Sometimes using up the contents of the fridge makes for delicious birthday breakfasts.
On Alan's birthday I took him over three of these delicious looking and tasting Cinnamon Swirls, and of course I had the other three. 😁
I have to go through the fridge sometime in the next few days and check the dates that are on everything I have left, to make sure that nothing gets wasted. Now I know for a fact that there is a box of Pan au Chocolates in there ... so that could be yet another breakfasty treat for us both!
The good thing is that if there is anything that needs freezing I have already made space in the freezer so that will be possible. It would have been totally out of the question just a few days ago.
Breakfast this morning was a much more normal bowl of grapefruit. I checked the can to see how many portions you are supposed to get out of one tin and as luck would have it the answer is three portions. Which is exactly what I have already have whenever I open a can. And it also says that one third of a can is classed one of your five-a-day.
Which is interesting as I was literally just reading about the Five-a-Day thing yesterday in this book.
Seemingly it was never worked out by health professionals ... as I had assumed it was ... but was originally launched back in 1991 as a public/private partnership between the National Cancer institute and the Produce for Better Health Foundation and was sponsored by fruit and vegetable companies, general produce companies and chemical companies that produce seeds, fungicides and insecticides.
So it was essentially just a marketing campaign not a health one.
In 2010 they tried to find medical evidence to back up the benefits but couldn't. So your five a day are only good for you if you eat your five a day in place of junk or processed foods. A 2010 study, called the EPIC study, involving over half a million people across Europe for over eight years, concluded that eating a particular number of any random fruits and vegetables did not show any positive effects on health or any medical condition.
Sorry to get all semi-quote-y but I find this sort of thing fascinating!
And I won't show Suky this photo that her Dad took of her yesterday!!
That's no way to photograph a sleeping lady. 😄
Sue xx
Very interesting about the five per day minimum...Suki certainly looks comfortable and like she's enjoyong a dream...
ReplyDeleteSince she's been completely deaf Suky sleeps very deeply, but wakes regularly to check that she is not alone. When she's dreaming her little legs pedal like there's no tomorrow ... who knew that dogs dream of riding bikes. ;-)
DeleteOh, look at that breakfast. Oooohhhhhh . . .
ReplyDeleteI read that about the five a day too. There's nothing wrong with it but it's not backed up by anything scientific.
It's like the SW 'speed food' thing - it has to be an 'instead of' not an 'add on' to make any difference so having a full plate of pasta and then a salad on the side as an afterthought 'to get my speed in' is daft! I'm just glad I love fruit and veg anyway.
I absolutely love the photo. What a darling.
xx
I love finding out where things originate from, and when it's something that can actually affect us all it's fascinating. This book is great as all the original research and information is backed up by a massive source of reference material, so big in fact that it's not even in the book but on a website ... the book is big enough as it is. I like that you can take what you read at face value or know where to go to to find out the in-depth facts.
DeleteI'm guessing 'speed foods' are the latest Slimming World 'thing'. When my Mum helped run a club it was all green menus or red menus. She did really well at it and maintained her weight for years.
Happy Birthday, Alan! That photo of Suky is adorable.
ReplyDeleteHow interesting about the Five-a-Day theory. I've just looked it up on the NHS website and they say that the guidance is based on the WHO recommendation that eating 400g of fresh fruit and veg a day significantly lowers the risk of heart attack, stroke and some cancers, so nothing about having five individual types and more about the actual quantity.
I eat fruit & veg 'cos I love it, if there's health benefits attached that's a bonus (and wine counts as one of your five a day, doesn't it?) xxx
I was amazed to find it originated in America, I always thought it was a very UK thing, I guess each country puts their own spin on it. On a programme I watched last night it says about eating five different colours a day, so many variations of the same message. However you look at it, eating fruit and veg instead of processed foods has to be good.
DeleteOh wine is definintely one of your five a day, I mean ... look how many grapes there are in one bottle!! ;-)
Well, I should think the fibre in the 5-a-day scheme is beneficial for bowels, if nothing else! My friend in America regularly makes Cinnamon Rolls. Yum! Sukey was obviously Very Relaxed when that photo was taken.
ReplyDeleteYes, I guess fibre is very important. ;-)
DeleteShe was VERY relaxed and snoring her little head off. That's no way to treat a lady though is it, photographing her falling out of bed with her tongue sticking out!!
I only managed to read bits of that book, it had too many facts and figures - I decided I should just carry on eating a wide variety of everything!
ReplyDeleteI'm reading it in fits and starts as like you say it is very fact heavy and soooo many abbreviations. I'm terrible at remembering what abbreviations stand for and have to keep back-tracking. I think I will have it on the go for at least six months!
DeleteSue, very interesting about the 5 a day message,the picture of adorable Suki is the reason I try never to fall asleep while travelling on a plane or train!!
ReplyDeleteCountry Cook
Haha, yes I am the same, I would hate to fall asleep in public ... it would not be a pretty picture at all. Suky has no such qualms. :-)
DeleteIt's very interesting to know about the 5 a day reasoning, obviously there was very little at the outset! Personally, I just think that the greater variety of foods you eat, the greater variety of nutrients you get. We buy that grapefruit too to top our cereal, then add a dollop of live yogurt. The tin lasts us 3 days so we must be eating a half portion each time 🤔
ReplyDeleteThose pastries look good 😋 and I love the photo of Suky. I'm sure I must look something like that at times!
