Live web chat sees dietitians offering tips and advice

Our registered dietitians, Karen Davies and Heather Osborn have taken part in an exciting web chat which was held via our Facebook page.

This gave the opportunity for people to ask any questions related to healthier eating.

If you missed the web chat, all the questions and answers are detailed below. If you would like any advice on how to make small improvements to your eating habits, please get in touch with us on 01473 229292

Questions & Answers

• How do you promote healthy eating for kids as they are notoriously bad for wanting all things they shouldn’t have?

Children often learn by seeing what their parents are doing - therefore setting a good example and eating as healthily as possible yourself can be really important. Encouraging children to try a variety of foods, and limiting the number of ‘treat foods’ they are allowed is also important. Making healthy eating as fun and interesting as possible is also a good way to encourage children to eat healthily, and letting them get involved in the cooking and preparation of food once old enough.

• What do you do if you are pushed for time with a busy life as its easier to just grab whatever is available without thinking of how healthy it is?

It’s always tricky balancing a busy life with healthier eating choices……. Planning ahead helps us make healthier choices when we are short of time, cooking in batches and freezing so there is something to grab out of the freezer. Knowing what we are planning to cook so that we don’t just raid the cupboards or fridges when we get in.

Top tip….never shop when you are hungry!

• How can you eat healthily on a budget as fruit and veg can be expensive?

Healthy eating doesn’t have to be expensive - tinned or frozen fruit and vegetables can count towards your 5 a day. Live Well Suffolk produce a number of healthy recipes which can be produced on a limited budget and found here.

• We keep hearing about ‘super fruits’, what are the benefits of these over normal fruits like apples and bananas?

The so-called ‘super-fruits’ tend to be the brightly coloured fruits such as blueberries or pomegranate and contain higher levels of health promoting compounds such as antioxidants. These can help fight/prevent certain diseases such as some types of cancer. Eating a good variety of fruit and vegetables every day is important.

• What is your opinion re protein shakes after exercise?

Protein is required for building and repairing muscle, however one of the biggest myths is that eating large amounts of protein equates to big biceps! Providing that you are meeting your energy requirements a healthy diet should provide you with enough protein to meet any increased requirements. Protein shakes can be expensive and homemade versions can be cheaply and easily made. Skimmed milk is a great drink to have after a work out.

• Is there any dietary requirements or foods/vitamins which are beneficial for hypothyroidism? Thank you

Hopefully if you have seen your GP for hypothyroidism you will be on appropriate levels of medication to control your symptoms. Some people with hypothyroidism do struggle with weight gain, however we would not recommend needing to follow any special diet or recommendations, and just following a healthy balanced diet in line with the Eatwell plate .

• What foods and drinks help my skin to look vibrant and healthy?

Making sure you eat a wide variety of foods every day from the 5 food groups on the Eatwell plate. A healthy diet provides a rich supply of antioxidants which have been proven to help protect and repair our skin. Certain vitamins and minerals have an important role to play in skin health for example vitamin A and C, riboflavin Niacin, Pyridoxine, vitamin E, zinc and selenium and a varied diet helps provide all these. It is also vital to drink plenty of fluids - 6-8 glasses a day and have a good exercise routine to improve blood flow helping to activate and rejuvenate the skin

• Does fasting for one day then eating a lot the next really work?

The 5:2 fasting diet is currently proving very popular and some people are seeing positive results from this. This diet involves eating ‘normally’ for 5 days and fasting for 2 days during a week. During your fasting days you eat 500kcal if you are a woman and 600 kcal a day as a man.

The evidence supporting the 5:2 remains quite limited to animal studies. We would recommend that anyone wanting to lose weight follows a healthy eating pattern cutting out on high kcal snacks and drinks, this will allow long term sustainable changes and health benefits.

• What would be the best healthy meal to eat pre workout?

Prior to doing a work out it is best to have a meal containing long acting starchy carbohydrate 2-3 hours beforehand. These foods include cereals, grains, bread, pasta, rice, fruit and vegetables.

• What would be the best refuelling meal?

A good refuelling meal should contain a balance of protein for muscle repair and starchy carbohydrate that will replenish your depleted energy (glycogen) stores following exercise, for example chicken and tomato pasta. Why don’t you have a look at our website for some recipe suggestions?

• How do I reduce my calorie intake but still giving my body what it needs?

Many of the foods that are high in calories tend to be high in fat and sugars e.g. crisps, chocolate, sweets, fizzy drinks and alcohol. These foods provide us with little other nutritional value and therefore by reducing our intake of these foods we are not depriving our body of any essential nutrients.

• Are carbs the enemy?

Carbs are not the enemy…… but over the years on traditional weight reducing diets they have been the food group that dieters have avoided. We rarely eat starchy carbohydrate foods on their own and choose to eat them with high fat foods such as bread with butter, jacket potato with cheese, potatoes as chips or roast or pasta with a sauce. It is the high fat foods that bring the unwanted calories and over time can pile on the lbs.

• What are quick and health snacks that will keep my going in busy days at work?

The best way to ensure that you have enough energy to keep you going through a busy day is to ensure that you are having regular meals based around starchy carbohydrates, and making these high fibre where possible. Often you may find that you have a dip in energy levels mid morning or mid afternoon, and a good ideas for quick and healthy snacks would be something carbohydrate based such as malt loaf or a hot cross bun (with only a thin scraping of spread), or a piece of fruit - bananas are good.

• I’m curious to known whether juice diets the celebs use actually work? are they harmful?

You often hear that celebs are following a juice diet as either a detox or as a method to loose weight. These diets are often a very quick fix method and although you will loose weight because your calorie intake will be low, as soon as you go back to your normal way of eating it is likely that the weight will be regained. We would never recommend that people only eat a very limited number of foods, especially not on a long term basis as your body will be missing out on other essential nutrients.