Going Veggie?
January 21st, 2011
After the excesses of overindulgence at Christmas it’s good to go back to a healthy diet. Remember to combine healthy proteins, complex carbohydrates and essential fats with every meal including breakfast.
Research has shown that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and by eating proteins in that first meal of the day will ensure that you don’t snack before lunchtime.
Many diets exclude whole food groups denying your body of essential nutrients. Modern farming methods, food storage and heavy food processing have reduced nutrient content by as much as 50% in some foods. Stress, medication, food additives and pollution have all put extra demands on our body. Sometimes a supplement of vitamins and minerals are a good idea to ensure your body is getting the correct amounts of daily nutrition. Why not try supplementing with Solgar’s Formula V VM75, an extra potency Multiple Vitamins with Amino Acid Chelated Minerals or Formula V VM2000, a Multinutrient System for the 21stcentury, both available at Scoopaway.
Are there any advantages to switching to a vegetarian diet?
A vegetarian diet, if followed correctly, is probably one of the healthiest diets. However not all vegetarians are healthy! It is really important to focus on proteins for every meal, including beans, pulses, lentils, tofu and soya. (if you are not following a vegetarian diet, healthy sources of protein can be found if fish, white meat and lean red meat).
Pulses: good value and wholesome versatile ingredients. Pulses refer to the dried, edible seeds of leguminous crops. These include dry beans, peas, chick peas, lentils, and lima beans. Whilst they are universally grown all over the world, India and Pakistan are the worlds largest producers and consumers of pulses. Here at Scoopaway we sell a wide range of dried beans, peas, chick peas and lentils from as little as £1.59 per Kg loose, or from 69p for a 400g tin.
They are a great source of protein for the whole family. However, unlike fish and eggs they don’t contain large amounts of essential amino acids necessary for growth so they need to be combined with other cereals and vegetables to improve their nutritional value.
Soya beans are an exception to this rule because they contain complex amino acids required for growth, dried organic soya beans cost £2.40 per kg loose in Scoopaway.
Whole pulses contain insoluble fibre which is good for gut health, can lower cholesterol levels and thus reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. In addition pulses contain no cholesterol at all!
The starch and carbohydrate content of pulses is of a complex type and are easily digested, absorbed slowly, and therefore the glycaemic index of pulses is low, making an ideal energy source for the whole family.
Whatever you decide ensure that you eat a varied diet with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.