Written by Kate Bullen, APD Winter fruit in our house consists of oranges, mandarins, apples, pears, kiwifruit and pineapple. Of course I would usually include bananas in there – but they are not so frequent at the moment! I thought I would showcase the nutritional profile of some of these fruits over the next few weeks – and tonight I will start with oranges.
This afternoon my 19month old son and I shared a particularly delicious orange. I simply sliced the orange with the skin on and then either cut the slices in half so he could easily eat them or carefully opened each slice for us to eat.
Oranges, as part of the citrus family are a fantastic source of vitamin C – which is probably what they are best known for. Historically, the vitamin C content of oranges was important in preventing scurvy – particularly on long boat journeys. Today, scurvy is quite rare, since we have access to such an array of fresh food with vitamin C. This is probably a good time to mention that vitamin C is heat sensitive, so if you are cooking with your oranges, then the vitamin C content may be diminished by the heat. If you are an adult then your daily recommended dietary intake (RDI) of vitamin C is 45mg. Each orange will provide you with 70mg of vitamin C – so that easily gives you plenty of Vitamin C. Vitamin C is important in our bodies to help with wound healing, and it also helps to absorb iron from sources other than meat. So if you take iron tablets, this is why you will often be recommended to take them with a source of vitamin C. Oranges also contain folic acid or folate, thiamin, fibre and some iron. During winter, the variety that is most commonly available is Navel oranges. They are seedless – which is great for kids (and adults!). Apparently oranges don’t ripen any further after they have been picked – so when choosing oranges look for an orange that feels heavy (and therefore juicy) for its size. Who loves their oranges? How do you usually eat them? Do you peel them whole? Or slice them? Or cut them into quarters?
Written By Sophie McGough APD CDE
Is it just me or have cafés got absolutely no idea what the definition of a ‘child size’ meal should be? Don’t get me wrong, I really do appreciate the fact that they do try and provide a service for children but I think I could save them some money by cutting back on the portion size. Every time I order something from the kid’s menu, the portion size that comes out is ridiculously big. Mountains of chips, seems to be a common theme! Now, I won’t 'name names' but I have to share with you a couple of extreme experiences I’d had recently.
The first was at a café in a local shopping centre. I was there with my 3 year old and I’d promised her a special ‘Mummy and Daughter’ lunch. Her treat was having a babycino, so for her lunch I quickly eyeballed the kid’s menu and just ordered a ham sandwich. Obviously I should have read the fine print because out it came on a massive plate. On one side was an adult size ham sandwich and on the other side the equivalent of a packet of potato crisps and 2 slices of fairy bread….yes that’s right fairy bread and potato crisps!!!!! At this point I’m completely flawed and wondering two things ‘Where is the hidden camera for the new show they are doing to shock dietitians!’ and ‘they must have got the order wrong’. Nearly speechless, I looked at the waitress (my face must have been priceless) and managed to say ‘oh goodness, I thought we just ordered a ham sandwich.’ At which point she proudly told me that all their children’s meals come with the fairy bread and crisps! Needless to say, my daughter ate the fairy bread, a couple of the crisps and had one bite out of the ham sandwich!!
 The second experience was just last week. My family and I went out for lunch for my Grandma’s 86th birthday (Happy Birthday Grandma!) Again, I looked at the children’s menu and was pleasantly surprised to see a pasta dish among the usual fried options. I read the fine print this time, and all kids meals came with a yoghurt (fabulous!) and a juice (fine). I don’t know if the photograph I took shows it very well, but the size of the pasta meal that came out was a main meal adult size. In fact, this picture was taken after I’d taken some and put it on another plate for my daughter to eat. Oh and the fabulous ‘yoghurt’ turned out to be a strawberry yogo! Not to be one to waste food however, my Grandma took the rest of the meal home in a takeaway container for her dinner!
I have to say, I have had a couple of very good experiences in cafes and of course I can always just chose something from the adult menu and share it. But after these experiences, I pose the question….are these 'super-sized' kid's meals just a reflection of how out of control our portion sizes are or are cafes just under pressure to try to provide value for money?
