Five a week: I am not vegan or vegetarian but... - Healthy Eating

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Five a week

Paul12 profile image
19 Replies

I am not vegan or vegetarian but I am concerned about my health. I want to try a week of eating incredibly healthily and living extremely healthily. The exercise, stress reduction, fasting and sleep ... I can handle.

For food I come here for help.

What I am after is five indisputably healthy breakfasts and five main meals - ie the recipes. Normally I would say porridge for breakfast but that is apparently high in omega 6, high carb and too high in milk.

So what I am asking us a “ perfect” 5 ( breakfasts and dinner) YOUR perfect recipes, ones that cannot possibly be criticised.

Why 5?

Well I plan to repeat my favourite one if each and have a day fasting = 7 days

Of course low carbets will disagree with low fat. Then there’s vegans and paleo etc etc

So how about what is FOR YOU the most nutritious healthy breakfast/dinner recipe?

I hope you can help...THANK YOU

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Paul12 profile image
Paul12
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19 Replies
benwl profile image
benwl

Finding something above criticism from someone is going to be hard.

Advocates of high fat low carb diet will criticise anything with carbs, those in the low fat high carb camp things high in fat, the paleo people grains etc

So you're probably left with non starchy vegetables and some herbs and spices

Personally, my usual breakfast is porridge made with water (not milk) and fruit

Paul12 profile image
Paul12 in reply tobenwl

Yes it is tricky. Porridge seemed ideal until a low carb person got on to me and also went on about Omega 6

benwl profile image
benwl in reply toPaul12

Another thing pretty much everyone agrees on is that if you are going to have carbs, avoid the ones that are processed and refined - pure sugar, white rice, white bread, white pasta and generally food that comes in packets rather than is cooked from scratch.

Maybe rather than aiming for perfection, look for something that is an improvement on what you are eating now, as a healthy low carb diet is probably better than an unheathy high carb diet and visa versa. Someone whos diet is fast food and takeouts for example is going to be healthier cooking from scratch almost regardless of the specifics.

BadHare profile image
BadHare in reply toPaul12

Try adding chia for more omega 3's. :)

shengorth profile image
shengorth in reply tobenwl

Mine too but made with oat bran 40gms and half a pint of water.It only takes minutes to make buy frozen berries to save waste. The hot porridge defrosts them.I enjoy it without milk saving it for my tea throughout the day.The Oat bran is to help keep my cholesterol in check.

Paul12 profile image
Paul12

Sure - I am interested in what recipes people come up with and ( if they have time to say) why these are particularly healthy

Paul12 profile image
Paul12

I am simply interested in what specific recipes people here recommend . And why. I will then try them

Zest profile image
Zest

Hi Paul12 ,

I'd like to give you a link to 'My favourite breakfast' - so you can see a photo of it, and see what I have in it. I do vary it depending on what fruits I have available etc, but that is my favourite 'go to' breakfast, and I believe it to be healthy.

healthunlocked.com/healthye...

Wishing you success with your goals.

Zest :-)

Paul12 profile image
Paul12 in reply toZest

Thank you!

BadHare profile image
BadHare in reply toZest

I'd like that one now, please Zest! :)

BadHare profile image
BadHare

That's a tall order, Paul!

Nobody on the site will have the same genes, health conditions, food tolerances, availability, & lifestyle, etc, as you. Plus, we all have a very different view on what's healthy!

I skip breakfast almost every day as I do daily intermittent fasting, ie, I have a shorter eating day. I start eating after 11, sometimes 12, when I have coffee, & a pot of weak green or white tea with lemon, & a glass of kefir. If I'm still hungry, I have some nuts & fruit or occasionally a decent muesli like Dorset. I like porridge, & need a bit more starch in winter, so I'll be adding small dish of this over the next few weeks. I'm going to hope my taste buds have forgotten how nice it is with wholemilk, & try soaking it in some water before slow cooking with additional milk. Usually I don't feel hungry for a while after, & when I do, I eat a a few pieces of fruit, almost always a grapefruit or orange for vitamin C & folate, with an iron supplement. I'll usually have a huge salad with lentils, beans, quinoa or hummus, occasionally a veg omelette or a bit of brie, in summer months. When it's cold I eat more cooked stuff, especially root vegetables & squash, very veg laden bean or lentil winter soups, or things like quinoa & bean stuffed peppers or squash. Depending what arrives in my veg box. :) Later I have second fermented kefir with chia & linseeds & nuts, sometimes a medjool date, & a piece of good chocolate, usually by 7pm. Sometimes I eat my main meal first, it depends on how I feel. I like stir fries all year round, & lightly cook a large colander of veg: greens, spring onions, carrots, mushrooms, peppers, with tempeh or a few eggs. I don't like processed sauces, so use a teaspoon of coconut oil for cooking, a big chilli, & tamari as seasoning, I don't usually bother with a starchy accompaniment, but sometimes add miso, so it's more like a noodle free ramen.

