Omega 3 and Omega 6 are essential to health and it is important that they are consumed in our diets. This blog will explain what the difference between Omega 3 and Omega 6 is and explore different food sources to consider including in your diet. It is quite common to believe that Omega 3 is only available in oily fish however, there are ways for vegetarian and vegans to get these essential fatty acids into their diet.

Omega 3 and Omega 6 are essential fatty acids and must be obtained through food. The reason they are ‘essential’ is due to them being biologically active, unlike other fats that can be used for energy they are important for contributing to growth and development, brain function and inflammation. Inflammation is vital for us as it helps to fight against infection. However, it can also cause damage to the body but there will be more on this later.

Omega 3 and Omega 6 are very different and ideally should be consumed to a ratio where Omega 3 is dominant. Omega 3 is found in plant oils and oily fish.

Omega 6 is found in processed oils such as sunflower oil and due to the Western world increasingly using processed oil (whether that be in the food industry or in your kitchen) it is causing a large difference in the Omega 3 to Omega 6 ratio some believing it is currently a 16:1 ratio (Omega6:Omega3)

What is Omega 3?

Omega 3 comes in different forms; ALA (alpha-linolenic acid) , EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). ALA must be included in our diet as it has a range of important functions and it compulsory for making Omega 3 fats but unfortunately our bodies cannot make it on its own. You can find ALA in rapeseed oil, nuts and green leafy vegetables. Once we have ALA in our bodies it then starts to produce long-chain fats, EPA and DHA. EPA and DHA are seen to have the most health benefits, however are only made in small amounts and it is not the fastest process from ALA. To ensure you are getting enough of these fats it is important to consume foods rich in them. Oily fish is a great source of EPA and DHA, white fish does contain them however at much lower levels. Government guidance is to aim to consume fish twice a week with one being oily fish (preferably MSC certified products) it is important to note that when consuming a lot of different fish to be aware of pollutants such as mercury levels. The health benefits of oily fish do outweigh the risks from the pollutants and consuming two to four portions of oily fish a week is usually safe. However, for women who are pregnant and children under 16 it is important to seek advice on fish to avoid or limit the consumption of.

Omega 3 for Vegetarians and Vegans

The BDA (British Dietetic Association) advise those who cannot get their Omega 3 EPA and DHA from fish sources to maximise conversion by avoiding high in saturated fat foods, focusing on plant foods that contains ALA (as mentioned above, we can convert ALA into EPA and DHA but this is not very efficient) and consider a supplement from algae derived DHA as well as including sea vegetables into your diet. However, it is important to speak to a Registered Nutritionist or Dietitian before adding supplements into your diet.

Other vegetarian sources of Omega 3 are flaxseeds, walnuts, soy and green leafy vegetables. There are now Omega 3 enriched foods such as milks, yogurts and breads this may contribute to your Omega 3 intake but it is important to note that this is usually just small amounts.

How is Omega 6 different to Omega 3?

Omega 6 is largely found in processed foods within the Western world and although it has its benefits in small amounts when coming from plant foods such as soya, if we consume too much from vegetables oils such as sunflower and corn oils it can contribute to health risks. It is thought today that our Omega 6 to Omega 3 ratio has considerable increased over the past few decades and diets are now too high in Omega 6. Diets that are high in Omega 6 compared to Omega 3 are more likely to produce inflammation which can contribute to heart disease and obesity. Therefore, it is important to bring the Essential Fatty Acids into a better proportion to help reduce the risk of health problems.

Top Tips for balancing Omega 3 and Omega 6:

• Increase Omega 3 intake by consuming foods such as salmon, mackerel, walnuts, flaxseeds, soya, green leafy vegetables
• Reduce Omega 6 consumption. This can be through opting for extra virgin olive oil instead of sunflower oil and reducing the amount of fast food consumed.

References: 

BDA, NHS, BNF 

Hi Nutribloomers!

It has been a while since I have uploaded a recipe and this I must admit is not fully mine, it is one my boyfriend has been using and tweaking from a couple of websites and then I have ‘made it my own’ as us Nutritionists do.

I often get asked for lunch ideas and I am planning a mini ‘food prep’ series soon but for now this is one of my favourites, so grab a baking dish and get started. (I have even included the nutrition information too!)

