McCosker - 4 Ingredients Healthy Diet

It is good health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver. Mahatma Gandhi The world is a funny place. While some population groups are clearly under-nourished, others are over-fed and severely malnourished. Some dont get enough while others eat far too much. The overeaters eat too much because their bodies are starving for proper nutrition. A general addiction to processed carbohydrate foods has resulted in obesity and many lifestyle related diseases.

The answer is to keep it simple. Maximise nutrition while minimising exposure to toxins. Eat nutrient-rich foods while avoiding nutrient-depleted foods that have been processed and refined. In her book, 4 Ingredients Healthy Diet, Kim McCosker provides a multitude of exciting, highly nutritious, tasty, colourful recipes that each require only four ingredients. It is a masterpiece! Kims recipes are so simple that the kitchen novice will feel like a professional in no time. The experienced cook will marvel at the ease with which a banquet can be produced using just four ingredients.

There is a psyche involved with food. Meals should always look good, smell great, taste amazing and stimulate the senses. Even a person who eats alone can benefit greatly through the science of positive nutrition. By selecting and combining foods that deliver concentrated sustenance, Kims recipes will satisfy the palate, energise the psyche and strengthen the body, while easing any compulsion to eat junk food. Never in the past has the world so much needed such a simple food science as this. I highly recommend this wonderful recipe book, 4 Ingredients Healthy Diet for every home.

Gary Martin ND Founder and General Manager Living Valley Springs Health Retreat www.lvs.com.au

Let me start by saying, that while I love to eat fresh and healthy, I am the worlds worst dieter. Counting calories, counting points, weighing this, weighing that ~ its just not me. Im a busy Mum who doesnt have time for complicated menus, recipes and exercise regimes. I understand the importance of, and respect them greatly, but I NEED EASY. Enter Ingredients Healthy Diet health [helth] noun: health The state of being free from illness or injury. Over the last 50 years our state of being free from illness or injury has changed significantly and interestingly, so too have our waistlines.

This conversation I had just eighteen months ago with my beautiful Nana ~ a Centenarian. We were talking about health and longevity, and her everyday eating habits. This was her typical daily diet circa 1955. Breakfast: One slice of toast with fresh butter and a boiled egg or porridge Lunch: Corned beef sandwich with butter Snack: Scone with jam and cream or one piece of fruit Dinner: Meat and three fresh, farm-grown vegetables Dessert: Stewed pears and homemade custard and a good lie down cured nearly every ailment she ever had. This really got me thinking. 101 years young forever. 101 years young forever.

VERY SIMPLY PUT, their diets were higher in natural fats and proteins and lower in processed carbohydrates, and they moved; often around their own garden collecting fresh foods for their dinner. My Nana never counted a calorie in her life, she just ate good, wholesome, homemade meals and was rewarded with a long and healthy life. Fast forward 60 years Let me share with you a couple of interesting statistics from various parts of the western world: In 1984, 72% of our dinners were homemade; in 2015 less than 50%. Researchers have found a high correlation in obesity and eating out, due to larger portions and higher calorie intake. Eating out, as a share of household expenditure, has risen from 25% in 1970 to over 43% in 2012. In April 2015, Americans spent more on dining out than groceries for the first time ever.

In March sales at restaurants and bars surpassed those at grocery stores for the first time since the Commerce Department started collecting data in 1992. In 1960 the average Australian consumed approximately 10kg of sugars annually, compared to 60kg of sugar today; sugar lurks in so much of what we eat, often without us knowing (thats the scary part)! According to the AIHW (Australian Institute of Health & Welfare), based on the Body Mass Index (BMI): Almost 2 in 3 Australian adults (63%) are overweight or obese. 1 in 4 Australian children (ages between 2 and 17) are overweight. Obesity has become the single biggest threat to public health in Australia. From the NZ Herald, dated 13 December 2013. Headline Its expensive to be healthy.

