Below are some ideas on eating for health:
Have one of the healthy snacks in between meals if you feel the need – morning and afternoon. Reduce or better eliminate coffee intake especially if you are anxious – coffee causes excessive release of adrenalin and makes you more anxious.
Eliminate all refined carbohydrates, especially sugar.
You need at least 5 cups of vegetables daily.
Fruit – 2 serves daily– berries ½ cup. ½ apple or pear. ¼ piece rockmelon – not too much fruit – no more than two serves if you want to lose weight and up to three serves for weight maintenance diet.
Rockmelon, stone fruit (1 piece), apples (unpeeled) and berries are the best fruits to eat if you want weight loss.
Always soak dried fruit to replace its water and increase its nutrient value. Soaking also makes dried fruit more alkaline.
Eat fruit for breakfast or a snack – it is best not to mix fruit with other food.
Protein intake: a good rule is one palm size (thickness and size, minus fingers and thumb) for one meal. At least 3 X that in one day.
Fat – olive oil, sesame, rice bran oil, walnut, macadamia or flaxseed oil – rice bran oil is best for cooking. Olive oil is best for weight loss – limit to two tablespoons for weight loss.
Nuts/ seeds – up to ½ cup daily. More if you are vegan. Always soak nuts and seeds to start a sprouting process, increase their nutrient values and eliminate the enzyme inhibitors that are in the skin. Enzyme inhibitors make them harder to digest and prevent the seed from sprouting till soaked in water. Rinse well before using.
I soak all nuts when I buy them, rinse very well before storing in the freezer or, soak the amount to be used for 4 – 6 hours. Seeds only need about 2 hours.
Bread – below is info on what breads are suitable for wheat free or gluten free.
Healthy Bake Organic wheat free breads – are very good for sandwiches. You can get them from Fundamentals, Wray organics or other health food shops.
Ancient grains organic wheat free breads – they are our favourites for sandwiches and toast. They are soft and taste great. There are many – spelt and millet, oat, barley, kamut and many more. You can get them from Wray organics (have the biggest variety), Fundamentals or other health food shops.
Sol Breads have many varieties of spelt bread, kamut breads or gluten free breads. They are very nice, all organic. Our favourite is the spelt megagrain if you are wheat free or the gluten free megagrain unsliced – I find their slices are too thick. They are not good for sandwiches.
Sol Breads are in Paddington, New Farm and West End, but most health food shops have their breads.
Gluten and dairy free – Country Life low GI gluten free. There is another by the same brand called gluten free but it has dairy, make sure you pick the Low GI gluten free. This bread is available Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from the supermarket – I think this gluten free bread is best for sandwiches but it is not organic and the cost is similar to the organic breads. It also has egg in it. It is not organic.
Lifestyle Bakery Chia Loaf, gluten free wholemeal or gluten free multigrain from health food shops – all contain potato. All organic.
Healthright gluten free bakery products. They have a few different gluten free loaves. I only like one – Sunflower brown rice bread, it is very nice toasted but I don’t like it for sandwiches. Not organic.
The above breads are proper food, not just empty calories. They are very nutritious.
Chew bread and all starches very well as most of the digestion of carbohydrates is done when mixed with saliva – at least 25 times a mouthful. The more the food is chewed, the easier your digestion.
Use avocado, olive oil, rice bran oil (put oils in a container in the fridge if you want it solid) or tahina to spread on your toast/bread. If you must, use nuttlex margarine, it tastes very similar to butter or, another margarine that is low in trans fats.
Dairy replacement: use rice milk, oat milk, nut milks, quinoa milk on cereal or for food or cooking. Use soy milk in small amounts as in tea or coffee if you are still consuming them, be sure it is organic. For gluten free, do not use oat milk and only use gluten free soy milk, all the rest are fine for gluten free but always check the ingredients.
Wheat flour alternatives – spelt and kamut are best for making breads as well as replacing wheat flour in baking. For Gluten free rice flour is best as the major flour but there are many others that you can try.