It was revealed by the Food Standards Agency in 2012 that there are over a million cases of food poisoning each year, 20,000 hospitalisations and 500 deaths. This is largely due to the way we store our foods, resulting in growth of bacteria, viruses, and parasites which can pose a serious threat particularly to pregnant and breast feeding women, young children, the elderly, and anyone with impaired immunity.
The good news is that up to 25% of the outbreaks can be prevented with safer practices in the home.
Modern day refrigerators, however, only really became a household kitchen appliance after the Second World War and this modern technology has undoubtedly changed our cooking and eating habits, but not necessarily always for the better!
When pre-technology families relied on ice boxes and snow packed pits to keep their food cold, space was a luxury they seldom had and any available was used for vital staples such as meat, milk and butter. Other foods were preserved using methods such as salting, smoking, spicing, pickling and drying. Seasonal eating was embedded in their lives with fruits and vegetables, by necessity, grown and bought locally.
The arrival of kitchen refrigeration has been a mixed blessing. It introduced the concept of ready meals and pre-prepared foods which many see as a step backwards from healthy eating, but has also allowed us the opportunity to store more luxury foods and to buy and store more exotic and even foreign produce; so arguably whilst home cooking has declined in many homes, and wastage has become an issue, some have been able to embrace more exciting and challenging ingredients.
Safe storage, however, remains paramount, and the temptation is to overstock the fridge, seriously risking cross-contamination and poor air circulation which prevents the fridge from holding its optimum temperature. This can quickly encourage the multiplication of bacteria which can result in unpleasant and potentially life-threatening food poisoning,
Check out your fridge and see if you are cleaning, storing and separating your foods correctly!
TOP SHELF
MIDDLE SHELVES
BOTTOM SHELF
CHILLER DRAWERS
JARS
CANS
Used well and safely, fridges are a valuable solution to busy modern lives, enabling us to stock up on fresh fruits and vegetables which are such an important part of our healthy diet; or to batch cook and store healthy home made meals.
Admittedly this programme has taken a degree of planning and preparation, but thank goodness for great health food shops in Brighton & Hove! Infinity Foods makes life so much easier and local grocers and supermarkets are now also stocking much more variety when it comes to alternative flours and unusual vegetables, so it’s more a question of being organised! My kitchen has transformed into a healthy mini-mart, but a good distraction for the weekend could be a kitchen cupboard clear out.
This isn’t intended as a weight management exercise, but my clothes are definitely feeling looser, which is very motivating. More importantly, I have been sleeping very deeply, my mind feels clearer and I’m waking up quickly and with plenty of energy, so I seem to be getting through so much more during the day.
The hard part is planning meals. I have all the ingredients and plenty of menus, supplied both by the organisers but also other participants who are kindly sharing theirs on the group Facebook page we are using; but fitting the meal preparation into a busy working day needs a bit of organisation. I have to say though, the results have been fun and I’ve tried all sorts of things which I have never sampled before. (Admission to former clients – I had never actually tried quinoa porridge before, but it’s genuinely delicious!)
The other challenge is planning meals whilst away from home – a reality for most of us face on a regular basis, and one of my biggest this week. Again pre-planning so the key here. Work out where you are likely to be, and the options you will have available. If eating out in a restaurant, it is usually possible to look at the menu online before you go. This helps your brain engage with the choices you want to make and helps avoid making hasty bad decisions when faced with the waiter and his notebook. When heading out for a day’s work, take prepared food and snacks to avoid the temptation of the local sandwich shop or garage.
The foods, meals and supplements we are working have all been carefully selected to support the liver and gut with their natural processes of removing waste matter and toxins from the body. If these aren’t efficiently removed they can cause all sorts of problems such as IBS, bloating, PMS and a range of other hormone-associated complaints; so this really is the basis of achieving good health.
As for today; lunch will be an avocado salad (full of essential fats and Vitamin E) and tonight I’m aiming for something creative using chicken.
Watch this space, and visit my Pinterest and Facebook pages to see what I come up with. (with apologies to any proper cooks out there!)