Written by Kate Bullen, APD As I rummaged around in my freezer yesterday to grab out a frozen meal to defrost for tonight’s dinner, I thought I would do a post on what I usually keep stocked in my freezer. Here is a list of what I always keep in my freezer: · Vegetables – peas, corn, beans, broad beans, spinach · Edamame – these are soy beans. I usually get them from an asian supermarket. All you have to do is put them in a pot of boiling water for 1-2 minutes, then serve them up. And you don’t eat the pods – just squeeze out the soy beans and enjoy. The kids love them! · Berries – brilliant in smoothies, adding to natural yoghurt or in baking · Frozen bread – usually fruit toast and English muffins · Meat – I must admit I usually buy my meat fresh but today I do have some frozen steak that was leftover · Fish – I always keep some salmon in the freezer. It defrosts in such a short period of time on a metal tray that I can get it out of the freezer at 4pm and it is ready to cook for the kids dinner at 5pm. · Frozen meals – any time I make a Bolognese or meatballs or a curry I usually have leftovers so put it straight in the freezer · Curry paste – we often make our own curry paste batches, so then I just pop them into ice cube trays and freeze it for the next curry · Reduced fat ice cream – my husband likes his ice cream – except he tells me that he doesn’t like this brand that I bought last time. So it has sat in my freezer for a few weeks – kind of unusual in my house!
My freezer isn’t huge which I find works quite well as it is easy to see what is in the freezer and it means the food gets turned over quite quickly. So, I would love to know - what foods do you keep in your freezer?
Written by Kate Bullen, APD A quick conversation last week about Milo and hot chocolates made me think that this could make a good product review. I always have hot chocolate in my cupboard as I don’t drink tea or coffee, and usually there is Milo as my husband enjoys his Milo – but I discovered we had run out. So after replenishing the Milo supplies we were off and racing. A friend also asked how NesQuik powder compares, so I have added that in as well.
| Cadbury Drinking Chocolate | Milo | Nesquik |
Energy per 100g | 1600kj | 1730kj | 1730kj |
Fat per 100g | 2.5g | 10g | 3g |
Carbohydrate – total per 100g | 84.2g | 64.5g | 90.3g |
Carbohydrate - Sugar per 100g | 79g | 46.4g | 80.7g |
Fibre per 100g | - | 7.5g | - |
Recommended serve size | 15g (1 tablespoon) | 20g (3 heaped teaspoons) | 12g |
Price | $1.15/100g | $1.01/100g | $1.12/100g |
Looking at just the energy component of these three drinks Milo and Nesquik are identical and Cadbury Drinking Chocolate is slightly lower. However, when we look at the next criteria of fat – Milo is a whopping 10% fat (and 6.5% saturated fat) compared to just 3% for Nesquik and 2.5% for Cadbury Drinking Chocolate. I had a look at the ingredient list to see what the source of fat was from in Milo – and I think it must be the milk solids, which is the 3rd ingredient – as the other ingredients are barley, rice, wheat, sugar, cocoa and then added vitamins and minerals.
Given all three of these products are used to sweeten drinks, it probably isn’t overly surprising that the total carbohydrate and sugar component of these drinks was high. Nesquik has the highest sugar load, followed by Cadbury Drinking Chocolate and then Milo. Obviously Milo has a lower sugar component because this is offset by the much higher fat content. The only drink that listed fibre on the nutrition panel was Milo. This was a plus! So let’s put all this information in perspective. Most days I make a hot chocolate at home using Cadbury Drinking Chocolate and a cup of reduced fat milk. I use a heaped teaspoon – which is much less than the recommended serve size of 1 tablespoon. I think this is a key point – only use enough of these products to sweeten your drink – you really don’t need a tablespoon! By using my 1 teaspoon I am getting around 500kj from the reduced fat milk and then another 80kj from the drinking chocolate. Not much of a concern – and much better than adding 240kj which is the recommended serve size of drinking chocolate. 
Now I know we have a lot of Milo fans out there – my husband being one, and my niece has just told me that she considers Milo to be her ‘ultimate favourite in winter and summer – its so versatile!’ So I certainly don’t want to burst anyone’s bubble! I think Milo is a great energy drink – particularly if you are an active person who doesn’t need to worry about your weight. I think Milo could be a great occasional after school snack, or even a mid afternoon snack to keep you going till dinner time – you can get a great source of dairy by making it up with reduced fat milk, and if you keep your serving under 1 tablespoon then you will be doing pretty well! If you are a Milo fan and you have a cup of reduced fat milk plus around a tablespoon of Milo this will provide you with 846kj – significantly less than a small chocolate shake from McDonalds (1290kj) or a large chocolate shake from McDonalds (2110kj). So any Milo lovers out there you can breathe a sigh of relief – just watch how much you use! If you are choosing between Cadbury Drinking Chocolate and Nesquik then they really are pretty similar from a nutrition perspective. Again – serve sizes are key here! And on that note – it might be time for my daily hot chocolate!
