So, what can you eat?

It’s impossible to ignore the growing rise in popularity of the vegan diet – that is, a diet where no animal-based products are consumed.  Data from the UK (a similar culture to Ireland as figures aren’t available here yet) shows that vegan and vegetarian diets now account for 12% of the diets of their adult population.  Pop-up vegan food trucks, fully vegan restaurants and vegan options are certainly becoming more mainstream, but since my forage in the world of veganism, I still hear the same question – so, what CAN you eat?

To me it’s simple – anything that doesn’t come from an animal.  So yes, that includes anything with eggs, honey, cow’s milk, cheese..you get the idea.  But it doesn’t include anything else, so the list really is extensive (I promise!).  Think nuts, seeds, legumes, beans, lentils, grains, fruit and vegetables.  It is possible to obtain every nutrient, vitamin and mineral you need from consuming plant based foods.  After all, that’s where animals get them from too, so you don’t need to eat the animal-filtered version, you can take it directly from the earth yourself!

But where do you get your protein? Surely we all need a bit of meat? Short answer – no, we don’t.  The average person already consumes more protein than we actually need, and we can see this from the amount of nitrogen contained in urine urea excretions.  Some vegetables are rich in protein (that wonderful green leafy spinach again!), nuts are an excellent source, as is quinoa, soya, beans and lentils. The argument against needing dairy as your source of calcium is a powerful one – in countries where the most dairy is consumed, you will only find the highest incidence of osteoporosis! And plenty of vegan foods are rich sources of calcium, including almonds, sesame seeds, green leafy vegetables and even chickpeas.

There are some elements of a vegan diet that do need more careful consideration – namely Vitamin B12 and iodine.  Vitamin B12 in particular is contained in soil, so years ago when people consumed unwashed fruit and vegetables, there wasn’t any problems.  But now, due to modern farming practices, we are usually advised to wash all the soil off our food before consumption.  If you buy organic fruit and vegetables, do try to leave some of the soil on and you will be getting your dose of B12, but if this thought doesn’t appeal to you, then try some nutritional yeast from your local health food store.  Make sure the one you buy does include Vitamin B12, then add it to soups and sauces, or sprinkle over your popcorn! Not too tricky!

Iodine, on the other hand, is a mineral and is found in seafood.  But you don’t need to eat fish to meet your recommended daily intakes – you just eat what fish eat instead.  Sea vegetables are becoming infinitely more popular, even if you didn’t realise it.  Nori used to make sushi, for example is one, but wakame and kelp are other options.  I sprinkle wakame over salads and pasta and I love the flavour it adds!

So, is it difficult to eat a diet that doesn’t contain any animal-products? My simple answer is yes, but….there’s always a but! Here’s mine..it’s easy not to eat animal-products, BUT it does require a little more thought and consideration.  But, in my humble opinion anyway, it certainly is worth it

Avocado - Delicious, nutritious and versatile!

There are many health benefits of consuming avocados, including reducing risk factors in cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and cancer.  Avocados have substantial health benefits due to their abundance of different amino acids, which essentially means they are a great source of protein.  Although the protein content is relatively low per 100g, being only 2g of protein, these 2g contain 18 different amino acids. Avocados are technically a fruit, but the carbohydrates that they contain are either the easy to digest simple monosaccharides, or fibre, which is necessary for normal digestive processes.  They are also rich in fatty acids, the majority of which are the unsaturated fats oleic and palmitic.  The type of fat they contain are actually heart-healthy fats, which also provide energy for your brain to function.

Avocados are also extremely versatile and are a great addition to any child’s diet.  Sliced avocado and banana sandwiches, on wholegrain bread or in wholemeal pitta bread make for a healthy lunch for young children, and they can be combined with endless other fruits and vegetables to ensure there is lots of variety.  Here’s just a few simple and easy options, suitable for young and old:

-          Hummus, sliced avocado, sliced tomato and rocket on wholegrain toast

-          Guacamole

-          Half and avocado baked with an egg

-          Hummus, sliced avocado and cranberries on oat cakes

-          Avocado, spinach and red pepper in a wrap

-          Spinach, diced avocado, walnut and roast butternut squash salad with balsamic dressing

-          Toasted slices of sweet potato with avocado and radishes

-          Potato hash with sliced avocado and tomato and a tahini dressing

The combinations are only limited by your imagination!

The importance of breakfast..

At a friends’ wedding recently, I got talking to another guest about my current passion – nutrition! For the most part we were in agreement about healthy eating, but there was one rather substantial exception.  We had very different views on the importance of breakfast. I feel quite strongly about how significant a role breakfast plays in our overall wellbeing, but I’ll quantify that by saying I don’t mean the kind of breakfast that comes from a cardboard box.  The other guest was of the opinion, however, that we don’t necessarily need breakfast and that anyone he knows who doesn’t eat breakfast, himself included, tend to be slim and healthy.  So I’ve decided to look at some fact based evidence, in the hope of changing some minds about this vital meal – the one where we literally break our ‘fast’.

