How has eating become such a minefield of conflicting and confusing advice?
It really isn’t complicated – just try and stick to some simple principles:
- Eat actual food, not the mass produced snacks, breakfast cereals, ready meals and processed food found in the middle aisles of the supermarket.
- Eat a predominantly plant based diet i.e. a diet based around vegetables, fruit, legumes, nuts, seeds and grains.
- Reduce consumption of meat and dairy. Whether you decide to eliminate them completely is more of an ethical and environmental issue, rather than a health issue, unless you have an allergy or intolerance.
- Avoid soft drinks like the plague – stick to water, tea, coffee, herbal teas
- Cook your own food as much of the time as you can, that way you know what you’re eating
- Fast food is OK – as long as you make it yourself
- Eat SLOW whenever possible – Seasonal, Local, Organic, Whole food
- Everything in moderation – including moderation. There’s nothing wrong with eating out, getting takeaway and having cakes and biscuits from time to time – just not everyday. However, most people tend to find that the healthier their diet, the less they view these sort of things as treats and the less inclined they are to want to eat them.
Check out some of the sample recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for some ideas.