A child's diet predicts their future health outcomes: it's a worthwhile reason to feed them well

A well-known and respected American physician, Joel Fuhrman, M.D., states in this book “Disease Proof Your Child” that “the modern diet that most children are eating today creates a fertile cellular environment for cancer to emerge at a later age”.  Seems a fairly harsh statement, but give yourself a minute to think about it, and what that actually means.  It’s a scary thought.

Being a mother to a now five year old, I’ve already seen the impact that the school system has on a child’s diet.  Before my son went to school, I restricted his intake of any processed foods, and shielded him from the lures of clever food marketing.  He had never tasted a jelly, and would shun even the idea of chocolate.  He looked at it, saw brown food, didn’t think it looked appealing, so happily refused if it was offered to him.  That’s not to say he was a kale and wakame eating child either, he just ate whole foods wherever possible, with very little sugar.  Enter the school system and suddenly he is offered a jelly every Friday leaving school and chocolate cake at least once a week to celebrate whichever child’s birthday it happened to be.  Fast forward nine months and at the end of the academic year I had a child who would happily eat a packet of jellies and would even request chocolate cookies if the chance arose. 

In reality it doesn’t need to be like that, and as adults, we are responsible for the realities of what this might mean for the future health of our children.  I have heard it said over and over again that children should not be rewarded with food, as this creates an association with food and success or praise.  Food is, and should be, functional.  We should enjoy what we eat, of course, but we should certainly not be trained to reward ourselves by eating sugary foods in order to boost our self-esteem.  Party food should be restricted to parties.  But if this is the case, why is it still acceptable that in a schooling system, the end of the week is signified with the offering of a jelly? Cheap, artificial and damaging to our children’s health.  A gold star would be just as rewarding for a young child.

When you think about the fundamentals of what is happening in this situation, you can start to understand how these reward pathways are set in our brains.  We want to feel good, we reward ourselves with food.  We want to spoil our children to show them we love them – we let them eat what they want.  That will make them happy, won’t it? In the short term, perhaps.  But long term, this is extremely damaging.  So instead of rewarding with food, could we not reward with our time? To stop the cycle of eating junk food because we think it might make us happy?

Children are actually more clued in when it comes to nutrition then we realise and it’s a wonderful time in their lives to introduce the associations between diet and health.  There are a few ways that I have approached this with my son, and to be honest, he is like a sponge – he laps it all up and loves to talk about the role that food plays in his own health.  We spend some meal times talking about how the food we are eating is going to help our bodies.  So, if we’re eating carrots and we talk about how they help us see, if we’re eating broccoli we talk about our bones, beetroot, we talk about our blood, nuts we talk about our brains.  You get the idea – and it is very simple notions but ones that children can understand and can empower them to want to eat the right foods for the right reasons.

Another way I’ve opened discussions about food with my son is to incorporate his love of superheroes.  I’ll start by asking him what his favourite food is – he will, without fail, say either pasta or avocado.   He is 5 after all.  So then I’ll ask him what he thinks Superman’s favourite food is.  I’ll usually say something like “I bet it’s sweet potato, because he needs lots of energy to chase bad guys” but we have different foods for different reasons for different super heroes, and it can be a fun game to play. 

Other days we play the colour game.  We will try to make a meal with all the colours of the rainbow included, or we have colour armies, and each colour has a different job to do when we eat it.  White foods might protect our bones, green foods for our tummies, brown foods for our hair.  It changes all the time, but the point is, it opens the conversation and makes meal times more fun.  You don’t have to have the right answers, it just allows children to begin to make associations between what they are eating and their own health and well-being.  And don’t underestimate the power this can have on a small child. 

Obesity levels in children is increasing, as is the incidence of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.  Malnutrition caused by poor dietary choices is a real and present issue in Western diets, and it is said that the current generation of children will be the first ones to die before their parents due to diet related diseases.  This is a story that can be easily changed.  We can spend our money on bad food and doctor’s bills, or we can invest every single day in our children’s health with nutritious food.  It’s time to start thinking outside the box when to comes to feeding children.  Don’t be led by marketing or convenience.  At the end of the day, our children don’t know better until they are told.  It’s our job as parents to guide them in the right direction, and to take responsibility for the food they eat.  Until they are old enough to understand the implications of eating highly-processed foods, we should act on their behalf by assuming they want to make the right choices. 

It won’t always be easy, we won’t always get it right, be we can definitely try.

Is sugar making you fat?

For a very long time, dietary fat has been associated with excessive weight gain, and many people avoid fat in an effort to maintain a healthy body weight.  Ironically, however, at the same time that consumers became aware of fat content in foods, and the food industry responded by providing “fat free” processed foods, we saw the obesity problem rise to epidemic proportions.  This is not just a coincidence. 

In order to continue to make food taste appealing, the food industry had to replace the fat content with something else.  And they turned to sugar.  However, increased consumption of added sugars, in particular sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup, correlate closely with the rise in obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndromes over the last 100 years.  The physiological response to fructose, in particular, causes a stress on the body which stimulates fat accumulation, regardless of whether there was a simultaneous excessive intake of calories.  So this means that even where there is a calorie controlled diet in place, due to the way that our bodies process fructose digestion, fat cells can still be created and stored, leading to obesity. 

Even in cases where the consumption of fructose does not have the effect of fat accumulation, it may cause other metabolic syndromes.  A diet which includes high sucrose consumption, even with calorie restriction, has been shown to lead to fatty liver, hypertriglyceridemia (high levels of fat in the blood, leading to heart disease) and insulin resistance (Type 2 diabetes). 

