Which Wine is Better?

Red wine, white wine. Which is better?

Well, that depends on whether you are talking about taste, or weight loss or which is healthiest. Taste is a very personal thing. Some people love a good chardonnay, others love a fruity shiraz, and it goes on from there. The important thing is that you drink for the right reasons and you drink in moderately.

Getting drunk isn't good for anyone, in terms of physical health, mental health, relationships and possibly the law. If you need to drink to help get you through your life, please seek help. There are lots of people and organisations out there who can help if you have dependency issues. Look them up in your local phone book.

If you are talking about weight loss, red wine has slightly fewer calories than white wine, but it is important to remember that the problem with drinking alcohol is it can make you forget your inhibitions, and you could end up eating far more than you would if you were still in control.

In terms of health, red wine has valuable anti-oxidants which can help in reducing bad cholesterol and increasing good cholesterol in small amounts only!

So which is better? A fruity shiraz for me thank you, one glass with my dinner and I am totally guilt-free!

My New Food Bible

Do you need help finding recipes that are nutritious and acceptable to the whole family? Have you search and searched for a single source that has all you need?

This is the site you need - Chef Jeena. It has everything you need - nutrition, pasta, chicken, sweet treats, it's all there, in colour and with video too. Check it out, you'll be glad you did!

It was onion bhajis that got me to this site, but there is so much more there too. Gluten free, vegetarian, and more.

Do you know your onions?

I discovered a few things about onions today that I am totally thrilled about. The first thing is that onions have lots of vitamin C. Did your know that? Oranges and lemons, sure but onions?

Well they have, so get stuck into them, they're good for your health, and they taste damned fine too, don't they? There's nothing that says dinner is on the way way better than the smell of an onion hissing in the pan. Yum!

The other amazing thing is something I haven't tested yet, but I will at dinner time tonight.

The Washington post here had an article about onions, and described a french way of chopping an onion, and I suspect the method might help prevent or at least lessen the onion causing tears. As I said, I'll be trying it out tonight. I hope it works, I love eating onions, but they always make me cry if I have to chop them.

Onions, good for you and maybe, just maybe, they won't make you cry!

Weight Loss not always a Good Thing!

We are constantly being told that we must be thin if we want to be loved/successful/beautiful. And we believe this, because, hey, if you're told something a hundred times a day, it's hard work to not believe it's true.

But recent studies (click here) have shed new light on the whole issue. A study, based on people's weight at age 40, has shown that slightly overweight people live longer than people of normal weight. The headlines are more impressive that the actual figures. Obese people died earlier than that.

The order of length of life beyond 40 for the various weight level groups, shortest life to longest, was Thin, Obese, Normal Weight, Overweight. So based on those figures, you should be aiming at being overweight at the age of forty, and certainly not thin at that age.

The overweight and obese groups had the highest medical costs, it seems, and it was thought that maybe because the overweight went to the doctor more often, their may pick up health issues more quickly and deal with them.

There is a need to do much more study on this issue, and I feel it is important to take account of how much a person is enjoying their life. If a person is a little overweight, and is OK with that, then they are lucky, they'll enjoy their extra time on this Earth. If they are desperate to be thinner, even though being too thin is bad for your life expectancy, well, they may not want to live longer anyway.

I think the upshot of all of this is, find the weight you feel happiest and healthiest at, and stay there. If it means doing a bit of exercise to keep in the overweight rather than obese range, that's a very good thing. For people who are at their healthy weight range, make sure you don't stray down into the thin range. Too thin is worse that any other thing. The healthy weight range people shouldn't be too smug, and they too will benefit from exercise. It might raise their weight a little, but that will be from increased muscle, and who doesn't want to be stronger?!

One to keep an eye on, I think!

It's Official now, I am a Community Foodie

Ask me a question about healthy eating, go on, I want you to ask me something. I have spent six weeks learning about healthy eating, good food and nutrition, and I am itching to test out my skills.

If I don't know the answer to your question, I have a nifty book that is packed full of the answers to attaining a healthy diet. I am also about to begin a course that will accredit me as a Community Service Worker. These two things together are my tools to create a healthier, happier world.

I am feeling revved up and ready to go, so keep an eye out as I zip around the community!

Chocolate is good, preferably dark chocolate, and only in moderation. A new study has shown the benefits are truly there for the Mediterranean diet, and the main thing about it is the insistence on the good things, only in moderation.

On my reading, it seems the moderation part is the most important part. And isn't that what the old wives have been saying forever - All things in Moderation. The key to healthy eating is to give all kinds of things a bit of a go, but only a little bit.

Want tome steak - go for it, but only a piece of steak the size of your palm. Like chocolate? Don't deny yourself, just limit it to a small piece. It's not rocket science, and it has been proven to keep you healthier.

Give it a moderate go!

Community Foodies, Week Four

For our fourth session we talked about making a plan and organising ourselves to do our work as Community Foodies, once we are all trained. The other participants and I have a good idea about what we are going to do for our presentation to the group, and that begins in week five.

I am going to do a short presentation about getting non-vegetable lovers to eat vegetables. I have been putting more vegetables into the food I serve up for our family. It has been very good because I have been made more aware about the importance of vegetables in our diet. I won't say I feel better physically for doing this, but I certainly feel I am being a better mother and wife for doing it. The physical benefits take a little long, but they are happening.

We also talked bout the importance of exercise. I am aware that I have been remiss about this one too, and I will aim at doing a lot more. It's difficult when it's winter and so cold outside!

No excuses. I have Wii Fit, and I can get my exercise inside where it's much, much warmer than outside. So, from now on, or soon, anyway, I will try very hard to get in the required thirty minutes of exercise that the health authorities recommend for adults.

Community Foodies, Week Three

This week our group talked about presenting a session to a group. As Community Foodies, we will be giving information and support to people in our community who would like help with nutrition.

That can be all manner things, from feeding children, eating for weight loss, eating for better health and others. Various diseases require different nutritional response. By the time we have finished our training, we will be far better equipped to help people out with their food needs, either by telling people what they're interested in knowing, or by letting people know who they can get the information or help from.

Someone at the group yesterday talked about hating to be called a do-gooder and getting derided for it. I thought about that for a while. Personally, I always try to do good things, but for some reason being a 'do-gooder' has become a bad thing.

I told the person they can call themselves a helper rather than a do-gooder. That is the way I see my role as a Community Foodie, as a helper to people who want my help. I will not force my opinions on people, but will be there if they would like some help.

All of the members in the group will be putting on a short presentation to the other members in a fortnights' time, and yesterday we said what we thought we might do. The range of things covered was amazing. From a small group of less than ten, we were all looking at doing something interesting and different.

I am personally interested in increasing my own vegetable intake, because I am well aware now of the importance of it. I also have a son who was a fussy eater as a young child (he's fifteen now, and much more accepting of different foods), so my idea for a presentation was about ways to hide vegetables in acceptable food for people, particularly children who don't like vegetables.

I already have some ideas on this, and I have done some research on it today as well. I will try to make it fun, and will welcome ideas from the people I give my presentation too. I will have a recipe handout, and some other information available.