Page 3 - Healthy food

From the editor

Hello

Do you weigh out pasta and rice? I’ve got into the habit
of guesstimating, then adding a little more just in case. It was only when I
revisited a healthy portion size – 60g to 70g dry weight – I realised how
much bigger my plates have been getting. The healthier serving size is still a respectable
amount, which leaves me satisfied, and now there’s no waste.
Portion sizes are a major contributory factor to our growing weight problems. We’re
now the fattest nation in western Europe and joint-sixth in the world, with obesity becoming
the ‘new normal’, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development. How things have changed. In the 1970s, there was one girl in my school
year who was overweight. Statistics today mean one in four falls into that category.
On p30, nutrition editor Amanda Ursell takes us down memory lane to the 1980s to

compare portions past and present. It’s a wake-up call for our waistlines. It’s heartening,
however, that Public Health England is campaigning on two fronts this year: for healthier
snacks of 100 calories or under, and for healthier eating on the go, with the introduction
of the 400:600:600 rule of thumb – that’s 400 calories for breakfast and around 600
each for lunch and supper. At Healthy Food Guide, we’ve championed healthy portion
sizes since we launched in 2011. Having three healthy meals a day and two snacks is at
the heart of our diet plan.
Our tried-and-tested recipes are created by health experts, so they deliver good flavour
and nutrition. There’s something for all tastes, including the increasingly popular vegan
diet. We’d love to know which ones have made it into your repertoire over the years: email
us or post a shot of your dish on our Facebook page, or tag us on Twitter or Instagram.

MELANIE LEYSHON, EDITOR
EDITOR R’S

YS
BUY

HELP YOUR GUT EAT MORE PLANTS LOSE NO ZEST
I used to get my kefir from When time’s short, I’ll order a recipe box This neat little citrus zester is magic –
Planet Organic, but now rather than a takeaway. Gousto has added easy to grip and no zest goes to waste
I can pick this one up on the high delish plant-based dishes to its range. as it’s caught in a container underneath.
street on my way to work. Gousto recipe boxes, from £24.99 Microplane Flexi Zester,
Kefir, £1.70/250ml, Marks & Spencer (2 meals for 2), gousto.co.uk £10.49, lakeland.co.uk

FEBRUARY 2018 HEALTHY FOOD GUIDE 3