With so many products on our supermarket shelves being made to look healthy by clever marketing tricks and deceptive labelling, it’s time to take a step back, define “fresh” and take a look and what we are really eating. Fresh foods are not frozen or preserved in any way. They are usually sourced locally and retain all of the nutritional value and flavour without any additions or manipulation.
It’s misleading when items such as fruit and vegetable juice or even the dehydrated fruit in dry cereals are marketed by some manufacturers as counting towards fruit and vegetable servings.
The definition of “fresh” is often misconstrued by simply serving an item at the expected temperature – hot or cold.
Labels can be deceiving too, seemingly endless products labelled as “natural” and “organic” may not be as good for you as you think.
Additives such and poor quality ingredients undermine the overall nutritional value of foods. What is not highlighted by many food labels or manufacturers are all the hidden ingredients – from added sugar, sodium, and unpronounceable preservatives, to additives, flavouring, and colouring. Commonly used, artificially enriched grains are not as healthy as those that remain intact during production. The addition of brown colouring to some breads may mislead consumers into thinking they are purchasing whole grains, when in fact the product is not. Due to the need to extend shelf-life and reduce manufacturing costs, many lesser quality ingredients are often utilised – including those that are harmful to our health, like sodium solution fillers or saturated and hydrogenated fat sources.
When you walk through the aisle in the supermarket, most cereals have a fortified certification on them; fortified with six different vitamins and minerals. The question you should be asking is: What happened to the vitamins and minerals that were in there to begin with? They got processed out.
Focusing on fresh ingredients not only promotes improved health, but also boosts nutrients and flavour profiles. Any type of processing such as canning, freezing or drying can deteriorate the quality of and amount of nutrients, fibre, flavour, and even natural colour. A simple test is comparing fresh, frozen, and canned carrots. The fresh carrots retain a bright orange colour, with a crispness superior to the canned or frozen variety.
Processing of any type also reduces the nutrient content, and may even strip away those vital antioxidants that support immune health and protect cells from damage. In addition, choosing fresh ingredients promotes synergy of nutrients that may not necessarily occur if the items were processed. Even after processed grains are enriched, the final product is less nutritious than the original whole grain. As a result, much of the fibre content is lost, meaning you need to consume much larger quantities than you would if is in its raw form.
Many consumers choose pre-made frozen entrees and sides simply for convenience, but typical sodium content for a frozen entrée ranges 700 to 1300 mg – 30-50% of the daily maximum recommendation of 2500 mg. According to the CDC, a reduction of sodium intake from the current national average of 3400 mg to 2300 mg per day may reduce cases of high blood pressure by 11 million per year!It may be surprising but buying fresh, raw ingredients is less expensive than selecting processed items.The more steps required to process a food item, the higher the cost.
If you find yourself one of those people who doesn’t like the taste of vegetables but want the health benefits of them, we’ve devised some easy ways you can add veggies into your daily intake.
1. Drink your vegetables
There’s a myriad of colourful ways to disguise your vegetables for consumption, and one of our favourites would be blending them into a smoothie. Green smoothies are all the trend right now because they’re easy to digest and you can mask their flavours with fruit.
Not only do the vegetable cells get ruptured during blending – making it easier for your body to absorb their nutrients – but they’re also easy to make and clean up, and you can take them with you on your way to work.
2. Turn vegetables into noodles
Another easy way to get vegetables onto your daily menu is by turning them into noodles. We all love a good pasta, and one made of sweet potato, zucchini, carrots, turnips or beets ensures your meal will be nutritious and delicious.
3. Substitute common carbs for vegetable wraps
Like with pasta, a healthy replacement for bread is a lettuce leaf wrapped around your sandwich or burger. While you still get all the tasty and substantial fillings, the lettuce leaf can help reduce bloating, overeating and the small side of guilt that comes with a heavy-carb lunch.
4. Get the same crunchy snack, only healthier
Munching on a bag of potato chips or a chocolate bar is almost a daily ritual for some. The great thing about leafy greens is that you can bake them into a healthier alternative. All you have to do is thinly slice brussel sprouts or kale and bake them with a dash of seasoning.
Before you know it, you’ll be snacking on something better for your waistline.
5. Prepare ahead
Preparation is key to healthy eating habits, and vegetables are no different. There’s a hundred different ways to add them to your diet without sacrificing taste or texture, and preparing them earlier on in the week can turn your whole eating regime around.
At Hearty Health, we truly want to invest in your health, which is why we offer the convenience of delicious, easy and fresh ready-made meal options. All our meals are analysed by our dietician to ensure they are nutrient-filled and well-balanced.
Gut health is an important factor that can determine how we feel, strengthen our immune system and improve our energy levels. Unfortunately, your gut can easily become upset or inflamed from bad eating habits, stress and even lack of sleep, which can cause overall tension and illness in the rest of your body.
