A weighty challenge

Do you always feel like you're on a diet? Lose weight then put it all back on again, lured back into you're old way, getting stuck in a dieting yoyo?  I've tried most of them during my lifetime, - Atkins (lasted 48 hours - it made me so ill!), weight watchers, Rosemary Connolly's fat free, food combining to name a few. Most of the time, I had some success and would lose some weight, but always managed to put it back on again.
Whilst never being massively overweight, I've also never been particularly small and never felt comfortable. Looking back, I realise not feeling right was more to do with not eating the right foods for me, rather than being too heavy and needing to 'diet'. But it was being on a particular diet - Carol Vorderman's 28 day detox plan - that made me realise there was more to this eating malarky that meets the eye.

Rainbow on a shelf!

This plan is plant based, cutting out any food source that can cause inflammation in the body (including wheat, alcohol and caffeine). Lacking the understanding I have now, it was hard, but I felt so good. More energy, less headaches and generally lighter in body and spirit. But I didn't continue with it long term, so slowly the weight started creeping back on.
It was however, the start of my journey to wellness through a plant based whole food diet. And once I applied the principles properly, I lost weight without even trying. But not so much that I'm an unhealthy size. I've plateaued at a healthy 57kg and eat loads more now than I used to, it's just all whole and plant. I've seen this in others too (my daughter lost 10kg over 6 months, a colleague at work must have lost half his body weight over the last year or so), and it's backed up by research; at the Annal Meeting of the Obesity Society in America last week, research comparing different diets revealed that a fully plant based diet lead to the greatest weight loss without having to restrict calories* and The Permanente Journal states that current research is so strong that a plant based diet should be recommended to improve overall health and well being, including weight loss**.

A Clogger Burger!

Although he enjoys the food I cook for him, my husband has been reluctant to go fully plant based; he does enjoy his meat and cheese! But a month away living in a hotel in Mexico eating too much meat and dairy not only expanded his waist line a bit too much, it made him feel pretty unwell in general. This was followed by our family holiday in the US, with large portions and gut-busting burgers. So much food! So much so, that on the way home, he declared his intention to eat a plant based diet for a month to kick start some weight loss (96kg at the mo) and a training plan to cycle up Ventoux (mountain in France) next year (see his blog http://cyclingseagull.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/the-next-challenge). Four days in and he's doing really well, commenting on how he's eating so much more than he would normally. The weekend is going to be his first challenge though - a day trip to watch football in Birmingham with the boys, which usually means many beers, burgers and pies. Beer is the first challenge, as like wine, many brands use animal products for fining (see my blog post http://foodiesensitive.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/milk-in-wine-surely-not.html). Luckily, the Barnivore website has come to the rescue, and even has an app which he rapidly downloaded.
I'm really looking forward to seeing how he gets on with eating this way over the next month - I know it works, but social situations make it challenging at times. Hopefully more and more people will get on board and reap the health benefits of eating plant based; once mainstream, and easily accessible, eating out and socialising will become less challenging. And my man will be more streamlined!

* http://www.obesity.org/news-center/plant-based-diets-show-more-weight-loss-without-emphasizing-caloric-restriction.htm
**http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3662288/

Fast food my style

Some weeks are just so busy that there just doesn't seem to be time to fit everything in, including writing blog posts, so this is going to be short and sweet!
Time is a real issue in so many peoples lives, trying to juggle work, home, families and hopefully fun.

Lack of time is often the reason people give for relying on processed ready meals or takeaways. And I'm no purist; the odd takeaway is great. But regularly relying on fast food carries not only a financial cost, but a huge health cost too.
Having to avoid dairy and yeast means, for me, that I cannot rely on processed foods as basically one or the other of these allergens appear in some form. So my food sensitivities have actually been a great blessing, as they have enabled me to make better choices, and eat real, nourishing food.  I'm also fortunate that I really love cooking, but there are times when I just don't have much time to spend in the kitchen.
That's where planning ahead comes in. Working shifts, every week for me is different. So thinking about what is happening each week, who is where and needs feeding when can get a little complex, but with the right planning I can usually ensure that the whole family gets a whole, nourishing meal every day, even when I'm not there.
As my kids get older, I feel it's important that they learn to feed themselves well, so sometimes they have to do it; my role is to ensure they have the right produce to hand and a reminder note of what they need to do!
I've found that one pot meals and stews have become a really important feature of our weekday meals - quick, simple and easy to reheat. You can also make it hearty and filling, essential for my growing giant-boy teenager! This particular hotpot is inspired by a couple of Jamie Oliver recipes. Roasting the sweet potato intensifies the flavour and enhances the texture; using passata creates a deeper, richer flavour in a relatively short period of time. This may not be as quick as one of Jamie's 15 minute meals (can you ever really cook one of his recipes in 15 minutes anyway?) but it can all be done and dusted in 30 minutes.
This dish is highly nutritious and positively bursting with fibre, which is essential for health; not only a healthy gut but a healthy heart too. To make it even more heart healthy, sprinkle some ground flaxseed at the end to add some essential omega 3 fatty acid. The sweet potato and beans are filling in themselves, but if you need to fill hungry tummies, then serve with rice, or even wholemeal pitta bread. And don't forget to add some green veg on the side too!
Red bean and roasted sweet potato hotpot