I like finding out why we are told to do the things that get issued in the media and on various 'health' programmes. This book is fascinating.
DeleteThe latest 'news' today is that statins are to be prescribed for millions more people. Now that is so dangerous, as I researched them a few years ago and will definintely not be accepting any if the doctor 'offers'.
I'm sure you are much more ladylike than Suky when you are sleep. :-)
I have always been interested in nutrition and health ever since the 70's. I was reading things back then about alternative medicine and food nutrition that were disregarded by many medical bodies and thought to be rather unlikely but now that they are backed up by science the NHS and such bodies are changing their tune and making more recomendations. If you think the 5 a day is a con you should read up on how they came to set the recommended daily amounts for vitamins and minerals that is still in action today or the UK vaccination program for babies and children which is quite horrifying to read. Even the magic 10,000 steps a day is something that is thought to have originated from a marketing campaign for a pedometer in Japan and not scientifically based. The problem we have is that the big drug companies only put money up for the research that will benefit them and their profits in the long run and they do not have truly independant bodies reviewing them and GP's are rewarded by them for using certain brands of medicine. There is no value for them to do any research into the value of food or herbs that contain many vital vitamins and minerals and are easily obtained and would benefit us more by preventing illness in the first place so this kind of research is lagging behind.
ReplyDeleteThe new plant foods using soya could turn out to be more harmful than a good quality meat - the reason being is that many of the meat look alike plant products are processed and the soya used in them is processed which eaten long term they believe can be contibuting to the sudden rise of thyroid problems and thyroid cancer because soya blocks your own bodies thyroid producton - it is far better to eat nuts, seeds and beans or lentils in place of meat. As far as I know the current thinking is that eating a wide variety of foods in their most natural state ie unprocessed is the best diet to eat, even bread would be considered processed but nothing has to be cut out altogether just limited and this new advice is something I read way back in the seventies!!
Sorry a bit of an essay here but just goes to show how much we are often conned into believing something is beneficial for us and the new plant based wave of foods on the market is becoming one of them and the supermarkets are doing well out of them.
Yes I learnt a lot about what you say here when I did the Harcombe diet years ago. Dr Zoe Harcombe is one of our country's top researchers and delves deep into 'hows and whys' of all research papers, surveys and health advice, and dissects them all to get to the truth. She's quoted quite a lot in this book.
DeleteI tend to avoid most soy based products, or at least have them in moderation. Most of the meat replacers that I occasionally eat are pea protein based these days. As you say it's best to eat as wide a variety of foods as you can and not rely on any narrow base of food groups.
I think you would like this book, it's well worth a read.
The picture of Suki is adorable and so funny!
ReplyDeleteAll the talk about nutrition is overwhelming. One year they tell us to "eat this" and the next year they tell us the same food will kill us. After watching the propaganda about the Covid vaccine and all the lies that are now being exposed, it's apparent that everything is about money. We should stick to real food that the Lord gave us and do so responsibly. Move your body, get some sunshine, get good sleep and be happy :)
I think one of the greatest 'cons' here is that Yoplait yogurt teamed up with the komen foundation (breast cancer). One of the (as of yet) unanswered questions is: does the hormones given to dairy cattle to increase milk production have anything to do with increased breast cancer rates? It seems like a sensible thing to look at, doesn't it? So if Yoplait combines with Komen, with a program that ties your consumption of yogurt to donations to 'finding a cure', it is an interesting partnership. It rather guarantees that, as a major contributor to the foundation, that link will not be examined too closely. It also guarantees that women at the highest risk (I.e. those who have been touched by cancer, or survived it themselves) will be dedicated to your brand because of the money given to a cause you fervently believe in.
ReplyDeleteWhen our kids were in school here in the US they were bombarded with images of the "food pyramid". It seems that the "dairy" part of the pyramid was heavily influenced by the equivalent of the milk marketing board and as such was a marketing ploy somewhat similar to the five a day being influenced by marketing.
ReplyDeleteI remember the campaign "go to work on an egg". My dad ended up with high cholesterol and was told to cut back on eggs. When my cholesterol started to get high I was told to cut back on carbohydrates, and of course I couldn't see a carb without wanting it!
I wonder how "A mars a day helps you work, rest and play." would be greeted today.
Over the years eating more fruits and less carbohydrates has been a consistent theme. A friend of mine complained that fruits are hard to buy and keep fresh when you live on your own. We get around that by having some fresh fruit but also having some frozen fruit which can be thawed a handful at a time.
It seems strange that such a basic human need is still somewhat of a mystery with studies around to show just about you want to believe.
Helen
Interesting. I have heard similar reports about the amount of water we are "supposed" to drink. Apparently no one has been able to find a scientific study as the basis for that highly touted recommendation. We eat mostly what we grow or harvest from the woods, and I try to keep it balanced and sensible.
ReplyDeleteHmm...if I were Suky, I'd be tempted to bite Alan's ankle. :)
ReplyDeleteHmmm, poor Suky looks plumb tuckered out. I wonder if the 3 to 5 was also a way to get people to eat more of the veggies and fruit they need in their diets?
ReplyDeleteGod bless.