Do it yourself dips

Stepping away from processed food is something easier said than done. Weaning yourself off the highly manufactured, salt laden, sugar pumped refined products isn't that easy when you're pressed for time and gleaming shiny packaging is staring at you, in every aisle of the supermarket. Whilst eating 100% home cooked food may be a distant thought for many, just start with something simple. Build upon your skills and start some new habits. 

We find that healthy snacking is a battle for many. To bump up daily vegetable serves we often recommend eating them with hummus or some type of vegetable based dip. I went to the supermarket to check out a few options, only to find (surprise, surprise) that most were loaded with vegetable oil, sugar and salt! NOT what I would be encouraging. 

So instead, I spent a few dollars buying some simple ingredients and whipped up a couple of really delicious dips that contain vegetables and protein. If you're no whiz in the kitchen, then this is the perfect way to start. All you need is a small food processor and about 10 minutes of your time. Give them a go for your snacks this week. 

Herby Yoghurt Beetroot Dip

•  250g ready to eat, baby beetroot
• 200g natural low fat yoghurt
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tbls parsley

1. Combine beetroot, garlic, coriander, cumin, lemon juice and yogurt in a food processor and pulse until smooth.

Roasted Capsicum Hummous

•  1 red capsicum, cut in half 
• 400g can chickpeas, drained
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tbls tahini
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 1 tsp cumin ground
• ¼ cup warm water
• Salt & pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. Line a tray with baking paper, place capsicum onto tray and bake for 30 minutes until soft and charred.
3. Once cooked, combine all ingredients except the water in a food processor.
4. Pulse until combined, then gradually add warm water until the hummous reaches a smooth consistency. 

Serving tip: spread thing onto the bottom of your plate, then serve a lean protein (like chicken or red meat) onto with plenty of salad.

Getting to the guts of it

Spot the probiotics! (Clue there are 2 in this meal) 

If you are someone who looks outwards for the cures to your anxiety, grumpy mood, weak immune system and stagnant weight then perhaps it is time to look inwards and get to the guts of the problem - literally. There has been a lot of hoo ha lately about the bacteria in our guts being the unsung heroes of what keeps us looking and feeling good so I thought it was about time to explore what's actually going on down there. 

 You have trillions of bacteria alive and kicking in your gastrointestinal tract (namely your small and large intestine). Study after study is showing us that they can influence our mental and physical health. The two buzz terms you would have heard are pre and probiotics, both are necessary for a healthy gut environment but have different responsibilities.

Pre vs Probiotics

Probiotics are the ‘good’ bacteria that are already alive. (Think about the little blue men on the inner health plus add). They are delivered in their active form into your gut through food or supplements.

 Best sources:

1.    Fermented vegetables (sauerkraut, kimchi (see below), dill pickles, miso paste)

2.    Kefir - fermented milk 

3.    Yoghurt - (with added natural cultures)

4.    Kombucha - fermented drink (watch the sugar)

5.    Supplements – eg. Yakult, Inner Health Plus or Metagenics which is also dairy free, suitable for those who are lactose free

 Prebiotics are best thought of as the food for probiotics. These are non-digested carbohydrates like the fibre from fruit, vegetables and grains that the good bacteria feed off to grow and multiply. Making sure you have enough fibrous foods in your diet ensures you have enough food for your probiotics to live off.

 Best sources:

• Vegetables especially asparagus, artichoke, leeks, shallots, snow peas, cabbage and sweet corn.
• Legumes: chickpeas, lentils, kidney beans, baked beans, soy beans
• Fruit (bananas, peaches, persimmons, pomegranate, dried fruit without added sugar, watermelon)
• Wholegrain products (rolled oats, barley, rye products, wheat bran, pasta, wholegrain breads, quinoa)
• Nuts (cashews, pistachios)

What do they do?

 Controls appetite (weight watchers read on): certain strains of good bacteria like helicobacter pylori dampen down the signal from ghrelin, a hormone that increases hunger. So just modifying or adding some probiotics to your diet may help you to curb the munchies or from devouring the entire large pizza.  

