Lifestyle
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Hello,
Hello and welcome to another edition of the NuShape Newsletter PLUS a special offer!

Over the past few months I have noticed an increase in the media’s attention on the ever-expanding waistline of our nation. Type II diabetes is on the increase as well and therefore we seem to be in the news on a regular basis being put down about our inadequate approach to our health.

However, how about those thousands of people who are actually doing something about it? Don’t they deserve a word of encouragement and recognition?

Once in a while I’d like to see a ‘feel good’ story either on TV or in the papers on people that are motivated and determined to get healthier. At NuShape we talk to them each day. They order our meals because they have decided to eat right and improve their well being.

For many it’s not a small step because it requires life style changes that effect not just the person losing weight. It has an effect on their friends and family members as well. Hopefully people around them support them in their quest and help them reach their goals by positive feedback and encouragement.

So let’s give a big hand to all people who are actively making positive changes to their eating habits and have even started to include exercise into their daily routine.

“Low Fat” can still be fattening!

When dieticians and doctors started to recommend low fat eating several years ago, it seems that some people misunderstood the message: they thought ‘low fat’ was giving the go ahead to eat unrestricted amounts of certain foods. However, just because something is labelled fat free or low fat it doesn’t mean you can eat as much as you like.

To make certain processed foods tasty, many contain high amounts of sugar and therefore empty calories. If you looked at the fat content of say, a low fat Muesli bar, it can be as low as 1 to 2 grams per serve. If you were trying to lose weight by only counting fat grams, you may decide that it is OK to have two or three of these yummy, low fat snacks in one sitting. However once you add up all the calories, you may get a shock!

How about low fat sweet biscuits? When only the high fat variety was available people chose to eat only one or two with their cup of tea or coffee. Now that they are available in low fat varieties, some tend to eat several in one go, forgetting about the calories all together. Low fat cereals are another food that gets consumed in big portions. Many contain a large amount of sugar. A better option would be a more modest serving of a high fibre cereal with the addition of fresh fruit.

As the months of processed, low fat, high sugar eating continues, the weight keeps creeping on……until one day you wake up and wonder how you put on weight even though you consumed low fat foods. This is where NuShape Foods can help: we provide not only convenience, but we also re-educate your eating habits. NuShape helps you to look at portion sizes and variety plus introduces to you the idea of including a range of fresh fruit, salads and vegetables into your daily diet.

It takes around three weeks to learn (or unlearn) a habit. So if you haven’t been used to eating a large range of fresh fruit and vegetables, be patient with your taste buds. It does take time to re-learn healthy eating again. However once you are used to it, you’ll start enjoying the right types of foods. This will not only help you lose your excess weight but keep it off for good.

Benefits of Exercise

Although you’ve read it all before, you may just need to read it again to help you get started. We have found some good points on a University website that highlight the benefits of regular exercise:

1. Exercise helps you lose weight, especially body fat weight.
2. Improves your body’s ability to uptake oxygen and deliver oxygen to your working muscles (defined as your VO2 Max). This measure is generally regarded as the best measure of your physical fitness level.
3. Lowers your resting heart rate, by allowing your heart to pump more blood per beat. This means your heart is not working as hard when you are at rest.
4. Helps control your blood pressure, both systolic and diastolic. This is especially important for people with high blood pressure-hypertension.
5. Lowers your Body Mass Index (BMI). This is the ratio of body weight (in kilograms) to height (in meters). Increased BMI is associated with an increase in morbidity and mortality.
6. Reduces total cholesterol. This includes lowering LDL-the bad type of cholesterol, and increasing HDL-the good type of cholesterol.
7. Reduces circulating levels of triglyceride. This is the amount of free fatty acid found in the blood.
8. Improves the functioning of your immune system.
9. Reduce the risk of heart disease.
10. Increases insulin sensitivity to prevent type II diabetes (adult onset diabetes).
11. Reduces the risk of having a stroke.
12. And if you vary the exercise and choose activities that you enjoy, it offers lots of fun.

The Good Oil

We’ve all been told that olive oil is good for you. However, not many of us fully understand why, and how much to actually use.

One misunderstanding that should be cleared up is that Extra Light olive oil has actually the same amount of calories as all other oils. The word light only refers to its aroma, colour and taste, not its energy level.

Olive oil is rich in antioxidants and oleic acid. It has been shown that these substances in the diet provides considerable protection against colon, breast and skin cancer and even coronary heart disease.

Other benefits of olive oil include reduction in cholesterol levels due to the fact that extra virgin olive oil contains over 75% monounsaturated fatty acids.

How much to use? Well, that depends on your current goals. If you are on a weight reducing meal plan, then it is important to be aware of the energy content of oil. One teaspoon of oil contains only around 44 calories. So a small amount is OK. However don’t pour olive oil freely over your salad or into your cooking. It can easily add up to a very large amount of calories, which may inhibit your weight loss goals.

Eggs

Have you read the latest research on eggs? As time goes on we learn that many of our old accepted beliefs were wrong. The humble egg was once portrayed as being a major contributor to people’s high blood cholesterol levels. However research has now shown that it is not the culprit we once believed it was.

A 50g egg provides only 5 g of fat. Of this two thirds is polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat. Health authorities recommend that cholesterol intake should be kept to less than 300mg daily and an egg contains 185mg. If your cholesterol levels are elevated, nutritionists advise to eat only a 2 or 3 eggs per week. So this is a big change to the previous recommendations of cutting out eggs all together from the diet.

A healthy eating plan to assist you with lowering your cholesterol levels should include a large range of fresh fruit and vegetables, wholegrain cereals and breads, lean meat, fish and chicken. Don’t forget low fat dairy food for calcium and maybe even an egg or two on the weekend.

Diabetes is on the increase

Type 2 diabetes [or adult onset diabetes] is becoming a large and growing health problem in many parts of the world. Australia has made a commitment to undertake considerable research into all major facets of diabetes, ranging from the measurement of risk factors that increase the likelihood of developing the condition, to chronic complications of diabetes such as heart disease, stroke and kidney failure.

A Canadian study mentioned that diabetes shortens a person’s life expectancy by 13 years. Results of the AusDiab Study released May 2000 revealed that 7.2% of Australians over 25 have diabetes. By now it could be even somewhat higher.

Type 2 diabetes occurs when the pancreas is not producing effective insulin and this problem can be caused by lifestyle factors such as unhealthy diet and lack of exercise contributing to obesity. Although eating healthy foods and taking regular exercise can delay or even prevent type 2 diabetes, there is no known cure as yet.

The Diabetes Australia website has lots of information available. One of the more disturbing facts they quoted was that it is possible to have diabetes with no symptoms!

Recipe of the Month

Chilli Tomato Salsa
Use celery, zucchini or carrot sticks with this great low fat salsa:
Serves 4, Per portion: 30 Kcals or 79kJ, Fat - 0.5g

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1 shallot, peeled and halved
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 handful of fresh basil leaves
500g very ripe tomatoes
2 tsp olive oil
2 green chillies
salt and black pepper

1. Place the shallot and garlic in a food processor with the fresh basil. Whiz the shallot, garlic and basil until finely chopped.
2. Halve the tomatoes and add to the food processor. Pulse the machine until the mixture is well blended but only coarsely chopped. Don’t puree it.
3. With motor running, slowly pour in the olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Halve the chillies lengthways and remove the seeds. Finely slice the chillies into tiny strips and stir into the salsa.

Tip: if you cannot find ripe, red tomatoes you could use a drained 400g tin of peeled tomatoes from the supermarket shelf.