Our gut is the centre of our universe: 7 tips for eating better this year

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On New Year’s Day, nutrition professors Tim Spector and Sarah Berry recorded a chat on how to make smart, science-backed food choices.

They work at Kings College, London. Tim has a background in genetics and is known for his work on gut health. As he reminds us over and over, our gut is the centre of our universe.

Sarah specialises in nutrition and cardiovascular health.

In addition, Tim’s a co-founder of a nutrition company called Zoe, and Sarah’s the company’s Chief Scientist.

A couple of years ago I wrote about the changes Tim had made to his diet based on his research. If you know of him, you’ll know he’s a fan of rye sourdough, mushrooms, fermented food, coffee, and eating lots of plants. (And heads-up, none of that has changed.)

Nutrition research is often badly done and paid for by vested interests.  These two have a company to promote, and Sarah Berry’s views on some topics don’t chime with those of other respected scientists, but their work in areas such as gut health is considered reliable. Nothing too controversial in what’s coming below though (well, except number 6…)

So here are their 7 tips.

  1. Reduce ultra-processed foods

This has become the new way to describe junk food.

It’s pre-packaged, contains lots of additives, emulsifiers, and sweeteners, and doesn’t bear much resemblance to real food.

Examples include commercial breakfast cereals and breads, biscuits, spreads, sauces, snack foods, ice cream, and ‘fast foods’.

These don’t have much, if any, fibre, need little chewing, aren’t good for the gut or our blood sugar, and are easy to overeat. Makes sense to keep them to a minimum.

  1. Give yourself an eating window

This is the time span between our first and last meal of the day. In America, the average eating window is apparently about 16 hours, meaning that if we had breakfast at 7.00am, we’d finish eating around 11.00pm. Which leads to a big health and weight problem.

Tim and Sarah make a case for a 10-hour window, which could suit people who have a late breakfast or skip it altogether.

But it’d be a stretch if we do breakfast at say 7.00am. We’d have to finish the day’s food intake by 5.00pm. So 12 hours might be more realistic.

If blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, and so on are areas you want to improve, look at whether you can reduce your current eating window. Narrowing it even a scrap will help.

Importantly, don’t extend it unnecessarily by grazing after dinner out of boredom or habit.

Maybe you also remember the advice from biochemist Jessie Inchauspé (aka The Glucose Goddess) who recommends taking a stroll after  dinner to help settle our blood sugar.

  1. Don’t count calories (if ever you did)

Remember the days? Supermarkets were full of ‘lo-cal’ products, and we thought that if we ate as few calories as possible and spent hours on the treadmill or doing aerobics we’d look amazing. A great formula for being hungry, miserable, and disappointed.

Unless you just loved your leotard, tights, and headband. 😉

The GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic have been part of the shift in thinking about weight loss.

They stimulate the gut hormone that tells our brain we’ve eaten enough. And they slow down the movement of food from the stomach into the small intestine, making us feel satisfied for longer.

They also affect blood sugar (blood sugar and blood glucose are the same). When it increases after we eat, they cause the body to make more insulin, which reduces blood sugar.

Whereas junk foods ramp up our hunger, these drugs do the opposite — they make us feel full.

So we’ve gone from the idea that to lose weight we have to burn more calories than we take in, to a focus on satiety and keeping blood sugar and insulin stable.

(Side note: If you’re using a GLP-1 drug, you’ll be eating less. It’s one thing to lose weight, but what we eat is still vitally important. As we age we need to feed our muscles, bones, brain, gut, and so on. So get some dietary advice to make sure you’re getting the nutrients you need.).

  1. Think about what you drink

Age and alcohol aren’t a great mix, and we need to be sensible here, but in addition, sweetened drinks such as soft drink and juice can be hazardous for our blood sugar, our gut, and our waistline. Ideally we’d all try to live without sweetened drinks.

The other big drink in our culture now is, of course, coffee. It’s considered gut-friendly, but I’ll do a separate post on the ins and outs of drinking it.

  1. Eat plenty of plants, and some meat

Tim recommends eating 30 plants a week. That sounds like a lot, but it includes nuts, seeds, legumes, herbs, spices, vegies, and fruit. Try keeping score for a week to see how you go. Diversity’s the name of the game.

But remember that foods like meat give us iron and vitamin B12, and those are important too. (OK, not processed meat.)

  1. Stop worrying about getting enough protein.

Whoa, hang on Tim and Sarah, I’m going to intervene on this one.

They argue that the need for protein is over-hyped, and that what we’re really missing is fibre.

If we consider the entire population, that’s a fair point. Most people don’t go close to eating enough fibre, much less 30 plants a week. And there are plenty who live on burgers and chicken nuggets.

But that’s probably not us. And as older women we’re losing muscle and bone so we need to aim for protein — animal or plant — at each meal. Besides, protein helps with satiety and blood sugar balance.

So focus on both, protein and plants.

  1. Snack smarter

What matters is what we snack on and when.

If we eat good quality meals, we probably don’t need much in the way of extras. But if we do snack, let’s make it healthy (i.e. blood sugar friendly) — nuts, vegies, fruit, yoghurt, maybe a bit of dark chocolate after dinner. Just not too late.

If we’re snacking because we’re bored or stressed or just because there are snack foods in the house, it’s time to reign things in. Otherwise, our fingers are in the chip packet before we know it, and next thing, somehow it’s empty.

  1. A bonus tip! Just because it’s a new year, here’s one I’m going to toss in because we can all do with a reminder: have a better breakfast.

This, of course, means a breakfast that will stabilise our blood sugar.

Remember that typical breakfast foods like most cereal, toast, and juice send our blood sugar soaring. This will make us feel hungry sooner and drag our energy down. In the long run, high blood sugar also causes inflammation, which causes chronic health problems.

Instead, try a vegie omelette or make a quick stir fry using last night’s left-over vegies, chicken, beans or tofu. Cook it in olive oil, pop it on your slice of Tim Spector approved rye sourdough, and top with fetta, avocado or cherry tomatoes.

Avocado on toast is great as long as you add some protein — egg, cheese or other leftovers. Use whatever you’ve got, but make sure there’s some fibre, protein, and good fat on your plate.

This combination gives us energy, satisfies our appetite, and takes care of our health.

Love porridge? Don’t do the instant version because that means an instant glucose spike. Use the kind of oats you have to soak and slow cook so you keep the fibre. And balance the starch with some protein and good fat.

If you need to be out the door fast, a suggestion from the Glucose Goddess is to stir a dollop of (unsweetened) peanut, almond or other nut butter into some (unsweetened) Greek or full fat yoghurt. Add a sprinkle of cinnamon if you like.

It’ll keep your blood sugar steady, it’s a great snack if you’re hungry between meals, and it’ll go well with those slow-cooked oats.

A quick rundown:

Ditch the junk food.

Consider when you eat and whether you can narrow your eating window.

Think blood sugar not calories (include fibre, protein, and good fat in each meal)

No sweet drinks.

Have a go at 30 plants a week, plus protein.

If you snack, snack healthily. Just not late at night.

Have a better breakfast.

If there’s something in the list you haven’t nailed yet, make this the year. Pick one thing — the easiest, smallest, most doable one — and focus on it until you’ve woven that change into your daily routine. Then look to the next easiest.

Bottom line: don’t try to bite off too much at once (pun intended).

 

Photo Source: Zoe

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