Caffeine
Caffeine is a drug that acts on the central nervous system primarily the brain. If you drink a lot of coffee then you are probably addicted. You will know if caffeine is causing you a serious problem if you have difficulty sleeping, get jittery, have headaches after drinking coffee or other caffeinated beverages or food or feel your heart beat faster. Even if you don’t experience these problems caffeine is very dehydrating to your body and this alone can cause your problems. If you don’t have any obvious and immediate problems from caffeine you can easily test if you are addicted by eliminating caffeine for a day. If you experience cravings, headaches, irritability, feel depressed or moody then you are addicted and probably need to consider cutting back.
Coffee and tea isn’t the only place that you will find caffeine so you may need to consider everything that you consume to assess your total exposure to caffeine. It can also be found in energy drinks, cocoa beans, decaffeinated coffee, chocolate, common cold medications, diet pills and pain relievers. The reason that caffeine is found in over the counter medication is that it is itself a pain reliever and can also increase the effectiveness of other pain relievers.
If you are a coffee lover my advice would be to buy the best quality of coffee you can afford to buy, drink in moderation – maximum two cups per day and savour every mouthful. Every once in a while have a caffeine free day and if you don’t experience withdrawal symptoms then you know that your treat is under control.
I could write this whole article on the pros and cons of each item on this list but my aim is to get you moving in a healthier direction whilst still enjoying some treats. If you are committed to living the healthiest life you possibly can then please book a 1-1 consultation with me and we can work out a plan to get you to where you want to be.
Fizzy Drinks
Fizzy drinks are loaded with sugar or even worse a sugar substitute like aspartame. Whilst aspartame itself has no or few calories it signals to your body that sugar will be arriving shortly. When your body does not receive the promised sugar you will be left feeling hungry and craving more. Give your body something healthy that it knows how to process instead of promising it a high calorie rush that you then fail to deliver!
Sparkling water on it’s own is fine to drink but beware of those that are sold with added flavourings. It’s much better to add a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime to plain water than to rely on anything added in a factory.
Fruit juice is also not a good addition to your water as all commercial fruit juices are highly processed and high in sugar due to the concentration of them. You risk a massive spike in blood sugar levels by drinking fruit juice. Diluting them 50/50 with water will help but again it is better to find a more pure and natural drink. Keep following the arrows down the chart.
Sugar
For only a short percentage of human history have we eaten any sugar. The discovery of sugar cane may have triggered the downfall of our species especially when we learnt how to refine it. Let’s hope that we sense and reverse the trend of ever increasing sugar consumption.
If we look back to 1700 the average yearly consumption of sugar in the UK was about 4 pounds (less than 2kg) which equated to about 1% of our total calorie intake. In 1800 the average had risen to 18 pounds (8kg), by 1900 sugar consumption per year was about 60 pounds (27kg), by 1960 the yearly sugar consumption per person in the UK had reached about 120 pounds (55kg). It stayed at this level until around 1980 when sugar consumption actually started to decline, possibly as artificial sweeteners became more popular. The current data for 2015 shows that we eat on average 49 pounds (22kg) per year and that this equates to about 12% of our total calorie intake. Current Government guidelines say that no more than 5% of our calories should come from sugar.
Reducing sugar doesn’t mean that you need to totally deprive yourself of sweetness. More natural sources of sweetness such as raw honey, unrefined maple syrup or even fruit provide far more nutrients than refined sugar and don’t leave you with the same cravings or give your blood sugar levels the same roller coaster ride. You can make delicious and healthy desserts with these ingredients. I’d be delighted to show you how at one of my Healthy Desserts workshops which I run as both public and private workshops.
Cereals
This is another sugar laden minefield! The popular breakfast cereals like cornflakes, crisped rice and similar contain a staggering amount of sugar – even the ones that claim to be designed for weight loss. A change to a healthy muesli may not reduce that sugar load either. If you want to eat cereal for breakfast I strongly recommend that you make your own muesli or porridge. You could also consider fruit with either organic natural yoghurt or some nuts for protein, or eggs either on their own or with salmon.
Meat
If you want to eat meat your health will greatly benefit from that meat being the highest quality possible. Animals are routinely injected with antibiotics unless they are reared organically so choose organic whenever you can even if that means that you eat less.
Meat has an acidic affect on your body so it is wise to eat in small quantities. Make at least one day per week a meat free day and choose good quality vegetarian sources of protein like lentils. Lentils are also high in fibre making them another reason for being a great choice for your health.
Alcohol
Spirits are distilled more and so contain more alcohol.
Dark beer has more antioxidants than light beer.
Red wine contains resveratol – a powerful antioxidant. Studies show that red wine in moderation can help prevent heart problems and may even help the brain. The science is still a little hazy but 1 glass per day is thought to be healthy with no more than 2 glasses on any one day.
Fried Food
Heating oil to high temperatures can transform that oil from being healthy to being totally unhealthy. Whilst sunflower oil is often promoted as a healthier oil to fry with it isn’t. Sunflower oil becomes unstable when heated. This instability of the oil causes it to react differently than in would in it’s cold state. When you eat the oil in this altered state it can bind with your good cholesterol and transform it into bad cholesterol.
The most stable oil for cooking is coconut oil. It has what is known as a high smoke point – in other words it can reach high temperatures without being altered.
