Have you ever wondered why the Mediterranean diet is so beneficial for health despite featuring ladles of pasta? Pasta is usually considered a fattening food. Made from semolina (durum wheat) flour, egg, salt and water, a hundred grams of dry pasta provides a hefty 75g carbohydrate. When cooked, this absorbs […]
Nutrition 101
7 posts
Whether to follow a low fat or a low carb diet is a polarising issue, but views are changing. Now that sugar is the new demon, evidence is swinging away from the traditional low fat diet towards one that is lower in carbohydrates and has a lower glycemic load. This […]
Saturated fats are not that bad for your health. The truth about saturated fats is highlighted by the fact that national guidelines have quietly ditched firm limits for saturated fat from the previous ‘no more than 10% total calories eaten’, or ‘no more than 30g of saturated fat a day […]
How much sugar per day is acceptable, and what are the best alternatives? If you have a ‘sweet tooth’ and can only drink tea or coffee by piling in the sugar cubes, you can now blame your over-sensitive taste buds. Researchers from the University of York have discovered that sugar […]
If you are taking a statin to lower your cholesterol, you may benefit from taking coenzyme Q10 supplements, too, as statins block the production of both cholesterol and coenzyme Q10 in the liver. Coenzyme Q10 is a vital nutrient for energy production in cells, especially muscle and heart cells, and […]
I’d love to follow a more plant-based diet, but the slightest whiff of sizzling bacon or roasting lamb reduces my breaking strain to that of a gnat. Why do the crunchy bits on a BBQ fillet taste so good if they’re really so harmful? When meat is charred, chemicals known […]
Whether or not following an organic diet is better for health is a controversial issue. The answer to this thorny question was recently made clearer by a review of 343 studies published in the British Journal of Nutrition. Researchers compared the nutritional quality and safety of organic versus conventionally-grown fruits, […]
