The top five Nutrient tips to help you look and feel good:
1. Eat to have more energy and reach full potential
- Eat a large variety of foods
- Balance nutrients
- Eat good fats
- Avoid sugar
- Avoid caffeine, cigarette’s, alcohol ,artificial sweeteners, preservatives
2. Vary the foods you eat
Foods contain combinations of nutrients and other substances. No single food can supply all nutrients in the amounts you need. For example, oranges provide vitamin C but no Vitamin B12. Cheese provides vitamin B12 but no vitamin C.
To make sure you get all the nutrition’s and other substances needed to maintain a healthy body, choose the recommended number of daily servings from each of the five major food groups displayed in the food pyramid.
The rule is that the bulk of your diet should be made up of the base foods. These include:
- Vegetables
- Fruit
- Nuts
- Dried Peas
- Beans
- Lentils
- Breads and cereals
3. Eat Moderately: Foods in the middle of the pyramid include:
- Fish
- Lean meat
- Eggs
- Chicken
- Milk
- Cheese and Yoghurt
4. Eating a serving of meat, fish or eggs and three servings of dairy foods each day will provide
- Protein
- Iron
- Calcium
- Vitamins
5. Eat in small amounts:
Sugars and fats as these foods types lack a good supply of nutrientions to grow, good health and energy.
Meal Ideas
Breakfast
Don’t Skip breakfast without good fuel in your system, you won’t be able to concentrate at work and performance will suffer. Beware of a Carbohydrate breakfast will cause a drastic increase in blood sugar levels, and then a significant drop. Examples of what not to eat would be a sweet packaged coral, a single donut, a plan bagel, one apple. Also keep in mind that breakfast up and go’s are simple carbohydrate.
Good breakfast choices:
- Whole grain or bran based cereals
- Scrambled eggs w/ Salmon
- Apple and Cinnamon porridge/ Banana porridge
- Honey almond organs w/ cinnamon yoghurt
- Berry smoothie
Snacking
Go for nutrient-rich snacks and avoid energy-dense, nutrient-poor snacks. This means even if you need lots of extra energy, try to go for snacks full of nutrients as well. Low GI (Link to low Gi diet) snacks are the best and to add protein to your snacks will give you sustaining energy.
Good Choices
- Sun dried tomato muffins
- Humus with carrot/celery sticks
- Almonds/Brazil nuts/walnuts
- Roasted chickpeas/broad beans
Lunch
- Smoked fish pasta- Toss smoked fish in cooked pasta with green vegetables chopped fresh herbs and a squeeze of lemon.
- Steak and salad- Cook beef or lamb in a pan and make a salad with rocket, pear, and parmesan cheese balsamic vinegar.
- Warm lentil salad- Toss together chopped feta, canned lentils, pumpkin seeds, diced carrot and baby spinach with olive oil.
Dinner
It can often be hard to plan for dinner for the week ahead and committing to cooking every night. The best approach is save time tomorrow by chopping up extra vegetables tonight. If you are cooking vegetables cook or making a salad make enough for the following day. Keep it fresh by keeping in a sealed container in the fridge, label so you won’t forget them. Double up If you are making up a casserole or stew, make up double the quantity and save half for a busy night. Freeze and label it clearly. Do the same with mince dishes like Bolognese sauce. Serve with different pasta, tacos or on a jacket potato. If you are cooking potatoes, cook double the amount you need. Use the leftovers for salads.
Get grating: If grating cheese for a dish, grate the whole block ready for a bake or cheese on toast. Do the same with vegetables like carrots and courgettes, ready to add to boost stews and Bolognese-style sauces.
Think small: The smaller things are, the quicker they’ll cook. Choose small and thin cuts of meat like cutlets, schnitzels and thin steaks which take minutes to cook, and cut vegetables into small pieces to steam, boil, roast or microwave quicker.
Think precooked: Ingredients liked smoked chicken, smoked fish, packaged tofu and soy sausage are already cooked, so they can be toasted into warm salads, egg dishes and stir fries with only enough time needed to heat through.
Double bake: Roasting is a surprisingly quick and hands off way to cook. When using the oven, roast a chicken or some vegetables at the same time to pop into warm salads later in the week. Cook a little extra meat than you need, then chill it overnight to use in a salad or soup the next day.
Make friends with frozen foods: Frozen vegetables, fish fillets, seafood and pastry can be a big help when you got no food in the house. Keep good stock on hand to add to fresh ingredients for speedy dinners and snacks.
Don’t forget fish: Most fresh fish takes only a few minutes to pan-fry, grill or bake. Add it to vegetables or salad and potatoes or rice with an interesting dressing and you’ve got really fast food that’s really healthy, too. Cheaper fish varieties include red fish, sardines, and snapper. Always ask what been caught fresh.