270g dried fruit (e.g. apricots, figs, dates, raisins, dried apple and pears)
40g nuts (e.g. cashews)
80g seeds (e.g. pumpkin, sunflower seeds)
1 tsp cinnamon
80ml fruit juice
2 level tbls honey
60g wholemeal flour
120g rolled oats

(All ingredients organic)

Oven 190c/375f/gas mark 5

Blitz all the dried fruit in a Magimix until well chopped.  Do the same with the nuts. Then put the dried fruit, nuts, seeds and cinnamon into a bowl. Warm the fruit juice and honey in a pan until dissolved.  Add the flour & oats, mix well and then stir in the fruit & nuts.

Smooth the mixture into a 25 x 30 cm baking tray about 2.5cm deep – I just spread onto baking parchment on a baking sheet to try and get the same thickness. Bake in the oven for 20 mins. Keep an eye on it and if you want the bars to be crunchier, bake for a little longer.

Recipe courtesy of Matt Ford (Triathlete and Simply Nutrition reader and follower)
Nutritional Information per bar…

132 kcals
4.4g fat
21g CHO
3.6g protein
36mg Ca
1mg Fe
45mg Mg

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Serves 2

2 wild salmon steaks (approx 125g each)
½ large Cos lettuce or Romaine heart
250g of new potatoes, halved
200g ripe baby plum tomatoes, halved
100g cucumber, cut lengthways, then quartered and “chunked
20g rocket (arugula)
20g watercress
2 eggs
50g “topped” fine green beans, halved
4 anchovies, drained, and cut in half
50g pitted black (or if you prefer… green) olives
2-3 tsps of virgin olive oil

Garnish…
2 tsps of balsamic vinegar
2 fresh lemon thyme sprigs
Lemon wedges to serve on the side
A handful of sprouted sunflower seeds for an extra nutritional boost!

Firstly, place the green beans in a bowl of boiled water and leave to stand until ready to use. This simply blanches them and retains all the colour, flavour, nutrition and crispness. Next, boil the potatoes, drain and set aside. Boil the eggs for 6-7 minutes before allowing them to cool, and then shelling them and cutting into quarters. Season the salmon fillets and grill on a medium-high heat, for 3-5 minutes each side. Place on a plate, allow to cool, and “flake” or break into pieces. Roughly shred the cos lettuce and place in a salad bowl with the rocket and watercress. Toss gently together with the oil. Drain the beans and cut in half. Layer on top of the lettuce, the beans, potato halves, baby tomatoes, cucumber, salmon pieces, and the egg. Finish with the anchovies and olives. Garnish with the tiny lemon thyme leaves, lemon wedges, and “sprinkle” on top the balsamic vinegar and if desired, a handful of sprouted sunflower seeds. Serve onto 2 plates and enjoy!

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Oatmeal – magnesium has been found to stop migraines, so eating foods rich in magnesium is a good idea for headache and migraine sufferers. Oatmeal is an excellent magnesium-rich food, as well as being a nutritious low-GI carbohydrate. 

Baked potatoes – Eating potassium-rich foods can help to alleviate hangover-related headaches, and those caused by dehydration. Baked potatoes (skin intact) are very impressive sources of potassium, containing significantly more than bananas, or avocado.

Yellow fin tuna – Aside from being rich in protein, tuna is an excellent source of B6, a favoured B vitamin in the treatment of allergy and histamine-related headaches. Eating foods rich in B6 may help to prevent or relieve headaches and migraines.

Chamomile – Stress is a common cause of headaches. Chamomile is a useful stress-relieving herb, and effective when taken as a tea. It is known for it’s calming, soothing properties, and a hydrating cup of chamomile tea also provides vitamin A, calcium and potassium.

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Serves 1
50g quinoa (dry grain)
Coconut milk and water for cooking
3-4 dried apricots (chopped) or 2 large dried figs, chopped
150g natural live yogurt
A good teaspoon of organic almond butter

Cook the quinoa grains and chopped dried fruit, using 1 part grain to 2 ½ parts mixed coconut milk and water. Bring to the boil and then simmering on a low heat, part-covered. When the liquid has been absorbed and the quinoa is tender, and “puffed out”, remove from the heat. If possible leave to one side to steam (with the lid on) for 5 minutes. Finally, add the natural yogurt and almond butter to the pan and blend vigorously with a whisk or spoon. Serve immediately into a bowl, then take a teaspoon, find somewhere quiet, and simply enjoy!

Nutrient breakdown
397 Kcals
9g fat
65g CHO
17g protein

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6 servings
100g hazelnuts
100g raisins
50g sunflower seeds
50g pumpkin seeds
½ tsp cinnamon
1 dessert spoon of Xylitol (granulated sugar substitute)

Place the nuts, seeds, raisins, spice and sugar (xylitol granules) in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. The mixture should resemble granola. Turn out into a bowl, or store in an airtight container. If desired transfer to a baking tray and place in the oven on a low setting, and bake until hot. Eat warm, or allow to cool and then store in a container – either way it is delicious!

