Sugar is something we’re often told to ‘avoid’ but the reality is if we avoided sugar altogether we could be potentially eliminating some otherwise healthy foods; take yogurt for example.

Our American neighbours published ‘refined and processed’ sugar consumption guidelines in the late 1990’s that have still not changed today now that the new dietary guidelines have been released.  The guidelines state that we should “reduce the consumption of refined and processed sugars” “to account for about 10% of total energy intake” (I’m using American guidelines because ours are even more vague!).  If you’re like me, a guideline like this is hard to interpret.

Try this guideline instead; read the Nutrition Facts Table of the product you’re going to consume. If the grams of sugar are 10g or less, then the product is a keeper (that’s the Spectrum Nutrition guideline ;).

How did I arrive at this acceptable sugar consumption guideline?  Well, if you take an average diet of 2000 calories, 10% of those calories from sugar would equal 200 calories.  If you didn’t already know this, there are 4 calories in every gram of sugar so by my calculation that means the average person could potentially handle 50g of sugar in a day and still fall within the national guidelines for healthy eating.

On average, we tend to consume about 5 ‘products’ a day – meaning processed products such as granola bars, cereal, yogurt etc. and therefore if you stick to the 10g sugar rule for each of these products, you’ve stuck to the overall goal of no more than 10% of your daily calories from sugar.  Now, of course if you consume much more than 5 ‘processed’ products in a day you’ll need to do some adjusting.  But remember, sugar is not the enemy – it’s just that too much is too much!

Ever wonder how many calories is in your ‘out’ meal?  Chances are you can find this information online.  It is possible to stick to your eating plan while out by following a few simple rules:

1. Look it up!  Chances are if you’re at a chain restaurant of any kind (Earls, Keg, Milestones, Starbucks, Whitespot etc.) they will have their nutrition facts posted on their web page.  Have a blackberry – let it guide your choices right there at the table.  If hovering over your smart phone at the table is not for you, you can always look at the menu before you go or when you get home – either way, you will have empowered yourself to choose wisely for this time or the next ;).  If you don’t think this is important…look up the soup, salad, pan bread combo at Earls – that ‘meal’ will cost you 1275 calories! (I suggest trying the chicken tacos which will only run you 485 calories).  There goes your weight loss plan.

2. Choose ‘plain’ foods.  Okay, if you eat out once a year – go to town and stop worrying about it!  But…if you’re like the rest of us, it’s not uncommon to eat out a little more often.  So I suggest choosing foods that are not too saucy and make it simple for you to visualize the plate model.  For example: salmon, rice and vegetables or steak, potatoes and vegetables rather than something like a Thai red curry bowl in which case it would be more difficult to determine if you’ve got the appropriate amount of starch, protein and veggies to effectively follow the plate model – and there’s no telling what’s in that sauce!

3. Skip the appy’s and dessert.  This one is really simple – would you have an appetizer before dinner at home?  Would you normally have dessert at home that’s big enough to feed four?  Then don’t do this while you’re out!  You’re better off to have dessert when you get home rather than in the restaurant, that way you can control how many calories you are taking in to nip that sweet tooth in the butt.  A typical restaurant dessert ‘costs’ 600-800 calories.  For those of you who don’t know…that’s an entire meal onto itself for an active man (never mind us women!).

4. And if you really eat out a lot and are bold enough – ask for double veggies with no butter/oil.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you about this one though…I’ve paid up to $7.95 ADDITIONAL for more veggies on my plate!

So, if you’re bold enough – post what you ate the last time you were out on our Facebook page.  If you can’t find the calorie content online, I’ll do my best to look it up for you and let’s compare!

I love discovering new products!  This one is for all you bacon lovers out there…Lilydale Daystarters!

I discovered this product on a recent grocery store tour.  Daystarters are a turkey bacon that actually looks and taste like back bacon.  I tried this product last weekend and it was delicious!  And at only 25 calories per slice is it too good to be true?

The answer is, likely.  The nutrition facts table on the package touts 25 calories per slice; however I’m not sure that’s possible.  Once cooked, each slice weighed about 15g.  That’s important because for those of you who don’t know, protein of any kind equals 4 calories per gram.  Even if we assume each slice is pure protein (which is likely untrue as each slice may also contain some fat which has even more energy at 9 calories per gram), at 15g cooked weight each slice will pack about 60 calories.  Still, not too bad when you compare that to real bacon which averages 75 calories for the same portion size.  Not to mention the more than 3g of saturated fat you save over regular bacon for those of you heart conscious consumers out there.

