Checking in and CPD in a Crisis
Hey everyone! I hope you’ve all been doing as good as you can in these challenging times 🤗. I just wanted to quickly check in… Read More »Checking in and CPD in a Crisis
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Shocking Grocery Bill Shows Five-a-day May Not Be Affordable
A few days ago, I decided to head to the supermarket to pick up some groceries, namely some fruit, vegetables and beverages to drink when I wasn’t sipping on cold water because Barbados is hot all year long. I was a bit disturbed by what I continued to notice. I knew things were expensive before, but I was quite frustrated when I started to calculate and reason out how I could get the most healthy selection within my budget.
Keep in mind that all prices mentioned are in Barbados dollars (BD$2= US$1).
When I first got to the produce section, I searched for some of my regular purchases and realized being unemployed, and wanting to eat adequate servings of fruit and vegetables left one with a difficult choice. I picked up a bag of 10 oranges for $10.99, a small bag of 5 tiny Gala apples for $3.50, half of a cantaloupe for $4.39 and a bag of onions ($1.85) out of necessity. To be honest, I hadn’t quite written a list because I had not yet decided what I wanted to cook for the week, as sometimes I’d choose my fruit and veg based on the price and what stood out to me. However, that was a terrible idea, as nothing stood out and there were no specials at that time. I did remember to buy some canned tomatoes ($5.50 for 2) for a sauce I planned to make, given it would have a longer shelf-life than fresh tomatoes, which I don’t remember finding.
Read More »Shocking Grocery Bill Shows Five-a-day May Not Be Affordable
To Eat or Not to eat the Chocolate
With Valentine’s Day fast approaching and the US$43 billion Cocoa and Chocolate industry promoting their products as gifts for your loved ones, it’s hard not to get drawn in. Let’s be honest, we’re bound to get at least one box, even if we bought it for ourselves. I’m not a huge fan of chocolate, but I do enjoy it occasionally, especially a good-quality dark chocolate bar. So, should we be wary of our chocolate cravings during Valentines?
Chocolate is a mixture of cocoa solids, cocoa butter fat, milk, sugar and stabilisers like lecithin which help the main ingredients to form a solid mass. As if that didn’t sound like a bit of science, the cocoa solids give the chocolate its antioxidant properties, as they contain flavanols which are psychoactive organic compounds. And so, the higher the cocoa contents, the more of these antioxidants you’ll get. Typically, dark chocolate will contain 45 – 90% cocoa solids and trace amounts of milk, while milk chocolate will have mostly milk and sugar, and between 10 – 32% cocoa solids (at least in the States).
You may see vanilla included in the ingredient list, and that tends to round out the flavor and may lead to less sugar being added too. But some manufacturers use cheaper alternatives to cocoa butter such as vegetable oils and palm oil, and other additives to stabilize the product. Now although I like my KitKats, Cadbury, Agapey and Lindt, when it comes to quality chocolate, you want to see a very minimal ingredient list. That’s the standard of chocolate, I’m talking about in this article.
What’s up with the Five-a-Day?
What is the Five-a-day?
Five-a-day is a health promotion campaign the UK uses to encourage its population to eat adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables (F&V). In other parts of the world the recommendation may have different names like “Go for 2&5” in Australia, “Fruit and Veggies – Mix it up!” in Canada, a similarly name “5 a Day” in USA and 6 a Day in Denmark, however the premise is the same. In Barbados, our dietary guidelines suggest that we eat 2 – 3 serves of fruit and 3 – 5 servings of vegetables daily. But why is this even important?
In the Beginning
Here we begin the journey to improving health, one forkful at a time. I should introduce myself. I’m Christina, a recent postgraduate and a Registered Associate Nutritionist. I’m from the beautiful island of Barbados, and my interests are very varied. I’m a passionate and mostly organised nerd, though I do have my moments of procrastination. Though I’m not that new to blogging or vlogging, and I previously shared parts of my life and beauty tips on my lifestyle blog, making the transition to a career in Nutrition, definitely is a new experience.
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