2 large or 3 medium sweet potatoes
olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 red pepper chopped
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 packet passata/400g tin tomatoes
1 400g tin kidney beans
thyme
chilli flakes
salt and pepper
First, heat the oven to 180oC. Peel and chop the sweet potatoes into medium sized chunks. Lightly grease a baking tin, pop the sweet potato chunks on it and roast in the oven until they start to brown slightly and feel soft to touch - about 15 minutes. In the mean time, heat a little olive oil in a large pan and sauté the onion until soft. Add the garlic for a minute but don't let it burn. Add the peppers, thyme and chilli flakes and sauté for a couple more minutes. Pour in the passata and mix well. Bring to boiling point then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes until the peppers are soft. Add the beans. By now the sweet potato should be cooked, so take out the oven and add to the pot, stirring well. Simmer for another 5 minutes until the flavours have perfused, season to taste and serve. Simple, tasty and whole!

Buckwheat pancakes for pancake day

It's pancake day today, or rather it's Shrove Tuesday in the church calendar, the day that traditionally all the yummy food is eaten up ready for Lent. It's another religious date that has been commercially hi-jacked; remember the slogan "Don't forget the pancakes on Jif Lemon Day"? 

Pancakes can be a challenge for anyone eating a free-from diet, whether it's due to excluding wheat, dairy or eggs. Fortunately, there are a number of alternatives out there; my favourite for savoury pancakes is buckwheat. Despite it's name, buckwheat is not wheat but the seed of a crop that's related to rhubarb and sorrel. It tends to be classified as a grain because of it's culinary use, but it is gluten free (some products such as soba noodles tend to mix it with wheat, therefore making it no longer gluten free). A great whole food source of protein and fibre, it's also got a good whack of magnesium, iron, phytonutrients and is really low in fat. It does have quite a distinctive earthy flavour though, so can be an acquired taste to some!

Of course, galettes in France are traditionally made from buckwheat. Whenever I think of galettes though, I picture India rather than France, due to the wonderful creperie in Bangalore, Chez Mariannick. An oasis of European familiarity in the crazy overstimulation of an Indian city, it's well worth a visit if you happen to find yourself in the area (they're on TripAdviser).

To make a truly free from buckwheat pancake, all you need is some buckwheat flour, baking soda, salt and water mixed together. You can use non-dairy milk and vanilla if you want slightly creamier and sweeter pancakes - just use one to one measurements i.e.: one cup of buckwheat flour to one cup of milk, one teaspoon vanilla and one of baking soda.

If you fancy something a bit more healthy (and hippyish according to my daughter!), then try these buckwheat and sunflower seed pancakes instead. Using the whole buckwheat groat ensures you are eating the whole food with all the nutrients available. Soaking makes the buckwheat more 'alive'; you can soak this up to three days allowing it to sprout, releasing even more amazing nutrients. That's if you plan ahead of course. If you're more like me and plan things at the last minute, 20 minutes soaking will be just fine.

Buckwheat pancakes

2 cups buckwheat groats

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1 teaspoon baking soda

pinch salt

(apple sauce, cinnamon or vanilla if 

you want sweet)

First, rinse the buckwheat groats well and place in a glass jar or bowl. Cover with water and leave to soak - somewhere between 20 minutes to 3 days! When you're ready, pour out into a sieve and rinse well. Pop into a blender along with the other ingredients. Add enough fresh water to cover the top of the the buckwheat and blend until smooth. Poor a ladle full onto a hot pan coated with a little oil. Cook as normal pancakes and enjoy!