P.S. This is the avocado salad I came up with – from anything I could find in the fridge, which ended up comprising:
A mix of spinach, rocket and watercress; sliced avocado, tomatoes, bean sprouts, sliced pear, walnuts and pomegranate seeds; all drizzled with flax seed oil.
Slightly off-menu but it worked for me!
There was a fascinating insight into the world of dieting this week with the start of a new series on BBC2 which reinforced all my beliefs that fad diets just don’t work. Whilst some of the failure statistics the presenter quoted may be under debate on today’s blogs and forums, the over-riding message that came across was that the concept of the modern day ‘diet’ is an industry fuelled by commercial enterprises with much charisma and a desire for large profit margins.
Most honest of all was the former Financial Director of WeightWatchers who admitted that the reason the industry is so profitable is because, on the whole, the commercial diets tend to fail, so people return, spend more money and try again.
It was also fascinating to hear that the industry effectively began back in the US when a statistician for a big insurance company re-defined the parameters of ‘healthy weight’, and in doing so, re-classified a huge proportion of possibly healthy Americans as being overweight. This was latched on to by the US Government and medical institutions, creating a perfect breeding ground for companies hoping to thrive on the guilt and worries of the population and create a solution to this new-found national neurosis.
We undoubtedly have a growing obesity problem, not just in the UK, but worldwide, with the World Health Organisation now saying that obesity is a great problem than starvation globally.
So is there a role for ‘diets’ or should we be looking for other solutions?
Firstly, I prefer to use the term weight management. The words ‘diet’ and ‘weight loss’ imply deprivation, which automatically triggers a mindset of failure. Surely it’s better to embark on something positive and achievable which gives you lasting, healthy and sustainable results?
Each person should be treated as a unique individual, recognising that weight issues can be caused by a variety of reasons, so it is too simplistic to say that merely eating less is the solution. If that were the case everyone would achieve their targets and we wouldn’t have a national crisis! For some it could be related to medical issues which need to be understood and addressed, such as adrenal insufficiency, thyroid problems, stress or prescription medication. For others, previous experiences and psychological issues can be the root cause. How many of us were told as a child ‘Eat up – there are children starving in Ethiopia’? These childhood habits can stick and cause immense harm.
Social factors also need to be looked at; in particular the way we now have constant access to convenience foods 24/7. We eat on the run, and eat mindlessly with little thought or understanding about what or how much we put in our mouths. Combine all these factors and you can see the problem.
A lucky few might have the wherewithal to change their habits with little apparent effort and hit their goals on their own. However, there are many people who simply don’t have the know-how to unravel all these elements and get back on track. For them, a structured plan can be useful and group programmes also have their benefits since peer support and encouragement will always help promote success. These things can be hard to achieve on your own!
Rather than crazy fads, what we need are realistic and achievable ‘health’ programmes which offer long term re-programming of habits without doing anything extreme and harmful which will pile the pounds back on further down the line and leave a frustrating sense of failure.
Ideally this should combine a medical overview to understand why weight might be increasing; education to learn how each food group is vital for health and wellbeing.
For some, a group dynamic can help provide additional peer-group encouragement; also psychological support and motivational coaching can help explain habits and overcome barriers to success; but finally expert guidance is vital to develop new healthy habits which become a natural part of daily routine around real life which includes holidays, meals out, birthdays and festive meals. The secret is to learn a few healthy habits, relax around food, and most importantly discover how to enjoy it again.
So pack away those meal replacements, pills and extreme diet books and take a new approach. Focus on eating lots of the good and tasty stuff rather than obsessing about what you ‘can’t and ‘shouldn’t eat.
Our practical and realistic weight management programme offers a unique approach combining my qualified nutritional support and advice, with motivational coaching and hypnotherapy provided by Marco from OpenMindz to offer the additional techniques which will help you reach your goals.
The next 6 week Brighton and Hove Weight Management course starts on Tuesday 1 October in Preston Park, offering a small but supportive group environment. We know it works, so come and join us!
Contact me for more information.