We are very excited to share with you the launch of our brand new website doyoueat.com.au. For us, this website is the culmination of almost 30 years of nutrition expertise, and many months of thinking, talking and planning - and now here it is - live!
First and foremost we are mums. But we are also Accredited Practising Dietitians who are passionate about health and nutrition. And it is this passion that has driven the development of our new website. Not forgetting the very important feedback that we have received since creating this blog in Nov 2010 - so thank you to all our readers and commenters!
Food should be enjoyed - and we both practice this philosophy in our daily lives with our family. Chocolate? - oh yes! A glass of wine? Thank you - we'd love one! Some camembert with crackers? - our favourite! But on a day to day basis we eat a healthy balance of vegetables, fruits and breads and cereals, meats and dairy. Good, wholesome food - which leaves room for the occasional treat.
Doyoueat.com.au offers expert nutrition and dietary advice using online consultations. You register, provide us with your details in a secure and confidential environment, and you will receive individual and custom-made advice from the comfort of wherever you check your email. It is that easy!
So, if you, or someone you know, is seeking nutrition and dietary advice - then please pop in to doyoueat.com.au. We are offering 4 packages under the banner of 'Dietitian Online':
- Platinum package - 3 months of email support and motivation to achieve your nutrition goals
- Gold package - 1 month of email support and motivation to achieve your nutrition goals
- Silver package - comprehensive assessment of your current diet
- Bronze package - This is your opportunity to ask any burning nutrition or dietary questions that you might have!
We are also offering a specific weight loss program called 'Waist Away' where you will receive 3 months intensive email support and motivation to achieve your weight loss goals.
As an opening special for our website, for the first 5 people to register for the Gold, Platinum or Waist Away packages, we will double the length of your membership subscription. You could receive up to 6 months membership for the price of 3 months! What an amazing offer! Don't delay - act now! We know you won't be disappointed.
We would love to hear feedback on the website - so feel free to contact us if you have any queries or comments. Rest assured we will continue with our blog - as we both love doing the blog!
In launching our website, we would like to acknowledge some standout professional expertise that we have received. This website has been pulled together over the last few months and we are very grateful to our IT developer for his expertise, commitment and patience, and for some very savvy marketing advice that we have received from our marketing consultants. Thank you, thank you, thank you! And finally to our families - thank you for all your love and support!
Kate and Sophie.
Written by Sophie McGough APD CDE
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| 1 Tablespoon of Peanut Butter |
I am partial to having some peanut butter on my toast and until recently, I’d never bothered to compare the brands. It was only when my Mother in Law was telling me about how much she enjoyed the Sanitarium brand that I decided to have a change from my usual Kraft brand. Being me – of course I had to check out the nutrition labels and compare them. I was assuming that they were going to be similar and was quite surprised when they were not.
The Kraft version is 11.4% saturated fat whereas the Sanitarium is nearly half that at only 6% saturated fat. The main reason for this can be found in the ingredients list – the Kraft version contains 85% peanuts and the Sanitarium 90% peanuts and slightly less ‘vegetable’ oil.
Looking at the ingredients list, the Kraft also contains an antioxidant (320). Without the use of an antioxidant there is an increased risk of the Sanitarium peanut butter not lasting as long and developing a rancid flavour. I’m more than happy though to keep it in the fridge and buy it in small jars! As Kate and I always say, the less added to our food unnecessarily the better.
Now I can’t have a blog on peanut butter without talking portion size! For adults, peanut butter fits under the ‘meat and alternatives’ food group and the maximum serving size should be ~ 1 flat tablespoon (see picture). This serving size would give you ~ 650 kJ. This is equivalent to 2 medium eggs, so be careful with how much you have! The thinner the spread, the better….and don’t put it on as well as margarine/butter (don’t laugh my husband does it!!) because you’ll just double the kilojoules!
