2019-05-01_Healthy_Food_Guide_UK

HOWMUCHDO

YOUNEEDTOLOSE?

CheckingyourBodyMassIndex(BMI)

againstthehealthyrangeis a good

startingpoint– gotohealthyfood.

co.uk/bmi-calculatorfora handy

calculator.However,thelatestdata

recommendsmeasuringyourwaist

circumferenceasa betterindicator

of your risk of health problems.

HOWTOMEASUREACCURATELY

1

Findthepointaroundyourmiddle

that’shalfwaybetweenyour

lowestribandthetopofyourhip

bone,roughly in line with your belly

button.

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

such as the heart and liver.

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

the table, below, for the figures:

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 H EA LT H

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

WHATIFI WANTTO

LOSEWEIGHT?

Theonlywaytoshedthepoundsis to

takeinfewercaloriesthanyouuseup,

soyourbodydrawsonitsfatstoresto

supplyit withenoughenergy.Tolose

1lb(0.5kg)fatyouneedtocreatea

caloriedeficitof3,500kcal.This

meanscuttingyourcalorieintake

byjust500kcala dayshouldhelp

youlose1lb(0.5kg)a week– so,for

example,womenshouldlosethis

amountofweighteachweekon

1,500kcalandmenon2,000kcal.

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.

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES. *FOR MEN OF ASIAN ORIGIN, WHO ARE AT A HIGHER RISK OF DEVELOPING TYPE 2 DIABETES,

The science

MAY 2019HEALTHY FOOD GUIDE 97