Due to the reality of the modern diet, we are now at a greater risk of developing non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes than we are of contracting infectious diseases, and these non-communicable diseases contribute to 35 million deaths each year.  Even normal weight people are at risk, in a situation often referred to as “skinny-fat”. 

The only real way to avoid this is to remove processed, sugar-laden foods from our diets.  Consuming whole foods, lots of fruits, vegetables and grains and avoiding all sugar-sweetened beverages is the best known protection against metabolic syndrome.  The next time you are in the supermarket and you see products promoting their “fat-free” status, take a minute to look at the ingredients.  Just because they don’t contain any fat, does not mean that they are not making you fat, either in your liver or just in general.  

Raising vegan children - it's possible and thankfully, for now, still legal!

Earlier this month, a bill was proposed by an Italian politician, Elvira Savino, to prevent Italian parents from enforcing a vegan diet on their children.  Savino claims that this is due to the fact that a vegan diet is “reckless and dangerous eating behaviour”, and is also “devoid of essential elements for healthy and balanced growth”.  Should the bill come into force, parents who do impose a vegan diet on their children could be punished by a year in jail.

To be honest, there is so much wrong with this whole proposed bill that I find it hard to know where to start.  So I’ll start with some expert opinions in the area.  Firstly, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the world’s largest organisation of food and nutrition experts, state that, with appropriate food choices, a vegan diet can be adequate for children at all ages. In fact, in their position paper, they go so far as to say that “appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases”. 

Closer to home, the British Dietetics Association are currently working on a project to bring plant-based nutrition information to every community in the UK.  It is their aim to “ensure that medical professionals and service providers know that well-planned plant-based, vegan-friendly diets can be devised to support healthy living at every age and life-stage”.

Another well respected doctor, Joel Fuhrman, M.D., who specialises in preventing and reversing disease through nutritional and natural methods, states in his book ‘Disease-Proof Your Child: Feeding Kids Right’, that “the addition of fortified soy milks and tofu, beans, and green vegetables assures complete nutrition for toddlers and children on vegetarian and vegan diets”.  Furthermore, and perhaps something the Italian parliament should give some thought to, Fuhrman also states that “the omnivorous diet most children consume today is particularly dangerous to their future health”. 

So when the experts in the field of nutrition and dietetics are supportive of a vegan diet, what is the purpose of Savino proposing a bill of this kind? Well, in my opinion, publicity.  And it has worked.  A lot of people have been talking about it, and a lot of international press has picked up on the bill and discussed some further supposed evidence to support her wide-sweeping statements about the dangers of a vegan diet.  All this does is spread fear and doubt and may even lead some people dismissing the idea of a vegan diet due to the controversy.

In reality, the point that should be made is that children’s diets, in general, should be well-planned.  So if vegan diets can support healthy living, then why should we not encourage and support parents to feed their children this diet? As long as they provide for essential vitamins and minerals such as Vitamin B12, Iodine and DHA fatty acids, which are harder (but not impossible) to obtain from plant sources, then there really are no issues?

On the other side of the coin, what happens when children don’t receive a well-planned omnivorous diet? So they eat meat and drink milk, but also suffer from childhood obesity and type-2 diabetes? They are at risk of future heart disease, strokes and other serious health issues but under this new proposed bill, Italian government would have no issues? Shameful!

We’ve come a long way in Ireland in recent years when it comes to promoting healthy living. Most schools have a no junk food policy, breastfeeding rates are slowly but steadily on the increase, and more “made from scratch” meals are being consumed.  But we still have a long way to go.  Fast food outlets such as McDonald’s should be banned from promoting their food to children, marketing of high sugar content food and drinks should not be allowed, and children should be given proper nutrition education in schools – we need to eat to survive so why shouldn’t it feature as strongly on the curriculum as geography or maths??

Whether you choose to raise your children as vegan or not, it shouldn’t matter.  What does matter is that children are given the necessary ingredients to grow to their full potential, to live a happy and healthy, disease-free life, and to prosper.  Parents who do all they can to provide a well-planned, nutritious diet should be praised and those who resort to serving everything with a long shelf life should be re-educated.  Forget about jail time, nutrition education would be more beneficial to all.

Almonds - benefits and recipe for almond butter

Nuts can get a lot of bad press due to their high calorie and fat content, but in reality, there are significant health benefits of eating nuts.  Almonds, in particular, help to control blood sugar levels, which can lower heart disease risk, and they also contain high levels of antioxidants, including phytosterols and phenols.  Almonds are rich in fibre, α-tocopherol, magnesium and copper, and the high monounsaturated fat content contributes to their hypocholesterolemic benefit.  In reality, this means that they can help to control body weight, glucose homeostasis, inflammation and oxidative stress.   

Almonds are definitely worth including in the diet of both adults and children.  For small children who may choke on nuts, almond butter can be a great way to include almonds in their diet, and to introduce the flavour from a young age.  Whilst shop bought almond butter can be very convenient, it is cheaper to make your own.  A 170g jar of ready-made almond butter retails for €4.99, whilst a 200g bag of almonds is €3.79 (price verified in Tesco 20-Aug-2016).  This means that shop bought almond butter is €1.04 more expensive per 100g, which is a considerable difference, especially given that making your own requires very little effort, apart from patience. 

