Beat those diet dislikes
Don´t let food "dislikes" get in the way of a getting healthy balanced diet.
This article was published by Healthspan.
The path to a healthy diet can be paved with problems - not least that the foods that are good for us are often less appealing than the ones that are ´naughty´. If eating well is sometimes an effort, don´t worry - here´s some simple ideas for tackling those diet dislikes...
Oily fish turns my stomach
Problem: Mackerel, herrings and sardines have a strong taste that some people find unpleasant. But not eating oily fish means you miss out on omega 3 oils that ease inflammation, boost the brain and improve cardiovascular health.
Solution: Try disguising salmon - a milder oily fish - in fish cakes or pie. Meaty fresh tuna can also tickle the taste buds where other oily fish fails, especially served with something robust like a sweet chilli marinade. Alternatively, take fish oil capsules (ideally a minimum of 300mg combined EPA and DHA daily) - or 1tsp daily of a citrus-flavoured cod liver oil. Vegetarians can get the EPA element of omega 3 from flaxseeds or flaxseed oil, rapeseed (canola) oil, walnuts and leafy green vegetables.
Soya milk just isn´t as nice as dairy
Problem: You´d like to get the benefits of soya but can´t stomach soya milk on your cereal or in your tea. Isoflavones in soya may afford some protection against breast and prostate cancers and ease a woman´s passage through the menopause.
Solution: Soya comes in other forms you may find more tasty - try soya ´nuts´ or snacks from your health food store, marinated tofu (ideal in stir-fries) or soya mince. Chocolate lovers will be delighted to know you can also get chocolate soya milk! If none of these ideas appeals, soya isoflavones can also be taken in supplement form - a suitable intake that reflects the traditional diet of Asian populations is around 30-50mg isoflavones a day.
Pulses are boring and give me wind
Problem: Beans can be a tad on the bland side and may have unpleasant digestive side effects. But they´re a great source of antioxidants and cholesterol-lowering soluble fibre and have a very low GI (glycaemic index), which means they´ll help fill you up and keep your blood sugar stable.
Solution: To avoid flatulence, start with just a handful of beans or lentils at first and build up slowly to allow your gut time to adapt. To add a bit of interest, try stir-frying pulses with tiny strips of lean, lower-salt bacon. Or add beans to casseroles where they soak up the tasty flavours and use frozen broad beans (peeled to reveal their vibrant green colour) to provide a crunchy texture in salads. If all else fails, baked beans and hummus count as healthy pulses too, as do frozen peas.
Spinach is soggy and bitter
Problem: It may be Popeye´s favourite veg, but a lot of us are less convinced. Spinach is rich in folic acid, beta carotene and iron and may help look after your sight. Key eye protective ingredients are lutein and zeaxanthin which protect the retina against UV damage. High dietary intakes are associated with lower risk of macular degeneration - the leading cause of age-related blindness in the West.
Solution: Try wilting a little fresh spinach into stir-fries and disguising with a sauce. Or use crisp raw spinach leaves in a salad. Kale is a lutein-rich alternative to spinach, but if you can´t mange two to four good servings of either a week, a lutein supplement is useful to make up the shortfall.
Garlic repeats on me
Problem: You either love or loathe it - and even if you love it, there´s still the problem of antisocial breath. To get the full benefits of garlic, which include those to the immune system and heart, you need to eat around a clove every day.
Solution: Chewing parsley can help reduce the smell of garlic on your breath. But for consistent health benefits without antisocial effects, choose an odourless supplement and take it with food.
Low fat is dull
Problem: Not being able to indulge your taste buds with fattier foods can make healthy eating seem like a chore.
Solution: Swap to a moderate-fat diet, but make sure the fats you do eat are largely the ´good´ types - eg monounsaturates in nuts, seeds, avocados and olive oils, along with omega 3 polyunsaturates in fish oils, flaxseeds, rapeseed oil and walnuts. It´s okay to get up to 40 per cent of your calories from fat (that´s up to 90g on a 2,000-calorie diet), as long as most of it comes from these healthier sources (not animal fats and hydrogenated fats). Eat as close as you can to the Mediterranean model and you can´t go too far wrong.
Green tea is no match for my cuppa
Problem: Green tea is an acquired taste, but of the various ones available, it appears to have the best antioxidant and therefore disease-protective properties.
Solution: Don´t worry if you can´t stomach it: black tea still has some antioxidant benefits and if you feel you could benefit from the specific properties of green tea, there is always the option of taking a standardised extract in supplement form. The most important thing, however, is getting your daily intake of fruit and vegetables (at least five portions). Any extra antioxidants from tea are a bonus.
High fibre is dull
Problem: However hard you try, you can´t bring yourself to like whole grains as much as white. But the high-fibre versions are better for your digestive system and richer in B vitamin, fibre and zinc.
Solution: Wholemeal bread might be bland, but how about granary (malted brown), multigrain or seeded ones? The key is to experiment until you find a high-fibre taste you like. With rice and pasta, try mixing half whole-grain with half white and building up from there. And don´t forget the impact that one bowl of healthy high-fibre cereal like All Bran or muesli can make at breakfast time either.
Article issued: 13 September 2005
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