Good Nutrition Increases Your Energy !
Simple Guidelines to Balanced Eating
Joan Moloney, Nutritionist
Eat a protein at very meal e.g. hummus on toast or nut butter on toast or nuts with a fruit. Protein fills and protein balances sugars, helping to reduce blood sugar surges and Insulin levels.
Always have a breakfast.
I recommend carbohydrate be included at breakfast after an 8 hour fast overnight and also at lunch to fuel your day but I remove it at evening meals as we are going to bed and do not need any more energy. This translates to no potato, bread, pasta, rice or grain with dinner but you will get some carbohydrate from your vegetables with your evening meal. Ideally you wake up hungry and look forward to breakfast.
Have all 3 macronutrients on the plate at every meal
For Example –
- pasta (Carb)+ tomato sauce (carb) + garlic bread (carb & fat)= carb & fat mainly with little protein content but
- pasta (carb)+ chicken (protein) + broccoli (carb & fibre)+ sauce with olive oil (fat) + tomatoes (carb) + lettuce (water and a little carb) is all 3 macronutrients and 3 healthy servings of veggies
- Eat 3 to 4 handfuls of salad and vegetable items at both dinner and lunch totaling a daily intake of up to 560g. Vegetables are an excellent source of nutrients that protect against cancers and all types of disease.
- Fruits provide water, vitamins and fructose, a sugar. Avoid eating more than 1 serving of fruit (80g) at any one sitting. Eat 3 pieces across the day
- Sip water across the day, aiming for 2 litres or 3 if you exercise heavily and use herbal teas, mineral water, green and black tea to meet the litre target
- Limit coffee to 2 a day and have before noon. Coffee takes fluid off the body but does help alertness and bowel movements and this can be useful in the mornings.
- Limit Red Meat (beef, lamb, pork) to once a week 150g to 200g maximum intake and choose a lean cut. Venison is an excellent second red meat as it has low saturated fat and is less intensively farmed.
- Enjoy Oily fish (Mackerel, Herring, Sardines, Salmon, Anchovy, Trout) twice a week for omega 3. Enjoy White fish (Cod, Hake, Haddock. Monkfish, Whiting, Sole) once to twice a week. Bake, grill or steam. Wild fish is lower in saturated fat and likely to be higher in omega 3 than farmed fish.
- Fats are essential for good health – breast (GLA), brain (EPA & DHA), mental (3:6:9), skin(olive, coconut). You can get good fats in through your diet using unheated oils. Saturated fats are solely used for high heat cooking. Trans-fats and hydrogenated fats are to be avoided as much as possible.(goods baked/heated that contain vegetables oils – biscuits, margarines, crisps)
- Buy only free-range chicken and turkey. Free-range Eggs are an excellent protein source and a mix of all fats
- Eat a green (spinach, broccoli, etc) when eating red meat or any protein to help alkalise the body from acidic foods. Excessive protein can create an acidic internal environment, where valuable nutrients such as calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium, chloride are used to alkalise the body fluids.
- Try to have one or two meat free days a week to rest the bowel. Beans and Lentils are an excellent replacement and can be used in soups, stews, curries and salads. If you are new to beans and lentils, start with small portions.
- Alcohol is a poison and has to be detoxified and cleared out of the body by the liver. The liver uses nutrients to clear alcohol and hence alcohol is a nutrient deplete. If you drink alcohol, rest your liver for 5 to 6 alcohol free days per week. Avoid binges on other nights. Hydrate well when taking alcohol and afterwards. Eat well before and after.
- Eating 3 main meals a day and 2 snacks in between, leaving roughly 3 hours between eating. Avoid grazing across the day, constantly asking your body to digest and clear. Avoid eating 3 hours before bedtime.
- Eat slowly, chewing food well and eat to the point of satisfaction. Some people may need to allow 20 minutes to pass after the last bite of a meal before they feel full. Avoid distending the stomach by over eating.
The only proven scientific way of increasing longevity in humans is to remain as lean as possible through calorie restriction.