When I’m making almond butter, I roast them in the oven for about 5 minutes at 100^oC, just to release some of the oil, but this isn’t necessary.  

After that, I pop them in the food processer and grind them for 1 minute at the highest speed setting until they are in crumbs.  

I then slow down the setting to a medium speed and leave them to mix for about 7-10 minutes.  Just when you get to the point where you don’t think it’s going to work, the oils from the almonds will release to bind the mixture together and voila, you now have almond butter!

You can use the butter in cooking and baking, as an alternative to dairy spreads on toast and in sandwiches, or you could spread between two slices of banana or apple for a tasty and nutritious after school snack.

Osteoporosis - what is it and what can you do to avoid it?

It is common place for the food industry to push consumption of dairy products due to their supposed preventative properties against osteoporosis.  Osteoporosis, however, has many risk factors, with calcium intake being just one of the many avoidable risk factors and there are a number of non-avoidable risk factors also. 

So what exactly is osteoporosis? In simple terms, it is a disease of the skeleton which is recognised by low bone mass, causing bone thinning and an increased susceptibility to fractures.   The bone thinning in particular can be a chronically painful experience, and can particularly affect the back, whereas bone fractures can reduce mobility and lead to a loss of independence. 

In order to reduce the risk of developing osteoporosis in later life (from 45 onwards bones start to lose their structure) it is important to have good stores of calcium in bones.  That means consuming the recommended intake of 700mg per day of calcium from various different food sources.  But it also means recognising the other risk factors involved.  Smoking, for example, significantly affects the risk of fractures in premenopausal women and in men, and similarly, excessive alcohol consumption is a risk factor.  Body weight is positively associated with bone mass, and so maintaining a healthy BMI is important.  Intentional weight loss results in an increased rate of bone loss, particularly in cases where an eating disorder is present where it leads to low oestrogen levels. 

Vitamin D is important to help the body absorb calcium, and it can be made through exposure of the skin to sunlight.  It is also present in some food sources, such as eggs, dairy, fish and fortified cereals and orange juice.  If you don’t live in a country where you get regular sun exposure (about 10-15 minutes a day, free from sunscreen), then it might be worth considering a supplement of vitamin D.

Regardless of the above, even with the greatest intentions with diet and lifestyle, some people are at a higher risk of osteoporosis than others.  These are considered the non-avoidable risk factors, the most recognisable of which is gender.  Women simply are at a greater risk of developing osteoporosis than men.  But the risks also increase with age and can be influenced by the size of the frame of the individual, with smaller frame size tending to be at higher risk of developing the disease.  If there is a family history of osteoporosis, particularly a parent or sibling, an individual is considered to be in a higher risk category, and low levels of oestrogen at any time, but particularly during menopause increases the risk also.

So whilst it is important to be aware of adequate calcium intake, it is also good to understand the other factors that influence the risk of developing the disease.  As with all health related issues, a balanced diet and an active lifestyle, free from smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, is the best defence.  Ensuring that children and adolescents, in particular, also achieve optimum bone mass and that they maintain this during early adulthood will reduce future risk of bone loss in later life.  

What are hydrogenated fats and how to look for them

When we think about how our bodies digest food, we will usually think of it as a biological process.  But there is a lot of knowledge to be gained from understanding the chemical processes involved too, particularly when it comes to understanding how our bodies deal with different types of nutrients, and why they are grouped together.  From this perspective, the three main food groups, which are differentiated based on their chemistry, are proteins, carbohydrates (literally this comes from hydrogenated (hydrogen) carbons, two chemical elements), and finally fats.  Fats can then be further broken down into saturated and unsaturated fats. 

Unsaturated fat is generally thought to be the healthier fat, but from a chemical perspective, this is identified by the fact that not all of the carbon elements in the chain are fully “saturated” by hydrogen elements.  In general, when these unsaturated fats occur in natural, the unsaturated elements will turn in a certain direction, giving them an appearance of being bent.  This is known as a cis fatty acid.  It is something that is happening at a molecular level, so not visible with the naked eye, but it will also mean that these types of fats are liquid at room temperature. 

In certain circumstances, our diets also provide us with unsaturated fats that appear to be in a kind of a straight line.  These either come from the fat in dairy and meat products, or from commercially produced partially hydrogenated fats.  When cis fats are artificially altered by the forced inclusion of hydrogen, the resulting fat is then hard at room temperature where previously it would have been liquid, and it allows for a cheaper and less perishable substitute for butter.  These fats are known as trans fats, and are extremely detrimental to our health. 

In particular, the hydrogenated fats that are found in foods like certain brands of crisps, some peanut butters, commercially prepared cakes and even fast foods such as burgers can cause serious health issues.  Our bodies cannot metabolise these fats in the normal manner, nor can they be excreted in the normal manner.  This means that they tend to remain in blood circulation.  Regular exposure of our endothelial cells to these types of trans fats has been shown to lead to inflammation and heart disease. 

The food industry recognised how dangerous consumption of these types of fats were and they responded by enforcing strict labelling guidelines on foods containing these.  Unfortunately, they only required products with a trans-fat content of 0.5% or more to specify that this fat was included in the food product.  This means that some foods may contain trans fats without having to state this on their nutritional guidelines, leading to mislead the consumer. 

Below I’ve included the ingredients from a very well-known brand of peanut butter sweet.  You can see clearly that allergens, as is required, are highlighted in bold.  Further down the list is the inclusion of the following: “Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil”.  This is hydrogenated fat, and this is exactly the type of fat you want to avoid at all costs!

