol etc.  We’re led to believe that these spreads are the healthier option but this couldn’t be further from the truth.  There are numerous health benefits to eating butter, here are just a few:

• Butter is a rich source of vitamin A & D which are essential for the proper absorption of calcium
• It is a good source of iodine which supports thyroid health
• The short and medium chain fatty acids in butter actually help with weight loss

Margarine cannot boast any of these health benefits, in fact there are real health risks associated with eating margarine:

• Free radicals are the result of high temperature industrial processing of vegetable oils.  They contribute to numerous health problems, including cancer and heart disease
• Many chemicals are used in the production of margarine.  Solvents are used in the extraction process, bleach is used to whiten the oil before it is coloured yellow and artificial flavours are added to give a fake butter like taste.

Ditch the diet drinks/fruit juices/sports drinks, Switch to water

Despite the recent ridiculous claims by EU bureaucrats pure, filtered water is the best way to stay hydrated.  We should aim to drink about 2 litres per day but most of us fall short of this target by quite a long way.  If you’re dehydrated you are likely to suffer from lack of energy and/or concentration, headaches plus dehydration will inhibit fat loss.  Diet drinks, sports drinks, flavoured water etc., are all full of artificial ingredients our bodies simply don’t need.  Over time a build up of these nasties will play havoc with your hormonal balance and start to impact your health.  Fruit juice is fine in moderation but it still contains a lot of sugar so if you’re trying to lose weight I recommend restricting the amount you drink.

Ditch the drinking chocolate, Switch to cocoa powder

 I had a rummage in my cupboard and found a jar of Options Belgian Chocolate lurking at the back.  The list of ingredients (there are 15 of them) is far from appetising and includes aspartame, sugar (lots of it) and vegetable oil.  On the other hand my jar of Green & Blacks organic cocoa (definitely not out of date as I use it quite a lot) contains just two ingredients – cocoa powder and potassium carbonate which neutralises the naturally occurring acid in the cocoa. 

On its own cocoa powder tastes quite bitter but try mixing 1 teaspoon of cocoa powder with one teaspoon of xylitol in a little water.  Keep mixing until you get a smooth paste and pour on hot water or almond milk for a delicious hot chocolate drink.

Please leave a comment and let me know what  ‘switches’ you plan to make.

PS. The jar of Options drinking chocolate went in the bin!

I’m a huge fan of all things coconut; coconut water, milk, flour and oil.  One of the greatest nutritional misconceptions is the idea that, because it contains saturated fat, coconut is bad for you.  This couldn’t be further from the truth – coconut is a true superfood and one of the healthiest things you can consume.

Unfortunately people still avoid this fabulous food because they are worried about the fat content however, the fat in coconut is incredibly good for you and can actually help you to lose weight.  How?  Here’s the sciencey bit.

Fats and oils are made up of smaller compounds called fatty acids.  These fatty acids come in different lengths – short, medium and long.  The saturated fats in coconut are mainly medium chain triglycerides (MCT’s) and are beneficial in several ways:

• MCT’s are easier to metabolise
• Our body prefers to use MCT’s for energy rather than store it on our hips
• MCT’s are mainly composed of a particular fat called lauric acid.  When consumed lauric acid transforms into a substance called monolauren which is great for strengthening your immune system

I regularly use coconut oil for cooking and coconut milk and water in smoothies so I was very curious when I found out that a new coconut yoghurt product is now available in the UK.  Nutritionist, Bethany Eaton, discovered coconut yoghurt while on holiday in Australia and she now produces CoYo under licence at a small family run factory in Hastings.  It is made from all natural ingredients; coconut milk, tapioca starch, xylitol (a sugar alcohol) and probiotic cultures, is dairy, soya, gluten and lactose free and is available in three flavours – natural, mixed berry and pineapple.

I bought mine from Especially Health in Sevenoaks and I did gawk a bit lot at the price £2.99 for a 125g pot!  However, it tastes absolutely amazing.  The company tagline “Heaven in a Mouthful” is pretty accurate.  I’ve only tried the natural flavour but it is smooth, thick, creamy and absolutely delicious.  This morning I made some fluffy coconut flour pancakes and served them with bananas and blueberries with a big dollop of CoYo yoghurt on top.

Hopefully, as this product grows in popularity, the makers will be able to lower the price as it will definitely be a ‘treat’ food in our house rather than a regular in the fridge.  But if you have a milk allergy, are lactose intolerant or are just looking for something a little bit different from regular yoghurt, I highly recommend CoYo.

The CoYo website has a store locator to help you find your nearest stockist or you can order online from Goodness Direct. 

Image courtesy of 'Paul'

We all know that we’re meant to eat at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day to maintain a healthy diet but if you include a glass of your favourite fruit juice in your daily quota then you could be consuming far more sugar than you think.