The practice of eating breakfast has been around since the Middle Ages so it is far from a new phenomenon.  Eating a nutritional breakfast is associated with healthier overall food intakes, body mass index and lifestyle.  Recent studies have shown that breakfast improves cognitive function, intuitive perception and academic performance.

Furthermore, the results from a 2013 study showed that irrelevant of gender, those eating breakfast at least five times a week had significantly lower body weight, body mass index, waist circumference, body fat mass and percent body fat compared to infrequent breakfast eaters.  They also indicated that infrequent breakfast consumption is associated with higher body fat and abdominal obesity.  This was further emphasised by another study in Brazil, which found an association between breakfast intake and a decreased risk of diabetes, heart disease and stroke, and found seldom breakfast eaters to have an increased risk of obesity. 

Another study linked regular breakfast consumption with an increased IQ in pre-school children.  Findings showed that children who regularly have breakfast on a near-daily basis had significantly higher full scale, verbal and performance IQ test scores compared to children who “sometimes” have breakfast.

So, when it comes to breakfast, it is clear to see that the evidence is there to prove its importance, but it is worth noting that a nutritional breakfast is best.  If you’re pushed for time in the mornings, pre-soak some porridge oats in almond milk and fruit or grab a handful of fresh fruit or a pre-made green smoothie.  Where time allows, avocado on wholemeal toast with tomato and rocket is divine, or some almond butter on buckwheat pancakes is delicious.  Either way, it is worth giving at least some thought to this important meal. It really will set you up for the day.

Dairy Consumption - What does the research actually tell us?

There is a long standing practice for the food industry to preach the perceived benefits of dairy consumption to consumers.  It’s a lucrative industry, but one that is slowly coming under scrutiny by informed members of the public who refuse to take everything they are told at face value.  We are seeing a steady rise in the availability of dairy alternatives, particularly non-dairy milks, such as almond, rice, oat, coconut and hemp milks, and this is set to continue.  But from a scientific point of view, what does the research actually tell us?

Well for a start, the first thing to consider is why exactly so many people are considered ‘lactose intolerant’ these days and what exactly does this mean? The food we consume needs to be broken down to the smallest possible form in order to be digested by the body, and for sugars, this means single molecules known as monosaccharides.  Lactose is a disaccharide (two sugars), and lactose intolerance occurs where there is a failure of the body to break this down to a digestible form.  A specific enzyme (a digestive tool) in our bodies, known as lactase is responsible for this action, and biologically this should no longer function past childhood weaning from breastmilk (or alternatives) anyway.  Where the lactase enzyme does continue to function past weaning, it is known as Lactase Persistence, and only about 35% of the population maintains this.  Therefore, the remaining 65% will lose the ability to break down these sugars, resulting in lactose intolerance.  This is normal, and in countries such as China and Japan, where very little, if any, milk is consumed in adulthood, there is no issue.  However, in our Westernised diet, where we are increasingly reliant on milk and milk products, this is going to cause health issues, the least of which is abdominal discomfort. 

Campaigns promoting dairy consumption have tried to focus on health benefits that could be attributed to its intake.  One such example is the use of yogurt to treat diarrhea.  There are some studies which do show improvements in diarrhea with yogurt due to the cultures included, but more specific studies have in fact countered this by showing heightened benefits from treating diarrhea with cooked green plant-based diets, both in terms of the costs and the duration in which improvements in health were witnessed.  A World Health Organisation study, in fact, showed that patients suffering from diarrhea actually responded best to lactose exclusion.

Then we have the argument that dairy products are a cost effective method of including nutrients in the diet.  There is a method of measuring nutrient concentration in food, and it’s known as the ‘nutrient density score’.  So whilst dairy apparently has a good nutrient density score, fruit and vegetables, not surprisingly, provide the greatest nutrient density overall.  Grains and starches are similar to milk in their quality-to-price ratio and studies have shown that including cheap starches in the diet make it possible to fulfill all nutritional requirements by spending more on high-cost, nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables. 

Calcium always receives the greatest amount of attention when it comes to dairy consumption, but the truth is that calcium is found in soil, and is then absorbed by the roots of plants.  So grass fed cows will get a lot of calcium from the grass, but we can get all the absorbable calcium we need from plant foods too.  Think dark green leafy vegetables, such as spinach and kale! Seeds are good sources too, particularly sesame seeds. 

When it comes to the scientific research into the benefits of dairy consumption, the evidence is mixed (that’s putting it politely) and in fact, there is substantial research to show that other foods are more beneficial.  Countries with the highest dairy consumption also have the greatest incidence of osteoporosis, and the research shows that plant-based diets can reduce the risk of cancer, aid calcium transport and protein synthesis, amongst others. 

Just some food for thought the next time you go to put milk in your tea – try it without or opt instead for the dairy alternatives?  You might actually like them!