Eat Right, Stay Bright This Winter
‘Beware the winter’ warn dietitians as research shows more Australians turn to comfort foods at this time of year.
According to Australia’s peak nutrition body, the Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA), more Australians eat pastries, cakes and chocolates, and less eat fruit, during the colder months1. Australia’s last national nutrition survey found more than 70 per cent of Australian adults indulge in less nutritious ‘cereal-based’ foods during the winter months1. Such foods included pizza, cakes, pastries, battered food, commercial hamburgers and biscuits.
But dietitians say choosing the right ‘comfort’ foods during winter can help you stay healthy and happy all year round.
DAA Spokesperson Lisa Renn said: ‘On short, cool days, it’s tempting to reach for fatty and sugary comfort foods. But any boost from these foods is usually short lived, so you end up with less energy – and more weight in the long term’.
Ms Renn, an Accredited Practising Dietitian, said the right comfort foods are lower in sugar, fat and kilojoules (energy). ‘Try nourishing foods like porridge with reduced-fat milk and fruit, chunky vegetable and lentil soups, and slow-cooked casseroles made with lean meat and vegetables like potato and carrot,’ said Ms Renn. She also recommends eating healthy, low glycaemic index (GI) foods for sustained energy, and maintaining regular physical activity to boost energy levels. Read more
Dietary Management In Eating Disorder Patients
Eating disorder (ED) patients display a high prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms and functional gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome. These symptoms may interfere with their nutritional management. Ingestion of fructose-sorbitol (F-S) is an established means of gastrointestinal symptom provocation in irritable bowel syndrome patients. Surprisingly, although ED patients are known to consume “diet” products containing fructose and sorbitol, their gastrointestinal symptom responses to F-S provocation have not been studied.
A research article published on November 14, 2009 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology describes the responses of 26 ED patients to F-S provocation. The research team, including Professors Kellow, Abraham and Hansen from the University of Sydney, Australia, monitored gastrointestinal symptoms and breath hydrogen concentration (a marker of small bowel absorption) for 3 h following ingestion of 50 g glucose on one day, and 25 g fructose/5 g sorbitol on the next day. Responses to F-S were compared to those of 20 asymptomatic healthy females. Read more