Issue link: http://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/85232
076: health&wellbeing WELLBEING by jacquie dale Eating healthier does not have Swap chips for rice crackers Here's why. 100 grams (a whole packet) of salt and vinegar rice crackers delivers 409 calories, 6.8 grams of fat and 833 mgs of salt. The same size serving of my favourite potato chips delivers more than 1000 calories, more than 60 grams of fat and 1680 mg of sodium! So as a substitute for regular chips, rice crackers win hands down. to cost more With the recent increases in food prices tugging on our purse strings, it is easy to perceive a healthy diet as being more expensive or out of reach. A study published in the New Zealand Medical Journal analysing more than 800 supermarket shoppers using electronic data over a period of 12 months, aimed to estimate the difference in cost and nutrient value for selected foods and healthier food items in New Zealand. The study concluded that while cost is frequently perceived to be a barrier to a healthy diet, large improvements in diet can be made without having to spend more. An interesting book to read on this topic is Michael Pollan's book, 'In Defence of Food'. In it he explains how real food is fast disappearing from the marketplace and being replaced with 'edible food-like substances' packaged with labels bearing health claims that are typically false and misleading. Breakfast helps prevent a low fibre diet While it's certainly true that the sum of everything we eat in a day matters more than whether we have two meals or six, breakfast and meal frequency can play a huge role in sustainable weight management and prevent over eating. We have a window of opportunity, within an hour of waking, to stoke our body with nutrients. A body that is starving will prepare itself to store body-fat later on, so one of our weapons against future weight-gain is definitely breakfast. We can kid ourselves that all we need is the double shot coffee, but a coffee does little to provide the fibre, carbohydrate and protein that is required to get us up, showered and out the door before 9am. Starving by midmorning, we are then easily distracted by a muffin or savoury, a high calorie meal totally devoid of the important minerals, vitamins, protein and healthy fats that we need. We get into the habit of not eating breakfast and our body simply stops getting hungry. If we lighten up dinner we'll have a healthier appetite in the morning. Besides, we shouldn't be going to bed on a full stomach.