For children, peanut butter fits under the ‘fats and oils’ food group and 1 serving size is 3 flat teaspoons (which is just under the serve for an adult). See Kate’s post on portions for a 4 year old if you want to know how this fits with the overall recommendations for children.
I was talking with Kate tonight and coincidently she has also just discovered Sanitarium peanut butter, but she went for the no added sugar and salt variety (anyone would think she’s a dietitian!). Interestingly, the saturated fat content wasn’t as low (8.4g) but still better than the Kraft. Kate has promised me that she will comment on how introducing the no sugar/no salt variety went down in her household. Peanut butter is a particularly high salt product so wherever the salt content can be reduced – brilliant!
I'm sure that there are other brands of peanut butter that I haven’t looked at – if you have one, check out the saturated fat content per 100g and let us know……
Written by Kate Bullen, APD Donna Hay has a recipe section in our Sunday Times newspaper each week. It is one of my favourite sections of the paper! A couple of weeks ago I cut this recipe out as it was 1. Gluten free, 2. A soufflé which I have never made before, and 3. Had raspberries which I love! Below I have detailed Donna Hay’s recipe, and the modifications I made.
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Melted butter, for brushing 300g frozen raspberries 2 tablespoons lemon juice 30g caster sugar, plus extra for dusting 1 tablespoon cornflour 3 teaspoons water 5 eggwhites 40g caster sugar, extra Icing sugar, for dusting | Melted butter, for brushing 300g frozen raspberries 2 tablespoons lemon juice ¼ cup (55g) caster sugar, plus extra for dusting 1 tablespoon cornflour 3 teaspoons water 5 eggwhites 1/3 cup (75g) caster sugar, extra Icing sugar, for dusting |
Method: 1. Preheat oven to 180C. Brush 4 x 1 cup-capacity (250ml) ramekins with butter, dust with sugar and place on a baking tray. 2. Place the raspberries in a saucepan over low heat and cook for 3-4 minutes. Blend raspberries until smooth. [Donna Hay suggests to pass the raspberry puree through a sieve – I didn’t bother doing this!] 3. Return raspberries to a pan over low heat. Add lemon juice and sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to medium and bring to the boil. 4. Whisk to combine the cornflour and water, add to the raspberry puree and whisk for 1 minute. Refrigerate until cold. [I prepared until this stage then left the raspberry puree in the fridge until I was ready to cook the soufflé]. 5. Place the eggwhites in an electric mixer and beat until soft peaks form. Add the extra caster sugar in a thin stream and beat until glossy. Fold through the raspberry puree and spoon into ramekins. Bake for 12-15 or until risen. Dust with icing sugar and serve immediately. Serves 4.
The major alteration I made to the recipe was reducing the sugar. I reduced the sugar by a total of 60g – or 960kj. And it still tasted delicious! I also left all the raspberry ‘bits’ in the soufflé rather than discarding them. I don’t cope very well with chucking food so I kept them in. My daughter didn’t mind – and nor did my husband. I think this would be a great dinner party dessert. Tasty, quite easy and includes some fruit – brilliant! I will be filing this one away in my dessert file.
Written by Kate Bullen, APD
A friend recommended this TED presentation by Jamie Oliver to me today - if you need any more encouragement to improve your eating and your child's eating (if you have children!) then this presentation will provide it. The presentation takes about 20 minutes - but it is 20 min worth watching. Yes - it is focused on America, but Australia does rate a mention, and although here in Australia we don't provide school meals like they do in America, the messages about obesity and overweight are still very similar to our circumstances. In Western Australia, we currently have 23% of primary school children who are overweight or obese. In my daughters class there are 30 children - that means 7 are overweight or obese. We know that almost 60% of primary school aged childre don't eat enough vegetables, and almost 40% don't eat enough fruit.
And I love Jamie's final quote:
"I wish for everyone to help create a strong sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again and empower people everywhere to fight obesity." Would love to know what you think about Jamie's presentation.
Written by Sophie McGough APD CDE
Just thought I would share this website with those of you who have (or have had) Gestational Diabetes. It is aptly named 'Gestational Diabetes Recipes' and it contains a collection of Gestational Diabetes Friendly recipes that have been assessed by Accredited Practising Dietitian and Credentialled Diabetes Educator, Natasha Jo Leader. The author is Lisa Taylor, a writer and Mum who had Gestational Diabetes. She hopes to 'inspire, motivate & support you to cook & eat well during your pregnancy with GDM & beyond.'