 

 

Ingredients (4 servings):

150g Quinoa

450g free range chicken breasts (for veggies halloumi or tofu)

1 red or yellow pepper

1 red onion

2cm ginger

1/2 red chilli

1 tbsp light soya sauce

50g hoisin or oyster sauce

80g cashew nuts

200 ml chicken or vegetable stock

 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180° (fan oven)
2. Even lay the quinoa out in a lightly greased baking dish
3. Top with uncooked peppers, onions and raw chicken
4. Mix sauce of choice with light soya sauce, minced ginger, chilli and stock, then evenly pour over the ingredients in baking dish
5. Bake for around 45 minutes (check half way through and stir)
6. Add cashews 5 minutes before the end or toast them in pan and add later
7. Serve with green veggies – my favourites are brocolli or avoacado and then drizzle some chilli oil on top

 

 

 

Approx Nutrition (per serving):

Energy Kcal	Fat	Saturated Fat	Carbohydrate	Sugars	Protein	Salt
548	15	3	48	23	49	1.2

 

Let me know how you get on and tag me in any photos you may have x

 

Hey guys,

It has been a while since I have wrote a lifestyle type blog, but I thought it was about time I did a part 2 to A day in the life of a nutritionist by adding some top tips to actually becoming a Registered Nutritionist.

Unfortunately, it is not as easy as taking a weekend course in nutrition and then calling yourself an adviser. As you may have seen all over social media, in your office at work or even just people chatting in the yoga changing rooms – every one is an expert when it comes to food and nutrition… so we are led to believe.

However (!!) this is obviously not true and we tend to find these ‘experts’ are giving out anecdotal advice (what worked for them will work for you) – great news right? If it worked for someone else then it must be worth a try, whats the worst that can happen?

Lets take a step back – does the person giving you this advice have any idea on your medical background? Do they appreciate that nutrition is not black and white and there is no perfect diet? Are they aware of the impact this could have on your life? Could it affect anxiety levels, productivity at work or recovery from the gym? Have they looked to see if this can affect your micro nutrient intake?

These questions may seem simple but they are all questions that should be considered when you speak to a professional. So, mini rant over lets look at how you become a Registered Nutritionist.

Step One: Biology A-level

Most accredited universities will not take on students without a biology background, it may sound premature to be thinking about this but choosing a science A-level helps you meet the application criteria.

Step Two:  An accredited University course

There are many nutrition courses at University nowadays but I would recommend only applying for Association for Nutrition accredited degrees. These courses have to meet the AfNs code of conduct and are assessed to ensure the content is detailed enough to help you in your career post graduation. You can find a list of these courses here.

Step Three: Voluntary Work

You will struggle to find a nutritionist or dietitian that hasn’t had to complete hours of voluntary work or work placements throughout and beyond University. I truly believe this helped me develop my career and helped me get the great opportunities I got – it also is a great way to choose a career path, what you may think is your desired job may turn out to not be all it seems!

Step Four: Associate Registration

Post graduation apply to become an Associate Registered Nutritionist as soon as you can, this is essential for becoming a fully Registered Nutritionist. You are required to work for around 3 years as an associate, collecting evidence to support the AfN competencies. Once you have three years paid or unpaid evidence under your belt and a nice reflective portfolio to support this, you can then submit to become registered.

Step Five: Continuous Professional Development

CPD – this is so important in the world of nutrition as there are always new findings, updated guidelines and policies to keep up with. Attending accredited CPD events can help you build you associate portfolio but is also key when you are fully registered. You are required as a Registered Nutritionist to complete around 30 hours of accredited CPD each year. I keep a written reflection of each event in case the AfN call upon my CPD evidence and keep it with the event CPD certificate.

Step Six: Protect the public

Protect the public – we work hard to become Registered Nutritionists, around 3-4 years at university and then at least 3 years as an Associate. Use your knowledge and skill set to teach the public the truth about nutrition and health, be creative and don’t be disheartened by the world of marketing!

 

For my PT friends out there the AfN have a list of courses that meet their framework for the fitness industry, you can find this here if you are interested in nutrition. 

 

If you have any other questions please send me an email and I will be happy to help!

Good luck foodies!

