THE PERFECT LAST-MINUTE CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR A HEALTH-CONSCIOUS FOODIE!

Regular readers will know that combining my passions for tasty treats (I have a terrible ‘sweet tooth’) with the necessity for health, I am always in search of useful information on your behalf. It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it!

I recently discovered ‘Red Velvet Chocolate Heartache’ by Harry Eastwood.

This scrumptious book is almost good enough to eat, let alone the cake recipes within it. The evocative photographs begin inside the front cover, and depict the cakes in the setting of a beautiful English country garden, nestling against antique china, and displayed on miniature furniture in a period doll’s house.

The recipes use seasonal vegetables to reduce fat and sugar content, thereby making them healthier but incredibly tasty with not a whiff of the secret ingredient hidden within. What an incredibly clever way to feed vegetables to children and reluctant adults, disguised as a nurturing and comforting treat.

The recipes are also suitable for anyone who has a wheat intolerance, as easy-to-find substitutes are used and do not detract at all from the texture or flavour.

As well as including step-by-step instructions for the perfected recipe, Ms Eastwood diarizes the creative process she followed to arrive at the end result, and gives the reader ‘character notes’ on each cake – a fun and personalised angle which encourages us to get to know the cakes ourselves. I found that the ‘Courgette and Camomile Cupcakes’ more than lived up to their promise.

The perfect last-minute Christmas present for a health-conscious foodie who loves cakes (don’t we all?!) Follow this link to check it out for yourself. http://tiny.cc/redvelvetchocolate

Amazon say they can still deliver in time for Christmas (select Express Delivery at the checkout)

Do ‘takeaways’ contribute to Type 2 diabetes?

On Dec 7th, K J Smith, L Blizzard, S A McNaughton, S L Gall, T Dwyer and A J Venn published the academic paper, ‘Takeaway food consumption and cardio-metabolic risk factors in young adults’. This paper outlined a study which reported that eating takeaway meals twice a week or more increased a person’s chances of becoming insulin-resistant, and in turn their chances of developing type-two diabetes.

They took a sample of 1,896 people aged 26-36, and surveyed them on their eating habits in regard to takeaway food, their physical activity and to what extent they were a ‘couch potato’. It also measured their waistline and blood pressure.

They primarily divided participants into two groups- those who ate takeaway food once a week or less, and those who ate it twice a week or more; within this, they then categorised results on account of age, employment status, and again, the amount of physical activity the person generally undertook.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the report indicates that the people who ate takeaway food twice a week or more had higher blood sugar and insulin levels than those who ate it once a week or less. It did note that women seemed more susceptible to the unhealthy effects of takeaway food than men, although of course it still had a negative impact on the health of male participants as well.

Looking at some reader comments discussing the article, some people are clearly critical of this study; some argue that it is basically common sense that eating a greater amount of unhealthy food makes you more prone to diabetes, whereas others argue that, whilst the study took several external factors into account, it failed to account for their other eating habits. After all, just because a meal isn’t ‘takeaway’ in no way means that it’s healthy, either! There are all manner of other foods that can still constitute an ‘unhealthy diet’.

Is it takeaway food specifically that makes people more prone to diabetes, or is it the fact that it’s unhealthy food? As stated above, you could quite easily argue that this study gives no real new, useful information. Yes, unhealthy food is bad for you- that’s why we call it ‘unhealthy’. Logic would therefore dictate that the more of it we eat, the more likely we are to become unhealthy ourselves and again, if you make the connection between takeaway food being unhealthy, it’s really quite questionable as to whether anything in this article can really be called revolutionary or even surprising.

What do you think about this article and this study? Feel free to leave any comments in the comment box. :)

The Food Hospital (06-12-2011)

This TV programme (screened at peak time on Channel 4) continues to fascinate by showing that quite severe health conditions can be improved with dietary changes.

The first patient on this week’s episode was Anne Colins, age 55, who had been suffering from terrible hot flushes for 6 years due to her menopause but was unable to take Hormone Replacement Therapy due to other medical issues.

The doctors on the show recommended smaller, more natural doses of hormones in the form of plant-based estrogen, and developed a food plan for her including tofu, soya, edamame beans, soya milk and yoghurt, together with chickpeas and other calcium-rich foods.

Anne stuck to this diet for ten weeks (despite occasionally having more than their suggested one glass of wine per day!). The episode showed her at two separate later stages, experiencing considerable reduction in both the frequency and intensity of her hot flushes.

The second patient was Kate, age 39, who had suffered from Ankylosing Spondylitis- for 21 years. This condition is a form of arthritis which usually attacks the spine, fusing the vertebrae together and causing limited mobility and considerable pain.

There is no outright ‘cure’, and the standard treatment of anti-inflammatory painkillers had only helped so far in terms of curbing the pain.

The doctors deduced that starchy foods could be contributing to the problem- certain bacteria associated with the disease feed on starch, and the antibodies created to combat them can erode cartilage. They did however state that starch was a key and vital food requirement, so that she would have to be careful to ensure that she still got the required amount of starch, whilst eliminating the excess from her diet.

Kate was advised to avoid eating potatoes, starchy vegetables, rice, pasta, and wheat products, but could still eat small amounts of beans, pulses and bananas to ensure she got enough starch.

Upon returning six weeks later, she felt that whilst the pain understandably hadn’t gone completely, there had been a significant improvement.

The third patient, Taigh aged 19, had a phobia of most foods brought about by numerous food intolerances as a child. She had never eaten a vegetable in her life and only ate crisps, bacon, sausages, pancakes, bread, sweets and ice cream but said that she always feels energetic (ironically this girl is training to be a fitness instructor!). However, her selective phobia-driven diet caused embarrassment, meaning she rarely ate with family or friends.

The doctors discovered that whilst there were no outwardly visible symptoms of ill-health, she was suffering from malnutrition (understandably), and putting herself at risk for problems such as scurvy and anaemia, due to lack of a wide range of nutrients found in a normal balanced diet.

They helped her take things one step at a time to overcome her phobias, and upon returning at a later date, she stated that she was making steady, if slow, progress.

Next week is the final episode in the series, and it will be very interesting to see what dietary measures the experts suggest to combat Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.