The gut’s main role is to regulate digestion, increase absorption of nutrients and keep things moving! Home to almost 100 trillion microorganisms, these ‘microbiota’ help us fight off nasty bugs in our body by strengthening our immune system.
An unhappy gut can lead to a host of health problems, including stomach aches, issues with absorption of vitamins and minerals, sleep disturbances, food intolerances and even skin irritations.
That’s why we need to ensure a wholesome diet to give our gut health the best chance to make us feel great. Avoiding sugar, including any soft drinks/juices and processed foods, is a key part of this. Of course, everyone is different, with specific intolerances to natural properties like gluten, dairy or fructose and that can have a large effect on which diet works best for you.
3 simple ways to improve your gut health:
1. Reduce Processed Foods
Processed foods and food containing excessive sugar can easily compromise your gut health, which is why we recommend bringing pre-prepared food from home. While time-consuming to meal prep, it is an effective, simple and fresh way to ensure everything you consume has the right benefit for your body and gut.
2. Avoid overuse of antibiotics and introduce probiotics
It’s natural to head to your GP for a course of antibiotics when you’re ill. Unfortunately, as well as killing the virus in your system, antibiotics can also kill your good gut flora.
It’s imperative you incorporate probiotics into your diet, which can be without the use of more pills. Try munching on yoghurt, pickles and even sauerkraut to your daily intake to get your gut back in top form.
3. Add some of these foods to your daily diet
Homemade stock in your bolognese and soups
Salmon with green leafy vegetables
Blueberries as a snack or in a muffin
Chia seeds and/or walnuts in a muffin or porridge is filling and ticks all the boxes for optimum health
Beetroot dip is a popular option that Hearty Health make as a snack option and tastes delicious with fresh celery and carrot sticks
Sweet potato as a mash or by itself as a side to chicken or steak
Turmeric and ginger in a mild curry is great for winter and gives a big immune boost
Hearty Health specialise in creating fresh seasonal ready-made meals made by professional chefs for the community. We’re working closely with Meals on Wheels Victoria to provide delicious ready-made meals. For more information, contact Hearty Health here.
New research released by VicHealth and the Sleep Health Foundation has found that technology before bed, caffeine and stress can all contribute to later bedtimes, sleep problems and mental illness.
But did you also know that your diet has a huge effect on the quality, duration and consistency of your sleep? Breaking life-long habits can be tough; try incorporating these simple changes into your daily routine, and it might just be the answer to ensure a long and restful night of sleep.
Establish a regular sleeping and eating routine
Monday to Friday, most of us work from early morning to late afternoon. Regular hours of sleep are important. Try establishing a good sleep routine (think the same bedtime routine away from technology and physical activity) paired with a healthy eating pattern (not eating after 7pm, avoiding high-energy food, etc), and your body and mental health will benefit greatly through proper rest and recuperation.
Stay away from processed foods high in sugar and carbohydrates
Sugar and carbohydrates convert to energy in our body and can cause pronounced changes in your blood sugar levels. While it’s important to eat them in moderation, it may be better to avoid them at night. When you eat heavier meals closer to bedtime, it can interrupt your body’s natural wind-down routine and affect your sleep.
A snack before bed may help develop healthy sleep habits
Though we don’t recommend a five-course meal, it isdifficult to sleep on an empty stomach. A light snack can help settle those little hunger pains in your stomach if you didn’t eat enough nutritious food during the day. Check out our Hearty Health blog here for nutritious recipes that may help.
Caffeine is a stimulant
Outside of coffee, caffeine is found in many popular drinks and snacks. These include tea, soft drinks, chocolate and more, which can make it harder to get to sleep. Try introducing a caffeine-curfew in the afternoon as caffeine can stay in your bloodstream between three to seven hours. So though you might think the effects of that five o’clock coffee will wear off before bed, it’s most likely still working through your system.
Make sure your bedroom is comfortable
Your bedroom should be quiet, comfortable and dark. The bright lights from our phones, power cords and other technology (i.e. blue light) can mess up your body’s ability to prepare for sleep by blocking melatonin – the hormone that makes you sleepy.
Exercise and physical activity
Daily exercise and time spent outside in the daylight is an important part of healthy living and promotes healthy sleep habits, as it releases negative and pent-up energy. However, it is best to steer clear of heavy exercise in the hour before sleep.
Stay hydrated
Drinking water throughout the day can help maintain your energy levels and avoid dehydration, setting you up for a great night’s sleep later on. Most often, by the time you feel thirst, your body is already feeling the effects of dehydration. Juice and tea can help with hydration, but perhaps stay away from an overabundance of sugary or caffeine-heavy drinks.
