This year the Herald’s award-winning newsroom produced a range of first-class journalism, including Jacinda Ardern’s shock resignation, the Auckland anniversary floods, arts patron Sir James Wallace’s prison sentence, the election of Christopher’s Luxon government and the All Blacks’ narrow defeat in the Rugby World Cup final.
This summer we’re bringing back some of the best-read Premium articles of 2023. Today we take a look at some of the year’s best diet and nutrition advice.
The real reasons you’re not losing weight
You’ve cut out croissants, biscuits and booze and even switched to black coffee and started exercising. So why can’t you shift those stubborn pounds? It’s time to look beyond your calorie tracker and weekly workouts for the answer. Scientists are fast uncovering a wealth of hidden factors influencing how your body metabolises food.
“It’s not just what you eat, but also how you eat matters and who you are,” says Dr Sarah Berry, associate professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at King’s College London and chief scientist at ZOE nutrition programme.
“For example, your age, sex and gut microbes can all impact how you respond to food, as well as how much sleep you’ve had and the time of day that you’re eating.”
Read the full story to discover the surprising reasons you struggle to stay slim and simple, science-backed solutions.
Ten nutrition myths experts wish would die
Soy milk can raise the risk of breast cancer. Fat-free foods are healthier than high-fat foods. Vegans and vegetarians are deficient in protein. Some false ideas about nutrition seem to linger in American culture like a terrible song stuck in your head.
So to set the record straight, we asked 10 of the top nutrition experts in the United States a simple question: what is one nutrition myth you wish would go away - and why?
Coming in at number one - fresh fruits and vegetables are always healthier than canned, frozen or dried varieties. In fact, the experts say, research has found that frozen, canned and dried fruits and vegetables can be just as nutritious as their fresh counterparts.
Read more on this - and nine other food myths that drive the experts crazy - here.
Why you can enjoy cheese, chocolate and pasta – and still lose weight
Hot cross buns are an Easter ritual. Slathered in melting butter, what’s not to like? If you’re salivating at the very thought, but then depriving yourself of going there, it might be time to break out of the food-shame cycle. Because when it comes to a healthy diet, experts believe a little bit of what you fancy does you good.
Clare Gray is a dietitian and chef. Having worked in acclaimed restaurants such as Spring at Somerset House and Chez Panisse in California, she feels passionately about helping her clients enjoy a healthy, balanced diet - which includes puddings. “What I see so often, when people talk about healthy eating, is that the enjoyment and pleasure of food is lost,” Gray says.
And yet denying ourselves can lead to unhelpful behaviour and in her practice she sees many people buying low-fat, low-sugar alternatives to their favourite foods. “They say, ‘I bought the WeightWatchers version, but then I ate the whole packet.’”
Over time, restrictive eating causes us to become ever more fixated on the very foods we’re trying to cut back on, and then we tend to dwell on our perceived lack of willpower.
Here’s how to treat yourself – without the guilt.
How I lost 8kg without putting myself through hell
I’m from Australia and I have always been very active and concerned with eating healthily. As a teenager and in my early 20s, I had a bad relationship with food and struggled with disordered eating, but I worked through it and got to a good place.
But when I had a big promotion at work and moved continents to live in London, my world was turned upside down - and my good habits fell by the wayside. I didn’t have the same schedule, or the same gym, and I was working long hours, so I ended up eating convenience food.
I put on quite a bit of weight and it was getting me down. I didn’t feel that mentally I was in my best place.
When I joined a local gym, I loved getting back into exercise and weight training, as well as the camaraderie of the place. Exercise came back to me easily, but I still needed to tackle my diet. My trainer came up with a nutrition plan with high protein, but still a good amount of carbohydrates, because I think anything too restrictive isn’t sustainable long-term.
Read the rest of Belinda Jones’ fitness story here - plus the health rules she lives by.
‘Turning point’: How I walked off 35kg and slayed my sugar cravings
It’s the story of so many mid-life men. The weight had crept on slowly. I hardly ever weighed myself and when I looked in the mirror I’d pull in my stomach and thought I still looked great. My wife Kim had been buying bigger clothes for me and I didn’t pay much attention to my size.
In reality, my belly was enormous; I could barely stand up straight. I once went to try yoga and couldn’t do half of the poses because my stomach was in the way. When I hit 120kg, I stopped weighing myself.
Then, in 2017, not long before I turned 47, I developed a shooting pain that went down my arm and across my chest. I was convinced I was having a heart attack and rushed to hospital in Hong Kong, where I live. The doctor’s face went white when I described my symptoms and he ran all the tests, including an ultrasound scan on my heart.
Fortunately, it turned out to be a trapped nerve and not angina. On that occasion, I was lucky… but I so easily might not have been. My weight had skyrocketed to around 127kg. I’m six foot, which meant a BMI of 37.9. I was officially obese.
Today my life is totally different. I’ve just finished the toughest hiking trail in Europe. I’ve lost more than 35kg and my mood and energy levels have completely transformed.
The heart scare was a turning point, but it has been a long slow process and walking has been a big part of it.