Seasonal Slaw

It's late autumn and the weather in the UK has suddenly turned rather chilly. It's the time of year for comfort food - soups and stews and and a mighty dollop of fruit crumble. But sometimes these can all be a bit heavy; the solution is a great seasonal salad, packed full of immune boosting nutrients for the inevitable sniffs and snivels as well as lip-smacking flavour.
And to match the dazzling autumn trees, this seasonal slaw has an array of deep orange and reds to provide well needed colour to an otherwise green leafed plate!
For those with a dairy intolerance, shop bought coleslaw is generally a no-go area, with some milk product popping up in the long list of ingredients on the packet. And once you've read that list, somehow it doesn't seem quite so palatable! Unless they're described as creamy coleslaw, they all taste rather vinegary to me as well…..

So this autumn slaw is a real change in direction from any of those vinegary or creamy ones you may have come across before. It's sweet, but has a sharp flavour from the apple and lemon juice. It's definitely crunchy and has great textures. In fact, I find it really moreish and one serving is just not enough. Which is no problem, as it's really healthy and good for you as well as tasty, so there's no downside - unless the beetroot affects you on it's way out!! Many people experience red wee after eating beetroot - beeturia! - which isn't too much of an issue as it's just a short term issue. Apparently for some, though, it may mean there's a problem with iron metabolism.
The three main veg in the slaw - carrot, beetroot and red cabbage - are all packed full of phytonutrients of varying kinds which are anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and known to help the body detoxify. Beetroot also has fabulous amounts of folate, manganese and fibre as well as vitamin C which is also a big feature of the benefits of red cabbage. Surprisingly, red cabbage has over 50% of the recommended daily intake of vitamin C, much more than citrus fruit. And being a cruciferous vegetable, red cabbage has marvellous anti-cancer properties too!
So try this slaw as a side, or the main feature of your lunch. Not only is it packed full of flavour and nutrients, it really does look pretty on the plate! (To add more zing, you can use red wine vinegar instead of lemon juice, but this doesn't work for those who have to avoid fermented foods due to yeast allergies.)
Autumn Slaw

1 medium carrot
1 small raw beetroot
1/8 of a red cabbage
1 small stick celery
1 Cox's apple
2 tablespoons sultanas
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper
Pop the sultanas in a dish with some hot water for a few minutes so they plump up. Drain and put to one side. Wash all your veg thoroughly. Grate the carrot, beetroot and apple. Thinly slice the cabbage and celery. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl with the lemon juice and season to taste. Add more juice and seasoning as required. Leave to one side for a while to let the flavours develop then serve and enjoy.

Yeast-free challenges

The best way to overcome food intolerances is to remove them from your diet for a period of time, then slowly reintroduce them one by one and monitor the effects. I have an intolerance to both dairy and yeast, and have tried to eradicate them from my diet.
Dairy appears in different forms in many processed foods, but there are good alternatives, and as a recognised allergen, food packaging is pretty helpful.  Yeast, however, is rarely highlighted. On the surface, it should be pretty easy to avoid - cut out bread and doughnuts, wine, beer and cider. Apart from cider, I used to enjoy all these things with great gusto, but I've learnt to manage without, although its so tempting at times, especially wine and bread when you're on holiday in France!
Recently though, I realised I pay more attention to avoiding dairy than yeast, even though I know it's a big issue. Dairy gives me terrible head and neck aches that easily develop into migraines if not caught early enough. Yeast has a more insidious effect, gradually building up producing a multitude of seemingly random effects including restless legs, fatigue, headaches (different ones), itchy skin, dry eyes and (to the family's delight!) terrible bloating and wind! It's not going to kill me but it makes me feel so grotty at times, it really does have a negative effect on my life.
We all have various yeasts and bacteria in our bodies; our guts are alive with its own little eco-system that helps to keep our bodies healthy and balanced. Problems start, though, if that balance is upset; the not so friendly bacteria can start taking over and yeast becomes overgrown, eventually working it's way into the gut lining and allowing undigested food proteins and bacteria to seep through into the blood stream. This can lead to food allergies, amongst a long list of other problems. To get rampant yeast under control, it needs to be avoided food wise, the over growth eradicated and the gut eco-system restored to a healthy balance.
So step one, avoiding yeast, is easier said than done. It is more than just leaving out the bread and wine. For a start, yeast is a mould, so moulds in general need to be avoided. Not that I have a habit of eating mouldy food, or not obviously mouldy anyway, but it appears in many places, including anything fermented.
This includes ingredients such as soy sauce, over ripe or dried fruit, vinegars of all kinds, miso and malted anything.  Then there's stock cubes, Marmite (yuck!), pickle, mayonnaise - the list goes on!
Now I've tried to avoid many of these for some time now; some of the nasty effects from yeast have subsided, but some have not and others just keep reappearing.