 Immunity: the good bacteria in your gut keep the number of harmful pathogens (disease causing cells) down. If your balance is tipped in the favour of the ‘bad’ bacteria that is when you are more likely fall ill. This is especially important if you have recently taken a course of ‘antibiotics’ as the medication has wiped out the numbers of bacteria in your gut to rid you of the infection you caught. Unfortunately this means that a lot of the good bacteria have also been lost. 

 Stress & anxiety: Notice that when you are stressed/ anxious that you have gut issues like discomfort, bloating, and constipation/diarrhea? Well you are not alone! More and more research is revealing the powerful relationship between the brain and gut. A recent study into the effect of prebiotics on decreasing anxiety was one of the first trials conducted in humans that showed those who took prebiotic supplements had less anxiety when confronted with negative stimuli (1). They also showed that prebiotic consumers had lower cortisol levels in their saliva when they woke in the morning. Cortisol is a hormone released by the body when its stressed and anxiety. One of the authors of the study Dr Kristen Tillisch summarized it nicely saying that ‘the relationship between the gut and brain is a two way street’.

 Mood enhancers: our digestive systems are connected to our brain. The bacteria in your gut actually make chemical signals (neurotransmitters) that are sent to the brain, which in turn function to control your mood. Two psychologists recently published an article in Brain, Behaviour and Immunity journal that showed intake of probiotics may help reduce negative thoughts associated with sad mood (2). This not only means that you could improve your daily mood (goodbye grumpy, irritable negative Nancy!) but could prove an additional prevention or treatment for those with depression.

 As we can see the science and evidence is still emerging about the complete role of pre and probiotics in the diet, but it all seems to be pointing to the fact that we should be taking more care of our gut health by increasing our intakes of foods rich in pre and probiotics. Make sure to call an accredited practicing dietitian if you’d like advice on how best to do this in your life!

 References:

1. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00213-014-3810-0
2. http://www.biobalance.org.au/_downloads/brain-behaviour-and-immunity.pdf

An apple a day keeps the chocolate away

Many of us can name a host of ‘healthy’ foods, (I'm hoping) most people would say, vegetables, fruit, fish, nuts, wholegrains. Ok maybe I am reaching for the stars a little on the last one, but you catch my drift. Being educated about healthy eating is one thing but putting it into practice is another. It's the hard bit. The knowledge that fruit is a healthier snack than the 2 glistening golden chocolate bars that are staring up at us at the petrol station is often not enough to stop us taking full advantage of the fuel discount with this sugar laden purchase.

I find studies that look at consumer buying patterns fascinating, because they often suggest real, everyday things we can do to help combat the lures of fancy packaging, two for one deals and the constant onslaught of highly refined snack foods that seem to be everywhere these days! A group of researchers found that participants who ate a small piece of apple (the 'healthy' snack) bought 28% more fruit and veg than those given an 'unhealthy' chocolate snack and 25% more than those who didn't get a post shopping snack at all.

If the difference between you buying a block of chocolate that is going to tempt you to eat it every night and not buying it, is a small piece of apple - gosh Id be tempted to set up an apple stand outside of every Coles and Woolworths!

There are often many good intentions thrown about, but when it comes down to it, the decisions that are getting made in that one hour at the supermarket are the important ones. Creating a positive food environment is a challenge that those who have a positive relationship with food seem to have mastered. I've heard some great suggestions from clients, for instance one always buys her petrol in the morning, so she isn't faced with the temptation of the sweets in the afternoon.

Unfortunately we don't always have control of the food environment that surrounds us. There are signs, cues, signals, smells that bombard us from the moment we wake up! We are most certainly overfed, excuse the pun, with food. Short of placing all the unnecessary processed food right up the back of the supermarket in a special 'sometimes' section, we need to get more savvy about how we can survive our obesenogenic society.

“It’s time to understand the way our consumer minds work and learn some simple strategies to help ourselves make better decisions during that one-hour we are at the supermarket.”

Cue food psychology. It's time to understand the way our consumer minds work and learn some simple strategies to help ourselves make better decisions during that one-hour we are at the supermarket. It's no secret that we are more likely to choose products if they are placed at eye level or tempted to grab an extra packet of mints if they are at the checkout. The supermarkets have done their research to make us spend more money, it's about time we put into practice our own lessons learnt to make better choices.