Our mission at Hearty Health is to provide the highest possible nutritious and premium-quality meals throughout Australia. So, we’re working with Meals on Wheels Victoria, to spread the joy of healthy, delicious and chef-prepared meals to the community.
For more tips and advice from the chefs in the Hearty Health kitchen, feel free to contact us.
The Winter Solstice highlights the birth of a new solar year and is also known as midwinter or Yule. It is the shortest period of daylight and the longest night of the year. Celebrate the Winter Solstice with your family by learning about why it is so significant around the world and start new family traditions that become annual rituals…
Midwinter is a traditional time of feasting and celebration. In the Southern Hemisphere the Winter Solstice will take place on 21 June.
This date in the calendar is recognised and celebrated because it marks the middle of Winter and the beginning of the journey towards longer lighter days and eventually Spring.
Yule corresponds with the Northern Hemisphere Christmas season and at this time, Yule logs are burned. The Yule log must traditionally be the root of a hardwood tree.
Winter Solstice in Australia
In Australia, Mallee roots, Tasmanian Oaks and all types of Eucalyptus are ideal for Yule logs. The Yule log is burned down until nothing but a small piece remains. This is saved and kept to be used as a lighter for the following year’s Yule fire.
Winter Solstice traditions around the world
There are many traditions and activities around the world that you can use to celebrate the Winter Solstice with your family. Some focus around monuments but others are transferable to the Australian way of life and open up our imagination for fun and festivities.
Ireland – people stand inside the Newgrange monument in Ireland and absorb the first rays of the sun as they fill the ancient chambers.
Japan – people traditionally soak in hot baths with the Yuzu citrus fruit to protect their bodies from the common cold.
Korea – good luck on the solstice is associated with red bean porridge. Koreans will often make the dish both to eat and spread around the house to keep evil spirits away and keep them healthy.
England – Stonehenge is known for its precise alignment with the sun’s movement and may have been a sacred place of worship and celebration for solstices for thousands of year. People gather at the site to sing, dance, play instruments and kiss the stones as they wait for the sun to rise.
Antarctica – a swim in icy waters marks the passage of midwinter for expeditions at Australia’s Antarctic and sub Antarctic stations. Crews mark the winter solstice with a range of activities including games, pantomimes and a gourmet dinner.
Iran – the family gather together, usually at the house of the oldest, and celebrate by eating, drinking and reading poems. Nuts, pomegranates and watermelons are particularly served during this festival.
How to celebrate the Winter Solstice with your family
The Winter Solstice is a great opportunity to get together with family and friends and celebrate with your favourite warming foods and have lots of fun. Who knows, this could mark the start of a new annual tradition in your family?
Get your family involved too by getting them into the kitchen to help you make delicious meals and try some simple activities like our Winter Solstice Lanterns to decorate your home.
Or pop over to a Solstice festival near you such as the Winter Solstice Festival by Festive Fires in Eltham, Victoria. Experience the full festivities of the season including mulled wine, festive foods and more activities.
Hearty Health specialise and are passionate about providing healthy nutritious ready meals.
To find out more about how Hearty Health ready meals, contact us here.
We know. Cooking at home can feel like a chore, especially when you’ve spent the day at work, or looking after the kids, or even running your errands. But cooking at home can have some excellent health benefits that you may miss out on when ordering in.
Plus, you might discover a hidden cooking talent you never gave yourself the opportunity to nurture!
Portion control, quality and nutrition assurance and even preparation and hygiene are just some of the benefits we love about home-cooking. You’re also more likely to make healthier options for breakfast, lunch and dinner when you cook versus ordering take away.
One of our favourite benefits is the variety of healthier alternatives you can substitute into your meals so they taste just as delicious. Like our do-it-yourself (DIY) pizza!
DIY Pizza
At Hearty Health, we think assembling a healthy pizza is a quick and easy way to teach yourself the basics of cooking – plus, it’s a great project for your kids as well. It’s a perfect dinner after a long day and tastes delicious as well.
Not only can you be creative with the toppings, but you can add a variety of fresh vegetables, which is a great way for you to learn how different tastes and textures work together.
Ingredients:
Pita bread or gluten free pizza base
Tomato sauce or pizza sauce
Grated cheese
Ham, salami and/or tofu
Pineapple pieces
Mushroom
Tuna
Baby spinach
At Hearty Health, making pizza is a true joy that we hope you can share with your family as a fun theme night.
Studies have shown home cooking can improve your emotional and social health. It can help you feel empowered and improve your self-esteem, act as a stress reliever by taking out time from your busy schedule and wholesome meals can add joy to your life – after all, when your body feels healthier, so do you!
As a bonus, there’s also the simple pleasure of sharing a home-cooked meal with your family and friends.
If you’re feeling a bit lost, let us take some of the pressure off for you – to find out more about Hearty Health, contact ushere.
