Healthy diet

We avoid all processed foods and try to eat fruit and veg as our main intake with some lean meat, chicken and fish daily. Cant give up wine so its 2 small glasses a day. Wish I wasn't in love with carbs but try to keep to brown rice and pasta, some potatoes plainly cooked and have been virtually breadless since before Xmas. Am I any healthier - probably not but not riddle with guilt and can look GP in the eye.

Yes, I have read a number of his books and articles and he talks such basic common sense about food. He has also brought out a book of food 'rules' drawn up by his readers. It includes; Don't buy your food where you buy your petrol, Do all your eating at a table, Avoid foods you see advertised on television, and, quite simply Cook

We try to eat fairly healthily on the whole with lots of vegetables.
However, I did find an unopened box of M&S shortbread last night

FlicketyB that author is Michael Pollen and his books are really worth reading. No preaching, just straight observation and told from his own point of view and understanding of food cravings. I dont believe in the low fat/.low sugar mantra as they generally involve processed foods. I prefer to eat the original food be it yoghurt or cheese or anything else, but eat less of it. Low fat cheese is absolutely disgusting, better having half the amount with all the taste. Would prefer sugar to the alternatives which are very harmful and mess with your insulin levels. Eat very little red meat, make own soups, but do buy some ready meals, fresh from M&S as can't always be bothered to cook when I get in from work. I think that M & S cottage pie served up with a pile of fresh veg is convenient and a good compromise for example. Always bake my own cakes as generally find shop mass produced ones are yucky. Dont buy biscuits to avoid mindless reaching for the tin when I have a coffee, but confess to a weakness for crisps........

I think I'm with you ANYA

Ana but of course!

We very rarely buy frozen/chilled convenience foods but other than that we're not especially careful about our diet.

Freshly squeezed orange in the morning, shredded wheat or Weetabix, full cream milk, wholemeal toast butter/marmalade/jam. Simple lunches (e.g. home made soup, pasta and home made tomato sauce, fried mixed veg with ginger, garlic and chillies, omelette and chips, curried veg or veg biryani, baked potatoes, etc, ditto tea.) We go out quite a bit for meals as over the years we have found a few cheap (but healthy) places to eat locally and a bit further afield, like in Greenwich.

Isn't alcohol a preservative?

I need all the preservatives I can get.

I think it is good to grow your own vegetables if possible. If you eat your veg soon after picking, it is so much tastier.

I keep small bowls of home made soup in the freezer and it is handy for a quick lunch with a piece of wholemeal toast (with thick butter I'm afraid).

I try to get my five portions a day in but some days are better than others lol.

I havelow blood pressure. So am in the minority of people who has to have more salt.
The low blood pressure doesnt cause me any problems though.

Preservatives, in general, lead to a longer shelf life, which of course, benefits the manufacturers most. I think it is hidden salt whih is the biggest danger - 2,300 mgs a day is the suggested top daily limit, but in 1 cup of baked beans there are 1068 mg..

I've said it before but 'Eat well, not too much, most of it plants' and you are unlikely to go wrong. Add the corollary 'If it is made from a plant, eat it. If it is made in a plant don't' (the author of these statements is American) and you are probably not far from the ideal healthy diet.

Doesn't matter whether you are carnivore, omnivore, vegetarian or vegan These statements can be applied to any eating pattern. It is so much simpler than chasing super foods, foods with particular properties etc etc.

I'm with Ariadne. Most of my food is organic, too.

I am totally healthy, but I do not take notice of additives, and wonder if I should.
Aren't preservatives necessary and ok [I dont know for sure].

I am vegetarian; haven't eaten meat or fish for over 30 years and never will. My reasons are ethical and physiological. (Let's not get into one of those arguments like we do over religion and Politics, eh?)

Apart from that:

Yes
As much "clean" food as possible I.e. unadulterated with additives, preservatives, and salt and sugar that does not occur naturally in these foods. For example, bread should, ideally, contain only flour, yeast and water. (Look at the side of a pack of sliced bread)

Dark green vegetables, pulses, and almonds or walnuts for protein and calcium

No

Fried foods
High fat foods, especially saturated fats

This is me at my very, very best! While I have never fallen off the vegetarian wagon, I frequently topple off any other. Particularly when faced with chips..

No crisps too much salt and fat, only sugar free lemonade, porridge or bran flakes for brekkie and a Omega 3 fish oil capsule daily... couple of bits of fruit daily..
I try to have a slimmer cup a soup for lunch and buy a small granary loaf a week for toast. Cakes and pudding are my downfall and it seems so much easier in the Summer to eat healthier..

Must have my Vits D, K2 and my calcium or my bones will crumble away and I'll fall down

Honey.

No comment.

Only wine and honey jingl!
[forgot to put honey on my list]

Mind you, on the very rare occasions we had shop bought cake, she always gave her portion to me. And a small joint of meat lasted two days.

And then there was the herrings.

My granny used to eat bread and dripping and bread and lard with sugar on it. Lived to about the same age Liz.

Everything in moderation and 'a little of what you fancy does you good'. That was my mother's philosophy and she lived until she was 95.