Women's Health - UK (2019-07)

38 | JULY 2019

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Women’s Health

THE THEORY

Do you feel a ping of virtuousness

as you take that extended boil time

for brown rice on the chin? Turns

out those ecru grains aren’t any

more nutritious than their white

counterparts. ‘White rice has had

the outer brown part of the grain

removed, which doesn’t really contain

that much nutritionally,’ explains

Hollington. ‘100g of brown rice only

has about a gram more fibre,’ she

adds – which might make it more

difficult to digest. Mind: blown. Still,

she says that wholegrain remains the

preferable choice for the remainder

of starch sources because the outer

layers generally contain more nutrients

and fibre (of which only one in 10

Brits are getting 25g a day – the

UK recommended intake is 30g).

Topping up would boost satiety

levels and gut and heart health, but

West and Saunt advise employing

your hawk eye at the supermarket,

as words like ‘seeded’, ‘multigrain’

and ‘wholesome’ don’t necessarily

mean that a product is wholegrain.

What’s more, unlike in Norway, where

products labelled ‘whole grain’ need

to contain 100% whole grain, and

the US, where products need to be

at least 51% of the stuff, the term

isn’t legally protected in the UK.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Read the nutritional information on

the label for breads and crackers.

‘Wholegrain’ should be within the

first few ingredients on the list and

the carb-to-fibre ratio should be 10

to one (eg, 9.2g total carbs to 1.5g

fibre would elicit a thumbs up). Oh,

and, by all means, go all prodigal

son with the white basmati.

BROWN CARBS ARE

ALWAYS THE BETTER CARBS

THE MYTH

YOU NEED

TO HAVE

PROTEIN

WITHIN

45 MINUTES

OF DOING A

WORKOUT

THE THEORY

‘The idea that you

could build muscle

faster this way came

from research in the

early 00s, which

showed that muscle

protein synthesis –

the mechanism by

which you build mass

• was stimulated by
  consuming whey
  protein within an hour
  of finishing a workout,’
  says registered sports
  dietitian Rick Miller.
  ‘But the benefits
  scientists found were
  so small that they’d
  be barely noticeable
  over a 10-year period.’
  Consuming protein
  at any point after a
  workout will be helpful,
  adds Miller. ‘Following a
  tough session, the rate
  of protein synthesis
  will remain raised for
  24 hours. During that
  time, your body will
  be sensitised to any
  protein you consume
  and will automatically
  build muscle.’ Boom.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Eat enough protein at

intervals throughout

the day – almonds,

protein bars and hard-

boiled eggs make

great mid-afternoon

snacks. If you’re trying

to build muscle, aim

for 1.6g to 2g protein

per kilo of body weight

every day.

THE MYTH

2 ,^000

WOMEN^ SHOULD^ ST

ICK^ TO

CALORIES^ A^

DAY

THE^ MYTH

THE THEORY

This number was adopted

by the UK government in

1998, after the powers that

be finally took note of a

report by the Committee

on Medical Aspects of

Food Policy from 1991

and it swiftly became

the benchmark. But then

Public Health England

(PHE) announced in 2017

that women should aim to

consume 400 calories at

breakfast, 600 at both

lunch and dinner, and

200 calories for snacks,

equalling 1,800 calories

in total. Confused? PHE

clarified by saying 2,000

is still the ‘real’ magic

number, but as people

often underestimate their

consumption, this acts

as a buffer and means

you don’t need to factor

in deceptively calorific

drinks, like milky coffees.

THE BOTTOM LINE

It’s just a ballpark figure –

for a definitive, personalised

number, you’ll need to do

some more complicated

maths. Enter the Schofield

Equation, which is a way

of calculating your basal

metabolic rate (BMR).

It’s a complex calculation,

so if you can’t spare the

headspace, there are handy

online tools (calculator.

net/bmr-calculator, for

instance) that will work it

out for you. All you need

to do is input your age,

gender, height and weight

and it will provide a

guideline daily calorie limit

depending on your activity

levels, from sedentary to

very intensive. Feel happier

and healthier since you

consciously uncoupled

from calorie counting?

You’re all good. Nutrients

> numbers, always.

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