"I don't shop much; a friend takes my mother to do the shopping for the two of us. I also don't do much cooking. Sundays would be the day that I properly cook something traditional like roast lamb. It is not a big family affair. My mother lives with me, but that's all.
The three great pluses I have is that I don't like salt, I don't like sugar and I don't really like a lot of fried food. However, I'm not health conscious, I know I should be, but I have no time to be neurotic over these things.
I have Nescafé coffee entirely with full-fat milk in the morning. I don't go in for the fair-traded business as, I have to say, I think conscience coffee tastes ghastly. And I don't bother about buying organic or worry about GM food: I support British farming. The coffee is my breakfast because most mornings I run out the house in a tearing hurry.
Shreddies are precisely the sort of thing I have as a late-night supper, after working the whole evening at the House of Commons, or some white bread. I'm afraid I don't like brown - isn't that sad?
My cupboard is always stocked with tinned ravioli and I've always got soda because it goes in whisky - it's fine on its own but it also livens up orange juice. You'd never come to my house and find there was no soda water.
Cauliflower I love, and courgettes. I eat plenty of them because they're so easy to prepare. All I've got to do is wash, chop and steam. I'll eat the vegetables with mash and lamb chops. I could never be a vegetarian just because I love lamb chops so very, very much.
Cod is the only fish I like, done in breadcrumbs. It has to be properly filleted as I find it a big battle eating a bony fish. I like stuff that's simple and quick and nothing between me and the enjoyment thereof.
You'd never find me with an orange or a grapefruit because they're just such devils to prepare. My favourite fruit is bananas. The glorious thing about a banana is that it's filling, it's desperately easy to peel and it's easy to eat. I snack on them; it wouldn't be for any other purpose at all."
What nutritionist Dr John Briffa says:
Shreddies
Shreddies are a relatively low-sugar cereal, though their chief ingredient is wheat. Not everyone is sensitive to wheat - which can trigger abdominal bloating and fatigue - but I suspect it's more common a problem than is generally recognised. I generally recommend oat-based cereals. Not only do oats seem to be generally well tolerated, but studies suggest they can help lower cholesterol levels too.
Soda water
Soda water is essentially water with some added bicarb of soda and perhaps salt. Purists may argue that mineral water is better and I'd tend to agree with them. However, compared to diet cola or sugar-charged tonic or lemonade, soda water wins by a mile.
Frozen cod in batter
The cod's the best bit here, but in nutritional terms, it trails a dismal second to oily varieties of fish such as salmon, trout, tuna, mackerel and swordfish. A piece of fresh fish grilled with a dab of butter and some lemon juice beats battered cod hands down.
Tinned ravioli
With its refined wheat, minced meat, sugar and salt, this is a bit of a nutritional disaster. The tomato content (which might possibly help reduce the risk of certain cancers by providing the body with the nutrient lycopene) is its one redeeming feature. As an occasional stopgap this sort of food is fine, but I wouldn't recommend it as a staple. Baked beans (especially the low salt and sugar varieties) have a distinct edge I think.
Courgettes
Courgettes are a reasonable source of vitamin C and fibre. Steaming is a good way to cook vegetables as it helps preserve their nutritional value (as long as they're not cooked to mulch). Ann scores here for both choice of food and method of cooking.
Lamb chops
Lamb chops are pretty fatty, but I'm generally more relaxed about this than most nutritionists. After all, saturated fat is natural constituent of the human diet and is something that we are probably well adapted to eating in moderation. My advice is, whenever possible, to go for organic.
Bananas
Rich in fibre and vitamin C, both of which are lauded for their health maintaining and disease protective effects, bananas are also full of potassium. This is known to help keep blood pressure under control, which helps reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. Bananas are a good snack food and alternative to sugar as a cereal topping.
Nescafé coffee
There's not much good to say for instant coffee from a nutritional perspective. Caffeine has been linked with an array of health issues including insomnia, anxiety and stress incontinence. However, the fact that Ann eschews breakfast in favour of a mere mug of Nescafé is a tad more concerning. Skipping breakfast tends to sap mental concentration and memory. Plus, I have noticed that individuals who go without food first thing tend to spend the rest of the day lurching from one not-so-healthy snack or meal to the next.
Cauliflower
Nice choice. Cauliflower is a cruciferous vegetable (other members of this family include broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cabbage). There is evidence that eating plenty of cruciferous vegetables reduces risk of some forms of cancer. Generally speaking, the deeper a vegetable's colour, the more nutritious it is. Substituting broccoli now and again would be a step forward.
White bread
White bread releases sugar quickly into the bloodstream. In response, the body secretes insulin which is designed to bring blood sugar levels down again. That's fine, but one way insulin does this is to convert sugar into fat. Fat formed in this way tends to settle around the middle of the body, ultimately creating a characteristically rotund figure. Slower sugar-releasing breads such as 100 per cent wholemeal or whole rye bread would be a better bet.
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