Food Labelling Tricks

Food manufacturing companies spend millions of dollars researching consumer behaviour in order to develop tactics to make you to buy more of their products.

Sun Rice's brown rice is "cholesterol free" and "gluten free".

Be careful of tricks that food manufacturers use to entice you to think that the products have certain health benefits.

In the above photo, Sun Rice has “cholesterol free” and “gluten free” printed on the front of its brown rice packages, which basically is stating the obvious. Foods from plants do not contain cholesterol (all foods from animals contain some cholesterol) while gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, barley, triticale and oats, not rice.

Other tricks food manufacturers use include:

• “Light” or “lite” may sound healthy, but it may not necessarily mean low-calorie or even low-fat. It may just be light in colour, taste or texture (for example, it may mean the olive oil doesn’t taste too strong or the chips are lightly salted).
• “No flavours added” doesn’t mean no MSG as it is a flavour enhancer, not a flavour.
• Reduced-fat does not necessarily mean low-fat as one brand’s reduced-fat could still have more fat than another brand’s regular. The best way to be sure is to compare the nutrition panels of both products.

The 70-30 Rule

If you’re serious about losing those unwanted kilos, then you need to follow the ’70-30 Rule’, which basically means that 70% of your effort should be spent on nutrition and 30% on exercise. And for most people it’s the 70% that’s the hardest.

Eating not only involves what you eat, but also how much you eat and your emotions play a big part as well. Here are five nutritional tips to help you achieve the 70%:

• Try drinking a large glass of water 10 to 15 minutes before a meal. The water will partially fill your stomach and may reduce your hunger levels. 
• If you find yourself eating chocolate or lollies in between meals, try eating a handful of unsalted nuts instead. While some nuts are relatively high in fat, the fat they contain is the ‘good’ fat that our body needs to stay healthy. 
• If you are a weekend food binger, plan your meals and snacks ahead so you have plenty of healthier snacking options in the house. 
• Use smaller plates to control the portion sizes as most of us will eat everything on our plates. If you are still hungry, wait 20 minutes before going for seconds. 
• When eating out, always choose the smallest portion size available and fill up with a side salad (preferably one without the creamy dressing).

Exercise For Your Body and Mind

We all know that exercise is good for us physically, but it can also strengthen the mind and improve our mood.

Research has found that:

• Exercise can improve a person’s mood and mental performance. 
• Active people are generally happier and are less prone to depression. 
• Active seniors suffer less cognitive decline than sedentary ones. 
• Aerobic exercise may make us sharper at any age. 
• When sedentary people become active, they get better at switching from one task to another, and their memories improve. 
• Besides improving circulation, exercise causes chemical changes within the brain, by boosting the activity of mood-enhancing neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin. 
• Exercise triggers the release of endorphins – chemicals that blunt pain and foster relaxation.

Making the Most of Your Metabolism

The word metabolism is derived from Greek and simply means ‘change’ or ‘transformation’.  Human metabolism represents the sum total of all physical and chemical changes that take place within the body; the transformation of food into energy, the formation of new compounds such as hormones, the growth of bone and muscle tissue, the destruction of body tissues, and a host of other processes.

Metabolism aids digestive function as well as absorption of nutrients and is most affected by nutrition, hydration and physical activity.  Each of these factors is an imperative contributor to optimum metabolic health.  When any one of them is deficient, the metabolic rate decreases.  Consequently, weight loss and weight maintenance are directly related to healthy metabolism.

While lowering your kilojoules/calorie and fat intakes may be important components of weight loss, both decrease your metabolism, making it essential to stimulate the metabolic rate through other means such as routine physical activity.  It is not a good idea to skip meals or to reduce kilojoules/calories by a large amount, since decreased metabolism causes the body to burn fewer kilojoules/calories and less fat.  It may also cause your body to store excess fat in reserve, defeating the object of the lower kilojoule/calorie intake.

Human metabolic rate reflects how rapidly the body is using its energy stores and this rate can vary depending on a number of factors, the most influential one being exercise.

Simple ideas to increase your metabolism:

1. Always eat breakfast in the morning.  Breakfast is a great way to break the fast.  Whilst research has shown that breakfast causes only a slight increase in metabolic rate (mainly due to the energy cost of digesting and absorbing food), it does in fact help boost your energy levels and improve concentration.
2. Increase the amount of everyday activity.  As a person becomes fitter and gains muscle mass, they increase the amount of calories burnt at rest, plus they are more likely to use fat as a fuel source.  However, the energy intake needs to be sufficient to meet the demands of your exercise program.  If there is too little energy intake this imbalance may eventually reduce resting metabolic rate.
3. Start doing some resistance/weight training which will help to increase your muscle mass.  The more muscle you have, the more kilojoules/calories you burn regardless of how active you are or how old you are.  As we age our muscle mass decreases.  Adding resistance training to your workouts will help to maintain muscle mass.
4. Eat foods that contain capsaicin, such as hot chillies.  These types of food may elevate metabolism slightly and research has shown that eating them actually suppresses appetite, therefore reducing food intake.
5. Keep the fluids up.  Hydration levels are extremely important in the role of metabolism, as over 70 per cent of bodily functions take place in water, so insufficient water causes all of your systems to slow down.  Aim to drink at least two litres per day, increase this amount if you are exercising, especially in a humid environment.
6. Make sure you are getting enough sleep.  Regular sleep is important in maintaining optimal metabolic function.

