Bayside Dietetics
By Sarah Smith from Bayside Dietetics
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This is blog two in the series on nutrition trends. If you are interested I encourage you to also read blog one: Have we found the Holy Grail? Written by me and published by Kiddipedia in August.
Let’s have a bit of fun and put “Lola” through just some nutrition trends. (The trends I’ll use were identified by a spread of different aged people surveyed for blog one). Let’s imagine what it really looks like to stick to some of the nutrition trends around.
Okay Lola, try not to get confused…
Start the day with apple cider vinegar. Then a celery juice. Then Kombucha and skinny tea. Sprinkle it with brain dust. Have a detox juice to wash down your vitamin supplements and fish oil. Make sure there isn’t any fruit in that juice…even natural sugar is out. And you can’t have sweeteners, they are too high in FODMAPs and who knows what ‘they’ cause.
Lola, time settle in to enjoy smashed avocado on toast for brekky, none of that “sugar” cereal here. Make sure your bread has seeds in it, but is gluten free. Actually, no carbohydrates allowed. So skip the toast altogether. Not sure what to smash that avocado onto now? That’s OK, we have to take the fat out anyway, so no more avocado.
At lunch include plenty of vegetables. This sits well with plant-based eating and gut health. Phew. Make sure the vegetables don’t have any carbohydrates in them however. This is hard so Lola you need to check the list every time when choosing a vegetable and find out the carbohydrate content. You don’t want to allow any “sneaky” carbohydrates in. Now your range of vegetables is low. Variety is critical for gut health, so that’s now gone out the window.
At dinner, make something new and innovative. Lola, see if you can plate it up to look like an Instagram post.
Include lots of fatty meat as this is ketogenic eating remember. Make sure the meat is actually made from a plant. Lola is plant-based and avoiding meats. Cook it in butter. No, use margarine. No, olive oil. Or is it coconut oil? Oh yeah, Lola you need low fat so any oil is out. No sauce either – you are sugar free.
Lola, feed your gut with plenty of grains at dinner. But, take them out again – you’ve slipped and allowed carbohydrates in.
Have a glass of red wine with dinner. Make sure it is alcohol free.
I know you are hungry Lola (let’s face it, you haven’t been allowed to have much all day) but it is really important that YOU DO NOT OVEREAT.
But don’t eat any of this today. Today is a fast day. Lola, let’s do this again tomorrow!
I can’t describe the high anxiety (and anger) I feel even writing this. It turns out that if you followed all the food trends out there, you would be facing constant contradictions in how to eat. Lola is being ridiculous to try all the trends together, but the reality is that each new trend does contradict the previous one (otherwise it wouldn’t make an impact, right?). Each new trend focuses on the benefit of something specific but neglects the big picture of the whole body. What does stick around for the long term is stuff that works and is sustainable – and in the context of food, that is balance.
By all means, try to nourish your body in the best way that works for you. Please let go of the pressure to do more than that and no need to buy into any “wonder” food or drink. It goes against what ‘they were saying’ yesterday!
Here is extra Information for those who really want the facts on the trends laid out:
Red meat – High in some important nutrients like iron and protein but better health outcomes associated with less frequent red meat intake. Processed meat in particular seen as a concern.
Plant based eating – Associated with some great health outcomes as a general principal but other foods such as dairy, fish and meat are useful to include to provide key nutrients.
Ketogenic – May be useful for managing specific medical conditions but it avoids many good foods and risks poor gut health.
Low FODMAPs – Useful as a short term way of eating to manage irritable bowel symptoms but should not be continued long term. FODMAPs are often very healthy foods.
Detox juices / diets – You have a liver that does a very good job of detoxing. No need to help it out.
Wonder Food or Drink e.g. skinny tea / detox juice – Skip it.
Vinegar – Very small impact to help to control blood sugars when added to a meal. Certainly not a wonder food. Any vinegar is fine. I’d prefer balsamic on my salad than a shot in the morning. Brush your teeth afterwards.
Coconut Oil – Helps increase good cholesterol levels but also increases bad cholesterol levels. I’m not sure why it’s promoted as healthy.
Smashed avocado – Yep. If you can afford it.
Low carbohydrate – Carbohydrates are really healthy to include in the diet so no need to avoid them. Keep them balanced with a range of other foods in your diet too.
Low fat and high fat – Avoid. Keep it balanced. See Heart Foundation for great information on the different types of fat.
High protein – Sure if you want offensive flatulence.
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