86Thousand400: Nutrition, Recommended Vs Unrecommended Food Sources

People need to eat to survive, but health conscious individuals want to do more than survive. They want to choose a diet that optimises their health.

To make things as simple as possible with regards to nutrition, below are the recommended and discouraged food sources we have looked into and worked with over the past couple of years.

Essentially get these bits in your cupboards and fridges and you won’t go too far wrong!

Recommended Food Sources:

Protein:

Complete

Animal based Eggs Meat Poultry Non animal based Buckwheat Quinoa

Incomplete

Vegetables Cereals/Grains Pulses (Beans/Lentils) Nuts

Complementary

Vegetables & Seeds Nuts Grains & Pulses

Fats:

Saturated Fat

Animal Meat - Beef, Pork, Lamb, Venison Poultry - Chicken, Duck Dairy - Milk, Cheese, Yoghurt, Butter, Eggs Non-Animal Coconut oil Palm Kernel Oil Cocoa butter Palm Oil

Monosaturated Fatty Acids

Olive oil Avocado Rapeseed oil Nuts Seeds

Omega 3

Oily fish Cod liver oil Flax oil Walnut oil Hempseed oil

Omega 6

Sunflower oil Soybean oil Corn oil Pumpkin seeds Sesame seeds

Carbohydrates:

Wholemeal or whole grain products Frozen/fresh vegetables Pulses Quinoa Bran, Rye, Rice Beans, Barley, Broccoli, Fruit

Unrecommended Food Sources

Refined Carbohydrates: Contain excessive sugar (over 15g per 100g), contain processed, low quality fats, have high energy density, no vitamins or minerals and adversely affect insulin response:

White bread White pasta Cakes Biscuits Pastries White rice Rice cakes

Convenience Foods that contain Transfats

Margarine products Pre-made biscuits/cakes Crackers/Take away foods Pre made pies Pastry products Prepared box meals Many processed foods Mayonaise Salad dressing Artificial sweeteners

We live in an extremely imperfect world, so we would say – yes, these are OK to enjoy every once in a while (perhaps if you're out and about or in other people's company), but essentially eradicate the above from the house.

Finally, a few good nutrition documentaries/films that are worth a watch and certainly make you think:

That Sugar Film, That Vitamin Movie, Foodmatters