Milk Chocolate Flavoured Coating (65%) [Sugar*; Cocoa Butter; Cocoa Mass; Non Fat Milk Powder; Milk Fat; Lactose (Milk); Emulsifiers:Soya Lecithin*, E476], Peanut Butter Creme Centre (35%) [Peanuts; Sugar*; Dextrose*; Cocoa Butter; Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (Palm Kernel and Palm Oil); Salt; Emulsifier: E476; Antioxidant: E319], *Produced from genetically modified Sugar Beet, Corn and Soya Beans

If you do purchase processed goods in the supermarket, it is worth spending an extra few minutes looking at the label to see what exactly is included.  It is possible to find alternative brands that don’t include this type of fat, and it is most definitely worth the extra few minutes’ effort it will take to find them.

Why it's time to shelf the children's menu

I really enjoy going out for a nice meal, with some good company.  I’m at the stage of my life where I would much rather meet friends for a dinner than to meet in a bar for drinks.  Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy a glass or two of wine, but when you have special little people in your life, a Sunday spent with a hangover is a waste of a day!

Even if I’m not meeting friends, my weekends with my son are precious and I love to go out for dinner as a family.  No cooking, no cleaning up, good atmosphere and a chance to talk.  But the more I do indulge myself with meals out, the more frustrated I get by this idea of a “kid’s menu”.  Why is it that the restaurant industry think that just because children don’t require an adult size portion, that they need to be fed fried food, chips or pasta?

Are we insulting the parents by assuming that this is what they want to feed their children and that they wouldn’t know any better, or are we insulting our children, assuming that this is the only food they want to eat?? I have a policy in my house that my son eats the same dinner as I do.  And I don’t want to go to a nice restaurant to only have the option of Spaghetti Bolognese or Chicken Nuggets, so why should he?

I have a difficult journey with my son in terms of food.  When we were weaning, he ate anything and everything I gave to him (homemade purees though, I’m not a fan of the prepared food I’m afraid), but it had to be smooth.  Any sign of a lump and he would gag.  This continued for a long time, but he did grow out of it, eventually.  And then came the aversion to food.  If he decided he didn’t like the look of certain foods, he did not want to eat them.  He refused point blank, and if I did encourage him to “just try one bite” he would literally gag and make himself sick! But I refused to give in and feed him pasta every night just because I knew he would eat it.  I got creative and found different ways of ensuring he had a varied diet, included food he loved with foods he didn’t, making dinner times more fun, having him help me cook, choose the food we bought..you get the idea! And eventually it paid off.  I now have a five year old who loves everything from spinach to onion, sushi to salmon – he still has certain foods he doesn’t like, but who doesn’t!

So, why should my child, or any other child, only have limited, boring options whenever they go out for dinner? Should we just scrap the “kid’s menu” altogether and allow them small portions at a reduced price of any of the adult meal? Or if the most appealing thing about a McDonald’s “dinner” is that their meals come in a box with a toy, then how about we give children their food in a box with a toy…but more like a bento box than a cardboard one?? Restaurants employ chefs for their creativity and flair with food, so why not allow them to bring this skill for the benefit of our most important people? Just because they are not paying the bill, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be impressed with their dinner too!!

I think this is a sort of a period of food revolution, so let’s give our children more credit and allow them to join in, have a say in their own health and wellbeing and eat for nourishment instead of ease?? Let’s replace the sausages with salmon and the chips with some roast vegetables.  I can’t imagine it would take too much more effort to put some vegetables and fish in an oven than it would to throw food in a deep fat fryer. 

Until parents start to put pressure on restauranteurs to implement these changes, they won’t happen.  So the next time you are out for a meal with your family, ask the kitchen to prepare something nutritious for your child.  With their magic ability to make good food taste amazing, I have no doubt we will end up with a nation of little foodies! Healthy little foodies that is….

Easy baked potatoes with lentil baked beans

I have to admit, I do genuinely enjoy cooking and if I have visitors coming for food, I could spend hours pouring over recipes, trying to create the perfect menu to suit everyone, and then lose a day in the kitchen literally cooking up a storm.  But on an average weekday evening, when everyone is tired from school and work, all I want is simple, nutritious, easy to prepare dinners, that don’t have an encyclopaedia of ingredients needed. 

I know there’s many wonderful ideas out there for how to have a “batch cook” day so you just have to move prepared food from freezer to oven, or slow cooker recipes that turn from a bag of ingredients into a dish worthy of Michelin standards whilst you are at work.  But neither do I have a slow cooker, nor do I want to spend half my weekend preparing meals for during the week.

Today was one of those day’s ridiculously busy days where I hardly had time to think.  By the time I got home it was late, I was tired and my son wanted affection and some Mammy time.  I needed something that took very little preparation time, but I also needed some comfort food.  The first thing I found were some lovely white organic potatoes (I emphasise the organic part as I tend not to eat the skin if they’re not, but tuck in greedily when they are).  I gave them a quick rise, wrapped in tin foil, and popped in the oven.  I then went to change into some loungewear and helped my son do the same.  We played some hide and seek and after half an hour, I went back to the kitchen.  Looking aimlessly through the fridge and cupboard, I then decided to try to make some sort of “lentil baked beans” to go with my comfort-inducing baked potato. 

