Nutritional Information

Your body needs many different proteins for various purposes. It makes them from about 20 'building blocks' called amino acids. Nine of these are essential amino acid, which means you must get them from food. The others are nonessential. This does not mean you do not need them. You just do not have to eat them because your body can produce them.

It is easiest to get protein from meat, chicken, turkey, fish and dairy foods. Cooked meat is about 15 to 40 percent protein. Foods from animal sources provide complete protein, which means they contain all the essential amino acids.

Next to meat, legumes – beans, peas and peanuts – have the most protein. But they are called incomplete proteins because they are lacking some essential amino acids. You can get complete protein if you combine them with plant foods from one of these categories – grains, seeds and nuts, and vegetables. Eat any two or more of these plant foods, with or without beans, and you get complete protein.

You do not have to eat these foods in the same dish, or even in the same meal. But many cultures have created combinations that work well – like corn and beans in Mexico, or rice and split peas in India.

So it's not all about quantity, but quality counts!

When you are trying to eat well (and clean - ie low fat, low processed foods, etc...) ot can often be difficult when you leave your home.  Here are a few suggestions of what you can eat and how to make the right choices...

When eating out, here is a list of good foods to eat:

• Sushi and sashimi
• Clear soups with vegetables, lean meat, noodles
• Grilled meats (small lean serves) – ie eye fillet is better than the t-bone, any gravy or sauce on the side
• Steamed rice with your meal
• Grilled fish and chicken
• Salad (with dressing on the side) and vegetables as a side dish, instead of chips and bread
• Stir fries, especially those with seafood and vegetables
• Pasta with a tomato based sauce
• Fruit salad for dessert

Eating Out Tip: When eating out, you want to enjoy the food you are eating; so pick the 3 dishes you like the most, and you think are relatively low in fat (ie avoid foods that are battered, crumbed, fried, or have cream sauces), and then from these 3, choose the one that is the best for you (usually the least fat).

There is always a good choice available!

TRANS FATS – WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW!

Trans Fats have become a hot topic of discussion in the USA and in the health industry, but general awareness in Australia seems quite low. This may be because legislation in Australia does not yet require Trans Fats to be identified on food labels, so we simply aren’t aware that we’re eating it.

What are Trans Fats?

Trans Fat is the common name for a type of unsaturated fat with trans- isomer fatty acid. Most Trans Fats in our diet come from chemically altered vegetable oils. These oils are made using a process called hydrogenation, and are appropriately called ‘hydrogenated vegetable oils’. Essentially, a bunch of chemicals (some of them petroleum based) are used to turn liquid vegetable oil into solid fat, and in the process, Trans Fats are produced.

So are Trans Fats Bad for me?

Doesn’t sound healthy, does it? Well it’s NOT. Trans Fats have been linked to high cholesterol, which can lead to health conditions such as coronary heart disease, heart attack and stroke. The main problem is that Trans Fats increase levels of ‘bad’ LDL Cholesterol, while simultaneously reducing levels of ‘good’ HDL Cholesterol in the body. While saturated fats (animal fats) also increase bad cholesterol, they don’t have the magnifying effect of reducing good cholesterol at the same time. Health authorities worldwide have concluded that Trans Fats are detrimental to health, and offer no positive benefits whatsoever. Therefore, there is no recommended daily upper limit for trans fats consumption, as any amount of consumption is believed to increase the risk of coronary heart disease.

Which Foods Contain Trans Fats?

Because labeling of Trans Fats is not yet compulsory in Australia, it can be difficult to tell exactly what you are eating. As a general rule, any product containing ‘hydrogenated’ or ‘partially hydrogenated’ vegetable oil is likely to contain Trans Fats. This includes a huge range of sweet and savoury snack foods (biscuits, chips, rice crackers), baked goods (cakes, muffins, donuts) and fried fast foods (hot chips, fried chicken, spring rolls, deep fried fish).

Why are Trans Fats used by manufacturers?

Trans Fats are used because they are cheap, add bulk to products, have a neutral flavour and give products a long shelf life. Restaurants started to use vegetable oils for frying after saturated animal fats were declared unhealthy, and hydrogenated vegetable oils were cheaper to use and had a longer life span.

Avoiding Trans Fats

Avoiding Trans Fats comes down to general healthy eating principles, and taking care when reading product labels.  This means using taking care to ensure the only oils you consume, are as close as possible to their natural state, and are NOT hydrogenated!

· avoid products that list hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils or fats on the label

· avoid all fried fast foods

· avoid commercially baked goods such as doughnuts, pastries and biscuits

· contact the manufacturers of your favourite products if you have a concern about their ingredients

· bake or fry your own alternatives at home, using healthier, 100% natural oils such as olive oil

 The Final Word

Remember – ALL oils and fats contain the same amount of kilojoules, and even the ‘healthier’ versions should only be used in very small amounts if you wish to lose or maintain your weight!

In recent history there has been a lot of talk about high Protein diets, the Atkins diets, etc… Most nutritionists still agree that a diet that is balanced and contains a large variety of foods including fresh vegetables, fruits, and other carbohydrate sources is the best diet.

Diets that are very high in protein and very low in carbohydrate often can lack sufficient dietary fibre, essential vitamins and minerals, and can often be high in saturated fats which can increase cholesterol levels and in the long term increase the risk of heart disease. The side-effects of a low-carb diet can include dehydration, headaches, irritability, lack of energy and lack of concentration.

Weight loss is often seen in these types of diets in the short-term, due to the loss of water when the body breaks down it’s reserves of Carbohydrate (this is water-loss not body fat reduction). The problem with this is that as soon as carbohydrates are re-introduced into the diet, this weight will re-appear.

How about Moderate Protein/Moderate Carb?

Moderately higher protein diets where carbohydrates are reduced (not eliminated), and protein rich foods are increased, may be beneficial for some people. Diets like this that have more protein, but still supply enough carbohydrate for energy can be more satisfying and therefore assisting people to eat less over the course of a day. In this type of diet you would eat only small portions of carbohydrate rich foods, such as pasta, rice or bread, and have slightly larger portions of protein rich foods, such as fish, legumes, lean meat, etc…

We should eat no more than 30% of our calories from fat.

On average, Women should eat between 40-60g fat per day and men 55-80g fat per day.

The fat you eat should be good fats, which actually help lower cholesterol, reduce the chances of heart disease and diabetes.

Good fats (such as Omega-3), which help reduce the bad (LDL) fat levels and cholesterol in the blood can be found in foods such as olive oil, nuts, fish, avocado, seeds.

Bad fats (saturated, trans fats, cholesterol) should be avoided. Bad fats are often found in fatty meat, commercial cakes, chicken skin, processed meat, cream, deep-fried foods.