Healthy_Food_Guide_UK_-_January_2020

HOWMUCHWEIGHT

DOI NEEDTOLOSE?

CheckingyourBodyMassIndex(BMI)

againstthehealthyrangeis a good

startingpoint– gotohealthyfood.

co.uk/bmi-calculatorfora handy

calculator.However,thelatestdata

recommendsmeasuringyourwaist

circumferenceasa betterindicator

of your risk of health problems.

HOWTOMEASURE

ACC U R AT E LY

1

Findthepointaroundyourmiddle

that’shalfwaybetweenyour

lowestribandthetopofyourhip

bone,roughlyin line with your

bellybutton.

2

Putthetapemeasureagainst

yourskin(underyourclothes)

sothatit’ssnugwithoutcompressing

yourskin.Breatheoutnormallyand

measurearoundyourwaist.

3

Checkyourwaistmeasurement

againstthetable,below,fora

generalguidetoyourriskofchronic

disease,suchastype2 diabetesor

heartdisease.AccordingtoDiabetes

UK,yourwaistmeasurementis a

relativelyreliableindicatorofthe

healthrisksassociatedwithexcess

visceralfat.Thisis thetypethatis

storedwithintheabdominalcavity

andcanwrapitselfaroundorgans

suchastheheartandliver.

Nutrition lowdown

J

USTLIKEPRE-PACKEDFOODS,

allourrecipesprovidedetailed

nutritioninformationfora

typicalserving.Buthowdoesthat

comparewithyourtotaldailyneeds

forenergy,protein,fat,carbsand

certainvitaminsandminerals?

Providedyousticktotheserving

sizewerecommendforeachrecipe,

theeasiestwaytoworkthisoutis

tocomparethenutritioninformation

foreachrecipewiththeReference

Intake(RI).You’llseethistermbeing

usedonfoodlabelsinplaceof

GuidelineDailyAmounts(GDAs).

TheRIsarebenchmarksforthe

amountofenergy(kilocalories),fat,

saturatedfat,carbohydrate,sugars,

proteinandsaltweshouldhavedaily.

TheRIsforfat,saturates,sugars

andsaltarethemaximumamount

youshouldhaveeachday,whileyou

shouldaimtomeetthevaluesfor

carbsandproteineachday.There

is noRIforfibrebuthealthexperts

recommendwehave30ga day.

Althougheveryoneis different

andweallhavedifferentneedsfor

energyandnutrients,theRIsare

designedforanaverageadult,so

there’sonlyonesetofvalues.See

thetable,below,forthefigures:

REFERENCEINTAKE

ENERGY(kcal) 2,000

FAT(g) 70

SATURATES(g) 20

CARBOHYDRATES (g) 260

SUGARS(g) 90

PROTEIN(g) 50

SALT(g) 6

NUTRIENTREFERENCE VALUE

CALCIUM(mg) 800

IRON (mg) 14

Wecutthroughthesciencetohelpyouworkouthowourrecipes– and

the foods you buy in the supermarket – fit into a balanced, healthy diet

HEALTHY WAIST MEASUREMENTS

MEN WOMEN HEALTH

RISK

Lessthan

94cm*

(37in)

Lessthan

80cm

(31.5in)

Average

94*102cm

(37–40in)

80 88cm

(31.5

34.5in)

Increased

Morethan

102cm

(40in)

Morethan

88cm

(34.5in)

Greatly

increased

CANI LOSEWEIGHTWITH

HEALTHYFOODGUIDERECIPES?

Theonlywaytoshedthepoundsis to

takeinfewercaloriesthanyouuseup,

soyourbodydrawsonitsfatstoresto

supplyit withenoughenergy.Tolose1lb

(0.5kg)fatyouneedtocreatea calorie

deficitof3,500kcal.Thismeanscutting

yourcalorieintakebyjust500kcala

dayshouldhelpyoulose1lb(0.5kg)

a week– so,forexample,womenshould

losethisamountofweighteachweek

on1,500kcalandmenon2,000kcal.

If you’realsomoreactive,youcan

expectit tobea littlemore.However,

nutritionexpertsagreethatforgood

healthinthelongterm,youshouldn’t

lose more than 2lb (1kg) a week.

NUTRIENTSHORTFALLS

Wealsoanalyseourrecipesfor

calciumandiron– thisis becausethese

twonutrientsareoftenlowinpeople’s

dietsintheUK.Wecanseehowmuch

a recipecontributestoourdailyneeds

forcalciumandironbycomparing

it withNutrientReferenceValues

(NRVs),whicharestartingtoappearon

foodlabelsinplaceofRecommended

DailyAllowances(RDAs)– again, there

is just one set of values.

OURCALCULATIONS

Nutritionis calculatedaccurately,but

mayvarydependingontheingredients

youuse.Onlytheingredientslisted

areincludedinourcalculations.

Individualneedsvaryconsiderably,so

usethisasa generalguideonly.Ask

yourGPordoctortoreferyoutoa

registereddietitianif youfeelyouwould

benefit from personalised advice.

SERVINGSIZES

Allourrecipescomewithnutrition

informationperserving,soaslong

asyousticktotheservingsizeswe

recommend,thenutritioninformation

we provide will be accurate.

*FOR MEN OF ASIAN ORIGIN, WHO ARE AT A HIGHER RISK OF DEVELOPING TYPE 2 DIABETES, THIS FIGURE IS 89CM (35IN)

JANUARY 2020HEALTHY FOOD GUIDE 97

THE SCIENCE