Sarah x

A great campaign has started this week ‘Veg Power’ an initiative to get children eating more vegetables, I am a huge supporter of this and really think more work needs to be done to make fruit and veg seem cool to kids! So in light of this I thought it would be a good time to go back to a basics and talk about why and how we can achieve 5 a day…

The 5-a-day message has been around for years, it sounds simple ‘eat 5 portions of fruit and vegetables each day’. Evidence from the World Health Organisation (WHO) shows that there are significant health benefits to eating 400g (5 portions) of fruit and vegetables a day, yet only 8% of teenagers and around a third of adults are achieving this number. The WHO state that reaching 5-a-day can lower the risk of serious health problems, such as heart disease, stroke and some types of cancer. So, why does the UK do so poorly on meeting this recommendation? We are here to help identify what counts towards your 5-a-day and give you some top tips on how to add them in to your daily diet.

 

Why 5-a-day?

Not only can fruit and vegetables help reduce your risk of diet related diseases but they help contribute to a healthy, balanced diet. Fruit and vegetables are a great source of vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin C, potassium and folate, and eating a variety of foods can help you meet your recommended daily intake. Fruit and vegetables are an excellent source of dietary fibre and can help maintain a healthy gut and prevent digestion problems. In the UK, the guidelines for fibre are set at 30g per day however, we are only hitting around 18g. A high fibre diet has many health benefits, including reducing the risk of bowel cancer, check out my blog post on fibre here.

 

What is a portion?

A recommended portion is approximately 80g. Here are some examples of one 80g portion from the British Dietetic Association:

• One banana
• Half an avocado
• Two satsumas
• Two handfuls of berries
• One heaped tablespoon of dried fruit
• Three heaped tablespoon of fruit salad
• Three heaped tablespoons of vegetables (raw, cooked, frozen or tinned all count!)
• Three heaped tablespoons of beans, peas, lentils however, these pulses only count as one portion even if you have more than 80g.

 

Fruits and vegetables do not have to be fresh or organic to count towards your 5-a-day. Canned, frozen, dried fruit and 100% fruit juice all count. It is important to note that if you have more than 150ml fruit juice a day it does not count to more than one portion. The UK government recommend the 150ml limit due to fibre being removed in the juicing process. Dentists also recommend having fruit juices with a meal, for example having a small glass of fresh orange juice with your breakfast. This is to prevent possible tooth decay due to the sugar released once fruit is juiced.

 

Achieving your 5-a-day

Five a day is a minimum target for fruit and vegetables. Adding fruit to your breakfast, extra vegetables to your meals and switching some salty snacks for carrots, peppers or cucumber with dips such as hummus can be easy ways to up your intake. Once you have comfortable reached 5-a-day see if you can sneak some more in, the more vegetables the better.

 

Top Tips

1. As mentioned above, your fruit and vegetables don’t have to be fresh all the time. A top tip is to ensure that you have frozen and tinned options to hand for those last-minute meals and to also prevent food waste. Broccoli, onions, butternut squash and berries are easy, convenient foods to have in the freezer. Tomatoes, sweetcorn, peas, roasted peppers and mixed beans are great to have in your cupboards. Chickpea stews are a great ‘go to’ meal and which can be made with all cupboard/freezer ingredients.
2. Switching meat for beans, lentils or pulses can be a great way to reduce your carbon footprint and get closer towards your 5-a-day. Loading up stews, curries or chilli with beans and variety of vegetables can be a cheap, tasty and a nutritious way to cut down on meat (maybe even start halving the meat content if you do not want to cut meat out completely.)
3. Seasonal fruit and vegetables can be easier and cheaper to get your hands on, so try to hunt down a great local farmer market (this can also reduce your plastic usage as they do not tend to come pre-packaged) to see what is in season, they may even taste better than those that have been brought over from Peru.
4. Variety is key. Nutritionists always talk about a balanced diet but that is not another word for ‘healthy.’ The BDA recommend ‘eating the rainbow’ choosing each portion of fruit and vegetables from the following colours: red, green, yellow, white, purple and orange. The different coloured fruit and vegetables contain their own combination of vitamins, minerals and of course, fibre.

 

The key message is to make eating 5-a-day easier and more accessible. The NHS and Change 4 life have great resources when it comes to making swaps, and the internet has great recipe ideas. Adding one portion of fruit or vegetables to your day for a couple of weeks is a great start if the thought of 5 a day is too overwhelming. Think of it as adding nutrients to your existing diet, not restricting or cutting nutrients out.

