Food for staying well & looking good - live webchat with Linda Doeser 11 January 1-2pm

Wonkycross

Hi Linda,

Recently a lot more supermarkets have started stocking granola. Is this actually any healthier than cereal like porridge, muesli or is it just a food fad? Thanks!

Hi Wonkycross Granola is just another term for muesli; it's the standard term for this cereal mixture in the United States. As long as it isn't packed with sugar, it's a perfectly healthy breakfast. So, too, is porridge.

marcellamc

I really need some help with breakfast! I don't like milk (don't mind yogurt) and am struggling to find something relatively low calorie that will keep me full til lunchtime. I know porridge is the obvious answer but I don't care for the texture (too mushy) even if it's made with water. Please help

Hi marcellamc Toast, preferably whole grain, is an obvious choice, perhaps with some fruit to follow. Bananas are power houses of energy and a good way to kick start the day. Northern Europeans often breakfast on a selection of cheeses and/or cold meats so that might be a good idea for some days. Do you remember "Go to work on an egg"? Eggs are a great way to start the day and poached eggs, in particular, are not high in calories. Grilled (not fried) bacon with tomatoes will also keep you going until lunchtime if you have time to cook them in the morning.

jingl

Hello Linda. Could you please tackle flatulence. I experience far too much of it.

There, I've said it!

I think it's the healthy foods, like porridge and fruit, that are the worst culprits, to be honest, so what can I do about that?! I want to eat healthily, but I don't want the embarrassment!

Hello jingl Flatulence can be an embarrassing problem and if it's very severe, it's worth consulting your GP because it could be a symptom of an underlying condition. Otherwise, try using herbs and spices that have digestive properties in the dishes that you cook – rosemary sage, lemon balm, summer savory, caraway seeds and fennel, for example. Caraway seeds are the perfect partners for cabbage, a notorious source of windiness. I have no doubt that your table manners are impeccable but it's worth noting that eating slowly and sipping whatever you're drinking (not fizzy) will also help. If you're going somewhere special, then perhaps it would be wise to avoid any of the foods that cause excessive flatulence beforehand – pulses, cabbage family, Jerusalem artichokes and so on.

Dropstitch

Hi Linda

I'm looking to supplement my diet with more foods containing tryptophan to improve my sleep pattern. Is it better to consume these later in the day generally, ie how quickly can they work?.

thanks!

Hi Dropstictch Sorry to hear that you're having trouble sleeping. Tryptophan is an amino acid and so is present in protein foods. The brain converts it to serotonin which can reduce the time it takes to get to sleep by as much as 50% and also helps you sleep more soundly and longer. However, because other amino acids in protein foods are competing, tryptophan may not get to the brain as quickly as you like. Therefore, make sure that you combine your intake of protein with carbohydrates at the same time because they will clear the pathways, directing the other amino acids into the body cells. So don't just have chicken and salad – have some bread or rice salad or potatoes or pasta at the same time. The reason why milky drinks are traditional at bedtime is for exactly this reason – the lactose (sugar) in milk directs the amino acids other than tryptophan into body cells, allowing the brain to get on with converting it to serotonin.

Finally, eating later at night is often a cause of insomnia. Ditto drinking alcohol late in the evening.

optimist

Do you favour a diet from a particular continent i.e. a Mediterranean diet or do you favour a Northern European diet as enjoyed by your (and my) ancestors? I certainly prefer the second option

Hello optimist I confess to an especial fondness for all things Italian, including Italian cuisine. Certainly, the high proportion of vegetables and fruit in the diet. lots of fish, not a lot of red meat and the use of olive oil are to be recommended. The northern European diet tends to be rather heavier in its use of saturated fats and in its sheer quantity, probably because it's so much colder here. I don't think it matters which cuisine you favour as long as you make sure that you include as much variety as possible and don't take in more calories than you need.

granIT

My brother and SIL have been on the Dukan diet and to be fair, they have lost a lot of weight - but I don't fancy it because a) I don't trust quack diets and b) I've read it makes you flatulent (that again!) and your breath smell and doesn't feed your brain, whatever that means.

So, my question is - what is the best way of losing weight if you don't have all those rules to follow about eating bran pancakes for breakfast and no vegetables for month and no carbohydrate ever?

Thanks - needing to lose about a stone.

Hi granIT I have absolutely no faith in diets that cut out whole food groups and, frankly, consider them quite dangerous. It is true that you can lose weight very rapidly with some of these fad diets, but as soon as you return to "normal" eating, you're likely to put it all on again. The only way to lose weight while consuming adequate nutrients and adjusting your eating patterns is to eat less. Sorry. You don't have to buy special foods – just make some sensible adjustments. Cut off all visible fat before cooking meat, remove chicken skin (that's where most of the fat is located), don't starve yourself but fill up with vegetables and carbohydrates rather than protein and fat. Tricks that help some people include serving food on smaller plates, not leaving a serving dish with food still on it on the table during the meal, eating more slowly, taking sips of water frequently during the meal. Also, not watching television or reading while eating helps you recognise the signal that your brain sends to tell you that you have had enough.

greatgablegran

My DH has been told he needs to eat more raw food (by a bloke in a gym, if you please). I don't mind the odd piece of fruit, and I love salads, but he is insisting we need to eat bean salads. Is there any truth in the idea that uncooked food is better for you? Is it so much better that it's worth the tedium of eating it?