For those of you who are not familiar with Gestational Diabetes, it is a type of diabetes that occurs only during pregnancy. It generally starts around 28 weeks, when hormones from the placenta stop the mother's insulin from working properly. As a result, her blood glucose level starts to rise. High glucose levels in the blood can be harmful to the baby, so it is very important to be diagnosed and treated effectively.
In most cases once the baby and placenta is delivered, the diabetes goes away. There is a 50% chance however of women who have gestational diabetes going on to develop Type 2 diabetes within 10 years. These women can significantly reduce their chances of getting Type 2 diabetes though by being as active as possible and achieving a healthy weight or at least avoiding further weight gain. Therefore, seeing an Accredited Practising Dietitian both during and after pregnancy, should be high on the agenda for women with Gestational Diabetes.
And on that note....some light relief for the start of the week.
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| Courtesy of www.diabeteshealth.com |
Written by Sophie McGough APD CDE
One of our 'facebook friends' (Caroline) recently asked our opinion on Grain Waves Chips and I promised I would do a product review. It's actually been an interesting process looking at them. So thanks Caroline for the great suggestion.
 Grain Waves Chips (or crisps if you live outside of Australia!) are made by Smiths (the same company that makes potato and corn chips). A few years ago they launched this new ‘wholegrain’ chip made from a mixture wheat, corn and oats. I can only assume it was to appeal to the more health conscious client because the marketing associated with Grain Waves is very nutrition focussed. The main claims about Grain Waves are that they are:
- A good source of wholegrains (which they are)
- Have 30% less fat than regular potato chips (which they do)
But let’s have a look at what that really means in a practical nutrition sense.
There are original and flavoured versions of Grain Waves, so I have looked at both. I have chosen to compare them to Smiths Potato chips (average of all flavours) and Doritos (average of all flavours). I also decided to compare them to two other ‘snack’ products that are often recommended as healthier alternatives to potato chips, namely rice crackers and popcorn. I chose the wholegrain version of the rice crackers to see how the fibre compared.
In order to compare ‘apples with apples’ (or in this case ‘chips with chips’) I have compared them all per 100g.
| Nutrient PER 100g | Grain Waves Orig | Grain Waves
Flav
(avge) | Smiths Thinly Cut Chips | Smiths Doritos | Sakata W/Grain Original | Popcorn – Air Popped |
Total Fat
Saturated
Sodium
Fibre |
19.3 g
2.1 g
436 mg
6.3 g |
22 g
4.1 g
560 mg
5.8 g |
29.9 g
10.7g
582 mg
3 g |
27 g
13.3 g
569 mg
3.5 g |
6.3 g
0.8 g
518 mg
9 g |
4.5 g
0.6 g
8 mg
14.5 g |
As you can see the fat content is lower than potato and corn chips but they are still a high fat product.
For those trying to avoid or treat high cholesterol levels and heart disease, the saturated fat content is much lower. This is because Grain Waves chips are made with high oleic sunflower, which is high in monounsaturated fat. The saturated fat content is still not as low as the rice crackers or popcorn.
Grain Waves chips are a source of wholegrains, which is reflected in the higher fibre content. I can’t say however that I would be recommending chips as a way of boosting someone’s fibre intake, when there are so many other lower fat and lower kilojoules options.
The sodium content is pretty similar across all of them, apart from the Grain Waves Original, which are lower and of course the popcorn where the sodium content is almost non existent.
For those of you who are weight conscious, if we look at kilojoule content per 40g serve there is not much difference between Grain Waves, Potato and Corn Chips. So if you are trying to lose weight, you’re best off sticking to the popcorn – you can have 7 cups of homemade popcorn for the same kilojoules as a 40g packet of Grain Waves.
My overall recommendation would be to use Grain Waves as a treat food and use them as a healthier option to ordinary potato chips. You can also be safe in the knowledge that when you do have them, you’re not blocking up your arteries with saturated fat. As always with a treat food, watch your portion size because they are packed with kilojoules and in large amounts could quickly add to the waist line!
