Food advertising

Beware adverts that tell you certain cereals are healthy. I have just read about a particular brand of cereal which is aimed at people who want to lose weight. So you should eat this when you are trying to lose weight, yes?

Wrong

In Britain this cereal is 17% sugar. (It has different amounts of sugar in different countries). That's a lot of sugar. It won't satisfy your hunger for long or make you slim, in fact it is very likely to make you hungry shortly after eating it. Because you will be more than peckish, you will eat anything you can get your hands on. That's probably a doughnut, crisps, or a 'healthy' piece of sugar laden flapjack. The sugar in the cereal will make you fat and the snack will make you fat. (That's fat, not thin).

I've got to drum it into my poor brain that the main motivation of the people behind adverts is not people's health but money. They will tell you whatever makes you buy their stuff. They can't tell a blatant lie, so they imply things, they omit information, they present an image you associate with the product without having to say the lie. Which, in the case of today's specially chosen cereal is:

'If you eat this sugary carbohydrate, you will get a great figure, a red dress and lots of beautiful friends.' 

It would be laughable if thousands of us didn't fall for it every day.

 (Do you know what it is yet?)

Sugar addiction

Today I bought a book called 'The Sweet Poison Quit Plan' by David Gillespie. This seems to embrace the same ideas as The Food Hourglass. We eat far too much sugar and it makes us fat and unhealthy. 

 Mr Gillespie promises in his intro to show me ways of breaking my sugar addiction. I think that I am well on my way to breaking my addiction already and this will help me on my way. He talks not about giving up sugar, which makes it sound as though I will be depriving myself of something nice, but of breaking my addiction. This makes it sound as though I am moving towards something nice. 

One of the things I really like about the introduction is that Mr G recognises how difficult it is to get through sugar withdrawal when we live in a society where almost everyone else is addicted to sugar. It's isn't like giving up nicotine where there are a few obvious things to steer clear of. As I said yesterday- sugar is everywhere. We even eat it when we are sure we are avoiding it, because it hides in food like a stealth missile. 

There are recipes and other great aids to getting on the right track. There is chemistry, biology and a great dollop of psychology. And all from a lawyer! I've got to read this!

Sugar everywhere!

I was thinking about our society and how we view snacks. Often we will go for a coffee and there will be a number of different ways to introduce a small yet significant boost of sugar into our system, via a biscuit or a piece of cake.

 The thing is, what if you want a small interesting taste of something non sugary? Where is the alternative in most retail outlets? You could opt for crisps, but they are loaded with fat and salt, and also are so easily broken down by the body to release sugar, we may as well eat sugar from a spoon. 

What we need is a radical rethink. If I came to pay for my coffee and there was a bite sized rye with a slice of cheese, or a tomato stuffed with hummus and parsley in a cooler I would choose that. It would satisfy that desire for a little taste treat. We need to wean ourselves off the relentless sugar train.

I had a drink in a cafe with my parents today. They chose Lipton iced lemon tea. A refreshing choice in the sweltering heat. After they had drunk it, we looked at the label and found that each bottle contained 34 grams of sugar- well over an ounce of sugar in a short drink that didn't taste particularly sweet. It's outrageous. I can imagine a time in the future when packaging such blatantly unhealthy stuff will be seen by everyone as a moral if not an actual crime. People are often in too much of a rush to check labels but really aught to make the time. A cup of herbal tea is just as refreshing but has no sugar whatsoever!

Sugar free carrot cake

Here is my own recipe for carrot cake -the food hourglass way!

Sugar free carrot cake

125 grams buckwheat flour
2.5 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
70 grams crushed walnuts
80 grams dates (medjool are good)
3 ripe bananas
3 eggs
80 grams soya yoghurt
50grams rapeseed or olive oil
100 grams grated carrots

Mash the bananas.

Warm the dates in a pan on low heat with the oil for about two minutes then add to the banana mixture. Add eggs and soya yoghurt, then blend until the dates are roughly chopped. Add carrots and stir. In a separate bowl , mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and walnuts. Add the two mixtures together. Pour into a 2lb loaf tin which is lined with baking parchment.

Bake in an oven at 160  deg C fan, 180 deg C, 350 deg F for around 35-40 minutes.

This makes a moist, lovely cake and is very moreish!

Chai spiced hazelnut milk

We have had storms, lightening and weather which alternates between humid and chilly. On the chilly days my clothes seem to be too flimsy and I spend the whole day refusing to wrap up warmly. It's summer for goodness sake! When it's not quite cold enough to light the fire but you need something comforting, how about this chai spiced hazelnut milk? It gives you ten minutes of Christmas. You can almost see the fary lights twinkling. Better shared with a friend.

Hazelnut chai

2 cups hazelnut milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Dash of cloves (a good pinch)
Dash of ginger

Pour the hazelnut milk into a non stick milk pan. Sprinkle in the spices and heat gradually stirring all the time. When the milk begins to form small bubbles on the surface it is ready to pour into two large mugs. Don't let it boil. The hazelnut milk is naturally rather sweet and so it doesn't need any added sweetness. It tastes aromatic and gorgeous. You can drink it looking out at the lightening and feel safe and cosy inside.

Another great brownie recipe and a few thoughts on swimming

You may like to try this recipe which uses beetroot and sweet potato along with dates to give it that sweet kick. It's full of nutritious and easy to find ingredients. It's an ideal way to end a meal or to have as a standby snack for those peckish moments between meals. It is also supremely food hourglass friendly.

Sweet potato and beetroot brownies

I'd like to put in a word for swimming today. I have been going to my local pool a couple of times a week, and have deliberately not tried to complete more and more lengths, to go faster or to improve dramatically in any way. I have gone along for the sheer joy of moving through water. When I have stopped competing with myself or feeling that I should do better, I have been able to enjoy the sun shining, allow the gap in my mental chatter and just be. Despite this, I have noticed that I am getting stronger and faster. Which just goes to show that life sometimes looks after itself without me interfering. Perhaps I could take this lesson and apply it to other areas of life?

Illness and attitude

Just a quick post tonight. We are with family. They are cooking some amazing thai concoction and I have been reading an article on the history of our attitude to illness, specifically cancer.

When my grandfather died I was 11 years old. He was in his early sixties. He came to visit and I remember a thin pale man and a milk pudding only he was allowed to eat. Later, a phone call in the afternoon, my father's quiet voice, understanding, trying to help the person at the end of the phone tell the terrible news they had to tell. People were afraid of cancer, they spoke about it in hushed tones, or they didn't talk about it at all.

Someone very close to me was diagnosed with cancer a few years back. We talked about it. It wasn't a dark cloud to avoid, but something to understand, like an uninvited difficult guest at a party, something to get to the bottom of and work alongside. Treatment, wonderful drugs that didn't cause sickness, a gradual improvement and life went on, if a little more slowly.

Illness is no longer the taboo it was. So many diseases if not curable, are manageable, they have a human face.

When people have experienced an illness that has brought them or someone they love close to death, it changes everything. Then they sometimes find the strength to change lifestyle habits that were making them unhealthy. If your dad dies of lung cancer, it's a whole lot easier to give up your 20 a day habit.

I look at the precious people I have in my life thanks to medical progress and I feel I am honouring them by giving my body the best fuel I know how, and cooking food hourglass food for them whenever they let me. Because selfishly, there are many more happy days I want to share with them - many more happy memories waiting to be made.