This topic made the UK national press this week.  The Daily Mail reported that researchers at the University of Glasgow have suggested that the average person in the UK consumes 3,144 calories a week through non-alcoholic drinks. The study showed that people ‘significantly misjudged’ the amount of sugar in milkshakes, smoothies and fruit juices.

It doesn’t matter if you buy freshly squeezed, juice from the concentrate or press your own juices at home, fruit juice contains sugar.  Generally there are three kinds of naturally occurring sugars in fruit; sucrose, fructose and glucose.  Sucrose and glucose will have an almost immediate effect on your blood sugar levels.  This sudden rush of sugar into your body will signal your pancreas to quickly release insulin to clean the sugar out of your blood.  Fructose, on the other hand, has very little impact on your insulin levels as it is passed directly to the liver to be metabolised.

As well as these sugars, whole fruits also contain fibre.  Fibre is a carbohydrate too but it can help to lower blood cholesterol levels and, very importantly, it slows down the absorption of sugar.  When you juice a piece of fruit you are removing most of the fibre which means the sugars are absorbed much more quickly by your body.  Plus, eating a whole apple takes a bit of time which gives your body extra time to register the fact that you’re no longer hungry.

Even with a high powered juicer you’re not going to get a full glass of juice out of one piece of fruit.  Have you ever ordered a fresh orange juice from one of those shops where they have a huge machine that juices the fruit right in front of you?  It may take 6-7 oranges to create one large glass of juice and one orange contains, on average, 12g of sugar.  So that could be 84g of sugar in your glass that may take you just a minute or two to drink whereas it’s very unlikely you would sit down and eat 7 whole oranges and, even if you did, I bet it would take you quite a long time!

One argument that I hear from people is that fruit juice contains a lot of fructose which has no impact on your blood sugar.  While this is true, fructose is processed by your liver and many scientists believe that a diet high in fructose contributes to the development of metabolic syndrome.  This is a huge problem in the USA because so many processed foods are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup.  Fortunately this sweetener is not used in the UK (it’s still cheaper to use either regular sugar or artificial sweeteners here), but consuming a diet of full of refined carbohydrates and sugary drinks will lead to weight gain, regardless of where that sugar comes from.

So what’s the answer?  I’m certainly not suggesting that you should never drink another glass of fresh fruit juice again.  Although you lose most of the fibre you do get a glass packed full of nutrients, antioxidents and enzymes.  Home-made juices are by far the best option and you can lower the sugar content by using mainly vegetables and then a few fruits to add flavour, sweetness and extra nutrients (take a look at my Green Banana smoothie recipe).  Jonny Bowden (nutritionist and author of The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth) recommends adding 1-2 tablespoons of high quality fish oil to your juice as the fat makes the carotenoids in the veggies and fruit more usable to the body.

Some fruits naturally contain more sugar than others.  Here’s a list to give you a guide to the amount of sugar in the most popular fruits.

Low in Sugar:

Berries (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries etc)

Image courtesy of Suat Eman

Cherries

Apples & Pears

Plums

High in Sugar

Water melon

Mango

Papaya

Pineapple

Somewhere in between

Bananas

Apricots

Kiwi Fruit

Grapes

Cantaloupe melon

Let’s be clear – fruit is good for you – there’s no doubt about it.  But if you are trying to lose weight or reduce the amount of sugar in your diet, replace some of your fruit servings with vegetables, try and eat more of the lower sugar fruits and eat the high sugar varieties less frequently.

Image courtesy of Vudhikrai

We can all benefit from eating less sugar.  White table sugar is incredibly refined and has no nutritional value whatsoever.  Eat too much and not only will you gain weight but it will play havoc with your hormonal balance and can have serious consequences on your health.  But we humans love sweet things; ice cream, chocolate fudge brownies, cheesecake – all delicious but full of sugar.  So is there a healthy way of adding a little sweetness to our diet without compromising our health?

There are plenty of alternatives to refined white table sugar so let’s start by looking at the artificial sweeteners. 

Popular because they are extremely low in calories, there are lots of brands on the market Nutrasweet, Spenda, Sweet ‘n Low to name just a few.  They are widely used in processed foods, in particular foods that are marketed as ‘diet’ or ‘low calorie’ eg. diet drinks, fat free yogurts, fruit cordials and chewing gum.  You can also buy these sweeteners as tablets to pop in your tea or coffee or in granule form to sprinkle on your (already sweetened) breakfast cereal.  Here’s a list of the most common artificial sweeteners:

Aspartame is the most commonly used sweetener in the United States. It is derived primarily from two naturally occurring amino acids (L-aspartic acid and phenylalanine) which are then chemically combined.  It is 200 times sweeter than table sugar.