 

Carbohydrates tend to have a bad reputation, with crash diets and catchy sayings such as ‘no carbs before marbs’ it can be nutrient people are afraid of. However, carbohydrates are essential for our body as they are converted in to glucose which is used by our body for energy and keeps our organs and muscles functioning. So, why do we get so scared of them when they are our bodies main source of energy?! Knowledge is power and so before you start to cut the bread out or think fruit is just as bad as a chocolate bar lets find out more about them.

 

What are carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates come in two overarching forms, there are simple carbohydrates (free sugars) and complex (starchy) carbohydrates.

Simple Carbohydrates sources are fruit, vegetables, milk and milk products.

Complex Carbohydrates sources are beans, wholegrains (bread, pasta) rice and vegetables.

All carbohydrates are broken down into glucose in our body. However, the simple/free sugars break down more quickly whilst complex carbohydrates break down over a longer period.

If we cut carbohydrates out of our diet or cannot get enough from our diets due to being malnourished our bodies turn to other sources. This may mean our bodies start converting fatty acids into energy. Using fatty acids as energy may increase ketone levels which in some circumstances can be harmful. Our brains preferred energy source is glucose and so when this is not available it has to adapt to using the ketones, whilst this is happening protein is broken down therefore potentially resulting in muscle loss.

 

Sources of carbohydrates:

Starchy, wholegrain foods are a great source of carbohydrates, they can be high in fibre and carry health benefits when consumed in a healthy, balanced diet. Foods such as wholegrain pasta, rice, grains, cereals, and wholemeal bread contain additional nutrients such as fibre, calcium, iron and B vitamins too. Teaming complex carbohydrates with protein, fruit/vegetables and healthy fats are a great way to leading a healthy, balanced diet.

Sugars can be a confusing topic and has been covered by a previous blog but here is a little recap. Free sugars are sugars that are added to food or can be found naturally in honey or fruit juices. The government have recently made recommendations that we try to be aware of free sugars and try to limit our intake. The British Dietetic Association (BDA) state that an adult should be having around 30g free sugars per day which is around 7 teaspoons as they are high in energy however, have very little nutrient value.

It is important to note that free sugars do NOT include sugars naturally found in milk, fruit or vegetables.

 

Portion Sizes:

Portion sizes tend to cause confusion amongst the general public, everybody is different and so will need different amounts. The BDA state “As a general rule, a portion about the size of your fist is an appropriate meal time portion of carbohydrate. This can then be adjusted depending on your activity levels. According to scientific experts around half of our energy intake should come from carbohydrate”

 

Low carbohydrate diets:

Carbohydrates are one of the first nutrients people turn to when looking to lose weight, at first people may see weight loss but this is often associated with water loss (as carbohydrates bind to water molecules) however, maintaining a low carbohydrate diet is rarely sustainable and is not recommended for a healthy, balanced diet. As after all we eat food, not nutrients so cutting foods that contain carbohydrates out may lead to deficiencies in micronutrients. It is always worth looking at portion sizes, but this is the same for all nutrients, as carbohydrates gram for gram have less calories than fat.

 

What is glycaemic index?

The GI (glycaemic index) is a measure of how fast glucose from food is released into the bloodstream. Carbohydrates can be rated on their GI level due to how quickly they affect the sugar levels in the blood.

Low GI foods cause blood sugar levels to rise and fall slowly and are more likely to be foods such as some fruit and vegetables, beans and wholegrains. High GI foods release sugars a lot quicker however, it is important to note that just because a food is considered low GI it doesn’t necessarily mean it is healthier. Bupa use the example of how parsnips have a higher GI than chocolate and ice-cream even though parsnips are the healthier option so, it is important to bear that in mind when using the GI measure of carbohydrates.

 

In summary there is place for carbohydrates in the majority of diets, of course there are people who have to monitor their intake due to conditions such as diabetes but for the general public carbohydrates should not be a scary food source. They contain lots of other nutrients such as fibre which is great for a healthy gut and heart. Being mindful of the portion sizes is important but this goes for all foods and finding what works for you, your lifestyle and activity levels.

To find out more on carbohydrates and achieving a balanced diet, the British Dietetic Association have a great website or you can seek advice from a Registered Dietitian or Nutritionist.

 

 

References:

Bupa, British Dietetic Association, NHS

Photo Credit – The Pulse