Chicken salad sandwich $3.90 and bottle of water $4.00; compared with Meat pie $2.80 and 1.25ltr Coke $1.80. Professor Rob Moodie of the Melbourne School of Population Health says A short- term goal to combat rising rates of adult obesity in Australia and New Zealand should be to reduce the amount of salt, fat and sugar in processed food. So where to from here? Time to Get Back to Basics Its time to get back to basics; and simplifying is what Ingredients does best. Enter The Traffic Light Food System! Applying simple traffic light logic to your diet can improve your eating habits. This is how it works; The following pages have three food groups - one you can eat often, one occasionally, the other rarely. Think of it this way; GREEN FOODS BEST CHOICE

---

AMBER FOODS CHOOSE CAREFULLY

---

RED FOODS LIMIT Ingredients Healthy Diet introduces over 80 healthy recipes, complete with nutritional information, compiled from the green and amber foods so you can comfortably eat your way to health and longevity.

DISCLAIMER The premise of Ingredients Healthy Diet is to encourage busy people back into the kitchen cooking good nutritious food. When you cook at home you know exactly what ingredients make the meal that nourish your body. Many recipes in this book will form part of a healthy, balanced daily diet. The nutritional information has been compiled using www.calorieking.com.au, an Australian weight loss, diet and nutrition portal holding nutritional information for over 19,000 Australian generic and brand names. Although quantities may vary for eg., 1 cup almond meal (64g) and 1 tablespoon butter (20g) the nutritional information within, has been compiled using the weights and measures according to calorieking.com.au. Every effort has been made to provide up-to-date, correct and helpful information, but information changes.

If you have any concerns, please check the facts or consult your local Accredited Practising Dietitian or Health Care Team.

---

. Bex contained aspirin. BLOOMBERG

---

GREEN FOODS Eating well is paramount to maintaining strength, energy, and a healthy immune system. The key to a healthy balanced diet is too consume a variety of foods (protein, fat, carbohydrates, fibre, vitamins, minerals and water) in the right proportions; that is portions right for you and your personal health goals. This list of food will nourish your body.

However its important to note, that commonsense must prevail. Only eat when you are hungry and monitor portion sizes. For example , the size and thickness of your palm without fingers is a good measure for a serving of animal protein. ANIMAL PROTEIN All Eggs All Meats, Poultry and Game All Offal All Seafood Broths BEVERAGES Coconut Water Green Tea, Natural Water DAIRY Cottage Cheese Cream Cream Cheese Full-Cream Greek Yoghurt Full-Cream Milk Hard Cheeses (Parmesan, Pecorino, Cheddar etc.) Soft Cheeses (Brie, Camembert, Feta, Mozzarella, Ricotta etc.) Sour Cream FATS Avocado Oil Butter Coconut Oil, Cream and Milk Duck Fat Ghee Lard Macadamia Oil Mayonnaise (Not from Seed Oils) Extra Virgin Olive Oil CONDIMENTS & FLAVOURINGS All flavourings and condiments are okay, providing they do not contain sugars and preservatives or vegetable oils. Apple Cider Vinegar Black Peppercorns Cayenne Pepper Curry Powder Herbamare Homemade Basil Pesto Nori Sheets Organic Curry Paste Organic Stock/Broth Raw Cacao Powder NUTS & SEEDS Almonds Almond Meal Chia Seeds Fennel Seeds Hazelnuts Macadamia Nuts Pecan Nuts Pine Nuts Pistachios Pumpkin Seeds Sesame Seeds Sunflower Seeds Walnuts SWEETENERS Stevia Powder Xylitol Granules VEGETABLES All Green Leafy Vegetables (Bok Choy, Cabbage, Kale, Lettuce, Rocket, Spinach etc.) Artichoke Hearts Asparagus Avocado Broccoli Brussels Sprouts Cabbage Capers Capsicum Cauliflower Celery Cucumber Eggplant Jalapeos Leeks Mushrooms Olives Onions Pumpkin Radishes Sauerkraut Spring Onions Sprouts (Alfalfa, Mung Beans, Snow Pea Sprouts etc.) Tomatoes Watercress Wheatgrass Zucchini HERBS & SPICES Allspice Basil Chilli Cinnamon Coriander Cumin Dill Garlic Ginger Mint Nutmeg Oregano Parsley Rosemary Sage Thyme Turmeric AMBER FOODS Is a list comprising a range of food that contain valuable nutrients but that, compared to the Green foods, are generally higher in carbohydrates and phytic acid (legumes). That doesnt make them bad, not at all, it just means that to maintain a healthy weight and maximum nutrition enjoy these foods in moderation.

Next page