This week is Healthy Eating Week and whilst we should endeavour to eat healthily all year, this offers an opportunity to reflect about how and what we eat. I am a nutritional therapist, but like anyone else can fall into a food rut and so welcome the spur to pay more attention to what I am eating.
In a world where we are bombarded with differing information and food claims about healthy eating, it can seem daunting and at times overwhelming to know what is the right/healthiest way to eat. Certain foods are elevated to particular status, while others claim to need eliminating, or we aren’t doing well enough unless regularly consuming green juices or lots of powders.
But really healthy eating does not have to be complicated. I think it’s best to keep it simple, to think of variety and balance, and not to underestimate how the power of small changes, can compound and build significant health benefits.
With variety, a great place to start is colour; fruits and vegetables get their fabulous colours from the different polyphenols they contain, and these phytochemicals have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties crucial to good health. So trying to ‘Eat The Rainbow’ means you benefit from all these different nutrients.
A popular challenge is to try to eat 30 different plant foods a week. These include whole grains, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices, so not as hard as it might seem. Try just adding some herbs and spices to your cooking! Summer is the perfect time with the abundance of seasonal produce to try something new, expand the colours and introduce more variety.
In terms of balance, eat all that you enjoy in moderation, and try not to get caught up in ‘good’ and ‘bad’. It is not essential to cut out certain foods entirely, unless you have an allergy or intolerance. The exception being ultra processed foods, which we are not designed to metabolise. We all have a unique biochemistry and so should be guided by how foods make us feel. Food is one of life’s great pleasures so enjoy!
#HealthyEatingWeek
Suki Sabine is a Nutritional Therapist at Ochre House.
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To find out more about Ochre House’s Nourishment and Herbal Therapies click here.
Photo Credit: Unsplash – Anh Nguyen