Acesulfame-K is a calorie free artificial sweetener which is 200 times sweeter than table sugar.  It’s often blended with other sweeteners (usually aspartame or sucralose), reputedly because each sweetener masks the others aftertaste.  It is made from a process that involves combining acetoacetic acid with the naturally occurring mineral, potassium, to form a crystalline sweetener.

Sucrolose is produced by chlorinating sugar (sucrose) and is 600 times as sweet as table sugar.

Saccharin is the oldest non-calorie sweetener that was discovered by accident over 100 years ago.  The manufacture of saccharin starts with phthalic anhydride, an industrial compound used in creating plastics, which is converted into anthranilic acid. This acid is synthesized with several compounds, including nitrous acid, sulfur dioxide, chlorine and ammonia, which produces saccharin.

These products have been tested and approved in the US, Europe and around the world yet you only have to Google ‘artificial sweeteners’ to find thousands of experts denouncing their safety while thousands more attest to a whole host of health problems that have been linked to their consumption;  health problems such as headaches, nausea, anxiety, insomnia to more serious illnesses such as epilepsy, high blood pressure and even cancer.

More recently sweeteners claiming to be more ‘natural’ appeared on our shelves.  Truvia is a non-calorific sweetener developed jointly by the Coca Cola company and America’s largest private company, Cargill.  It combines rebiana (an extract from the stevia leaf), erythritol (a sugar alcohol) and natural flavourings. 

I was a little curious about Truvia when the TV adverts first started appearing in the UK earlier this year.  On their website we are told that to make Truvia “dried stevia leaves are steeped in water, similar to making tea.  This unlocks the best tasting part of the leaf which is then purified to produce a calorie-free sweet taste”. 

Sounds good so far.  However, digging a bit deeper I found a report in the Guardian newspaper which claims that extracting the rebiana from the stevia leaves (a process patented by Coca Cola) is, in fact, a 42-step procedure using chemicals such as acetone, methanol, acetonitrile, isopropanol, tert-butanol.  Ummm… doesn’t sound quite so appealing now does it?

I strongly advise you to avoid all artificial sweeteners.  If you want to achieve good health through  our diet you need to eat whole foods that are as close to their natural state as possible.  The chemicals in these artificial sweeteners will disrupt your endocrine system and play havoc with your hormones.  And one hormonal imbalance leads to another and then to another.  This will have serious consequences on your health and your weight loss.  Cut these chemical sweeteners out of your diet completely.

So what about more natural sweeteners?  If they come from natural sources they must be better for us right?  Well yes and no.  Many natural sweeteners are pasturised, heated & filtered which makes the finished product look nice but removes many of the nutrients.  These are some of the more readily available choices;

Honey – chose raw, unrefined honey from specialist sellers rather than the over processed varieties sold in the supermarket.  Pasteurisation and high heat processing destroys many of the enzymes and phytonutrients which make real honey so nutritious.

Agave Nectar is taken from the agave plant.  It has a high fructose content which means it has less of an impact on your blood sugar levels.  Chose organic and buy raw if possible.

Maple Syrup is taken from the sap of maple trees.  Chose a high grade, organic syrup.

Coconut (palm) sugar is made from the sap of coconut palms and is naturally rich in a number of key vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.  It isn’t bleached like table sugar and will have a lower impact on your blood sugar levels.  Ideal if you enjoy baking, chose a raw, organic product.

Xylitol & Erythritol are both naturally occurring sugar alcohols.  Both are safe for diabetics but, taken in large doses, xylitol can result in gastrointestinal side effects, such as bloating, flatulence and diarrhoea.  I use xylitol to make hot chocolate when I get a chocolate craving.  Mix 1 teaspoon of organic cocoa powder and 1 teaspoon of xylitol with a little cold water to make a smooth paste.  Add hot water for an instant & healthy chocolate drink.

Stevia is made from the leaves of the stevia plant and can be bought in liquid or powder form.  It’s so sweet you only need to use a small amount but some people complain of a bitter aftertaste.  I use a few drops if I need to add some sweetness to my fruit or vegetable smoothies.

In a perfect world we wouldn’t eat sugar at all, let alone the refined, processed stuff.  But it’s not a perfect world and it does seem that we humans are hardwired to enjoy sweet tastes.  Here are my top tips for enjoying healthy sweet treats:

• Avoid ALL artificial sweeteners
• Drastically reduce the amount of refined sugar in your diet.  Even better, cut it out altogether
• Use natural sweeteners sparingly.  Replacing large amounts of refined sugar with large amounts of natural sugars is not healthy eating!
• Chose raw, organic natural sweeteners.  This may mean sourcing products from specialist shops or buying online

Do you use any of the sweeteners I’ve mentioned?  I’d love to hear your views on which ones you prefer and why.