Healthy Eating Resources

pile of vegetables including broccoli, cabbage and carrots.

It is important to eat a healthy, balanced diet in order to give your body all the nutrients it needs in order to maintain good inner health.

Inner Health, also known as Metabolic Health refers to what is going on inside our bodies, where all our organs work together to keep us alive and healthy. 

Eating well will not only keep you healthy, but also reduce the risk of you developing other conditions such as Pain, Diabetes and Heart Disease.

To learn more about Inner Health, there are some excellent booklets, Inner Health and Inner Health Made Easy which contains the same information, but in an easy to read format. 

 

Nutrition

So now that you understand the importance of good nutrition, what do you need to be thinking about eating?

  • In order to get an idea of how healthy your weekly shop already is, The British Heart Foundation have put together a page to show you where you may be able to swap out some of your regular items for healthier alternatives.

  •  The most important part of good nutrition is to ensure you are eating "Real Food". This refers to food that is unprocessed, or minimally processed. Ultra-processed foods are intended for us to keep going back for more, no matter if we are hungry or not, you will be able to recognise these foods as having a long list of ingredients that may include items that you would not usually cook at home. More information about "Real Foods" is available to download from this Leaflet.

  • Healthy eating isn't always about eating less calories, it could be that you need extra calories because of losing weight due to e.g illness. Nourising drinks could be a good way to get more nutriants into your body if you are struggling to eat proper meals. 

Low Carb Diet

Carbohydrate is a name for Sugars and Starches. Starches (bread, potatoes, pasta, rice etc) are made of long chains of glucose (sugar), which the body rapidly digests into blood glucose. Starches often do not taste so sweet, and so it’s not obvious that they contain lots of glucose. The body quickly digests carbohydrates into blood glucose. To stop blood glucose rising too high the body releases the hormone insulin. Insulin tells the liver and muscles to take glucose out of the blood, and into storage. Once the liver and muscles are full of stores, insulin tells the body to turn any extra blood glucose into fat stores. When you have excess insulin, with full fat stores of glucose, can lead to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, fatty liver disease and central obesity. This can also progress to Pre-Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes. 

A Low-Carb Diet is a flexible way of eating that allows you to decide a level of carbohydrate that works for you. 

The benefits of a Low-Carb Diet include

  • Improved Weight Loss

  • Less chance of high sugar levels occurring.

  • More energy

  • Clearer Thinking

  • Lower risk of developing long-term conditions such as Diabetes or Heart Conditions.

 

Traffic Light System

Foods are split into categories:

  •  Red Foods should be avoided as much as possible. 

  • Amber foods are okay in Moderation. 

  • Green Foods that you can have as much of as you would like!

To find out more about The Traffic Light System Download the PDF guide or visit the Low Carb website. 

a traffic light. The red light at the top has a sad face, the amber in the middle has a neutral expression and the green light at the bottom has a happy face

 

Public Health Collaboration Resources

How Much Sugar is in Your Food?

The Public Health Collaboration have put together some useful infographics to illustrate how much sugar is in the food we eat. 

If you are on a budget, and struggling to find "Real Food" on a budget, the PHC have created a guide with tips for finding Real Food on a Real Budget.

For those who really want to understand healthy eating, or prefer to watch rather than read, the PHC have lots of videos on their YouTube Channel.

image depicts a table displaying the number of teaspoons of sugar found in common foods

 

The Freshwell App

freshwell app logo, an illustrated green leaf

The Freshwell App was created by the Freshwell Health Centre. It encourages people to lose weight using their successful methods.

  • Weekly Modules: to explain why a low-carb lifestyle might benefit you

  • Sugar Graphics: showing the sugar equivalent of some common foods

  • Meal Planner: including some recipes to start you off

  • Progress: a simple tracker and BMI calculator to keep track of weight, BMI and waist circumference if you wish to do so

Best of all, the app is completely free!

 

To learn more about the Freshwell Low Carb Project, click here. Their website contains resources for Meal Planners, Podcasts, videos and more to help you on your Low Carb journey. 

Google Play store logo

App store logo

 

 

Healthy Eating

Nutritional Support/Build Up

 

Recipes and Cookbooks!

 

 

Additional Resources!

 

 

Last updated 17/06/2024