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300g Bulgar or cracked wheat
100g oat bran
100 wheatgerm
100g almonds or walnuts or a mixture, roughly chopped
100g sunflower seeds
100g pumpkin seeds
1 tsp each of caraway seeds, and allspice
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp of sea salt
500g plain natural low-fat yogurt
1 tablespoon of honey
1 egg beaten

Heat the oven to 180 degrees C, or Gas Mark 4. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the yogurt, honey and beaten egg and fold well until a dough is formed. Tip the mixture into a large loaf tin (2lbs plus), and top with a few extra caraway seeds and sunflower seeds. Bake in the centre of the oven for a total of one hour… placing a loose piece of tin foil over the loaf after 30 minutes. Leave to cool in the tin, turn out and slice thinly.

Nutrient breakdown for 75g portion (1 thick slice)
203 calories
10g fat
9g protein
23g CHO
3g fibre
91mg calcium

Nutrient breakdown for whole amount
3805 calories
183g fat
174g protein
433g CHO
50g fibre
1705 mg calcium

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100g cooked brown rice
150g tuna fish
6 cherry tomatoes, halved
½ fennel bulb, thinly sliced
A good handful of watercress
75g chopped cucumber
A small handful of pumpkin seeds
A handful of coriander (cilantro)
A little olive oil and vinegar

Nutrient breakdown for a typical packed lunch
400 calories
10g fat
43g protein
39g CHO
72mg calcium
5g fibre

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Hi Lucy-Ann,
Thanks for your weekly emails whichI enjoy. I like to stay fit and am interested in nutrition for performance and wondered what your view was on the school of thought of no starchy carbs. I have noted previously you have said that there is no need for much in the way of starchy carbs unless you are doing a fair bit of serious exercise but I know that many sports teams and athletes are being trained on no starchy carbs in order to burn ketones which they say is the preferred and most efficient fuel for the body to burn and prevents hitting the wall as the body is used to drawing on fat.
I am really interested to know your view on this as, having tried it over time I find that I feel weird on it – totally out of fuel and heavy legged, especially on a longer bike ride – no ooomph at all. It doesn’t seem to affect my performance or times but more howI feel and takes away some of the enjoyment of the exercise as a result. Is it that I just haven’t stuck with it for long enough? (I walk the dog daily and do a mix of running, biking, swimming, yoga and core strength in a week and stay at a constant weight and don’t try to lose any so am obviously at my set point ). Anyway perhaps you could answer this or cover this subject one week?
Many thanks and best wishes
BT

Hello B,
Many thanks for your e-mail. This subject is always full of divided opinions, but my overall thoughts are this…

1) Carb/Starchy carb intake is HIGHLY individual and centres around body type, how well-trained the metabolism and body is at burning fat as fuel… (Some people are fast sugar metabolisers and find no-carb almost impossible…), individual blood-sugar response, and of course amount of exercise especially.

2) Following or adopting a low or no-starch diet as an athlete means you have to eat a VAST amount of fresh fruits (low sugar ones – apples and pears, kiwis), salads and veggies. You can’t just stop eating starchy carbs and not replace them with enough non-starch (wet) carbs!!

3) There is certainly a period of adaptation time involved, as the body’s metabolism switches to burning more fat, more readily.

4) Finally, most people, including athletes eat and drink TOO much sugar and carbs. In my experience this is always an element of the diet I aim to adjust\improve/optimise with people and always with great results!!

Think about some of the above points – you may need to experiment more with more fresh fruit prior to those long rides, eat fruit during rides too, and generally up your veg!!

Hope that helps Bo!! Keep in touch, L-A

Hi Lucy-Ann,
Thank you for taking the time to reply, and so quickly too! Lots for me to consider and play around with to find the right mix for me trying to establish the optimal, personal fuel mix for optimising nutrient intake – macro and micro, minimise metabolic disruption (insulin etc..), balance acidity and alkalinity, anti and pro inflammatory and energy needs! I veer more towards maxing out a variety of food intake, high in veg, raw and cooked, lower sugar fruits, good fats and lean protein and lately with some starch from brown rice, buckwheat, quinoa, amaranth, rye and root veg sources as I just can’t seem to get enough energy in without those starches. The only way I have of evaluating it is on how I feel generally and when exercising, howI recover, how Iwithstand injury and my immunity – is there a way of getting assessed for personal optimum fuel intake? Many thanks and have a good weekend.
B

Well B, you’ll hit all your goals described by focusing on an abundance of fresh and raw greens, veggies and fresh fruits (fruit as a main source of carbs which you CAN eat and burn efficiently with lots of exercise!), all of which are great alkaline-based foods, healthy fats (fish, avo, hempseeds which are my No 1 seed), all of which are anti-inflammatory, and balanced out with some proteins and a splattering of whole grains – quinoa tops my list!! You sound VERY switched on B and certainly well equiped to make your own choices based on your own body knowledge. Re: testing – the gold standard test for nutritional status is HEALTH and energy levels!! Are you healthy, happy and energetic? Do you recover well? Is your immunity strong? Are you menstruating and hormones balanced? All these Qs indicate metabolic balance and optimum health!! Good luck with all you do B. Stay in touch