 Here are my top tips for smarter supermarket shopping:

1. Have a healthy snack or meal right before you embark on your shopping trip. Never enter hungry! As the study highlighted above showed, eating something healthy will encourage you to be in a healthy mindset.
2. Go shopping in your gym clothes – similar idea to what I described above. Choose an outfit that makes you feel more fit so you don’t undo the great work you did in the gym earlier.
3. Do your fruit and veg shopping first so that you fill the majority of your trolley with them first - a similar principal to filling your dinner plate. Less room for other non-essentials.
4. Choose your company wisely, if you’re easily influenced to try the new flavour or Cadbury marvelous creations ice-cream by your significant other, then just do your shopping solo. Vice versa, if you’re the type who rewards themselves with a few extra treats than necessary, bribe a friend or relative to join you and help you stick to your list.

To read the abstract of the study discussed above check out: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mar.20801/abstract.

Super Soup Review

Welcome to the first Body Fusion Product Review! Whilst we encourage most of the food you eat to be fresh wholefoods prepared at home, there are sometimes that this just isn’t possible. We get it, life is busy, time is short and that’s ok. Therefore, we are starting some product reviews to help you select better, nutritionally balanced options at the supermarket.

To coincide with the cooler temperatures, there’s no better place to start than with soups. There is such a large range now there are a few golden rules when it comes to selecting soups.

 1.     INGREDIENTS  - choose soups with at least 30 – 50% of the ingredients being vegetables. Then look for an added lean protein option for example chicken, beef or quinoa. Keep the ingredients list as short as you can, the more added salt, sugars and preservatives means the more the product is processed (something we want to steer away from). You should also be mindful about the ‘fillers’ that are added for bulk. Try and avoid high GI, refined carbohydrates like white rice, potato starch, maize and other thickeners. It’s best to get as many vegetables as you can and add a piece of low GI wholegrain bread to your meal instead.

 2.     SODIUM – any form of processing or packaging requires salt to be added to preserve the product. However soups can easily have over half of your daily recommended intake of sodium (2300mg). Aim for as low as possible! <400mg/100ml is ideal, but generally this isn’t available in packaged soups. So our goal is <600mg/100ml (or as close as possible). If the sodium is around or over 1000mg per 100g put it back! Always look for the ‘salt reduced’ varieties.

 3.     ENERGY DENSITY – soups are generally pretty low calorie meals, however you need to be mindful whether you are using the soup as a snack or a meal. Energy guide for a snack (if looking for weight loss or maintenance) is between 100 – 150 calories. Make sure you check the ‘number of serves’ in each package as some contain 2 -3 per pack. If the soup is going to be your main meal, your total for this meal should be approx. 300 calories, so if your soup is less than that, add a wholegrain slice of bread, extra side salad or serve of steamed vegetables.

 SUMMARY:

• Ingredients: vegetables, lean protein, not too many ‘fillers’ or refined carbohydrates.
• Sodium <600mg/100ml
• SNACK: 100 – 150cals (usually ½ bowl/tetra pack)
• MEAL: 300 cals (usually ½ bowl/tetra pack + 1 slice wholegrain bread or extra vegetables).

Here are our top three picks:

Pitango Organic Vegetable and Quinoa Soup

Serving: 300g = ½ tetra pack

 Energy: 114 cals - Protein: 3g - Carbs: 22.8g - Sodium: 420mg  (140mg/100ml)

 Ingredients: Water, Vegetables (45%) (Tomato, Sweet Potato, Potato, Carrot, Celery, Onion, Broccoli, Red Pepper, Green Pepper, Garlic), Quinoa (3%), Tomato Paste, Parsley, Corn Starch, Spices, Salt, Sunflower Oil, Lemon Juice Concentrate.

 Added bonus: Gluten and dairy free.

