I don't know why it is, but my New Year's Resolutions never come at New Year. I suppose it's because January is such a low time - the weather is grim, the days are still dark, and there's still so much of winter to get through. For me, the year has two psychological starting points - one is in September, when the academic year starts, and one is in spring. There's something about that burgeoning newness that makes me want to make myself a better person. If nature can make itself afresh, with the help of just a bit of sunshine and warmth, well, why shouldn't I, too?
So, with the help of spring's positivity, I'm turning my thoughts to "medicinal" food. I know that when I eat healthy stuff I feel better. But I want to go one step further, and actively target the nutrients which will help me and my family be as well as we can be.There is so much in the press about this foodstuff being dangerous, and that one being a miracle cure for everything under the sun, it's hard to know what to believe. For example, for years we've been told that polyunsaturated fats are the bee's knees - now it turns out that they actually may have been causing more harm than good because too much has the effect of increasing inflammation. If you're interested, it's discussed here - but this is just one of many places you can find information on the subject. It's hard to know which sources are reliable, so I've been digging around to find some reliable ones. I'm still digging, but here are a couple I've found that I think it's worth sharing.
The Food Doctor is a website that promotes a Nutritional Advice Service and a range of products which can be found in supermarkets. While I do like some of their products (we regularly buy their wholegrain seeded pitta breads from the supermarket) I'm usually a bit sceptical about advice from sources with commercial interests. However, they have a useful feature where they collect and comment on health stories in the press, and I have found this very interesting.
WebMD, the site I linked to re Omega 6 fats above, is also quite useful - there are US and UK versions of the site, which are quite different, and I've found it useful to switch between the two.
All the reading I've been doing has been distilled down to a few principles I'm trying to follow in my new quest for 'Ultra-Health' (though actually, just good health would do!)
- Eat whole foods. Wholemeal bread, pasta, brown rice, quinoa, etc. Nothing that's had the brown stripped out.
- Cut out all refined sugars. Sweeten - only if absolutely necessary - with substances which don't have so much impact on blood sugar, such as honey or agave nectar. Keep artificial sweeteners to an absolute minimum.
- Be mindful of Glycaemic Load.
- Eat mainly plant based proteins - I'm basing about 75% of meals around these. There are some great vegan recipes out there.
- Get plenty of Omega 3s. Alaskan salmon is one of the animal proteins I'm using a lot of! And flax/linseeds and walnuts are also a good source.
- Cut out polyunsaturated fats such as sunflower oil.
- Have at least 5 portions of vegetables a day, plus at least 2 of fruit.
- Limit alcohol and coffee. I'm having a coffee maybe twice a week, and a couple of glasses of red wine once or twice a week.
I've been doing this most of the time for about a month now. I haven't limited portions. I've had cake and treats made according to these principles. And we have had various meals out and family celebrations during that time where I had to be a bit (well, a lot) more flexible. But it seems to be working, as I feel much much healthier, and I have even lost half a stone.