L-A

Thanks SO much Lucy-Ann for such valuable nuggets. Have been incorporating some good qual starchy carbs the last couple of days and this morning I went on a 30 mile bike ride on a breakfast of porridge, stewed plums and seeds and then right as I was going out a small piece of nut panaforte i’d made and i absolutely flew and felt fabulous and totally loved the ride – it felt easy despite the gusty north wind and just needed water, didn’t need to touch the sports drink. I have been ignoring howI have been feeling in the quest for maintaining starchy carb free intake after reading too many books on the subject i think – Briffa, Taubes, Groves and the Paleo man that are so convincing that this is our optimum nutrition but Iclearly need to be less fundamentalist about it and tailor it to me. You have helped massivelyI have been playing with this for about a couple of years trying to work out why it wasn’t working for me, and it’s been really bugging me why I don’t feel good on it but ploughing on regardless and now Iam accepting we are all different. I can’t thank you enough! Thank you for the compliment, I did study sports nutrition in Miami a while back and have one more year to go on my Dip NT course and hoping despite the economic climate I will be able to get practising up here – there is a dearth of NTs in Norfolk but also a dearth of people generally so we’ll see! Many many thanks you have given me the confidence to listen to my body telling me what’s right for me.  I look forward to making your delicious sounding veggie casserole and to the next newsletter.
Best wishes, B

Oh aren’t we all SO different! As a Nutritionist Bo this is the most profound learning and conclusion you can come to! And you are there already via your own experience! I think too it illustrates that all our goals and needs are very different – no-starch/reduced starch etc does play a huge, and often vital roll in weight (fat) loss, and blood sugar disorders, but I feel, not before, and alongside, improving the overall quality of the diet – in other words getting more fresh, nutrient-rich foods into everyday eating, AND assessing energy in vs energy out! Carbs and starchy carb intake is a balancing act for exercisers/athletes and can only really be gauged by the individual themselves – as you’ve found out!! B, you are the sort of person needed to help others in the area of food and nutrition so go forth and conquer!! All the best of success to you too…

Very best wishes, L-A

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Spicy Autumn Stew…
This is a wonderful rustic and hearty stew, which can be varied by using different vegetables, beans and spices. Serve on its own in deep soup bowls.

Preparation time – 15 minutes
Cooking time – 30-40 minutes

Serves 2-3

1 tablespoon virgin coconut oil or olive oil
2 medium sized sweet potatoes, cut into equal-sized chunks
400g tinned borlotti beans
½ onion, sliced and then chopped
1 tsp each of fennel, coriander and cumin seeds
1 level tsp of ground cinnamon
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed or finely chopped
1 small chunk of ginger root, roughly chopped
2 carrots, sliced
2 courgettes, sliced
½ small butternut squash, cut into small chunks (you could use swede, pumpkin, celeriac or parsnip instead)… I don’t peel butternut squash as the skin is thin and easy to eat when cooked.
250g chestnut or button mushrooms, halved or kept whole if small
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1 handful of chopped coriander and 1 handful of chopped fresh parsley
Sea salt and ground black pepper for seasoning

Prepare all the vegetables. Then, in a large saucepan, gently fry the onion, garlic, ginger, fennel, coriander and cumin seeds in the oil, being careful not to burn the the spices or the onion, ginger or garlic. Add the chopped sweet potato, and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the rest of the vegetables, and stir for another minute or two. You may need to add some water at this point. Add the tomato puree, stir and then pour in enough water to almost cover the ingredients. Bring the pan to the boil and then simmer for 30-40 mins, stirring occasionally, until all the vegetables are cooked. Add the beans and simmer for a further 2 minutes. Finally add the fresh herbs, and stir in. Season as desired, and then serve, piping hot, into deep soup bowls.

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Avocado – Avocado is a low-carb fruit, and with fibre, plant sterols and other healthy fats as major constituents, this creamy delight is an ideal food to keep hunger at bay. It’s a good source of magnesium too, essential for healthy blood sugar control.

Chicken – Protein is the number one nutrient to keep you feeling satisfied and keeping hunger in check. Chicken makes for the perfect high-protein lunch or evening meal, and also provides a healthy dose of B3 and B6, essential vitamins for energy metabolism.

Walnuts – An ounce of walnuts between meals can help to alleviate hunger by providing protein, healthy Omega-3 fat, and fibre. Snacking on foods such as walnuts instead of sweets, cakes or bars also keeps sugar intake low, allowing for a more controlled appetite.

New potatoes – Unlike mashed or baked, new potatoes are the only low GI potato in the UK. Being picked early in the season, their sugary starch content is lower, ensuring a slower and lower rise in blood sugar, and longer-lasting feelings of fullness.

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