NUTRITION
alert
FIND YOUR
HEALTHY FAST
FOODS
The occasional takeaway or ready
meal isn’t going to hurt, but if
you’re grabbing speedy meals on a
regular basis, work out ways to
make your own nutritious fast
food. Try these easy dinner ideas:●●Roast some root veg in olive oil
with a dash of smoked paprika
(you could stick them in the oven
while you have some after-work
down time), then serve with a
dollop of hummus and a side
salad. Vegan, filling and easy.
●●Stir butter beans into soup,
then drizzle with a little olive oil
and sprinkle with seeds.
●●Spread passata and chopped
veg on a wholemeal pizza base,
then sprinkle on seeds if you don’t
eat dairy, or a little grated cheese
if you do. Serve with salad.
●●Pan-fry a fillet of salmon or other
oily fish, then serve with steamed
sweet potato and broccoli.
●●Batch-cook a healthy dish such
as black bean chilli or dal, then
freeze individual portions that you
can tuck into when you’re busy.
B E
INSPIRED,
N OT
INFLUENCED
The influencers whipping up
plant-based recipes may seem to glow
with health but they’re not trained
nutritionists. By all means try some of
their recipes – Instagram and YouTube
can be great sources of inspiration,
and it’s a good idea to mix it up and
try out new dishes – but make
sure you continue to
eat a variety of
different foods.
TAKE SUPPLEMENTS IF YOU NEED THEM
Ideally, we should getting all the
nutrients we need from food. But if
you have a restricted diet, you may
need to top up. ‘If you are vegan or
vegetarian, or you avoid dairy due to
lactose intolerance, you may need to
top up with a supplement – it’s best to
take advice from a dietician,’ says Bond.
Generally, avoiding
dairy and
meatmay mean you need to top up on vitamin
B12, iron, calcium and omega-3s – you
can find algal omega-3 supplements if you
don’t eat fish. ‘When you’re pregnant or
trying to conceive, you need additional
nutrients, chiefly folic acid, which is
essential taken pre-conception and in early
pregnancy for preventing neural tube
defects in your baby, and vitamin D,’ adds
Bond. We should all be taking vitamin D
through winter – in the UK, winter sunlight
isn’t strong enough for us to make vitamin
D and most of us are low in it.