Nutritious food the best choice

Summer holidays…what summer holidays? They’ve faded into a distant memory as the pressure of work builds again as it typically does at this time of year.
 
On my regular radio 3AW spot with Denis Walter (Mondays at 2.30pm – you can listen live on line) we've just been discussing taking supplements and whether you need them. Check out FOOD FOR THOUGHT to find out the safe levels for nutrients before you reach for a supplement.

We've also talked about the extent of food wastage in Australia, with fruit and vegetables topping the list. Eating these foods is essential for good health, and we certainly don't want to waste them, but it's so easy to buy too much food 'just in case', rather than planning family meals for the week in advance.

There's a few good web sites that can help identify how to store different fruit and vegetables to maximise shelf life, for example which give off gases that ripen other fruit so they shouldn't be stored together, which should or shouldn't go in the refrigerator, and how long they will keep, depending on how they are stored. Some need to be stored in a cool place, others in the refrigerator in plastic bags, and there's also special containers that can be partly opened to allow moisture to escape, or seal completely.

Try the CSIRO's site with information on storage of perishable food and fruit and vegetables. The fresh for kids site also has useful information, as does Passionfoods site.

And if you want some recipes to use up excess fruit and vegetables, there's plenty on this web site or have a look at the Sydney markets web site for what's in season this month and how to enjoy them.

Chipping Away 

We're also continuing our discussions on what’s in the pantry and just talked about chips – the packet kind. Those little single serve packs you can buy may seem like an easy snack for kids lunchboxes, but are they a good idea?
 
Well, apart from the added cost and all that wasted extra packaging with lots of small packs, chips are definitely only a ‘treat’ food because they are virtually all high in fat, salt and kilojoules and definitely not good on a regular basis for any body, including young, growing ones.
 
When you pick up a packet of chips – whether potato, corn, vegetable, soy or even grain, look carefully at the nutrition panel. And look at the figures per 100g – not the serving size. It’s surprising how serving sizes vary…from 25g-50g. While smaller packs offer portion control, will you stop at one? Or if you open a 100g pack, will you eat the lot, or limit yourself to the stated serving size?…Hmmm.

Check the fat content

As Denis Walter quipped on air, ‘the bigger the bag, the bigger the sag’.  Why? Well, first, look at how much fat the chips contain. Then, what type of fat. The better chips use healthier oils – look at the level of saturated (bad) fat, compared to good (monounsaturated) varieties. Sadly, all the fat figures are high (we found only one low fat offering among the shelves, but its salt content was pretty dreadful, like the other brands).

The highest fat chips we found had 36.3g of fat per 100g, with 16g being saturated fat. Although one brand had only 4.7g, most ranged from the mid twenties up to the low thirties. Given that the recommended dietary intake total for fat for a day for an adult female (energy intake 7500kilojoules (1800kcals) is 50 to 60g, just one packet would take up  well over half that allocation.

The total kilojoule figures for chips will make you uneasy too.

Check the salt content

Secondly, read the salt (sodium) content. Having checked a huge range of chips on the supermarket shelves, it was disappointing to see how high in salt they all were. Ranging from around 250mg to up to a high of 1390mg per 100g. The recommended daily intake for salt is 2,300mg, so just one pack of chips could represent more than half, and we get plenty of salt naturally occurring in foods or added to processed foods that we don’t even realise.
 
Even 100g of pretzels (the ones we looked at had 1475mg of sodium) or rice crackers (one pack had 600mg of sodium), which are better snack alternatives in terms of fat content, and could be considered an alternative to chips, provided too much salt that we don’t need.
 
Recently more information has come out on salt and its detrimental impact on cardiovascular health especially in raising blood pressure in salt sensitive people, not to mention the fact it can increase calcium excretion thereby increasing the risk of decreased bone density and possible osteoporosis, which means we really should be limiting our salt intake. Eating chips isn’t going to help.

Think about fibre too

A (very) few chip options boasted some fibre, which won’t make up for all that fat and salt, but at least is something we need more of in most diets.
 
Potatoes, corn, wheat, rice, vegetables and soy are good foods. But when they turn them into chips or snack foods, add lots of oil and plenty of salt, and remove all the fibre, then there are far better snack alternatives we should consider for lunchboxes for the kids (and adults too).

Consider fruit and vegetables, wholegrain biscuits or rice cakes or cereals, home made vegetable-based muffins or vegetable soup (check the recipe section), homemade popcorn (no butter or salt added - try curry powder instead), and yoghourt with crudités or home made pita chips. 
 
If you want some ideas to instil a lifelong love of healthy food in your kids, check out the FOOD FOR THOUGHT article. But if you think your child may already be overweight, check the BMI For Age Percentiles article to help you assess the situation.  

Food favourites

Looking for something healthy to feed the family? My favourite breakfast is bircher muesli. Check out my recipe on this site. It’s such a great way to start the day – why not try it for yourself?

And a new muffin recipe has just been added to the site: Pumpkin, Corn & Vanilla Yoghourt Muffins.  

Regards
Karen Inge.