Healthy eating is more than calorie counting

A campaign by the NHS has everyone mind focused on healthy eating. Weight gain has been inevitable whilst trying to survive a global pandemic that closed gyms and asked people to remain in their homes. Joe Wickes and other YouTube fitness influencers help get the world moving again but what about the food we eat?

Calorie counting does remain an effective tool for some people. However, health experts now suggest there are a variety of different strategies to help you eat healthily.

Dr Sally Bell, a GP specialist in lifestyle medicine, encourages people to realise that food is much more than simply calories. Different food does different things to peoples bodies, they carry different messages.

57% of Britain’s diet is now heavily processed. The food is high in calories but low in nutrients. When people switch to wholefoods, real foods and nutrient rich food, they naturally eat less. She added that although we have an obesity problem in the country, many of us are still malnourished.

A few ways to increase your healthy eating

A vital part of a healthy diet, and one that many people lack, is fibre. Men and women are meant to eat 30g a day, but women in the UK eat 16g whilst men eat approximately 20g. A report in The Journal of Nutrition found that fibre is an important element of losing weight and keeping it off.

Professor Tim Spector, Kings College London, and Dr Megan Rossi, The Gut Health Doctor, say you should attempt to eat 30 different plants a week. Nuts, pulses, legumes, grains, fruit, seeds, herbs and vegetables. These don’t have to be raw – they can be added to your favourite existing meals. Add spinach and chia seeds to your omelette, walnuts to your fruit salad and home make soup with lots of vegetables.

Get smaller plates

It is an age old adage that presentation is key when eating. What may not be as well known is that buying a smaller plate can help you eat less while feeling satiated. The recent pandemic encouraged the hoarding mentality by making us shop infrequently, resulting in us buying more. Plan your meals, it will help you control what you buy and portion sizes.

Be aware of what you are eating
It is easy to scroll through your phone when eating, or catch up with your favourite TV show, but this causes over eating. Sit at the dinner table and enjoy what you are eating; taste what you have cooked and take smaller bites. This gives the brain time to send the signals telling you that you are full.

Meze food, buffets and tapas may seem like a healthy alternative but can actually encourage over eating. Professor Hill says “with a variety of different flavours and textures there can be a tendency to overeat”.

Each of us are different
People are different. In style, personality and in how their body processes food. Two people who eat exactly the same thing will often see different results. Calorie counting does not take into consideration the physical expenditure or metabolic rate of the body. This is down to our gut biomes and helps support the argument that calorie counting is not necessary.

Professor Hill believes this should be taken into consideration

We give out general guidance to tens of millions of people and forget we all live in different circumstances and have different needs… respect the differences and don’t feel pressure. You can eat the same meals as others, but serve yourself a smaller portion of a dish or some of the foods, such as potatoes as you wish.

Professor Hill

Thank you for reading Healthy eating is more than calorie counting !

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