NOVEMBER 5 2016 http://www.listener.co.nz 41
MIKE WESTONby a child. Although these events
weren’t life threatening, they were
still difficult, lead researcher Profes-
sor Janice Kiecolt-Glaser explained.
“Another example was a couple
whose childcare help had cancelled
at the last minute, and the wife was
frantic because she needed to go to an
important meeting and her husband
was not available.”
When the women ate meals higher
in unsaturated fat, their levels of four
different inflammatory markers were
better than when they ate a meal
high in saturated fat. However, if
they had had stressful events in the
previous 24 hours, the improvement
linked to the meal with unsaturated
fat disappeared. So, the benefits of
the sunflower-oil meal vanished if
the women were stressed the day
before, and their inflammatory
response to the healthier meal was
the same as that for the unhealthy
meal.
Women with a history of depres-
sion also had a higher post-meal
blood-pressure response. Depression
has been linked, in other studies, to
an increased risk of hypertension, an
important factor for cardiovascular
disease. They also had higher peaks
in their triglyceride response after a
meal, which is linked to a higher risk
of cardiovascular disease.H
owever, this doesn’t mean we
should forgo a healthy diet if we
experience recurring stressors or
have had depression. Kiecolt-Glaser
says, “Both our meals were high infat and calories: 930 calories, 60g of
fat. So even our ‘healthier’ meal was
not what we would call a healthy
meal, it was a healthier fat. We would
hope that a meal lower in fat and
calories would not produce the same
response.”
Unfortunately, Kiecolt-Glaser’s
team doesn’t yet have funding to
determine if a healthier overall meal
(not just the presence of a healthier
fat) would reduce the effects of stress
on inflammation.
Clearly, then, mental health is
critical to our overall well-being, and
potentially affects how our body
responds to food. By making healthy
eating and stress reduction
equal priorities, we can
substantially lessen
inflammation and
improve our health,
and hopefully coun-
teract those days when
stressful events get the
better of us. lOtis Frizzell
Street artist-turned-foodie Otis Frizzell
has revisited his artistic roots for a good cause- illustrating nine-year-old Loughlin Mosen’s
story Gorillas Can’t Swim for the 2016 Barfoot &
Thompson Young Authors Challenge story-
book. When he isn’t being creative, Frizzell (son
of artist Dick Frizzell) is usually elbow-deep in
tacos for his current venture with wife Sarah: a
food truck named the Lucky Taco.
You visited the US and Mexico to learn about the
food-truck scene and authentic Mexican cuisine.
What is your favourite salsa? The Lucky Taco Pink
Pickle. We learnt how to make it in Mexico City. It’s
simple, but amazing: red onions, lemon, lime and
orange juice, habaneros and salt. It’s magic. It’ll
turn a plain toasted cheese sandwich into some-
thing special.What is your favourite childhood food memory?
Potter Warren Tippett was a friend of my parents,
and he shared a spicy roast chicken recipe with
Mum when I was a kid. I loved it. Mum has always
been an incredible home cook, so I grew up eating
really tasty food.Is healthy eating a priority? Sarah and I eat pretty
healthily, but we’re not hung up on it. I love a good
burger, but not every night. It’s all about balance.What’s your typical breakfast? A smoothie made
with almond milk, spinach, ginger, banana, apple,
kiwifruit, pineapple and melon. And a cofee.
Sometimes Vogel’s toast. If we get a day of on a
weekend, I’ll make poached eggs.What about lunch? It always changes: dumplings,
noodle soup, a salad, leftovers from home, a bagel
from the Tannery. Whatever’s clever.What is your favourite evening meal? That’s impos-
sible to answer; I have a few faves, though. Sarah’s
lamb neck-chop stew is perfect comfort food.
A butterlied chook roasted in the Lucky Taco
chicken marinade, with cumin mashed potatoes
and spicy slaw. Dumplings from Tianze [Dumpling
House] on Sandringham Rd in Auckland.What happens when you dine at other people’s
homes? When you make food for a living, people
sometimes think they need to impress you. But I’m
thankful if someone goes to the trouble to cook
me dinner. I’m a simple guy, really. Our friend
Felicity brought Peter Gordon to our house
for brunch a while ago. Sarah and I were
terriied, cooking for such a legend, but we
just made nice, simple, yummy food. And he
loved it. Well, he said he did, anyway ...All proceeds from the sale of the 2016
storybook Kindness, Courage and
More Uplifting Stories go to the
Starship Foundation.Email your nutrition
questions to
nutrition@listener.
co.nzThis doesn’t mean we
should forgo a healthy
diet if we experience
recurring stressors.