I'm vegetarian, & have suffered digestive & weight issues in the past, somewhat due to an undiagnosed health disorder. I've never utilised starches well, even before skeletal issues developed, & seem to process good fats better. Kefir aside, a lot of my meals & snacks are otherwise plant based, with fewer cheesey meals that when I first ate veggie. I've found it important to get enough protein, & as much as I can from an unprocessed organic source, otherwise I want carbs.

BadHare profile image
BadHare

Two high protein breakfasts, usually brunches for me:

Buckwheat pancakes (not a grain, but relative of rhubarb)

2 heaped desert spoons of buckwheat flour, & 1/2 to 1 of cornflour (otherwise they're a bit rubbery).

1/4 teaspoon of baking powder & a pinch of salt if you need it.

One large organic egg

A small splosh of oil, I usually use EV olive

5-100mls milk of your choice ~ sometimes I use kefir whey

Whisk egg & half the milk, whisk in flours, & add more milk depending on the consistency you want ~ less is like a scotch pancake/drop scone, more is like a crepe pancake.

Fry in coconut or rice bran oil until the upper side has bubbles & is set, then flip & cook the other side.

This makes two pancakes, I have one with a sprinkle of cheddar or parmesan, & the other with butter & a little maple syrup or raw honey. Nuts, seeds, fruit, greek yoghurt, or whatever you fancy could go in, or on top.

Oat & cottage cheese pancakes

Two table spoons of oats

1/2 pot of cottage cheese ( I use kefir when I've let it ferment too long)

1 large organic egg

A small splosh of oil

I like to soak the oats with the cottage cheese or kefir, but it's not necessary. Whisk & add the egg, then cook & add extras & toppings, as above.

My raw vegan friends wouldn't be impressed as they go for >£400 Vitamixed smoothies & dessicated stuff, though the above breakfasts are an occasional rather than regular fixture in my diet.

Some of Chris Kresser's podcasts/articles start with a discussion of what he's eaten that day. He's a tad anti-veg, having a paleo approach to his functional medicine practice, but I respect his (free) advice.

Paul12 profile image
Paul12

That's what I am after - thanks. If you happened to say WHY...there are plenty of recipes on the web but I am after personal recommendations then when I try them if I have any questions I know where to go! On the subject of vegetables... diagnosisdiet.com/food/vege...

BadHare profile image
BadHare in reply toPaul12

The why's for me, are because I feel better on a very high fibre diet, low rather than no starch, enough protein to stop me being hungry when I don't eat for 14-16 hours, & with good probiotics at each end of my eating time, & often in the middle.

Interesting article, though anything I eat the skin of I try to get as organic. The associated health habits of fruit & veg eaters came up in lectures, but I'd not change what I eat now as it suits my body. I'm as horrified at the thought of ever being told I have to eat meat for my health, as I was when I was a child! Possibly my dislike is due to low stomach acid, but then I'd also have issues with dairy.

benwl profile image
benwl in reply toPaul12

That article is an example of the ongoing internet sniping between the low carbs and high carb camps - in this case by someone promoting an animal based paleo diet. Both sides have plenty of medical doctors with impressive credentials.

Unless you are looking to take sides, all such articles need to be approached with a degree of skepticism as they are rarely unbiased searches for truth but rather arguments for an already chosen position.

This link below isn't specifically about nutrition but it gives some ideas about how to approach this sort of stuff critically:

sciencebasedmedicine.org

Paul12 profile image
Paul12 in reply tobenwl

selfhacked.com/blog/a-criti...

benwl profile image
benwl in reply toPaul12

Sure, the internet being what it is you can google anything and find someone somewhere saying the opposite.

The thing is to try and cultivate critical judgement yourself

Paul12 profile image
Paul12 in reply tobenwl

Yes. The link I posted though is a critical appraisal with links to studies of SBM

Paul12 profile image
Paul12

Any more recommendations?

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