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Woolworths Home style Chicken & Vegetable (Fresh)

Serving: 300g = 1 bowl

 Energy: 152 cal - Protein: 12.9g - Carbs: 13.5g - Sodium: 630mg

 Ingredients: Water, Vegetables (35%) (Carrot, Onion, Potato, Leek, Cabbage, Pumpkin, Celery, Green Peas, Spinach), Chicken (15%), Thickener (1422, from Maize), Canola Oil, Tomato (Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid)), Sugar, Salt, Chicken Flavour StockPowder (Spices (contains Natural Colour (Curcumin)), Soy, Wheat, Fish), Garlic, Spices.

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La Zuppa Kale, Quinoa & Vegetable Tetra Pack

Serving: 270ml = ½ tetra pack

Cal: 92 cal - Protein: 5.2g - Carbs: 12.2 (g) - Sodium (mg) 694

Ingredients: Chicken Stock, Lentil, Onion (8%), Sweet Corn (5%), Kale (4%), Brown Rice, Quinoa, Herbs. 

Nutting out nutrition nonsense

There are studies being thrown at us left right and centre, one day we are eating too many carbs so you cut the toast at breakfast, the next we are avoiding skim milk because it is too high in sugar or maybe you have heard that cooking your food in copious amounts of coconut oil is fine because saturated fat isn’t a problem. All the while we continue to wonder, will this help us lose weight? Is this healthy?

STOPPPP right there, if you’re starting to get confused about what to actually believe then it is time we nut it out once and for all. Let’s start off by getting a few simple, common things straight.  

1.    You can’t believe everything you read.

2.    If it sounds a little to obscure then it probably is.

3.    No single food/ nutrient is the cause of any major chronic disease, it is ALWAYS a combination of factors.

Now that we have that out of the way, how do we begin to understand what is being printed in the newspaper, magazines, on TV and wherever else we are fed information? You need to get a little bit suspicious!

Let’s take an article and have a bit of a closer look. This study was published in the American Journal of Nutrition and appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald the other week1. It highlighted that people who ate a diet with a high glycaemic load (GL), heavy with refined grains, starches and sugars, gained more weight. Here your first questions should be:

1.    How many people?

2.    What type of people?

3.    In comparison to who else?

Whenever you read the phrase ‘a recent article published by …’ you need to put your critical thinking hat on. Ask yourself what are these scientists trying to test? In what type of people are they testing it? Is the test fair and accurate?

In this study for instance they were actually trying to test the effect of protein on weight. This article did a pretty good job of listing all the key findings, which you should keep your eyes out for. Then you need to put the findings into CONTEXT! I would say this is the most important part because if we can’t apply the evidence to real life then what is the point? When findings are taken out of context this is when we get begin doing all sorts of crazy things like avoiding entire food groups, not eating noodles after 5.34pm and telling others that gluten is an enemy.

Here are a couple of key findings of this article and the explanation of what they actually mean (or don’t mean) in reality:

Increasing intakes of red and processed meat were most strongly associated with weight gain.

What this means:

Amongst the people who gained the most weight, they also happened to eat larger amounts of red and processed meat. So, people who ate more red/processed meat were more likely to gain weight.

What this does not mean:

That red/processed meat directly causes weight gain. A whole host of factors influence weight gain, but one of the factors that those people who gained weight had in common was that they had higher intakes of red/processed meat.

Take home message: If you are struggling to lose weight and eat red/processed meat more than 2 – 3 times per week than some of the following suggestions may help you:

·      Swapping processed meat (salami, sausages etc) over to leaner options (chicken, turkey, fish, tuna)

·      Reducing your portion size of meat (no more than palm size at one time)

·      Eating more vegetarian based meals

Increasing other dairy products, including full-fat cheese, whole milk, and low-fat milk, did not significantly relate to either weight gain or weight loss.

What this means:

The types of dairy products that people were eating didn’t seem to affect any weight gain or weight loss.

What this does NOT mean:

That low fat or full fat dairy products are good or bad.

It doesn’t matter how much cheese or milk you eat, neither will affect your weight.

Full fat dairy is not a significant contributor of saturated fat to many peoples diets or that you should swap all dairy products to full fat varieties without making educated decisions about other things you may need to compensate for in your diet.