Written by Kate Bullen, APD We had a question from one of our readers about portions for young children. My daughter is 4 years old so I thought I would use her as a guinea pig. Australia doesn’t have any national guidelines for amounts of food for children, so I have used ‘the CSIRO wellbeing plan for kids’ which includes serve recommendations across the 5 food groups, as detailed in the table below:
Basic Food Groups | 1 serve equals | No. serves 4-8 years CSIRO recommends... | No. serves Kate’s daughter consumed... |
Wholegrains, breads & cereals | 1 slice bread 1 medium roll 1 crumpet 1 English muffin ½ cup cooked rice, pasta, noodles or couscous ½ cup cooked porridge ¾ cup high-fibre breakfast cereal 2 Weetbix ¼ cup untoasted muesli or oats
| 4 | 5.5 |
Fruit | 1 medium piece of fruit 2 small pieces of fruit 1 cup canned fruit pieces 1 ½ tablespoons dried fruit ½ cup (125ml) fruit juice
| 2 | 3 |
Vegetables | ½ cup cooked vegetables or legumes 1 medium potato 1 cup salad
| 4 | 3 |
Lean meat, poultry, fish & legumes | 65-100g cooked meat (beef, veal, lamb, chicken or pork) ½ cup (85g) cooked lean mince 80-120g cooked fish 2 eggs ½ cooked legumes
| 1 | 1 |
Fat reduced dairy foods | 1 cup fat-reduced milk or calcium-enriched dairy alternative 200g fat-reduced yoghurt 40g fat-reduced cheese 1 cup fat-reduced custard
| 2 | 3.5 |
Oils, nuts and seeds | 1 teaspoon oil 1 teaspoon margarine 1 tablespoon nuts/seeds 1 tablespoon avocado 1 teaspooon nut paste 2 teaspoons mayonnaise
| 6 | 4 |
Table reproduced from ‘the CSIRO wellbeing plan for kids’ On this particular day my daughter ate absolutely everything that was served up to her. My daughter is a brilliant eater, and always has been, but often by dinner time the tiredness creeps in and I start to get the whiny ‘I don’t want to eat my vegetables.....’ but not on this day! So please rest assured – that this day was a brilliant food day. Not every day is this good!! But we try J And the important thing is offering foods across all the 5 food groups. Here is what she ate:
Breakfast | 4 weetbix 1 cup hilo milk | 2 serves breads & cereals 1 serve dairy |
Morning tea | 1 slice fruit toast & 1 teaspoon margarine ½ cup hot chocolate ½ apple 2 crackers & 1 teaspoon margarine & vegemite | 1 serve breads & cereals 1 serve oils, nuts & seeds ½ serve dairy 1 serve fruit ½ serve breads & cereals 1 serve oils, nuts & seeds |
Lunch | 1 cup salad 40g cheese 4 x crackers & 2 teaspoons margarine & vegemite | 1 serve vegetables 1 serve dairy 1 serves breads & cereals 2 serves oils, nuts & seeds |
Afternoon tea | 1 mandarin | 1 serve fruit |
Dinner | ½ cup cooked pasta Lamb tagine 1 cup steamed broccoli & cauli 200g Yoghurt & berry couli (homemade) | 1 serve breads & cereals 1 serve meat 2 serves vegetables 1 serve dairy 1 serve fruit |
This exercise reminded me that oils, nuts and seeds mustn’t be forgotten in a child’s diet. I am pretty generous on crackers and bread when putting margarine on, but on this day my daughter’s intake didn’t meet the recommendations. I am not going to beat myself up about it – you can’t have every day being perfect – but these kinds of exercises can be important reminders of what is lacking in a diet. A simple strategy could have been to add some avocado to my daughter’s lunch or dinner. She loves avocado and it is a great source of healthy fat. Or I could have added a slice of toast with her breakfast and taken away 1 of her weetbix. Also my daughter missed out on 1 serve of vegetables – but she did have an extra serve of fruit. So I am happy with that balance. The other couple of things that I should mention are that these are just guidelines. They are not a bible that needs to be followed religiously! Energy needs can vary from child to child depending on their age, sex and activity level. The CSIRO guidelines outlined above are for 4-8yo – that is a pretty broad age group range! Here is a collage of my daughter's intake for the day - except I think I forgot to photograph her weetbix!
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