A word to the wise however; bacon, whether turkey bacon or not, is something I do not recommend on a daily basis for two reasons.  First, the sodium content is too high to be consuming as the main source of protein, and second, cured meats such as bacon or turkey bacon are preserved using sodium nitrite.  Nitrite may be carcinogenic (cancer causing) when heated at high and dry heat, so slow cooking or basting would be best – enjoy!

Did you know there are actually two kinds of fibre?

Well, there is; soluble and insoluble (sometimes referred to as ‘viscous’ or ‘non-viscous’).

Soluble fibre is the kind of fibre that absorbs water and swells forming a gel.  This gel like substance slows down the rate at which foods empty out of your stomach into your small intestine, slowing down the rate of digestion and absorption.  This means you’re going to feel fuller longer, your food is going to last longer and you’re not going to experience such extreme ups and downs in your energy levels (you know the one…the 3pm ‘crash’). It also helps eliminate excess dietary cholesterol which is good news to those of you who have high cholesterol levels.

Soluble fibre is predominately found in oats, oat bran and barely. Other sources of soluble fibre include psyllium, inulin (chicory root) and chia seed (see our chia puddin recipe in the recipes section). So how do you increase your soluble fibre intake? Try these soluble fibre adding tips:

1.       Have oat bran for breakfast (try Rogers oat bran – it’s packs only 100 calories per serving and 6g of fibre) or replace ½ the flour in your muffin or loaf recipe with oat bran

2.       Try All Bran Buds with psyllium mixed with yogurt for a snack

3.       Try making chia pudding for an after dinner snack

4.       Use cooked barley instead of rice with stir-fry’s or curries

The other type of fibre is insoluble fibre.  This is typically what we think of as the ‘roughage’.  Insoluble fibre helps keep us regular and keeps our bowels in good health.  Insoluble fibre is predominately found in products made with wheat and wheat bran. Try these tips for increasing your insoluble fibre:

1.       Aim for at least 4g fibre in 1 slice of bread – we personally recommend Silver Hills ‘Squirrely’ bread or try Healthy Way bread in the red bag

2.       Use whole wheat pasta

3.       Try All Bran breakfast cereals (we like Honey Nut All Bran and Strawberry Medley All Bran)

Fruits and vegetables as well as beans and lentils also contain fibre.  The fibre in these foods tends to be a mixture of both soluble and insoluble fibres so eating lots of fruits, vegetables, beans and lentils is a great way to keep you regular and full of energy!

Do you ever feel exceptionally full after a dinner out?  There could be good reason for that.  Chances are if you indulged in one of those lovely desserts after your meal, you might have actually consumed more calories than you need in two meals – or worse yet, an entire day’s worth!

Desserts at restaurants typically run anywhere from 600 to 800 calories, but can be as high as 1500 calories for just one dessert!  I’ve looked up the calories in desserts from some typical local restaurants…dare to read on?

a)      Earls Chocolate Sticky Toffee Pudding – 700 calories

b)      The Keg’s Crème Brulee – 640 calories

c)      Joey Restaurants Individually Baked Apple Pie – 1050 calories

d)      Montanas Cookhouse’s Brownie Sunday – a whopping 1450 calories!

The Creme Brulee is actually your ‘best’ choice!

So, what do I recommend?  Aside from skipping the dessert (out) altogether, I would recommend trying to keep your portion of any dessert to around 100-200 calories.  Yes, that means sharing, but from most of the examples above, that means sharing one dessert between 4 – 6 people.  Or you could eat dessert when you get home – aim for something fun for around 100 calories – your waistline will thank you!

There is a lot of talk about the benefits of vitamin D lately…most of which actually has some scientific merit actually.

Low vitamin D levels are associated with (that doesn’t mean “cause”) increased risk for heart disease, heart attacks and high blood pressure.  Vitamin D has also been implicated as beneficial in mitigating cancer risk as well as maintaining a healthy immune system.  Again, it’s important to note that vitamin D won’t cure or prevent these conditions, but having the right amount of vitamin D sounds more and more like a good idea.