Take home message:

·      Think about dairy in the context of your diet. Full fat dairy products are still sources of saturated fat, so for those aiming to reduce their total energy intake then swapping to low fat varieties will save you energy, better spent on eating monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.

·      If you are a consumer of low fat dairy be mindful about the added sugar or artificial sweeteners, which can bump up the carbohydrate total of that product.

·      Stick to the recommended 3 serves of dairy per day; 1 glass of milk, 2 slices of cheese and 200g yoghurt.

My last piece of advice is to look up the jargon or words you don’t understand. This article talks about GL – glycemic load. But what is that? Basically it is a number that estimates how much a food will raise a person’s blood glucose level. Don’t let the scientific language trick you! If you want to know what is best for you to eat then come and talk to a dietitian aka nutrition professional – yes we have spent time examining articles with a thin toothcomb, so we can give you the low down. 

 The scientist from this study summed up what they thought was the main point pretty well saying that ‘this study encourages people to focus more on eating a nutritious diet than just filling up on nutrient – poor, highly processed ‘diet products’. So if all of the above is too much for you, skip to the conclusion and remember that the more whole, fresh foods you eat in moderation the better! The end.

 1. Link to article 

Canadian Food - eh!

Ash has sent through her review of Canadian food! Travelling is a wonderful way to sample different cuisines and local delicacies. Have a read through what she has found herself eating. 

Being a dietitian everywhere we go I am consistently whipping out the camera to take a photo of different foods. Food is my passion. Additionally I will order and try a diverse range of foods and restaurants whenever I can. Typically I enjoy the healthier alternatives but some cultural foods have been passed down for generations and are well worth trying when you visit a new place.

Foods commonly eaten in Canada:

Many of these foods aren't necessarily "Canadian" as Canada has many existing British and French influences. Late in the 15th century both French and British expeditions explored, settled and later battled over the Atlantic Coast. Since settlement and confederation there has been immigration of many different nationalities into Canada. In addition to this, their close proximity to the USA has impacted upon food favourites.

Poutine: How greasy can you get? Apparently this dish originated in Quebec. It consists of hot chips topped with gravy and cheese curds. There are many creative variations, I found these http://www.foodbeast.com/2013/01/15/38-poutine-dishes-that-will-knock-your-canadian-socks-off/ I can't believe how high in saturated fat many of these dishes are! To me its heart disease waiting to happen, but again part of the culture here.

Alberta Beef: Beef cattle production is Alberta's largest agricultural sector and Alberta is the largest cattle producing province in Canada. We were lucky enough to enjoy some (pretty massive) steaks at our friends place in Legal. Absolutely mouth wateringly delicious!

Maple Syrup: A big fan of this one. We were cooked some scrumptious ricotta and lemon flapjacks (pancakes) cooked for us one morning topped with fruit salad and wonderfully sweet maple syrup. Quebec is by far the largest producer of Canadian maple syrup and is responsible for about three-quarters of the world's output. Exports of maple syrup exceed $145(CAD) million per year. I was sad we didn't have the chance to visit a maple farm and tap some syrup. Next time ;).

Canadian Bacon: Do you like pasta? Add bacon to it. Do you like breakfast muffins? Add bacon to it. Do you like pancakes? Add bacon to it! Apparently you can add bacon to anything in Canada and its acceptable. These were bacon and egg multigrain muffins again which were fried up by mike. According to my Canadian friends it's more so like ham.

Coffee: Fresh filtered coffee can be found anywhere and everywhere! This includes majority of Canadian home residences, bakeries, supermarkets, and gas stations. It's a common Canadian essential. Tim Hortons is a popular franchise chain, however has just been bought out by Burger King much to the dismay of Canadian pride!

Wings (From the USA): A classic night out, usually on a Wednesday isn't complete without wings. We I tried some of these bad boys in Jasper at Champs Pub. There are many different flavours such as salt and pepper, chili, dill and pickle and BBQ. They come in baskets of 10 and are drowned in a lot of sauce! Skin still on the chicken too. Not exactly a dietitians dream, but you have to try it!