I quickly chopped up one glove of garlic and added to a pot with one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, and left to simmer for a minute whilst I chopped a white onion.  I added that to the pan and sautéed until soft and fragrant.  I then added in about 100g split red lentils to pan, and stirred to mix all the ingredients together.  I poured in 300ml of vegetable stock and added 2 tbsp. of tomato puree and left to simmer for 20 minutes whilst I returned my attention to my son. 

At that stage I gave everything a stir and added in a tbsp. of soy sauce for that extra saltiness. I took the potato out, sliced down the middle and filled with my lentil “beans”.  I always feel guilty if I don’t have something green on my plate, so I quickly chopped a handful of baby spinach and put this on top.  Once it was mixed through the lentils, the heat wilted it and it was actually a nice accompaniment. 

Not the prettiest of dishes but so comforting, wholesome and filling! And the icing on the cake – there was plenty of leftovers for another day.

How to get adequate calcium with a dairy free diet

We are continuously fed information about the “importance” of dairy products for our overall health, in particular the value of milk as a source of dietary calcium.  The truth is, for the 75% of the population with dairy intolerances, the consumption of milk and dairy is impacting on their overall wellbeing and not leading to improvements in bone health.  In fact, in countries where the least amount of dairy is consumed, the occurrence of osteoporosis is also reduced.

Calcium is certainly a very important mineral, and according to the Food Safety Authority in Ireland, we require about 800 mg/day to maintain bone health, with an increase to 1,200 mg/day for teenagers, pregnant and lactating women.  So if we cut milk and dairy products from our diets, where can we then get the necessary requirements for calcium? It’s easier than you might think.

A 200ml glass of whole milk provides approximately 236 mg of calcium.  So in order to obtain the required daily amount, you would need to take in about 680 ml of milk per day.  That’s quite a lot of milk! But using calcium rich foods as a source and can simultaneously ensure a varied diet, rich in other nutrients.  These are just a few sample menus, but do bear in mind that different brands may have more or less calcium:

Non-vegan/vegetarian:

Breakfast

1 slice calcium fortified bread – 175mg

1oz almond butter – 80mg

8oz glass calcium fortified orange juice (not from concentrate) – 300mg

Snack

2 kiwis – 100mg

Lunch

60g canned sardines in oil – 240mg

1 slice calcium fortified bread – 175mg

1 cup raw Kale – 55mg

Snack

½oz whole roasted sesame seeds/hummus containing 1tbps tahini – 140mg

Dinner

Burrito, including the following:

2 corn tortillas – 85mg

1 cup pinto beans – 75mg

1 cup brown rice – 50mg

Approximate Daily Calcium Intake = 1,475 mg

Vegan/Vegetarian:

Breakfast

30g Instant porridge oats – 125mg

200 ml calcium enriched soy milk – 240mg

Snack

1 slice calcium fortified bread – 175mg

Lunch

Salad prepared with the following:

120g raw cress – 188mg

120g raw broccoli – 112mg

10g wakame – 15mg

Snack

30g almonds – 75mg

Dinner

Stir fry, including the following:

120g tofu – 126mg

1 cup cooked spinach – 240mg

Approximate Daily Calcium Intake = 1,296mg

Also of note is that both Vitamin D and magnesium are necessary for calcium absorption.  If we were exposed to at least 30 minutes of sun per day, our bodies would make the necessary Vitamin D and we wouldn’t have to worry.  In Ireland, due to both our weather and lifestyles, this isn’t always possible.  For non-vegans, sources of Vitamin D include eggs, fatty fish and liver, and for vegan diets, fortified foods such as non-dairy milks, orange juice and cereals are good sources.  In terms of magnesium, almonds and cashews are good sources, along with dark leafy vegetables and whole grains. 

When considering you daily requirement for calcium, do give consideration to the fact that salt and caffeine can decrease calcium retention.  If you have a diet that is high in either of these, it may be worth increasing your own personal intake of calcium to ensure you have an adequate supply.

Restaurant Review: The Gatehouse, Maynooth, Co. Kildare

Anyone who is familiar with Maynooth will agree that for a relatively small town, it has an abundance of amazing restaurants.  There seems to be something on offer to suit everyone's taste and pocket.  Situated in its own little corner just off the main street, The Gatehouse opened its doors a couple of years ago, and is the first solo venture for its owner Alan O'Regan.  

The Gatehouse is small but does have the benefit of having an enclosed courtyard outside for those elusive Irish summer days.  The tables are tightly packed inside, meaning on a busy evening you won't have much room for privacy.  The decor is bright, clean and simple with white wooden chairs to match the wall panelling, and dark wood tables to complement their dark wood floors. 

The philosophy of the restaurant promises quality, locally sourced ingredients at affordable prices, and the menu reflects this.  They offer everything from pizzas and pastas to teriyaki salmon, chicken cassoulet and burgers.  Unfortunately for me, but not surprisingly, they don’t include any vegan options in their menu.

I had the pleasure of dining here both for dinner and a subsequent lunch, and was not disappointed with the food on either occasion.  As their evening menu didn’t include any vegan options, I asked the waitress to check with the kitchen to see what they could offer.  Fortunately I’m not a fussy eater, as I wasn’t even informed what that offering would be, but was presented with a large bowl of broccoli and green lentils, cooked in garlic.  If anything else was included, I couldn’t tell.  The dish was simple and tasty, and it was certainly a very generous portion, but I did feel that after a few mouthfuls, it became a little monotonous.  Regardless, I did appreciate that the chef had prepared the dish specifically to suit me, but as the restaurant wasn’t busy (there were only three other tables occupied), I can’t vouch for whether they would be as accommodating on a very busy Saturday night.  I can only assume that they would.

