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 food tips to benefit your health and wellbeing.
20 small food changes that will make a big difference to your health
Small, incremental changes are the recipe for better health. Tweaks to my meals have helped me vastly improve my diversity of foods and I am probably in better health now than I was in my 30s. Getting more from our food at every meal is what inspired me to write my latest book, Food for Life, because everybody can benefit from these changes.
The traditional approach - making big New Year’s resolutions - fails for the vast majority of people because approximately nine out of 10 of us don’t stick to the resolutions we make. Vowing never to get drunk again, to train at the gym four times a week, or not to eat junk food any more are all very ambitious and too unspecific.
Instead, introducing small nudges that can be sustained every day and help make you feel better without restricting your lifestyle is a much more effective approach.
It’s scientifically proven that setting realistic goals is more effective than deciding to stop a behaviour altogether. For example, setting a goal to add one new plant to every meal – the benefit is greater without any restriction being necessary.
Professor Tim Spector, the co-founder of the Zoe app and author of Food for Life, lists 20 simple diet changes that will do you a power of good.
Will one mouldy berry ruin the rest?
Fresh strawberries, blueberries and blackberries are among our favourite fruits, but their goodness can be fleeting. Within a few days of bringing them home from the farmers market or supermarket, it’s common to find that some grey or white fuzz has staked a claim to a berry or two, prompting many to wonder: Are the rest safe to eat?
See what food safety experts have to say about picking through the mouldy berries this summer.
Sweet revenge: Six ways to beat your sugar addiction
Eating ultra-processed foods packed with sugar, like most breakfast cereals, cakes, biscuits and fizzy drinks, as well as refined carbohydrates, will quickly elevate glucose levels in the blood, followed by a steep decline, which over time increases your risk of diabetes.
We know that maintaining a healthy weight is the single most effective way to prevent and even reverse the symptoms of Type 2 diabetes. However, some foods can help reduce blood sugar levels. For example, a new study from the US showed a significant reduction in fasting blood glucose levels after four weeks of drinking kombucha daily.
Here are six more diet strategies to help prevent harmful blood sugar spikes.
The ‘healthy’ foods that are actually bad for you
Supermarket milk aisles have become filled with an increasing array of plant-based alternatives. It began with oat, coconut, rice, and soy, but now almond, hazelnut, hemp and even pea milk are becoming increasingly trendy options.
But while these replacements are often branded as being healthier, is that really the case? Not always, according to a new study from the University of Minnesota, led by epidemiologist Abigail Johnson.
When Johnson and her colleagues analysed the nutritional labels of 237 milk alternatives made using either almonds, oats, rice, or soya, they found that just 19 per cent of them matched up to ordinary milk when it came to protein content. A third were found to be lower in calcium and vitamin D. Previous research has shown that plant-based milks are also lower in minerals such as magnesium, zinc and selenium.
“Some plant-based milks contain added sugars, which cow’s milk does not,” says Johnson. “We saw that some plant-based milks had added sugars in levels that were more similar to flavoured milk products like chocolate milk.”
So what other supposedly healthy foods should you avoid? And what should you replace them with?
The foods you should be freezing and how long they actually keep
The drive to prepare a meal can come in waves. You braise short ribs for hours on Sunday and struggle to gather the will to make ramen on Thursday. On those nights, it helps to have a freezer full of, well, braised short ribs. It’s cheaper than takeout, requires nearly no energy to reheat and feels like an act of care, past you taking care of present you.
The freezer is the best source of fully cooked dishes, homemade meals that need only to be heated through and, of course, desserts for sweet cravings. (It also remains a smart place to store many ingredients.)
And it’s as simple to stack up dishes in your freezer as it is to understand what keeps best and when to eat it.
You don’t need to have a hyper-organised freezer to have a wealth of fresh, hot meals in minutes. You just need these tips.