Game Meat: Boar, bison, caribou, rabbit, elk and deer. I only managed to sample moose. Moose tastes closest to beef in my opinion. Apparently people with hunting licenses go in a draw to be able to hunt the moose each year. Then if you are native you are able to hunt the moose too on your land. They are such huge animals!

Pierogis (From the Ukraine): Ok so these are Ukrainian but still very popular in Canada. You will find them on the majority of pub menus and are any easy thing to stock your freezer with. Home made are the absolute bomb! They look like dumplings and are traditionally stuffed with potato, sauerkraut, ground meat, cheese, or fruit (or a combination). Here in canada they often also stuff them with bacon - of course! They are served with various toppings or sauces. You can guarantee there will be some sour cream or hot sauce available on a table of fresh served Canadian perogies.

Saskatoon Berries: Saskatoon is city found in the province of Saskatchewan. These berries are native to the Canadian prairies, British Columbia and Northern Canada. Tasting similiar to blue berries they are often used to make Saskatoon berry syrup and jams.

Ceasars: Ceasars are cocktails made from clamato juice (clam broth and tomoato juice) vodka, hot sauce and worcestershire sauce. They are served with ice in a large, celery salt-rimmed glass and garnished with a variety of specialties. Not really my thing, but a big hit here in Canada and found in every pub and restaurant.

"Health Foods:" Ok so its not all bacon and syrup! I did manage to find some pretty sweet health stores (Robson Whole Foods Market) and fresh food markets (Granville Island) in Vancouver with many of the latest and greatest health foods. Some examples included kimchi, kombucha, cacao, various nuts and seeds, coconut water and probiotic yoghurt (kefir).

A super amount of available salads.

Tonnes of available nut butters!

Differences compared to Australian food

• For every one sauce, mayonnaise or condiments that exist in Australia, there are about another 4 that exist in Canada.
• Cheddar cheese is ORANGE and seems very processed, not like our fresh white cheddar.
• It is acceptable to add bacon to almost anything.
• Maple syrup is a cupboard staple.
• Coffee doesn't have to be boring in Canada, there are more options than you can imagine including gingerbread and candy cane varieties at Christmas time.
• Foods tend to be heavier than Australia.
• Because its so cold eating and drinking inside is a must and acceptable hobby.

Nutrition

To be honest, a lot of these foods are very high in saturated fat, salt and sugar. However, if you looked at "Australian" classics like meat pies, lamingtons, anzac biscuits and pavlova you could say similar. One thing is clear here in Canada, there is definitely no shortage or lack of variety in relation to food. Walmart, the Canadian Superstore and Costco are all available for a visit and very expansive. Little health pockets can be found within each individual city or town. Additionally similar to Australia, if you opt to cook fresh meals from home and make informed choices whilst dining out you can make alot healthier choices.

Kid friendly sweet potato fish cakes (Gluten free)

School holidays have rolled around again which means there are plenty of children out there looking for things to do, to the dismay of parents everywhere. Well we have a solution – cooking!  

Let’s face it, encouraging kids to try new foods can be a challenge but getting them involved in the preparation and cooking of their food is a great way to inspire them to eat (at least try!) their own creations. Take advantage of the time in the holidays and put them to work. Teaching children how to cook is not only a life long skill but also something that is vital for them to develop and maintain healthy eating habits. Many of us often prepare separate meals for our children, but finding simple recipes that the whole family can eat will not only save you time, but encourage everyone around the dinner table to tuck into wholesome home cooked food.

The process of cooking your own food and eating at home often means healthier meals because you can control the portion size and the ingredients used. This kid friendly (and gluten free) recipe contains a great combination of slow release energy from the sweet potatoes, lean protein from the canned tuna and offers a great punch of flavour from the herbs and spices.

Healthy cooking tip: use a small amount of extra virgin olive oil to pan fry these patties, to avoid adding too much extra energy (calories) to the meal. All steps marked with ** are perfect for kids!

 Get those aprons out and enjoy the kitchen! 

