It’s grilled fish, mashed potatoes and steamed green beans and carrots for dinner again. Lunch was the usual – a chicken salad sandwich from your favourite deli while, for breakfast, you ate the low-fat, iron-enriched muesli you eat every day. For snacks, you ” ve packed a banana and, if you buy juices or coffee, it will be orange or apple and decaf latte. Sounds healthy, right? And it is, unless you ” ve fallen into a food rut.
Sure, you may think your diet is healthy because you always buy the “right” foods like lean meat or fish, fruit, veges and wholegrains. But always buying the same things, from the same deli, the same supermarket, or even the same fish shop or butcher means you ” re increasing your risk of vitamin and mineral deficiencies as well as increasing your likelihood of being exposed to certain chemicals and toxins, says nutritionist Jane Barnes, of Food sense. “Variety, in what you buy and even where you shop, is the key to good health,” she says. In fact it’s now widely believed that people who eat at least 20 different biological food types every week tend to be healthier than those with a less varied diet. It seems vitality depends to a large part on a careful balance of at least 50 nutrients including 13 known vitamins, 15 minerals, 24 amino acids and two essential fatty acids and the best way to get all of these is to eat as many different fruit, veges, wholegrains and lean proteins as possible. Dr Mark Wahlqvist, Professor of Medicine at Monash University and co-author of AgeFit (PanMacmillan) says the Japanese, who eat on average about 30 different foods each day including seafood, rice and vegetables, have the longest life expectancy in the world.
But, in Australia, he says, there would be many adults who would not consume the same level of food variety in a week as the Japanese do in a day. Barnes suggests that you start to increase the different types of foods you eat by varying the type of protein you use. For example meals for the week could include lean lamb, pork and beef, fish and shellfish, tofu, chickpeas and so on. When you ” re thinking about grains and cereals, don’t just think of wheat or oats. Think of semolina, burghal, rice, bran, maize, polenta, barley, buckwheat and so on. If you ” re a big green veges fan remember that as well as beans, or cabbage there’s silver beet, marrow, cucumber, chives, okra, snow peas, asparagus, bean sprouts, cress and more to choose from.
And don’t forget about delicious root veges like beetroot, artichoke, swede and yam and cruciferous veges including kale, kohlrabi, bok choy and brussel sprouts. Thinking outside the square with fruit will also pay health benefits. Apples, bananas and berries are great but what about guavas, jackfruit, loquat, lychees, rambutans or tamarillos? Besides what you eat, consider where you buy from, says Barnes. While purchasing organic produce is likely to increase the amount of vitamins and minerals you get in your food as well as decrease the level of toxins, even varying where you buy non-organic produce is a smart idea. Because stores rely on regular suppliers for their produce, buying from the same shop time after time means any vitamin or mineral inadequacies, or toxins, that are peculiar to that produce will be magnified, says Barnes. So shop at a different supermarket, pick up foods at markets, or go to a different caf’e or deli for lunch.
Finally, start shopping and eating with the seasons. Food is at its cheapest and most abundant in season and has not been exposed to high levels of fertilisers and pesticides, says Joshua Gold, NSW produce manager for web > “There is this expectation that we should be able to get something we like, such as mangoes or grapes, all year round,” he says. “But buying grapes out of season, for example, means you ” re buying produce that may have had sulphur dioxide pads placed around it to help slowing down gassing and this can cause symptoms such as nausea.” Food in season is also likely to contain higher levels of essential vitamins and minerals, according to Queensland Fruit & Vegetable Growers. FOOD VARIETY CHECKLIST Score one point for each food category eaten in the past week.
1. Wheat 2. Rice 3. Oats 4. Corn 5.
Rye 6. Barley 7. Stone fruit 8. Citrus 9. Apples 10. Bananas 11.
Berries 12. Grapes 13. Melons 14. Pears 15.
Tropical fruit 16. Kiwifruit 17. Passion fruit 18. Dates 19. Fig 20.
Root veges 21. Cruciferous veges 22. Green leafy veges 23. Marrow 24. Stalks / stems e. g celery 25.
Bulbs e. g. garlic, onion 26. Pods 27. Capsicum 28.
Shoots 29. Tomatoes 30. Seaweed 31. Dried beans 32. Soy 33.
Nuts 34. Beef, lamb, veal 35. Pork 36. Poultry 37.
Game birds 38. Game animals e. g. venison or kangaroo 39. Liver 40. Brain 41.
Other organs 42. Crustaceans e. g. prawns 43. Shellfish/Molluscs e. g.
mussels, octopus 44. Fatty fish e. g. salmon, anchovies 45. Fresh water e. g.
perch, trout 46. Salt water e. g. founder, garfish, snapper 47. Roe 48. Dairy 49.
Dairy with live cultures 50. Eggs 51. Water 52. Non-alcoholic beverages e. g. coffee, tea 53.
Alcoholic beverages 54. Herbs / spices 55. Yeast e. g. vegemite 56.
Mushrooms 57. Table sugar 58. Honey 59. Hard fats and oils eg nut spreads, butter 60. Soft oils e. g.
olive oil 61. Miso, soya sauce etc 62. Sauerkraut or pickles 63. Other fermented foods e. g. buttermilk, sourdough bread Scores: 30 or more a week very good, 25 – 29 a week good, 20-24 a week fair; less than 20 per week poor, less than 10 a week very poor Credit: AgeFit: Fitness and Nurtition for an Independent Future, by Dr Gayle Savage, Dr Mark Wahlqvist, Dr Daniel Lee and Brett S nelson PanMacmillan.