So I decided to look into yeast and moulds in food a little bit more, and it didn't take long to make a huge, and rather disappointing discovery. Many of the 'natural' food flavourings and preservatives found in processed foods are made from cultured yeasts and moulds! The particular one that stood out to me was citric acid, a preservative and stabiliser that appears in hundreds of different food products, including simple items such as tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, tortilla wraps and flat breads - in fact many of the substitute foods I use!
I always thought that citric acid was a natural derivative of citrus fruits. A weak organic acid with a sour, acidic flavour, it is a natural preservative. Historically, Italy was the main producer of citric acid, formed from their huge citrus fruit harvests. Supplies were disrupted during the First World War but by this time a biochemist had discovered a yeast that grew on a sugary medium that produced citric acid, and so this replaced the natural fruit source. Citric acid is still a 'natural' preservative, but one that's manufactured! Today, 1m tonnes of citric acid is produced this way every year, and demand is so high it wouldn't be economical or practical to get citrus acid from fruit - there's just not enough of it to meet demand.
Natural flavourings and other preservatives are created in similar ways, so we are all inadvertently eating yeasts and moulds, although for most people this is not a problem. However, for myself and many others, it is and I'm disappointed I didn't realise this before. There's so much to learn about food science! If I really want to get to the root of my yeast intolerance, it seems I have to make absolutely everything from scratch, including my flat breads and tomato sauce. Convenience foods are suddenly absolutely inconvenient!

Milk in wine - surely not?

The more I find out about food and drink, the more I’m amazed at exactly what is contained in the every day products we so readily consume. One of the best things about have a food intolerance is gaining knowledge – you need to be informed of exactly what is used to create your favourite dish.

I am constantly amazed, and often dismayed, to find milk or some form of dairy in the most seemingly innocuous products. Crisps are a regular offender (chilli and lime flavor – where’s the need for milk in that?), as is any form of ready meal or processed food product. It hides in different forms – skimmed milk powder is easy to recognise, but then there’s whey, casein and lactose (check out medicines for that one!). But it doesn’t stop there; whey appears in many forms, including gelling and stabilising agents like lactalbumin and lactoglobulin. And as for casein, the milk protein that is my problem, it appears in a multitude of guises as an emulsifier and binding agent (gets processed foods to stick together!). So watch out for anything that has ‘caseinate’ in it, such as sodium caseinate or calcium caseinate, casein hydrolysate (that just doesn’t sound good full stop!) or paracasein.

My daughter became a vegetarian at the age of 12 after finding out that marshmallows contained gelatin – or rather that gelatin was made from crushed animal bones. She was flabbergasted and has never eaten a piece of meat since (and she was a real steak and roast meat eater before). It was a real ‘OMG’ moment for her. Mine came after I read an article about wine; it often contains some form of milk! 

I love wine, but it really does not love me!! Having a yeast intolerance as well as milk has meant that wine has been a real no no over the last few years. Previously, if I’ve had wine to drink, I was so ill the next day. Spirits just don’t effect me in the same way therefore I had always assumed it was the yeast. Now I realise it's a double allergen whammy; it explains so much!!!

Apparently, a multitude of odd products are used by wine makers, and brewers, either directly to add flavour, or in the filtration process. These include casein, egg white, honey, sea shells and isinglass (fish bladders) to name a few. Casein is often used for fining, a process that removes particles and soluble substances that achieves clarity quicker and more economically than leaving wine to mature over months, or years.

I can’t believe I didn’t know this before; I even had a previous boyfriend with a degree in wine making, but I only remember him going on about sulphates and tanins. Oh, and drinking lots of wine……

So what to do? One option is to not drink wine! But, if you don’t have a yeast intolerance, then why? There are vegan wines available on the market; check out websites such as www.barnivore.com or www.vegans.frommars.org that provide pretty comprehensive lists. The wines listed will not contain any animal product, covering a huge range of allergens, which is really handy!

The government is making it easier too – at least in the UK. All wines with a 2012 vintage onwards must state on the label whether milk or egg derivatives are used in the manufacturing process, along with sulphur dioxide levels greater than 10mg/litre.  This will make it easier to buy wines at the supermarket, but not sure how a snobby sommelier will react!!

