Health & Fitness UK – September 2019

Try nicer ices

Summer wouldn’t be summer without ice

cream. But if you can’t stop till you finish

the tub, you’ll be pleased to hear there’s

a whole new range of fab, healthy ice

creams that are well worth checking out.

Most contain fibres such as resistant

corn starch, along with bulky natural

sweeteners such as erythritol or xylitol,

producing a creamy sweet texture with

a fraction of the sugar and saturated fat. Two of our

favourites are Oppo Ice Raspberry Nipple, £4.99 for

475ml; ocado.com (for dairy consumers) and Perfect

World Mint Choc Chip, £4.49 for 500ml (for vegans) with

67 and 79 calories, respectively, per two scoops. One

small caution – don’t over do these ice creams if you

have IBS, as the fibre and sweetener ingredients are

fermentable by gut bacteria, producing gas.

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BLUEBERRY RIPPLE

ICE CREAM

●100ml Greek yoghurt

●150ml vanilla yoghurt

●1 tsp vanilla bean paste

●1 punnet blueberries

●1 lemon

●Pinch of salt

●4 tsp sugar

1 Mix the blueberries with the Greek yoghurt and 3 tsp

sugar. Add the juice and zest from the lemon.

2 Put the mixture in the freezer for around 30 mins until

slightly stiff.

3 Mix the vanilla yoghurt, bean paste, salt and remaining

tsp sugar in a bowl.

4 Take the blueberry mix and fold it into your vanilla mix.

Once combined, place in the freezer for an hour.

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It’s easy to make

your own, healthy

ice cream

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MUSSELS AND

TOMATOES

●4 tbsp extra virgin oil

●2 shallots chopped

●500g cherry tomatoes

●½ tsp chilli flakes

●3 to 4 flat-leaf parsley sprigs, plus extra

to serve

●750g mussels

●100ml dry white wine

●350g hand-shaped pasta, cooked

and drained

1 Heat the oil in a large sauté pan and add the

shallots, tomatoes, chilli flakes and flat-leaf

parsley sprigs.

2 Stir in the muscles and

white wine, cover and

cook for 10 mins,

stirring once.

3 Once the muscles have

opened and the tomatoes

popped, taste and season.

4 Toss in the cooked pasta

and a little pasta cooking

water if needed (it should

be brothy).

5 Divide into serving bowls,

sprinkle with the chopped

parsley and drizzle with

olive oil to serve.

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Spice it up

Researchers at Université Laval, in

Quebec, Canada, reveal a Mediterranean-

style eating plan with a sprinkling of chilli hits

the sweet spot for weight loss. The capsaicin in

chilli boosts metabolism, adding to the other

benefits of the Med-style diet. If you want to try it,

aim for four servings each day of fruit and veg,

plus 20 grams of fibre from whole grains, healthy

fats such as nuts and olive oil, and lean protein

at every meal – plus as much chilli as you

enjoy! A study in the British Journal of

Nutrition found eating this way

helped people successfully

lose weight.

SUMMER

wellbeing