Nutrition Guide

We have heard lots of stuff about nutrition and the importance of a good nutrition guide over the years and much of it has been written and then contradicted in subsequent articles when something stated previously has been dis-proved following testing programs.

But dispite this it is clear that nutrition is of paramount importance in creating and maintaining a healthy body.  The UK government even enlisted the help of a well known celebrity chef in creating menus and a nutrition guide for schools that would be nutritious and appetising enough to encourage children to eat well. It is difficult to figure out why a child's appetite changes from enjoying nutritious meals that have been prepared at home to wanting to eat food that is high in fat, salt and sugar such as that served in burger bars.

Our Hospitals are full of people with illnesses suggestive of poor nutrition during their lifetime such as heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and morbid obesity to name a few.

Information, in particular a nutrition guide, on the importance of nutrition needs to be taught in schools at a very early age so that children are aware of the foods that are considered dangerous such as foods with hydrogenated and saturated fats.  Indeed it is recognised that children often pass on the things they learn at school to their parents. The pupils could even create their own nutrition guide.  This is especially true following lessons at school on the dangers of smoking.  There is something very sobering about the way your child points out something to you when it is obviously worrying them. Most parents would do their best to re-assure their child that "this will not happen to mummy/daddy - we will work on it together to see how we can improve things...."

Bad behaviour from children has also been linked to poor nutrition.  Additives such as flavourings and food colouring have long been blamed for turning children hyper-active yet many of the food marketing companies still go for the eye-catching vivid orange, luminous green colourings that we see in many sweets and ice lollies.  A good nutrition guide could go some way to helping avoid these behavior problems.

You don't need to be an expert on nutrition to help change your diet for the better, a nutrituion guide will tell you all you need to know. 

Try and keep things simple. 

Fresh fruit and vegetables are great - but wash them first to remove any possible pesticides which have been sprayed on them during the growing

process. 

Steam vegetables rather than boil it as many of the nutrients are lost in the boiling process.

If you eat meat keep it lean and trim away all visible fat before cooking it.  Grilling meat on a trivet is good as the fat runs away into the pan and your food is not left sitting in it and soaking it up. Try and replace all foods that are made with white flour with wholemeal flour products. The refining process to turn flour white often means it is stripped of its fibre (so necessary for a healthy bowel) so you are left with a lovely soft white fluffy bread roll but with very little nutritional value.

Also, try and replace white pasta with wholemeal for the same reason.

Cut down - or out completely - all bottled 'cook in' - and 'add after' sauces.  Instead make your own from fresh tomatoes, garlic, herbs.  You will be surprised how good they taste and often are a fraction of the cost of ready made ones.  You may also be able to make double the quantity and freeze portions for another time.

Start now on the road to better nutrition.  Look through your stock cupboards and see just how many packets and jars you have.  Take each one and look at the list of ingredients - noting especially the additives in each item.  Then think of a healthy alternative you could have instead. Write each one down in a column and plan how you will shop in future.  It won't all happen at once but once you start on this way you will soon be eating according to your own nutrition guide so that you can look forward to a healther future.