Food & recipes

Health: Diet and nutrition news

This month put a spring back into your step with our latest nutritional advice.

Rainbow eating

‘Eat your greens’ has always been a well-rehearsed line for responsible parents and followed by sensible children. However, consuming a variety of coloured fruit and vegetables will keep you even healthier. Here’s why:
Red: The red pigment found in tomatoes and other red fruit is called lycopene. This compound appears to act as an antioxidant, neutralising free radicals that can damage cells in the body. Try an alcohol-free bloody mary with a Big Tom, £2.45, from jameswhite.co.uk

Purple: Purple fruits and vegetables contain a variety of phytochemicals that are lacking in green, yellow, and orange fruits and vegetables.

Orange and yellow: These coloured foods contain alpha-carotene. The body converts this into vitamin A. One of the vital ways that vitamin A benefits the body is by maintaining the linings of the organs.

Our supplements are saved!

Herbal practitioners have welcomed the news that the proposed EU directive to ban the sale of herbal remedies and Chinese medicines has been sidestepped by the British Government. Following a massive outcry from consumers and therapists, the Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley, announced that the natural supplements would remain on sale just weeks before the ban was due to be enforced. They will now be sold through registered practitioners.

Mr Lansley announced the move alongside a new plan to register UK practitioners for the first time. He has approved a plan for the HealthProfessions Council to establish a register of practitioners supplying unlicensed herbal medicines, who will be required to sign up by law.

However, as from 1st May, consumers will no longer be able to buy many holistic remedies and products under another EU directive passed in2004, which states that only those that have been licensed will remain on sale.

Mr Lansley said the Government wanted to ensure continuing access to unlicensed herbal medicines via a statutory register for practitioners “to meet individual patient needs”.

Michael McIntyre, chairman of the The European Herbal and Traditional Medicine Practitioners Association, said: “Ministers have clearly recognised that this legislation is for patients’ benefit.’

Caffeine gives men a bigger rush than women, a new study has shown

Season’s eatings… rhubarb

Antony Worrall Thompson is one of the UK’s top restaurateurs and TV chefs

When buying, choose pert stems and avoid any that are limp or slimy. Rhubarb is best used fresh but cooked rhubarb also freezes well.

Little pie: Line mini muffin tray hollows with rolled-out shortcrust pastry. Fill with sliced Bramley apples and 1cm pieces of rhubarb. Sprinkle with caster sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Dot with a little butter. Then cover each with a crust of the pastry, sprinkle with sugar and bake in the oven at 180°C for 40 minutes.

Chutney: Cut 1kg of rhubarb into chunks. Add to a saucepan with 25g of fresh ginger, 25g of finely chopped garlic, the grated rind and juice of two lemons and two teaspoons of salt. Add 600ml of cider vinegar and bring to the boil. Add 1kg of preserving sugar and 500g sultanas and boil until it thickens taking care not to burn it.

Puree: Rhubarb is a great accompaniment to pork chops. Put 2.5cm pieces of sticks into a saucepan and cover with water, bring slowly to the boil, then drain immediately. Return the rhubarb to the saucepan with about 25g of butter and one tablespoon of sugar and cook for 10 minutes until it’s broken down to a puree.

Get ready for the BBQ season. View Antony’s range of gas and charcoal grills at robertdyas.co.uk

A recent study found the smell of pumpkins is an aphrodisiac for men!

Choc up!

With Easter round the corner, a new study has confirmed some good news for chocolate lovers – it contains more healthy plantcompounds, gram-for-gram, than many fruit juices. The study published in the Chemistry Central Journal found dark chocolate contains really highlevels of antioxidants and polyphenols, all of which are thought to protect the body from diseases such as cancer and heart conditions.

Other ingredients in the sweet stuff that are health-giving include: theobromine, which is good for the nervous system and phenylethylamine, which is thought to have a mood-boosting effect.

We love this dark chocolate from Feeding Your Imagination, £2.49. It contains 73 per cent cocoa, what’s more – it’s now guilt free! Visit feeding-your-imagination.co.uk

Zinc for life

One of the key minerals for a healthy body is zinc, and yet it is one of the most likely nutrients to be missing from even the most balanced of diets. Over the past 70 years we have seen a decline in zinc levels in soil of about 70 per cent, which means the food we eat is now severely depleted in this vital nutrient.

When we think about zinc we should think about productivity – there is hardly a process that occurs in the body which does not require zinc as part of one enzyme system or another. It has been estimated that zinc is a key component of around 300 enzymes controlling virtually every process from the senses of smell, taste and vision through to the healing process and sexual health. Zinc also helps to produce new skin and sperm cells and boost the immune system.

The signs of deficiency are so varied because of the number of areas it is involved in and includes: impaired immunity, weight loss, bloating, loss of appetite, rashes and other skin changes, hair loss, absence of menstruation and depression.

Fortunately, zinc supplements are widely available and are best taken as zinc picolinate with added copper.

Tim Gaunt is one of the UK’s leading nutritionists and biochemists and works for Nature’s Aid.

For more info please visit naturesaid.co.uk

Vitamin D fortified bread is to be introduced to help combat the number of people with that deficiency.

The Taste Barometer

Going up

Anti-cancer Agent

Curcumin has been found to kill abnormal cells and work on a cellular level to remove cell debris, which can help prevent the spread of some cancers.

Spice It Up

To help prevent diabetes and lower blood glucose levels, try sprinkling some cinnamon on your breakfast.

Spinach Strength

Popeye didn’t eat spinach for nothing – a new study has found eating more of the green vegetable can significantly reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Going down

Desk Dinner

A new study suggests getting outside in the fresh air for lunch is good for your waistline as eating at your desk makes you more likely to snack later in the day.

Emission Possible

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) states food production is responsible for 30 per cent of theUK’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Buzz Off!

Pesticides used on non-organic fruit and vegetables are thought to have contributed to the recent decline in bee populations. Visit buglife.org.uk for more information.