When I asked for the bill, I was very pleasantly surprised to only be charged €9.95 for my meal.  For a main course in any restaurant, this was extremely affordable, and given it was at my request, it was a very fair price.  They certainly lived up to their philosophy of affordability on that occasion.

My return visit I found to be just as pleasant.  It was a beautiful summer’s day so I decided to pop down to see what their lunch offering was like and decided to bring along my 5 year old.  We sat in the courtyard, and drank copious amounts of water.  Their children’s menu could easily be described as standard.  Chicken goujons, sausages, pasta and more pasta.  As we were just out for lunch, and I knew I would be cooking a dinner later in the evening I just asked for some soup for my son instead.  I asked the waitress could I just have a green salad with some vegetables, and dressing on the side and she said she would check with the kitchen.  Again, it was no problem to them to do this for me. 

The salad that arrived was fresh, crisp and included a decent selection of vegetables – lettuce, cucumber, olives, broccoli, red pepper and cucumber, and it came, as requested, with a little dish of balsamic vinegar on the side.  The soup that came for my little diner was an adult portion, served with one side of what appeared to be homemade brown bread.  We both tucked in gratefully, and neither one of us could finish what we were given.

The bill for the meal came to €15.45, which was €4.50 for the soup and €10.95 for my ‘chicken salad’.  Whilst I had no problem paying this price for what was given to me, knowing that I was charged a euro less for a dinner and knowing that chicken is significantly more expensive than fresh veg, it did seem a little unfair. The majority of their lunch options cost significantly less than €10, including a regular Caesar salad, but if that’s the price I have to pay for diverging from the menu, then I don’t really mind.

All in all, the restaurant deliver what they promise.  Affordable quality food.  It’s well worth a visit, especially if the sun is shining.

www.thegatehouse.ie

A vegan in Cannes - a few tips and recommendations

French people are renowned for their high consumption of white bread and rich red meats and cheeses, and yet when it comes to levels of obesity, Ireland ranks number 21 in the world, and France falls in 10 places behind us at number 31.  The French paradox!

Before travelling to the South of France this year, I was apprehensive about whether their love of meat, fish and cheese would impact on my desire to follow a mostly vegan diet.  I quizzed friends about how to explain to restaurant staff in my pigeon French that I didn’t want meat, fish, cheese or eggs, and I prepared myself for eating a lot of green salads and French fries.  My fears were unfounded!

As with a lot of restaurant menus, in particular ones that offer a “tourist” or set-menu, most options will include either meat or fish and the vegetarian option will generally include cheese.  So my first piece of advice is to find a restaurant with a full à la carte menu.  This will generally mean they have a greater selection of fresh food to choose from. 

After that, don’t be afraid to divert away from the set menu items either.  If you see a dish that takes your fancy, but it includes animal products, ask the waiting staff if the kitchen can accommodate to make it without.  Salads in particular are usually a fairly safe bet – they are put together before serving so really easy to omit something and replace with an alternative vegetable or grain.  Just request the dressing on the side if you don’t know what it is.

Another good tip I found useful was to make the effort to learn how to communicate your needs in simple terms, but in the local language.  It will be noticed and appreciated and especially in France where vegetarian (végétarien) and vegan (végétalien) are very similar words, the ability to say what you want, for example “pas d’fromage/sans fromage” (without cheese) etc., will make ordering easier.  

So if you do happen to be travelling to Cannes in the foreseeable future, this is some of the best places I found:

Riviera Beach - http://www.rivierabeach-cannes.fr/

A beautiful restaurant by day and night, this is literally set right on the beach and at the weekend they literally set up in the sand.  I ordered a salad called the “L’Eclatante Riviera Beach” (this means The Sparkle of Riviera Beach) and it included marinated peppers, tomatoes, artichokes, pickled courgette, mushrooms and a green salad.  It is traditionally served with cheese, but I just requested it without. Beautiful, light, tasty and nutritious.  I would highly recommend this restaurant. 

Sushi Kan - http://www.sushi-kan.fr/

Set away from the main thoroughfare, this little gem is in the heart of Cannes city in a little pedestrian plaza with other restaurants.  The staff were so helpful, and as is typical with Japanese cuisine, it was easy to pick some vegan options from the extensive sushi menu.  Here I had some edamame beans, a seaweed salad, a fabulous cabbage salad (they called it ‘Salade de chou’, which literally means coleslaw but I was assured it had no dairy), and some avocado and cucumber maki rolls.  I almost had to be rolled home myself – the food was divine and there was a wonderful buzz about the plaza at night. 

Villa Azure - http://www.villa-azure.com/

This is located just across the road from the beach, but as the front of the restaurant is completely open, there are amazing views across the water in the evening.  The décor is also beautiful, very French chic with a modern touch.  This meal was probably my most difficult of the holiday as the waiter tried to offer me a few different salads that all included cheese a few times before he understood what it was I wanted. The menu is comprehensive, with lots of fish, meat, burgers and pastas but not much variety for vegans, or even vegetarians for that matter.  I eventually just asked for a green salad with vegetables and I got exactly what I ordered.  Nothing too fancy but some roasted Mediterranean veg and an olive oil dressing.  I enjoyed the surroundings more than the food, but the rest of my party went home with happy bellies full of moules et frites!

Beach Kiosk – Le Scoobie Doo

Scattered along the boardwalk at the beach in Cannes is a number of these food kiosks, rented off the Cannes city council for the summer.  They are small and simply and independently run, and you just order and grab a table if you can or take your food with you.  They generally stock a lot of ice creams, cold drinks, espressos, baguettes, paninis and salads and some are better than others, but they are all extremely reasonably priced.  We ate from one of these called ‘Le Scoobie Doo’, which was closest to where we had positioned ourselves on the beach and I was very pleasantly surprised.  I just asked for a green salad with vegetables, and that is exactly what I got.  But it included lots of lettuce, aubergine, tomato, courgette, pepper and a gorgeous peppery olive oil dressing.  For €6.50, I thought this was exceptionally good value.

Cristal Beach - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cristal-Beach/1611974129018503

This was another restaurant set on the beach, where you can have an aperitif in their gorgeous beach bar, before heading up a few steps to their more comfortable dining area.  The views from this restaurant out to sea and down the coast to Mandelieu are quite literally breath-taking.  The menu is varied with some traditional French cuisine along with some Japanese platters.  I opted for sushi, and had a simple but tasty selection of vegetable maki rolls.  As its not a fully Japanese restaurant, the options were fairly limited but the dishes were tasty all the same.

Caffé Roma - http://www.cafferoma.fr/

This is situation right along the busiest street in Cannes, La Croisette.  A busy and big bar and restaurant, this definitely has a very touristy feel to it.  We went for cocktails and stayed on for dinner and I was taken aback by the variety of food they had on their menu.  For me, this was a really enjoyable meal as it was one of the only cooked meals I had during my holiday, and even in the sun, sometimes we all just need a warm, comforting dinner.  I ordered the vegetarian stir fry, which was actually vegan friendly as it was just a large selection of vegetable strips, cooked in soy sauce.  It came with noodles but I was afraid these may have been egg noodles, so I just took the easy option and requested boiled rice instead.  It wasn’t a problem for them and perhaps if I had asked, the noodles may have been ok too.  Regardless, it was really tasty and filling.  Simple but good food.

5 minute breakfast/lunch - sweet potato toast

This is my go to breakfast when I crave something satisfying in the mornings or for a quick and easy lunch.  There are literally 5 ingredients and it takes 5 minutes to prepare:

1 slice of sweet potato
1 Tomato
1/2 Avocado
2 tbsp. hummus
Handful of baby spinach

Cut a relatively generous slice out of a large sweet potato and pop in your toaster - it may take 2 turns to cook through, you'll know if its cooked by pricking it with a fork right in the middle.  It should feel soft.
Whilst that's cooking, slice up a tomato and half an avocado.  Once the sweet potato is cooked, layer the hummus, tomato (I sprinkled a little black pepper on mine but that's just my preference), avocado and top with spinach.  Easy and nutritious!

What to look for when choosing formula milk

I’m not ashamed to admit that I am completely pro-breastfeeding, including breastfeeding to full term, which the World Health Organisation advises is 2 years and beyond.  I myself fed my own son to term, and am glad that I did.  But that doesn’t mean I’m “anti-formula” either.  So what happens when a mother can’t breastfeed or chooses not to? These days there are exclusive support groups available for breastfeeding mothers, but little or none that are exclusively for formula feeding mothers.  So how do they then decide what formula to choose? From my own personal research, it seems mothers don’t really know what exactly to look for in formula milks.  No one helps them to make this decision, it is either based on what the hospital gave them, what other friends have used, the marketing or price point of the formula or which the baby took to best.  But in reality, there are other factors that really should be considered but don’t seem to be discussed.  So I’ll try my best to help.

In the umbrella of “formula milks”, there are three different types – the most common is cow milk based made from altered cow’s milk, soy based for vegans or babies who are lactose intolerant and protein hydrolysate formulas for babies who can’t tolerate cow or soy milk or who have a protein allergy.  For the purposes of this article, I’m only going to point out what to look for when choosing a cow milk based formula, as this is the most widely used type of formula.

So when choosing a formula based on cow’s milk, one of the most important factors to consider is the protein content of the formula.  There is evidence to suggest that a lower protein content may be more beneficial to an infant in the long term, and prospective studies in the area show that high protein intakes during infancy can result in increased weight gain and a higher risk of obesity in childhood.  In the simplest terms, it is proposed that this induced weight gain happens when metabolic protein requirements are exceeded, leading to increased levels of insulin-releasing amino acids, and subsequently encouraging insulin and insulin-like growth factor 1 secretion.  Whilst the protein content in breastmilk naturally diminishes over time, from 2.09g/100kcal initially to 1.24g/100 kcal by 9 to 12 months, EU regulations set a minimum level of 1.8g/100kcal for formula and most manufacturers actually exceed this. 

Along with the protein content, the other element of formula milk to look out for is whether it is supplemented with prebiotics or oligosaccharides.  Breastmilk has the ability to promote the growth of beneficial bacteria in the infant gut and some infant formulas try to mimic this effect using prebiotic supplementation which can decrease the pH of faeces and bring the consistency closer to that of breast fed infants.  The different types of prebiotics used include galacto-oligsaccharide, fructo-oligosaccharide, polydextrose and a combination of these.  They are not digested by the small intestine but are primarily used as a fuel source by the healthy gut bacteria.    As little as 4 g/L of oligosaccharides can increase the abundance and proportion of Bifidobacterium (the microbiota that dominates the human milk fed infants) and 08g/dL fructo-oligosaccharides has been found to promote a gut microbiota closer to that of breastfeeding.  Furthermore, a trial in 2012 with formula containing prebiotics found that this guaranteed a similar growth to breastfed infants, that it was better tolerated and had a protective effect against the development of atopic dermatitis.   The gut environment in early life may have consequences for the metabolic, immunologic, and even neurologic development of the child.