Good afternoon greatgablegran There is some truth and there isn't. It's too sweeping a statement. Cooking can destroy some vitamins – the water soluble ones. However, cooking methods also matter. Steaming vegetables or stir-frying will conserve nutrients better than boiling in lots of water, for example. Some foods are better for you when cooked than when eaten raw. You can absorb more lycopene, a valuable anti-oxidant, from tomatoes when cooked – or canned, which is a kind of cooking – than you can from raw ones. Like most things to do with food and health, a wide variety is the keynote – so some salads and raw fruit and some cooked food will provide a balanced diet.

Greatnan

I have already changed to a healthy diet but I would like to ask if dementia can be related to poor eating. My SIL was a vegetarian and was then told by a quack nutritionist that she was allergic to wheat, citrus fruit, dairy....more or less everything. She was reduced to eating salads and some nuts and I wondered if that diet accelerated her Alzheimer's.

By the way, I keep reading the title of this thread as 'Dosser weds' - I thought at first it was a news story about a tramp's wedding.

Hi Greatnan, I have already mentioned in answer to another post that I am utterly opposed to diets that cut out whole food groups (except, of course, on the recommendation of a proper nutritional scientist and dietician because of a medical condition). There is no evidence that such a diet would have accelerated Alzheimer's but that could be because no one has done any research on such a diet and dementia. It certainly wouldn't have improved her general health. There has, however, been some interesting research published recently that the omega 3 essential fatty acids found in fish oils possibly help to prevent the shrinkage of brain cells that characterise Alzheimer's. Oily fish can be beneficial in many ways, so it is always worth including them in the diet and if they help prevent or slow down the onset of dementia, so much the better.

grannygrunt

My husband has emphysema and heart problems so keeping to a tasty. healthy diet is really quite difficult.
Can you suggest any recipes that are really low or no salt, low fat, and not too many calories!?
I have tried adding herbs and spices to add some flavour, but I am not keen on too much of this, so this restricts me too.

Good afternoon grannygrunt It is interesting that there is now a suggestion that a high intake of salt affects the blood pressure of only certain susceptible individuals. However, this has not been proved and, in any case, how do you know if you are susceptible. It is less the salt that is added to fresh ingredients during cooking or even added at the table, than the salt that is locked into food that causes the damage. It is therefore sensible to avoid processed and manufactured foods whenever possible – ham, bacon, sausages, ready meals. Also check the labels on stock cubes, cakes and biscuits.
Herbs and spices do add flavour to food so that you can reduce the amount of salt. Other possibilities are lemon juice,line juice, orange juice (lovely with chicken and white fish) balsamic or sherry vinegar, chilli sauce, nuts. I have only just discovered that soy sauce used as a condiment contains less sodium than table salt.
You could also switch to low sodium salt but don't do this if you or your husband have a kidney problem because these salts are high in potassium. Foods that are high in potassium – fruit, especially avocados which are also high in unsaturated (healthy) fats, vegetables, nuts – help to lower high blood pressure. Tomatoes and bananas are also especially good.

grandmasheila

Do you think what you eat can have any effect on your skin - ie the old wrinkles and cellulite? I'm a sucker for creams and potions and magazines telling you to eat this and that to keep wrinkles /cellulite at bay - and have been for years, so maybe I know the answer deep down already - but just wondered what your thoughts were.
Thanks

Hello grandmasheila The skin does lose its elasticity as we age. Nothing in the diet is going to get rid of wrinkles – these are just the story of your life on your face. However, plenty of fruit and vegetables will help to keep your skin looking as good as possible with a healthy glow. They will also help your eyes keep their sparkle, which makes the skin look better too.

gracesmum

Am I too late to ask about eating 1) healthily 2) cheaply - I make lots of veggie soup which is cheap and healthy, but too many recipes designed to save penies do so by adding bulk such as cheese/pasta/starch.
How do I ole weight and not spemnd a lot on my food bil?

Hello gracesmum It is not true that you have to spend a lot of money to buy "healthy" food. Indeed, there's not really any such thing as healthy or unhealthy food (maybe sugar is just empty calories and is the exception). Carbohydrates, such as pasta, are an important food group and it is not a good idea to reduce these, except as part of a general reduction in the size of portions. Cut visible fat off meat and remember that stewing steak is just as nutritious as sirloin. It is worth bearing in mind that he digestive system copes with fat far more easily than it does with some other types of food. Carbohydrates require more calories to be digested than fat.

crumblygranny

Hiya

My friend (71) has lost her sense of smell, and I think taste. As such she's gone right off food, and only really eats chocolate (understandable)! She seems well enough (although heartburn) and is not too thin. Should I worry or are there any ways of encouraging her taste to return?

Good afternoon crumblygranny. How very unfortunate for your friend. She will almost certainly have lost most if not all her sense of taste if she has lost her sense of smell. Taste is quite a primitive sense and our enjoyment of food is much more closely connected to smell. I don't think there is even a medical solution to this problem and I certainly don' know of a dietary one. I'm sorry but I don't think I an help.