Author: Joanna O'Sullivan | Page 7

For most keto dieters, eggs are the go-to breakfast staple – scrambled, fried, poached, boiled or as an omelette – anyhow you like them is fine.  You can also freely eat your fill of bacon, avocado, cold cuts, olives, nuts, smoked salmon and cheese as well as adding any healthy fats such as olive oil, coconut oil, butter, mayonnaise and coconut cream.  Keto friendly vegetables include leafy greens, zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus and eggplant to name a few.

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Understanding the Keto Diet

The ketogenic diet is a high fat, moderate protein, low carbohydrate diet that forces the body to burn fats rather than carbohydrates.

Because of the low carb intake, your body goes into a metabolic state called ketosis. This is where the body produces small fuel molecules called ‘ketones’ from burning fat for energy (instead of glucose which is derived from carbohydrates). When the body is in ketosis, the fat for energy is drawn from either the dietary intake or fat stores in the body, which is one of the reasons this diet is linked to weight loss.

A typical Western diet contains approximately 250g of carbs per day, whereas ketogenic diets limit carbohydrate to just a fraction of this amount. Suffice to say, adopting a keto regime can be quite a radical change from many people’s normal eating habits!

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Learning the art of healthy food swaps is so important if you want to establish a healthy body weight and maintain it for life. Here we show you how.

Firstly, what exactly do we mean by food swaps? Well, it’s simply choosing a more nutritious or lower calorie meal or snack option rather than going for the most tempting, heavily laden with fat and sugar, nutrition-less version.

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Did you know that tennis champion Venus Williams is a vegan? We often associate sporting performance with a diet rich in animal meat proteins but now there are a number of high profile sports stars who are proving that plant-based diets can absolutely provide all the right fuel.

In Venus’ case, she made the switch when she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that nearly ended her tennis career. Unable to play and forced to withdraw from a number of matches, she eventually sought treatment and radically changed her eating habits. She attributes her plant eating ways with not only helping fight her condition but also giving her a newfound strength on the court.

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The benefits of physical activity extend far beyond simply managing your weight. Moving has been proven to improve a wide range of health markers both physically and mentally!  How would you like to…..

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It’s vital to human health to get a calm and restful sleep and enough of it. Our body’s repair and rejuvenation depends on it. Scientific studies have shown that good sleep can help you be a healthier person, one who eats less and exercises more effectively. A restful slumber can also boost your mood and your overall ability to function. The outcomes are not to be underestimated!

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Most of us have all the right intentions to eat healthy food but over time we get busy or lack inspiration and suddenly we realise that the ‘sometimes’ foods become more like the ‘everyday’ foods. If this sounds like you, then here’s some tips for getting the balance right again, but first – get your pantry organised.

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Flexitarian is the new buzz word when it comes to how to eat. If you haven’t heard of it yet you will now, you might even be on one without knowing it!

The word basically means flexible vegetarian. The true vegetarians amongst you might find that odd – you either are or you aren’t – but with my nutrition hat on I think it’s generally a good thing.

It encourages those of us who choose to eat animal foods, especially meat, to opt for a few more vegetarian meals in our week and give a serious boost to our plant food intake.

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When we classify foods based on how much carbs, fat and protein they contain, is it really helping us determine how healthy they are? In decades past we blamed fat for our expanding waistlines and it became the dietary demon. Out went any food with significant levels of fat and in came a flurry of fat-free and low fat foods to fill our shopping trolleys.

Unfortunately, we threw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater and although going low fat meant no more croissants, pies and chocolate bars, it also meant no nuts, avocado or extra virgin olive oil – all foods that are fabulously nutrient-rich and that are not only good for health but can actually help us to control our weight.

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An estimated 1.7 million Australians have diabetes and with 280 people being diagnosed every day, type 2 diabetes is our fastest growing chronic disease. It is also a disease that can be prevented in a large number of cases, with changes to our diet and lifestyle. It is essential therefore that we are all proactive in making the best choices possible. But what if you have already had a diagnosis? What are the best foods to eat with diabetes?

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