This or That?

Which is best for your health?

Healthy eating goal

My general dietary advice is to follow a low carb, low sugar diet. I also recommend avoiding unhealthy fats and consuming plenty of nutritious whole foods and vegetables. Following this as much as possible is ideal, but of course occasionally rules get broken.

Making choices while out

With the warm summer weather on its way, as well as the King’s Coronation and bank holidays approaching, there tends to be more socialising, disrupting our usual eating pattern.

When you’re under the care of a Naturopath, or taking care to follow a healthy diet, or on a treatment program, it’s easy to worry about undoing all the good work if you stray. You can minimise this by making good choices when out. Remember too that if rules are broken, just get back into your routine and the gains are there to be had.

Simple switches & choices you can make

Avoid packaged drinks

Nothing beats mineral water. But, I realise, when you go out, you might want more than a glass of pure, plain water. There are choices for healthy soft drinks these days, but they don’t come in a carton or bottle.

Avoid:

Keep away from fizzy, sugary, caffeinated drinks, as well as diet drinks and packaged fruit juices and squashes.

Choose:

Home made soft drinks with a water base are best. Really refreshing and tasty soft drinks can include things like water infused with cucumber, mint, lemon, orange, or any mix of fresh fruits and herbs.

Not all breads are created equal

So often when we go out, bread is on offer. For example, if you try to buy a take away lunch you’ll undoubtedly find a choice of sandwiches, or as a side in a restaurant. I recommend you stay away from breads as much as possible.

Avoid:

Avoid ultra-processed, white breads. It has no nutritional value, depletes the body of nutrients, and promotes insulin resistance.

Choose:

I really can’t say to you that any bread is healthy. But it is very true to say that not all breads are created equal, some are much better than others.  If you are going to eat bread, opt for authentic sourdough (not mass-produced), dark rye breads, sprouted grains breads, or unleavened breads.

Opt for fresh, unprocessed, whole food

If you are out and being offered a meal or party food, try to keep an eye out for whole food and unprocessed snacks and avoid things that appear to be very processed or fried.

Avoid:

Crisps, peanuts, anything pastry based or highly processed.

Avoid heavy carbs like pasta dishes, high sugar foods, and highly processed meals.

Choose:

Vegetable sticks, dips such as humus, guacamole, salsa, etc, nuts (exept peanuts due to their high omega 6 content), and things that are homemade.

Opt for whole food meals, such as fish and vegetables/salads.

Keep your sugar intake down as much as possible

I don’t want to be a party pooper, but it’s a good idea to steer clear of most deserts. They are sugary, very often creamy, heavy and they are probably the main thing to avoid.

If you are out for dinner, why not have a starter instead of a dessert.

Avoid:

Desserts that are packed with cream, sugar, pastry, and which are highly processed.

Choose:

If you are going to have a dessert, then fruit based desserts, such as poached fruit or fruit salads would be better.

Low carb, low processed, low sugar

Many of us need to buy lunch on the move. If we’re doing this day after day we need to think a bit more carefully about our choices.

Avoid:

Processed breads, pastries, processed meats (hams, salamis, sausage), and hard cheesse. Also, avoiding salad dressings made with sunflower, vegetable or rapeseed oils is recommended. Salad dressings should be with cold-pressed virgin olive oils peferably.

Choose:

Soups, salads, vegetarian or vegetable-based meals.

Final tips

  1. If you know you’re going to be eating out, it’s always a good idea to top up beforehand or afterwards with something super healthy. For example, this might be a nutritious green shake, superfood salad, powerhouse soup, or bone broth.
  2. Try intermittent fasting to give your body a chance to recover. This can be as simple as missing breakfast.
  3. Keep hydrated with pure water to help flush your system.
  4. Many people will want to know about alcohol. The main advice I have on this is that if you are rundown or you have any health issues, I don’t recommend it.
  5. Typically restaurants will add extra salt and sugar to their dishes to give additional flavouring. They will also often cook with unhealthy fats. It’s okay every now and then, but not ideal regularly.