Top 5 Tips to a Healthier Diet

Amanda Cleghorn from Fig Tree Nutrition in Surrey outlines her top five tips for adopting a healthier diet.

Carbohydrates

Protein

Vegetables

Fats

Digestion

Caffeine

Many of us regularly drink caffeine, whether it is in coffee, tea or anywhere we can get it from, but there are real dangers to putting too much caffeine in our bodies.
Here nutritionist Amanda Cleghorn explains some of the things we should be aware of - starting with something many of us may find hard to stomach, caffeine actually makes us feel more tired:

Here she explains why caffeine can be linked to obesity as it leads to a release of adrenaline, which in turn produces glucose:

Here she explains how caffeine, by persuading our bodies to go into 'fight or flight' mode can lead to problems with digestion and fertility:

Here Amanda makes the very real link between drinking too much caffeine and developing type two diabetes:

Cooking Methods

It's not just about what you do when adopting healthier eating habits - it's also about the way that you do it.
Covering your vegetables in lots of oil and frying them at a high temperature is not likely to do you much good.
Here, nutritionist Amanda Cleghorn from Fig Tree Nutrition outlines some of the cooking methods we should be using:

The problem with cooking food at high temperatures, using lots of oil is that we end up with lots of free radicals in our body.

Amanda explains what they are:

So when it comes to oil - how hot is too hot?

Portion Sizes

It's all well and good eating the right types of food, but it's also important to get the balance right.

A plate full of meat, with just a small amount of veg, isn't likely to do much good and just eating fruit all day isn't the way to achieve a balanced diet.

Nutritionist Amanda Cleghorn from Fig Tree Nutrition in Surrey outlines how we should approach portion sizes:

Here Amanda talks about the importance of combining protein and carbohydrates:

Here Amanda talks about the importance of eating a rainbow of fruit and vegetables: