Dairy is an excellent source of calcium, but what if you don’t eat dairy, or need to avoid it due to an intolerance? There are plenty of other sources of calcium, but you might need to make a little extra effort to ensure you are getting sufficient amounts.

Tinned fish containing bones: Probably the highest source of calcium, not surprisingly, comes from bones themselves! Try some tinned sardines or tinned salmon with bones for your lunch a couple of times per week.

Almonds: almonds are a good source, include a small handful with a piece of fruit for a snack or get a good quality almond butter. Ground almonds are excellent for baking with too.

Sesame seeds: Sprinkle sesame seeds into your muesli or porridge and over salads. Coat a fillet of tuna or salmon in sesame seeds, or strips of lean beef for a stir fry. Dip slices of apple into tahini, a sesame seed paste, which is also found in hummus or baba ghanoush.

Green leafy vegetables: kale, spinach, pak choi and also broccoli are good sources of calcium. Include these in green smoothies, lightly steam or add to curries, casseroles, stir-frys, soups or pasta dishes.

Fortified foods: Tofu is usually fortified with calcium and soy beans contain some calcium naturally. Alternative milks such as almond, coconut, rice, oat or hazelnut milks are also fortified with calcium and make a great substitute.

Supplements: If you wish to take a calcium supplement, ensure that you take calcium in the form of citrate. Calcium citrate is more easily absorbed by the body than calcium carbonate, especially if you have any digestive difficulties.

More to bones than calcium…

Calcium is essential for bone health of course. It has been the poster child for bone health, but we also need plenty of magnesium, vitamin D, boron and zinc amongst others to ensure that our bone density is maintained. If you are thinking about your bone health, consider getting your vitamin D tested and supplement accordingly. Magnesium and zinc deficiency are also very prevalent. You can get levels of all of these essential nutrients tested at our clinic. Book a consultation with us today on 01-4020777 to review this with our nutritionists.

If you are worried about or have been diagnosed with osteopenia or osteoporosis, join us for our day long workshop this Saturday 28^th February. We will be joining with PhysioFusion for a day of nutrition and specialist exercises for osteoporosis. For more information or to book online, click here, or call us on 01-4020777.

 

If you are over the age of 55 and a woman, you have a 50% risk of developing osteoporosis or osteopenia. 

If you are younger, but have a family history of osteoporosis, a history of dieting, steroid or antacid use, have an irregular cycle or digestive issues that may impair your ability to absorb nutrients, your bone density may already be lower than it should be.  However this is not inevitable and there are many things that you can do to improve your bone health naturally. 

It’s important to eat plenty of calcium rich-foods; sesame seeds, leafy greens, tinned fish and dairy products are all good sources.  However bear in mind that for healthy bones, you also need magnesium, vitamin D, boron and vitamin C.  Eating a varied diet with lots of vegetables, fish, nuts, seeds, pulses and other vegetarian proteins is a great way to ensure that you are getting what your bones need.

Today’s bone building menu:

Breakfast – Porridge with natural yoghurt, berries and ground linseeds

Morning snack – 2 oatcakes with  hummus

Lunch – Rye bread with tinned sardines and avocado

Afternoon snack – Orange and small handful almonds

Dinner – Cod fillet topped with pesto and oven baked, served with a leafy green salad and wholegrain rice

Osteoporosis workshop – diet and exercise from the experts

If you are worried about your bone health and want some practical advice and help you can trust, join our Osteoporosis Workshop this Saturday 28th February.  In the hands of Glenville Nutrition Senior Nutritionist Heather Leeson and Chartered Physiotherapist Audrey Redmond, you will learn how to eat and exercise to prevent bone deterioration and support bone development, at any age.  100% of previous workshop participants recommend the course.  Places are limited and booking closes on Wednesday 25th February, or earlier if all places are booked. 

Book your place online or by calling us on 01 4020777.

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Who Needs Take-Out? 

(Note: We are nutritionists, so that’s a rhetorical question!)

 

The weekend brings with it temptation for a treat. But if you look at it another way, it also brings that little bit of extra time to prepare something delicious when you’re not tired after a long day at work or minding the family. Take-away food delivered straight to your door can indeed be tempting, but it’s often extremely high in sugar, salt and fat. A 2005 study of almost 1,000 adults in Ireland showed that during the week, we mostly stick to dietary guidelines but can over-indulge and completely tip the balance on a weekend^{1, 2}. And the most damage comes from the take-away…

A 2012 Safefood study reported that 40% of Irish people have pizza once a week³. Analysis of the average take-away pizza showed that a portion can contain 130% of your recommended daily amount of saturated fat and 110% of your daily amount of salt, not to mention up to 3,000 calories.. in one sitting!

Now we believe in the 80/20 rule. It’s not easy to be healthy all the time but 80% of the time is very do-able. However, the weekend can span three days out of seven if you include Friday, Saturday and Sunday and can completely undo all your good work. So here’s a recipe for amazing (and amazingly healthy) Asian food that will make you think twice about picking up the phone this weekend.

 

Teriyaki lettuce cups with tofu

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups green cabbage, roughly chopped
• 1 small onion, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tsp. coconut oil
• 1 pack firm tofu, crumbled
• 1 cup frozen peas
• ½ cup cooked quinoa (optional)
• 3-4 tbsp. healthy teriyaki sauce (see below)
• Small, crisp lettuce leaves e.g. Little Gem to serve

Directions

• Place the cabbage, onion and garlic in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.
• Heat a large pan, add the coconut oil and allow to melt, then add in the cabbage mixture, season and cook for 5 – 6 minutes. Then add in the tofu, peas and quinoa and cook for a further 2 minutes
• Remove from heat, stir in the teriyaki sauce and mash together
• Use to fill the lettuce leaves and serve while warm

If you don’t fancy tofu (although from personal experience, this recipe may convert you!), try it with some sliced salmon or prawns instead.