The reality of formula feeding is that it will not and cannot ever replicate human milk.  Breast milk is complex and variable, and some bioactive components simply wouldn’t survive a shelf life and so cannot be included in formula milk.  But research is progressive and continuous, and manufacturers are constantly updating and improving their formulas.  For the moment, however, keep in mind the above two factors when making your choice and most importantly, just cherish every single moment of life with your baby – time passes and they grow so quickly.  As a mother to a five year old, I am certain of that much!

Why you should avoid sweeteners if you want to stay healthy

Obesity is a current global pandemic, estimated to effect 700 million people or over 37% of men and women worldwide and to be the cause of almost 3.4 million deaths in 2010 alone. Obesity has many detrimental health implications, such as Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and we are now seeing the development of these issues in a much younger generation than ever before.  The exact causes of obesity are controversial, and the approaches to combat the issue are diverse, with many different studies providing inconclusive and varied evidence.  One approach taken by the food industry is to replace sugar, a high energy sweetener comprising mainly sucrose, with alternative zero or low calorie sweeteners in food and beverages, in order to reduce overall calorie intake in individuals.  There is evidence to suggest, however, that this tactic may be counterintuitive, and could actually be amplifying the problem.

There are a variety of low-energy sweeteners consumed globally with the intention of sweetening foods and beverages whilst contributing only a few or no calories.   Like any ingredient that is added to food, sweeteners must be safe for consumption and so the particular sweeteners that may be utilised are regulated.   Sweeteners that are approved for use in the European Union are listed under Directive 94/35/EC and given their own E-number: acesulfame K (E950), aspartame (E951), saccharin (E954) and sucralose (E955). Six high-intensity sweeteners are FDA-approved as food additives in the United States, specifically saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame potassium (Ace-K), sucralose,  neotame, and advantame. Information is available from their website (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2014).

When considering the relationship between sweeteners and obesity, an acknowledgment has to be given to the fact that the growth in use of sweeteners by the food industry has curiously coincided with a dramatic increase in worldwide obesity and diabetes epidemics. This poses the question of whether or not there may be an underlying link between the consumption of sweeteners and the effect on the metabolic system, which may result in weight gain and ultimately obesity.

A recent scholarly review explored the interaction between sweeteners and enteroendocrine cells (special cells of the gastrointestinal tract and pancreas) and the consequences for glucose (sugar) absorption and insulin release. The authors found that sweeteners can impact on the body’s natural metabolic responses.  As a result, the ingestion of food and beverages containing sweeteners may act via intestinal mechanisms to increase obesity due to a loss between taste receptor activation, nutrient assimilation and appetite. 

In a further review, the association between sugar, sweetened beverages and Type 2 diabetes was examined.  In this study, they found that higher consumption of sweetened beverages, by just one serving per day, was positively associated with a 25% greater incidence of Type 2 diabetes.  Also, 90% of adults with Type 2 diabetes are either overweight or obese and so a positive association between the two can be concluded.

Additional research provides evidence to suggest sweeteners interfere with learned responses that typically contribute to glucose and energy stability, which could then bring on metabolic problems.  Ultimately what this suggests is that individuals who frequently consume sugar substitutes in the form of sweeteners may be at risk of excessive weight gain, metabolic syndrome, Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Another study examined the impact of sweeteners on glucose metabolism (how the body breaks down and absorbs sugars) and gut microbiota (the health of the gut).  They note that most sweeteners are not ingested in the gastrointestinal tract and that they will lead to a predisposition to metabolic syndrome.  The investigation observed the consequences of consumption of saccharin, sucralose and aspartame on the microbiota of mice, and delivered conclusive proof that sweeteners facilitated the development of glucose intolerance through adverse metabolic effects. 

There is also the argument that sweeteners don’t satisfy and so they result in immediate or delayed energy compensation.  Sweeteners, as a substitute for sugar, may support energy intake reduction, thus promoting glycemic control and weight management in theory, but the viability of the evidence surrounding this may well be questionable as any potential benefits may be reduced, or even negated by compensatory eating habits.  Observational data suggests that sweeteners may promote weight gain through poorly understood mechanisms of cravings, reward phenomenon, and addictive behaviour.  Diet soda may also enhance appetite and consumers of diet soda may use the reduced energy intake as a rationale for consuming other higher-calorie foods, inevitably leading to weight gain.

We have been lead to believe that fat is the cause of a lot of problems when it comes to obesity and so the understanding of the impact of sugar has been swept aside.  Wholesome foods can contain lots of heart healthy fats, and have an unjust bad reputation because of this – such as nuts, seeds and avocados, but really we might be missing the point.  Sugar can, and does, play a huge role in the obesity epidemic.  Replacing sugar with sweeteners is an artificial approach and not in a healthy approach to tackle the issue.  A balanced diet that has minimal use of either sweeteners of sugar would seem to be the most beneficial in the long term in combatting the obesity epidemic.