Ingredients

• 500g or 3-4 small sweet potatoes
• 400g tuna chunks in spring water, drained
• 2 spring onions
• 1 brown onion
• 2 cloves garlic (crushed)
• 1 egg & 1 egg white, lightly beaten
•  1/2 cup of quinoa flakes
• 2 tbls chopped parsley
• 2 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp cumin
• Salt & pepper to season
•  2 tbls quinoa flour (suitable for gluten free)
•  3 tbls olive oil

What to do:

1. Boil 2 cups water in a saucepan.

2. Wash and chop sweet potato into small slices and steam in boiling water for 5 – 8 minutes until soft.

3. Drain and place in a large bowl for 5 minutes to cool.

4. **Mash potatoes well using a vegetable masher or a fork.

5. Dice brown onion and spring onion, then with garlic cook in a medium frying pan with 1 tbls olive oil until soft.

6. Once onions are cooked add to the mashed potato.

7. **Meanwhile add tuna, quinoa flakes, parsley and spices to the mash mixture.

8. **Add whisked egg and mix through with hands until well combined. (Cool sweet potato well so little hands don’t burn).

9.  **Form mixture into small patties.

10. ** Pour quinoa flour into a shallow bowl and then coat each patty with a small amount of flour.

11. Add 1 tbls of olive oil to a frying pan and cook for 5 - 6 minutes on each side. (TIP: Use 2 pans to prevent waiting OR pop the first of patties into a warm oven covered with foil.)

12. Serve with a side salad or blanched green vegetables and drizzle with a little sweet chilli sauce and/or natural yoghurt. 

Your food footprint

If you have been following Body Fusion on social media you would of seen a number of vibrant vegetarian dishes last week. This was an effort to raise awareness for a sustainable eating initiative called ‘Meat free week.’ Contrary to what you may think, it wasn’t just another way for hipsters to promote their super trendy organic magically dusted, all health curing vegetables. It was actually a practical way to get people to reduce their ‘food footprint.’

Let me clarify for you quickly, your food footprint isn’t the one you leave on the tiles when you’ve crept to the pantry for a late night snack – it is the much much bigger one that you create through the foods that you choose to eat. It involves the amount of energy and waste used and created through the production, processing, delivery and degradation of your food.

Did you know

• The world population is expected to double by 2050. If we keep eating the way we are now we are going to need TWICE the amount of food. We won't have enough! 
• 60% of our eco foot print (impact we have on the planet) comes from food (growth, delivery, consumption and waste)
• 1 billion people go hungry everyday when we waste enough food to feed 3 billion?!

The stats are a bit scary right? Because we literally live in the land of plenty many of us can’t imagine what it would be like if there wasn’t any food left. Look at the ridiculous lines at the supermarkets when they close for ONE DAY at Christmas time. Unlike our grandparents, we don’t know what it means to go without, so the idea of not having a fully stocked pantry and fridge with lots of ‘just in case’ items is something many of us wouldn’t consider.

Before you throw you move your mouse to close this page – just stop and think about what you would do if tomorrow the world ran out of food. How long would you be able to live off the food you already had at home?

I’d say as a human race we are wonderful at fixing problems but terrible at preventing them! The same goes for our food supply. We have created a whole host of fortified products to meet the nutrient demands of our population when there were deficiencies, we developed trade agreements and delivery systems to distribute our food overseas and to far away communities. However, we haven’t looked very far into the future to ask, where will out food keep coming from if we continue eating the way we are?

Food sustainability isn’t a ‘cool’ topic that gets discussed much and I feel we always throw it into the too hard basket. Yes, there are political and large-scale policies at play, but we have more power than you think. So here are my tips to decreasing your food footprint.

1. Use your power to vote – yeah, vote for the political party that is going to subsidise and pay farmers a decent wage for their produce and incentives to care for their farming land.
2. Buy organic fair trade agreement produce – look for the free trade sticker because this ensures that the farmer who made that product is getting what he deserves for the product.
3. Double the amount of vegetables you eat and replace at least 1 or 2 meat containing meals each week.
4. Do your shopping at local farmers/growers markets.
5. Find out where your local community garden is and start a plot with your family, neighbours or friends.
6. Bring your reusable shopping bags with you and don’t use 10000 of those small bags for each different fruit/ vegetable you put in your trolley!  The local Coles in our suburb in Lane Cove is currently holding a plastic bag challenge to see how many shoppers can go without. How great is that? If you work at a supermarket or retailer how about setting your customers a challenge similar?
7. Head to http://www.sustainabletable.org.au/Hungryforinfo/What-you-can-do/tabid/121/Default.aspx to download a list of what you can do! 