The most important factor that can increase the metabolic rate in general is exercise.  Any physical activity will raise the metabolic rate, and will keep it slightly elevated post exercise.

Source: Australian Fitness Network

Better Out Than In

A recent review carried out by a team at the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry in the UK has concluded that there are benefits to mental and physical well-being from taking exercise outdoors.

The study found that “Most trials showed an improvement in mental well-being: compared with exercising indoors, exercising in natural environments was associated with greater feelings of revitalization, increased energy and positive engagement, together with decreases in tension, confusion, anger and depression.

Participants also reported greater enjoyment and satisfaction with outdoor activity and stated that they were more likely to repeat the activity at a later date.” The one area that the study did not measure was the long-term effects of exercise in natural environments and whether or not participants were able to stick to a routine.

Most of Health Jigsaw’s training sessions are conducted outdoors, which can make you feel invigorated, refreshed and alive. They also provide most people with a change of environment in their day, from an air-conditioned office to the fresh air of the local parks, ovals, beaches or even their own backyard. Being outdoors can also help increase your body’s stores of vitamin D.

Salt & High Blood Pressure

In our previous blog post, we discussed how high blood pressure (or hypertension) can be impacted by lifestyle factors such as a high salt intake.

So how does salt increase blood pressure?

When our salt (sodium chloride) intake levels are very high, the kidneys cannot keep up with the excretion and the salt ends up in our bloodstream.  The body compensates by retaining more fluid to dilute the sodium levels, which increases blood volume.  This then raises blood pressure as the heart has to work harder to pump the larger volume of blood around the body.

Only about 25 per cent of our sodium intake comes from the salt shaker.  The rest is hidden in processed foods that have salt added during manufacturing.  One gram (1000 milligrams) of salt has 400 mg sodium.

The National Health and Medical Research Council has set an ‘Adequate Intake’ of 460–920 mg of sodium (equivalent to 1.15–2.3 grams of salt) per day and a ‘Suggested Dietary Target’ of 1600 mg of sodium (about 4 grams of salt) for Australian adults.  However, most Australians have a daily salt intake of about 10 grams.  The recommended amount of sodium for people with hypertension is about 1500 mg a day.

Salt is listed on nutrition panels as sodium.  Foods with less than 120 mg per 100 grams are low in salt, while foods with more than 500 mg per 100 grams are high in salt.

Luckily, the food industry has been involved in reformulating some products to reduce salt levels.  For example, Vegemite has been reducing its salt content since 1974 and now has 13 per cent less salt than the original recipe.

Here are a few tips to reduce salt in your diet:

• Eat more fresh food (plant or animal).
• Use herbs, olive oil or lemon juice to enhance flavours instead of adding salt.
• Compare food labels when shopping and look for foods labeled ‘no added salt’ or ‘salt reduced’.
• Buy reduced-salt bread and breakfast cereals. A slice of commercial brand bread can have up to 200 mg of sodium.
• Stay away from highly processed products such as instant noodles and pastas, canned soups and dehydrated soup mixes.
• Cut back on processed meats like salami, ham, corned beef, bacon, smoked meats/salmon, sausages and chicken loaf.
• Limit takeaway foods, especially pizza, burgers, pies and sausage rolls. When possible, choose low salt options such as a salad.
• Use fresh or frozen vegetables as canned vegetables have a higher salt content.
• Try and avoid frozen meals, canned meat/fish, potato chips, cheese, ready-made salad dressings, soy sauce, tomato sauce and mayonnaise as they are high in sodium.

HIgh Blood Pressure

Blood pressure is the force of the blood pushing against the walls of the arteries. Each time the heart beats, it pumps out blood into the arteries. Your blood pressure is at its highest when the heart beats, pumping the blood. This is called systolic pressure. When the heart is at rest, between beats, your blood pressure falls. This is the diastolic pressure. Blood pressure is always given as these two numbers, the systolic and diastolic pressures. When the two measurements are written down, the systolic pressure is the first number and the diastolic pressure is the second.

A blood pressure reading below 120/80 mmHg (millimetres of mercury) is considered normal. Pre-hypertension is blood pressure between 120 and 139 for the first number, or between 80 and 89 for the second number. If your blood pressure is in the pre-hypertension range, it is more likely that you will end up with high blood pressure unless you take action to prevent it. Hypertension or high blood pressure is a blood pressure reading of 140/90 mmHg or higher. You should consult your doctor if your blood pressure reading is higher than 160/95.

Some of the lifestyle factors which can impact on your blood pressure are:

• Excess weight – which forces the heart to pump harder.
• Lack of exercise.
• Stress.
• High salt intake.
• Heavy alcohol consumption – responsible for about 10% of high blood pressure cases.

High blood pressure is often called the silent killer because it usually has no symptoms. Some people may not find out they have it until they have trouble with their heart, brain or kidneys. Therefore it is important to have regular check-ups of your blood pressure. High blood pressure over a period of time can contribute to many illnesses, including heart attack, kidney failure or stroke.

Ways to reduce your blood pressure include:

• reducing your stress levels;
• minimising the fat (particularly saturated fat) in your diet;
• eating less salt;
• stop smoking;
• drinking less alcohol; and
• changing your lifestyle by losing weight and getting regular exercises.

For more information, please contact Health Jigsaw or visit our website (healthjigsaw.com).