Thankfully, for me there are always spirits to enjoy, although not all of these products are unadulterated so care is still needed! And of course, I have to say, any alcohol must be consumed sensibly and in moderation. Hangovers cannot be blamed on additives alone!

No dairy, no calcium?

We are taught from an early age that milk is an essential part of our diet. If we drink lots of it, we grow up big and strong. Without it, we will have weak bones and teeth. Milk and dairy products are the best source of dietary calcium, as well as other essential nutrients – this is the message put out by dairy producers and successive governments.

So being dairy intolerant, how do I get enough calcium? This was a big concern form me when I first cut dairy from my diet. What I’ve come to realise is that eating a wholefood plant based diet, it’s easy to consume fantastic amounts of easily absorbed calcium to keep my bones and teeth healthy and strong, maybe even better than dairy.

Although the marketing says otherwise, cow’s milk is not the best dietary source of calcium. For example, it has about a 10^th of the calcium levels as sesame seeds and only 30% of the calcium in milk is absorbed by the human gut, whereas with seeds and nuts it’s much higher.

So where do I get my dietary calcium from? Green leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds are the best source. 100g of watercress contains 151mg of calcium, compared to 120mg in the equivalent of milk. Oats, beans, chickpeas (there they are again!) and tofu also all have good amounts, so it’s really not too hard to reach the recommended daily intake of calcium of 800mg. A large green salad has as much calcium as a glass of milk, plus it’s well absorbed (as long as there’s not too much spinach in it, as this can block calcium absorption). A bowl of porridge made with rolled oats has 100mg of calcium – add some fortified soya milk and some dried figs, and it’s getting up to half your daily dose, just in one bowl!

As a relatively fit and healthy woman in her mid 40’s, I don’t have to worry too much at the moment about my bone health, but in 10 years time or so, once the menopause has hit big stylie, then calcium becomes more of an issue. Osteoporosis is a massive problem in the western world, and dairy is promoted as a necessity to keep bones healthy. However, it seems that maybe dairy might be part of the problem. Countries with the highest dairy consumption also have the highest number of people with osteoporosis - something to discuss another day.
Sesame seeds really are an incredible source of calcium - there is a fabulous 975mg in just 100g. However, being so tiny, that's a lot of seeds to consume in one day! By incorporating them into a wholefood diet, it's pretty easy. Being a hummus addict, I get a good dollop of sesame in the tahini, one of the key hummus ingredients. They can be added to cereals, baking, salads, stews and used in lots of Asian dishes. Sesame can be an allergen for some though, so it's not for everyone which is a shame, as it's also an amazing source of iron, magnesium, selenium and zinc. Quite something for such a tiny seed.
I have found an amazing 'bread' stick for dipping that not only tastes amazing (almost cheesy without the cheese) but is gluten free and contains calcium boosting sesame and chickpea all in one. Use it to dip in some hummus or other tahini containing dip, and your bones will be just zinging with strength and happiness!

Chickpea and sesame dipper sticks
1 cup chickpea flour (gram/besan/garbanzo)
3 tbspoon sesame seeds
1/2 tspoon salt
2 tbspoon fresh lemon thyme
1 tspoon olive/sesame oil
up to 1/4 cup water
Heat the oven to 180oC. You can toast your sesame seeds if you like to bring out the flavour, but the sticks work just as well untoasted.
Place the flour, sesame seeds, salt and thyme into a bowl and mix together. Stir in the oil then add the water a little at a time, stirring all the time, until you get a good supple dough. Knead for a couple of minutes until all the ingredients are incorporated, adding a little more flour if it gets a bit sticky. Flatten the dough into a disk, then place on a sheet of baking paper. Place another sheet on top and roll out until the dough is really thin - 3-5 mm if possible. Carefully peel off the top layer, leaving the dough on the bottom layer, and slice the dough into sticks with a knife. Prick each stick with a fork a few times so it doesn't puff up when cooking. Place the dough and the baking paper underneath onto a baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes or so but check after 10 -  you want a golden brown top. Too light and the sticks are not crispy, too browned and they're a bit hard on your teeth! Once ready, remove from the oven and leave to cool. Then break up the sticks where you have previously cut them and they're ready to eat. Happy dipping!
NB: these sticks soften after a few hours, so are best eaten soon after cooking. If you have any left over, leave out in the kitchen, not in a plastic tub, or they will sadly go soft.