Health 2000’s Stu Cook examines five foods that health experts can’t stop talking about!
With Pride all but done for the year, and the wine and food festival completed, it’s a great time to reflect on our diet. Even if we’re not looking to lose weight, what we eat reflects internally and externally. Outbreaks on the skin, intestinal bloating and headaches can be warning signs that what we eat isn’t good for us.
Sugar: Having had a sweet tooth most my life, cakes, biscuits and just about everything else I ate contained sugar. It contributed to lows mid-afternoon and sleepless nights. Since cutting out the sugar, I have more energy than ever and feel great! Experts agree that sugar intake should be minimised or cut where possible.
Alcohol: We know excessive consumption is bad, and being teetotal isn’t ideal, so is there a happy medium (or is that a joyful psychic?). Latest reports tell us a glass of red wine will help lower cholesterol, reduce blood sugar and boost the brain. While a small glass has benefits, just because your glass is big enough to take a whole bottle doesn’t mean it should!
Eggs: Don’t eat the yolk . . . wait, now eat the yolk . . . wait, now don’t eat it. What the…?
The yolk contains higher levels of cholesterol, considere d something to be aware of, but it also contains 13 nutrients! Now it is all about where cholesterol comes from and how it reacts in the body, and eggs yolks are again considered a healthy snack if they are free range and you don’t overdo them!
Coconut oil: Touted as the saving grace of weight loss gurus, coconut oil has had good and bad press lately. So what’s the deal? It is primarily a saturated fat, which we have all been told is bad. However, it is made up of short-chain fatty acids that bypass the lymphatic system (that removes toxins and other waste from the body) and are quickly burned for energy. So this makes it pretty good.
Fats: There are good fats like olive oil, and bad fats like canola. Then there are fats that are, not good or bad. The answers are slippery to find, and sometimes the evidence is speculative. We need good fats – virgin, non-hydrogenated and therefore easily processed. A bad fat is typically a trans-fat, one high in the inflammatory omega 6*. Avoid trans-fats as they can increase the risk of heart disease. And above all, don’t have too much of any of them!
*Omega 6 should come from a
healthy source such as oily fish
and as part of the overall
Omega 3, 6 & 9.
Article | Stu Cook.
With a passion for Natural Health, Stu joined the industry 10 years ago in the UK. As the Health 2000 Marketing Manager he is constantly looking for ways to engage consumers to think about ways to live naturally healthy.