The right amount then, is this:

• 600 IU for males & females between the ages 19 and 70
• 800 IU for males & females above the age of 70

And yes…you can have too much; 4000 IU of vitamin D daily and above is too much. Studies show that taking vitamin D in these amounts can have adverse effects on your health.  So…more is NOT better, but better make sure you’re getting enough!

Are you getting enough Vitamin D from your diet?

If you’re between the ages 19 and 70, you should be getting 600 IU of vitamin D every day.  So how do you assess if you’re getting enough?

Well…in order to reach 600 IU of vitamin D, you would have to consume at least 1 cup of fluid milk (fortified) plus 3oz salmon every day.  Three ounces of salmon contains about 440 IU of vitamin D and 1 cup of milk is about 100 IU vitamin D.  So you can see it’s not easy to get enough vitamin D from your diet.

Other good sources of vitamin D are:

• 1 tsp. margarine – 20 IU
• 1 egg yolk – 25 IU
• 3oz shrimp – 85 IU
• 3oz liver – 130 IU
• 3oz sardines – 230 IU
• 3oz kippered herring – 75 IU

You know, it’s interesting how much we can learn from children.  Today’s nutrition tip stems out of a conversation I had with one of my nephews when he was nine.

We were talking cereal and he asked me if “Cap’n Crunch” was good for you.  (you heard that right…it’s “Cap’n” not “Captain”, and he pointed that out too!).  In looking at the nutrition facts table, the Cap’n didn’t do too badly….

You might recall that one of our nutrition tips was all about sugar, and I suggested that an acceptable amount in most products would be 10g or less.  Well Cap’n Crunch has 11g of sugar per serving – not too far off if you’re a big Cap’n Crunch fan.  What’s missing is the fibre; one gram hardly covers the roughly 10g most people should be getting from a meal.

I recommend choosing a cereal with around 200 calories per cup, 10g of sugar or less and more than 6g fibre.  So what did my nephew suggest?  …adding bran buds!

One third cup All Bran Buds contains 11g fibre and only 80 calories, making it a perfect addition to his Cap’n Crunch and making a wholesome breakfast – dietitian approved!

If you’re not into Cap’n Crunch, other cereals that will meet the Spectrum Guidelines are:

·         Natures Path: Optimum Slim

·         Mom’s Healthy Secretes: Fibre Fit

·         Kashi: Go Lean Crunch

·         All Bran: Strawberry Medley

Do you snack?  What have you heard about snacking?  You should have snacks….you shouldn’t have snacks…The truth of the matter is that everyone is a little different.  Some snack and some don’t.  The key is keeping it consistent.

Here are a few simply guidelines to help you keep your snacking under control:

• Meals should be no more than 4-6 hours apart, if they are – you need  a snack
• Snacks will only last you 1-2 hours, so once you’ve snacked, you should be thinking about when your next meal will be
• If it’s meal time – just eat your meal!  …forget the snack
• If you snack, snack consistently – same time everyday
• To maximize the lasting effect of your snack – choose a snack high in fibre (5-10g)
• Snacks should be anywhere from 100-150 calories for most women and 150-200 calories for most men

Fried foods – ‘diet’ sabotage 101…

For those of you who know me, you’ll recall I have very few ‘rules’ when it comes to food.  Just about every food can fit into a well planned out eating plan…but fried foods just don’t cut it! Especially when you can enjoy the same wonderful foods at home for ½ the calories…

At last check, Milestones yam fries ‘cost’ a whopping 680 calories, which if split between two people works out to 340 calories each.  Not bad for calories you say – and you’d be right if ½ a plate of yam fries and an ice tea is what you call dinner (which I don’t, by the way).  If you’re like most of us, that’s just the beginning; then the entrée, let’s say for arguments sake is an average of 700 calories, plus perhaps another beverage… all for a grand total of way too much!

Now, if you had just skipped the appy, chose a calorie free drink and picked a meal for around 600 calories, you might actually be close enough to ‘on track’ to win this dietitian’s approval!

Still love yam fries you say?  Bake them at home!  Check out our recipe section for our yam fry recipe and get the full restaurant experience for ½ the calories (sauce included).  Enjoy!