Stealthily Healthy: Six Expert Tips To Be Healthier In The New Year Without Noticing

It may be a cliché but for most of us January marks a fresh start – particularly when it comes to our health and diet. Part of the deal for overdoing it at Christmas and New Year is that come January, there’s a crackdown on alcohol, sugar, processed foods and everything else we know is bad for us but can’t resist.

But January’s also a difficult time to diet and be healthy – it’s cold and dark and with Chrsitmas over it can be a bit depressing. So comfort eating and drowning our sorrows is all to tempting. But if you can’t face a total crackdown this New Year, we spoke to Subway nutrition consultant Juliette Kellow to discover some sneaky ways to get healthier without feeling the strain.

1.    Don’t drink your calories
 It’s easy to forget that many drinks are hugely calorific, especially because they only take a few seconds to drink.

“Added to this, studies show that drinks don’t fill us up as much as food,” says Juliette. “This means even though we might have had as many as 200 calories from a drink, our bodies don’t ‘recognise’ them so we still think we’re hungry and eat just as much on top.”

To put it into perspective, a small glass of orange juice, a medium-sized coffee shop cappuccino, a bottle of smoothie and a glass of wine provides a massive 440 calories. “That’s more than a fifth of the calories we need a day,” explains Juliette. “If we swapped these for calorie-free drinks every day, then in a month we’d lose almost 4lb!”

The best drink is obviously water, but if you really can’t resist, make sure you keep an eye on the calorie count.

2.    Get label savvy
New laws brought out at the end of the year mean that all packaged foods now have to provide nutrition information on their labels. This makes it easier to compare different products and choose those that contain the least fat, saturates, sugar and salt.

Many places where people eat out now have this information available online or in restaurants, too. “Making a few small swaps each day can quickly add up to big benefits, so use the nutrition panel to your health advantage,” says Juliette. For example, go for salads or vegetables as sides, rather than potato or other carb-based options.

3.    Avoid following a gluten-free or wheat-free diet
“There seems to be an increasing trend for people to cut gluten – one of the components of wheat, barley and rye – out of their diets because they think it will make them healthier or help them lose weight,” says Juliette.

“But unless you’ve been diagnosed with coeliac disease – a condition that’s caused by an intolerance to gluten – you may potentially be doing more harm than good when it comes to your health.” Gluten-free products can often contain more calories, fat, sugar and salt, but less fibre and fewer vitamins and minerals.

"Added to this, cutting down or trying to eliminate gluten from your diet can also make it much harder to diagnose coeliac disease – and that’s a worry as it’s estimated half a million people have the condition but aren’t yet diagnosed,’ says Juliette. Her advice is to continue enjoying these foods unless you’ve been advised by a health professional to avoid them.

“Choose wholegrain versions whenever you can though, such as wholegrain bread and cereals, wholewheat pasta and wholemeal flour for baking.”
 
Senior Research Fellow at the University of Warwick, Rob Lillywhite, agrees, saying: “There is overwhelming evidence of clear health benefits of a whole grain based diets featuring store cupboard staples such as bread and cereal made from lightly processed wheat.  

“Whole grains are rich in many components, including dietary fibre, starch, fat, antioxidant nutrients, minerals and vitamins, all of which have been linked to reduced risk of cancer. Epidemiological studies have clearly shown that whole grain cereals can protect against obesity, diabetes, cardio-vascular diseases and cancers.”

4.    Actually get your five-a-day.
The easiest way to do this is to sneak fruit and veg into your meals at every opportunity - add a sliced banana to breakfast cereal, stir some sweet corn into ready-made soup, mix some peas into rice, and add salad to sandwiches.

“Most pre-packed sandwiches rarely come close to the 80g of veg that's needed to count as one of your 5-a-day,” says nutrition consultant Juliette. “If you buy sandwiches, my advice is to go to a sandwich shop or café where they're made to order, and ask for your sarnie to have plenty of salad added – it usually won’t cost a penny extra.”

5.    Beware of ‘low fat’.
“Many low fat or fat free products replace the fat with sugars making this seemingly healthy choice less of an easy win for your health,” explains Juliette.

“If you're looking at slashing your sugar intake in 2015, look for a 0% fat yogurt that avoids adding sugar. Some, such as Yeo Valley's 0% Greek Style yogurt range replace the fat with additional milk proteins, rather than sugar, helping to boost satiety and cut sugar intake without losing the creaminess.

6.    Eat more fibre.
New draft guidelines from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) recommend we have 30g a day. That's a 25 per cent increase on the current recommendation of 24g daily - an amount we're already struggling to meet. “Good choices for a fibre fix include fruit, veg, beans, lentils, jacket potatoes, wholewheat pasta, brown rice and wholegrain cereals,” says Juliette.

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