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Salmon = Heart Health + Brain Power!

Good afternoon and happy International Women's Day! There are some great events going on in London and around the world, with so many different cultures getting involved. Check out some of them here.

Also, business leaders have pledged to give more women senior management positions to bridge the gender gap, with recent studies showing that having more women in top positions can help to increase their team's productivity by 66%. Read more about their pledge here.

I hope you have enjoyed some sunshine (even if it is still cold!) and managed to get a small dose of Vitamin D.

Food of the week

Speaking of vitamin D, this week's 'Food of the Week' is salmon, which you may be surprised to find is a great source of vitamin D.

There are a number of health benefits to eating salmon:

  • Heart Health - Salmon’s main health benefit is that it is a rich source of Omega-3 fatty acids, an excellent 'good' fat.  These good fats help to lower LDL 'bad' cholesterol which raising HDL 'good' cholesterol.   Some studies have also shown that salmon can help to lower your blood pressure and even prevent hardening of your arteries (atherosclerosis) which will lessen your chances of having a heart attack.

  • Repair of Muscle and Tissue - The protein in salmon is easy to digest and absorb into your body and the amino acids it contains are vital to the health of your entire body.  Amino acids help to repair muscle and tissue and are the building blocks of our body.

  • Vitamins and minerals.
    Salmon contains a good amount of Vitamins A, B and D as well as the minerals calcium, iron, phosphorus and selenium. 

  • Brain and Nerve Benefits
    Omega-3 fatty acids can also help your brain to work better and improve your memory.   The consumption of salmon has been shown to help lower your risk of developing Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. 

Salmon is power packed with disease fighting acids, minerals and vitamins. So whether you bake it, grill it or eat it raw in sushi, salmon is a powerful addition to your healthy lifestyle.

Here is a link to some tasty recipes:

Don't worry about the fat content listed for each recipe – these are good fats!

A great vegetarian source of Omega 3s is Flaxseed, which you can buy pre-milled to sprinkle on your cereal to get your daily dose.

Looking forward to seeing you soon!

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Eat MORE, lose FAT...how?!

Good morning and happy Friday! It's been a busy week so I'm very sorry for sending you my weekly email just as you are winding down for a relaxing weekend.  I hope that you've had a great week and are enjoying the Spring weather. It's been great to get out and about and I have taken quite a few sessions outside which always makes people feel better.  This week I'm talking about fat loss. Some of you may be at a standstill with your weight and the clothes may be fitting a little tighter now that winter is over.

An easy way of reducing you calorie intake, getting your metabolism higher and therefore losing bodyfat is to eat MORE (yes sounds crazy) but I'll explain why. Often if you aren't eating enough (below 1200 calories a day), your body thinks that food may be in short supply and thus goes into 'storage' mode. It thinks that it needs to store those calories for later. Your metabolism then starts to slow. 

Now this isn't a free ticket to eat loads of junk, drink more alcohol or have an extra slice of cake. The extra calories need to be useful to your body. Think veggies, lean protein, good fats and tasty small portions of complex carbs.

I've put together a list of low calorie but nutrient dense foods. This means that you get 'more bang for your buck' and you get to eat more! Next time you are making dinner, chop up a whole extra cucumber/pepper/carrot etc and put in a container to nibble on the next day. Pimp your salads with tonnes of radish, roasted courgettes, crunchy green beans or steamed broccoli (trust me, it actually tastes pretty good cold!). Or snack on cherry tomatoes and blueberries (maybe not at the same time!). 

Like I said, it's important to think about nutrient density, which is the ratio of nutrients (vitamins, minerals, fiber, etc.) relative to the total calorie content in a food. Therefore, a food with a high nutrient density would contain a large amount of key nutrients (protein, iron, zinc, B vitamins, etc.) per 100 calories of food.

Calorie density is defined as the ratio of calories (which are merely units of potential energy in food) to the actual weight of a food. Therefore a food with high calorie density would have a lot of calories per 100 g of food while a food with low calorie density would have few calories per 100 g of food. For example, icecream is very calorie dense, with around 200 calories per 100g, whilst foods with a lot of fibre and water tend to have lower calorie density like the ones below.

List of foods with a low calorie density:

  • 1 cup of broccoli (31 calories)
  • 1 cup of carrots (50 calories)
  • 2 satsumas (70 calories)
  • 1 cup of sugar-free Hartleys jelly (5 calories)
  • 1 cup of blueberries (90 calories)
  • 1 cup of celery (14 calories)
  • 1 cup of cucumber (14 calories)
  • 1 cup of cooked spinach (41 calories)
  • 1 cup of cooked cabbage (20 calories)
  • 1 cup of cherry tomatoes (27 calories)
  • 1 cup of popcorn - no butter/oil (50 calories)
  • 1 cup of watercress (35 calories)
  • 1 cup of broth based soup eg Miso, chicken, (65-100 calories)
  • 1 cup of bok choi (52 calories) – splash of soy sauce for flavour

To add more flavour to vegetables – add chilli flakes, balsamic vinegar, Italian dressing, lemon juice or soy sauce and sesame seeds.


Other ways to ‘eat more’ with less calories:

I hope you found that useful. Do let me know if you have any questions at all.

Have a great weekend and speak next week!

Angela

 

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