Calories or Micronutrients - which to choose?

The answer here is that you need to balance these.
You need the best nutrition-per-calorie you can get.

If you're trying to lose weight, gain weight or maintain it, the age old catch-cry of "Do the math - Calories in and Calories out" is the answer.

But you also need to be aware that a 300 calorie piece of cardboard (soaked with the "right" balance of Carbs, Proteins and Fats (not to mention sugars, sodium and fibre) is just not the same as a 300 calorie vitamin and mineral rich, whole-foodstuff to your body.

In the long run (your life), you do yourself a better service by choosing something of the required calorific value, with perhaps a slightly skewed macronutrient balance that is micronutrient dense, than by making a choice that is 'perfect' in the macronutrient sense but relatively devoid of vitamins and minerals.

Your body knows when it is provided with enough of "the good stuff"....and it knows when it's being cheated. If you rip it off in the vitamins and minerals department, for the sake of a few calories, or a few less fat grams, it will provide you with cravings for what it is missing: potentially driving you to eat more orf what you don't need in it's search for "enough" of what it needs.

As re-knowned chef and author Stephanie Alexander said during her recent appearance on SBS's "Insight" (A Gutful), talking about preparing fresh food and, yes, adding a little creme fraiche or butter or olive oil.....

"There is no such thing as "bad" food"
Stephanie Alexander, Insight, Monday 30 March, 2009

So the answer is......as you learn to choose great food and sustenance, choose foods that give you the best value nutritionally. It's easy and delicious!

Cheers :)

Stephanie Alexander's Kitchen Garden Programme

Possibly one of the Australian Government's best investments in it's stated aim of increasing Public health is that of it's investment in Stephanie Alexander's Kitchen Garden Programme.

If you live in Victoria and have school aged children in your family you may well already know about this fabulous programme that teaches children how to grow food sustainably and prepare it for meals.

If you'd like to find out more about this programme and how to get access to it in your school, please click here to visit the Australian Government's Healthy Active page.

Food Labelling to prevent Obesity?

This week, SBS's "insight" discussed the obesity epidemic in it's programme entitled "A Gutful".
The discussion revolved around the perceived causes of the growing levels of obesity in our society and what can be done to prevent and reverse the current situation.

Are we an Obesogenic Society? What are the causes? And ... What measures can we take to prevent the advance of Obesity on us?

The expert audience included Professor Boyd Swinburn of Deakin University; a number of high profile Dietitians, including those from The Biggest Loser (Claire Collins) and Kellogs (Rebecca Bousted); high profile Chefs such as Stephanie Alexander; and representaives form various bodies such as Kate Carnell from the Aust. Food and Grocery Council, and Rob Moodie from the Preventative Health TaskForce.

All agreed that our diets and activity levels have undergone a major revolution in a very short time frame. Also agreed was that this revolution that makes food more accessible and convenient, and that has seen us significantly reduce our activity levels is the major contributor to the major health risk factor that Obesity is.

Much of the discussion revolved around food labelling and making it easier for people to understand what they were putting into their bodies in the name of food.

The thing that bothered me the most was that while I agree there is a need for food labelling that is easier to understand, the labelling criteria focused on only some of the picture!

The % RDI system was discussed, as was the Traffic Light System - both in respect to "Front of Package Labelling". BUT they seem to be concerned with only the standard items: Total Fat, Saturated Fat, Sugars, Sodium levels, and sometimes Fibre.
NOWHERE was there any mention of adding information regarding the overall load of the Vitamin and Mineral Content - the Micronutrient content! The macronutrients that give us our basic energy are important ( Fats, Carbs and Proteins), but so are the micronutrients as they are vital for our bodies metabolic processes.

Much talk was given to the apparently excessive amounts of sugar and fats and sodium in some products, but for my piece, I would take a product with moderate sugar /fat / sodium levels and high vitamin / mineral content over a low/non/fake sugar product or 'nil fat' product with either no or very little micronutient load. And on the basis that my clients don't have health issues that proclude them from this course of action, I recommend them to do the same. Why?
Think about it and come back to get the answer tomorrow!

If you must eat from packets, make an informed decision.
Consider the macronutrient and micronutrient levels and the balance between them to get the 'best bang for your buck' when deciding what to include as fuel in your daily intake.

To find out more about Insight's "A gutful" please go to http://news.sbs.com.au/insight/