Let’s make our food last us so we can continue to love and enjoy it now and long into the future. Ain’t nobody wants to run out of their favourite food now do they?

Eat well and keep moving,

Kat. 

A new face at Body Fusion

Hi everyone,

I’m Katrina (please call me Kat) and I’ve recently joined Ash as another dietitian at Body Fusion. It has been such a wonderful experience forming a team here at Body Fusion HQ and we look forward to seeing more of you and the community in the future.

To summarise what I am all about I would say that I encourage eating wholefoods, living an active lifestyle and maintaining a positive mindset. Having a healthy mind, body and outlook is what I call the triple threat and is the key to being feeling happy & fulfilled.

If you have a look into my background you’ll see that I have graduated from the University of Sydney with a Masters in Nutrition and Dietetics with an undergraduate in Science majoring in Physiology. Throughout my clinical placements I found a love for engaging with people both individually and on the large scale. This is why Ash and I are both such keen presenters, we enjoy talking about food – to as many people as we can!

Although I have a science, evidence based background I focus on putting these skills into practice, in my own life and professionally. I am a keen chef and often experiment with new healthy versions of recipes, some with more success than others, but hey, variety is the spice of life after all! Apart from cooking up a storm (yes, it looks like a storm has hit once I am finished cooking) in the kitchen, I also enjoy reading, writing and sampling the oldest and latest nutrition trends.

I thrive off helping people achieve their goals through real foods and making food work well for them in their own lives. This is why I keep an up to date knowledge of the supermarket shelves, new products and restaurant fads so I can help my clients navigate through todays confusing food world.

Being active is another aspect of what makes me .. me. I don’t discriminate when it comes to exercise because I enjoy it too much. I like going to my local gym to pump out some weights, I enjoy going on nice scenic walks and I try to relive my old dancing days on the yoga and pilates mat a couple times a week. There is no right/wrong in my book with exercise, if you’re moving then that’s a good thing. I do what makes me feel better and I encourage my clients to do the same.

So now you have gotten to know me a little more, I hope to return the favour. If you are someone who is a little lost/stuck/frustrated with their food, needs food to help them with any medical conditions or just want some nutrition myths debunked, come and visit us! We’d love to hear from you.

Eat well and keep moving,

Yours in health,

Kat

Thai Style Baked Fish

I've always been a big supporter of the Mediterranean diet and its inclusion of fish. Fish contains Omega 3's important for maintaining healthy cholesterol levels. It also helps reduce inflammation in the body (inflammation can lead to increased risk of chronic disease and other health problems). Try and include a fresh fish meal at least once in your week. It mixed things up anyway and tastes delicious if infused with some herbs!

Ingredients:

• 6 lemongrass stalks
• 12 Kaffier lime leaves
• 1 large kg fillet of firm white fish e.g. Barramundi, Ling, King Fish
• ¼ store bought red curry paste
• 2 Tbsp Shredded ginger
• 3 garlic cloves (sliced)
• 2 long red chilis, seeds removed and chopped
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 Cup Coriander leaves
• 1 Cup Mint leaves
• 1 Cup Thai Basil leaves
• Steamed basmati, doongara or mahatma rice and lime wedges, to serve

Directions:

Preheat over to 200 degrees. Place the lemongrass and lime leaves in a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper and top with fish, skin side down. Spread the flesh of the fish with the curry paste. Combine the ginger, garlic, chili and oil. Sprinkle over the fish and bake for 20-30 minutes or until the fish is cooked through. Top the fish with the coriander, mint and thai basil and serve with steamed rice, a big bunch of vegetables or salad and lime wedges. Oh and then totally eat it all up...

Ash ;)