So what’s in the various foods we eat?   The Foods Standards Agency website is a good place to start - http://www.eatwell.gov.uk .  Now we thought we’d find a web site that would let you look up an item to see what it contained.  Haven’t found it yet but let us know if you find one.

Protein-rich foods are mainly meat and fish but also milk and dairy foods, eggs, beans, lentils and nuts.  Oily fish four times a week is a good idea.  Red meat contains saturated fat so only eat it once or twice a week.  Poultry is low on fat so is a good source of protein.

Simple carbohydrates are the sugars found in fruit, milk and the sugar bowl (and cakes and jam and….).  Generally avoid these – the body assimilates them so quickly that you get a lot of sugar in the blood which is stored as fat if you’re not exercising.  This is the concept behind the highly effective GI Diet (GI stands for Glycaemic Index – the higher the number the more like sugar it is in being almost immediately assimilated). Complex carbohydrates (starchy foods) include what are often called staple foods - bread, flour, cereals, rice, pasta and potatoes. Try to choose wholegrain varieties whenever you can. Oats have a low GI so are a particularly good way to start the day (in porridge or museli) slowly releasing energy throughout the morning. 

Good sources of fibre include lentils and other pulses, fruit and vegetables, kidney beans, baked beans and wholemeal bread.

Vegetables and fruit contain a wide variety of nutrients.  First note that potatoes don’t count as vegetables – they are in the starchy carbohydrate group.  Many vegetables also contain high levels of carbohydrate – beans, peas, carrots, parsnips, bananas – generally the solid weighty things.  Leafy greens – cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, kale – contain fibre together with vitamins and minerals and so should be a big proportion of vegetable intake.  All fruit and vegetables contain various vitamins and minerals so a variety is healthy and experts often recommend choosing a variety of colours because the micronutrients are often associated with colours.