Tag Archive for: Fertility

,

Why “2 & 5”? – understanding the science that supports our dietary guideline goals for fruit and vegetables

Science supports eating fruit and vegetables! The Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend we ‘Go for 2&5’ … in other words, to enjoy two serves of fruit and five serves of vegetables every day.

Where does the recommendation for ‘2&5’ come from?

The benefits of eating fruit and vegetables have long been reported (by doctors, scientists and of course, our mothers!). Not only do they make for a colourful and tasty meal experience, but they also provide lots of nutrients that can help to keep us healthy and protect us from disease.

Scientists are beginning to discover more about how certain foods can protect us from disease. Vegetables and fruit contain phytochemicals, or plant chemicals, as well as a variety of vitamins and minerals. These ‘biologically-active’ substances have been linked to a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and some cancers.

understanding the science that supports our dietary guideline goals for fruit and vegetables

How much extra do I have to eat for health benefits?

Did you know that each additional serve of vegetables you eat each day reduces your risk of coronary heart disease?1 And that consumption of at least one and a half serves of fruit each day is associated with a reduced risk of stroke?1 Additionally, researchers have found that overall risk of mortality (dying) decreased by 5% for each additional serving of fruit and vegetables consumed per day (up to five serves per day, beyond which no further reduction in risk was seen).2

Different fruits and vegetables contain different nutrients and can therefore help protect our bodies in different ways. For this reason, it is a good idea to include a variety of fruits and vegetables in your diet – colour your meals and snacks with fruit and vegetables.

Fruit and vegetables may also help prevent excessive weight gain. They are low in energy (kilojoules) and high in fibre relative to other foods and help to ‘fill us up’.1 This reduces the risk of overeating which can cause weight gain.

understanding the science that supports our dietary guideline goals for fruit and vegetables

After some practical (and yummy) tips to help? Read on…

If you’re finding it hard to get enough vegetables, you could try:

  • Aiming to fill half your plate (or meal) with salad or cooked vegetables at lunch and dinner,
  • Having grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach or baked beans at breakfast (yes, legumes count as a vegetable too!), or
  • Including vegetable based dips like hummus or salsa with vegie sticks or crackers as a snack.

If your fruit intake is low, you could try:

  • Adding tinned fruit or sultanas to your breakfast cereal,
  • Making a fruit smoothie, or
  • Including fruit in your salads (such as peaches in a green, leafy salad or apple in potato salad or sultanas in a grated carrot salad).

understanding the science that supports our dietary guideline goals for fruit and vegetables

Remember that each additional serve of fruit and vegies you eat each day can have a valuable effect on your health.

WANT TO LEARN MORE? 

If you’re ready to do something about adding more fruit and veg to your meals, our bundled Perimenopause consultation includes personalised guidance plus full access to our Nourish & Nurture for Perimenopause – so you have expert support and practical tools working together from day one. Book your consultation here.

CO-AUTHOR: Elin Donaldson, APD

Elin Donaldson, APD

REFERENCES

[1] National Health and Medical Research Council. Australian Dietary Guidelines – providing the scientific evidence for healthier Australian diets. Canberra: National Health and Medical Research Council; 2013 Feb.

[2] Wang X, Ouyang Y, Liu J, Zhu M, Zhao G, Bao W, Hu F. Fruit and  vegetable consumption and mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. BMJ. 2014; 349: g4490.

 

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Close up of tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and carrots

IMAGE CREDIT:  Scen Scheuermeier/Unsplash

 

/by
, , ,

Is what and how you eat working for you…or against you?

We think ‘diet’ is a four-letter word.

Food restriction or “dieting” means intentionally depriving yourself. Ongoing deprivation is generally only ‘successful’ for a certain amount of time before we ‘fall off the wagon’ and start eating for comfort or to rebel against the ‘diet’.

Initially we might feel temporarily better before we inevitably become disappointed or frustrated with ourselves that we ‘failed’ and decide to “diet” again.

Why does the diet industry thrive? Repeat business!

Does this cycle sound familiar?

The majority of clients that we see for weight management are already aware of what an ‘everyday’ food and a ‘sometimes’ food is, yet struggle to reach or maintain their most comfortable weight. Why is that?

When working towards your weight (and health) goals it is imperative to not only look at what you eat but also why you eat, how you eat and where you eat.

We are all capable of eating when we are not physically hungry and it is quite normal to do this on occasion. This is called ‘non-hungry eating’. Do it too often however and this type of eating behaviour can make it hard to achieve your most comfortable or healthy weight.

If we can reduce the amount we are eating when we don’t really want it, as well as reduce the amount we are eating when we don’t really enjoy it, it will make reaching a healthy, comfortable weight easier without relying on extreme diet restrictions.

Experience tells us that in many situations, a particular type of food might taste great initially, but if we pay attention to the taste, texture and flavour, surprisingly quickly the food becomes less pleasurable.

 

Being more aware of whether or not we are enjoying the food we are eating is an important step in reducing the overall amount of food we eat. This is also known as practising mindful eating.

Do you start off enjoying something but then just keep eating to finish it off?

The If not dieting© ‘Law of Diminishing Pleasure’ is a concept that can assist us to eat less, while at the same time increase our enjoyment from food. It can show us that if we eat with awareness, the more we eat of a particular food the less pleasure we receive as we continue to eat that particular food. It applies to all types of food that we eat although the rate of decrease will vary for various types of foods.

By being more mindful of this decrease in pleasure we can continue to eat all types of foods (everyday and sometimes foods), however learn to eat less by stopping earlier – when our enjoyment has diminished.

 

Lifestyle PeriMenopause Dietitians specialise in dietary counselling methods that focus on the behaviour of eating. We use a coaching approach to weight management and healthy eating that draws on evidence based strategies to promote a ‘life-skills’ focus to facilitate lifestyle change to assist our clients achieve a more comfortable and healthy weight.

For further information or advice on being a healthier you, make an appointment here.

IMAGE CREDIT:  Nicolas Hoizay/Unsplash

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Looking down into a spiral staircase

/by