 

Healthy Teriyaki sauce

Preparation time: 5 – 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup tamari
• 2 tbsp. water
• 1 tbsp. toasted sesame oil
• ½ – 1 tbsp. honey, melted
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed or grated
• 1 tbsp. fresh ginger, grated
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped

Directions

• Place all ingredients in a glass jar and shake well to combine
• Or place all ingredients except spring onions in a jug, blend with a hand blender, then stir in the spring onions
• Use as a dipping sauce, marinade or stirfry sauce

 

 

 

1. O’Dwyer et al (2005) The temporal pattern of the contribution of fat to energy and of food groups to fat at various eating locations: implications for developing food-based dietary guidelines. Public Health Nutr 8(3):249-57.
2. O’Dwyer (2005) The influence of eating location on nutrient intakes in Irish adults: implications for developing food-based dietary guidelines. Public Health Nutr 8(3):258-65.
3. Safefood report – ‘Pizza – What’s in that box?’ Nutrition takeout series. 2012 http://www.safefood.eu/SafeFood/media/SafeFoodLibrary/Documents/Publications/Research%20Reports

This is one of my favourite recipes from our ‘Lose Fat Around the Middle’ healthy eating course. It’s my go-to on busy days, or days when the larder is almost empty!

Wild Alaskan salmon fillets from the freezer aisle are great value and quality. They are not farmed and are full of healthy omega-3 fats. We don’t get Alaskan salmon fresh but when they are frozen fresh from the sea, it locks in all the goodness. You can also use frozen green beans in this recipe, again flash frozen so their nutrient value isn’t declining during months travelling from who-knows-where or being stored in a supermarket chilled depot. So with a couple of storecupboard essentials and a stocked freezer you can make this easy dinner in 20 minutes all-in.

I really love the flavour of the red curry paste, so add as much as you think you can take! I like to serve these with salad and a lemony-quinoa; boil quinoa in stock (1:1.5 ratio) with the juice of ½ a lemon and/ or some zest for good measure.

Enjoy and let us know what you think!

 

Ingredients                                                    

• 4 boneless, skinless salmon fillets, cut into chunks
• 1-2 tbsp Thai red curry paste e.g. Thai Gold
• Thumb-sized fresh ginger root, grated
• 1 clove garlic, grated or finely chopped
• Handful green beans, roughly chopped
• 2 tsp soy sauce or tamari
• Handful coriander, roughly chopped
• Spray vegetable oil

If you don’t like spicy food use less curry paste or omit altogether

 

Directions

• Preheat oven to 190^oC
• Put all ingredients except oil into food processor and pulse until roughly minced
• Shape mix into burger patties and chill for 5 min if time allows
• Spray baking tray lightly with vegetable oil, place burgers on and cook for 12 min or until completely cooked
• While fish is cooking prepare salad or lettuce, grated carrot, shredded white or red cabbage, sliced spring onion & cucumber
• Make dressing from 3 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp lime juice/ white wine vinegar/ mirin, 1 tbsp soy sauce/ tamari, drop of honey. Use to dress salad and serve with burgers.

 

 

What makes Superfoods so Super?

Do we give too much credit to superfoods? The latest superfood alone cannot guarantee you good health or cure disease in one fell swoop. However some of these foods really do pack a nutritional punch above the rest so perhaps they do deserve a little extra attention.

Superfoods don’t need to have super high price tags or be hard to track down. Many can be found in your local supermarket, alongside their slightly less nutritious counterparts.

Kale v Spinach

Kale has four times more vitamin A (giving you over 100% of the RDA in just half a cup) and a whopping ten times more vitamin C than spinach. Eat it raw to preserve that vitamin C – in a green smoothie or as a salad leaf, just massage your dressing into the leaves a few hours before serving to soften them up (great for serving friends as can be prepared in advance!). Kale is also a great source of calcium, it’s Irish and as cheap as chips (kale chips anyone?)… what’s not super about that?

Sweet potato v Potato

Sweet potatoes are a fantastic source of vitamin A (beta-carotene) providing 475% of your RDA in one medium potato where the regular spud contributes a big fat zero. The glycaemic load is lower which means the sweet potato, despite its misleading name, will play less havoc with your blood sugars. They also provide 30% of your daily vitamin C and steaming them is the best way to preserve this. Try sautéing red onion, tomato, peppers and courgette in coconut oil with garlic, chilli and plenty of smoked paprika. Toss in steamed cubes of sweet potato and serve drizzled with a light aioli (mayonnaise, water, lemon juice, lots of garlic!).

Quinoa v Rice

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) can now be found in most supermarkets. At 30% of your daily requirement of magnesium per cup, it has 6 times more than rice. It’s also twice as high in protein, providing essential amino acids we need to get from our diet. Not to mention its versatility: quinoa can be super as porridge, salads with any vegetable under the sun, a main or side, warm, hot, cold… it’s a winner all round. It needs a bit of flavour to get it going so sauté up some garlic, ginger, turmeric or chilli before adding it to the pot. Add in a good quality low-salt organic vegetable stock, for approximately 10mins with 1.5 times liquid per volume. For porridge, go for cinnamon or vanilla with water or milk, unless you like garlic and chilli of a morning, whatever gets you going!