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Expert Q&A
Would you like to find out which super foods could really boost your energy or how you could fight the afternoon slump? Drop Angela your questions today and join us again soon for the answers!
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Your Questions Answered...-
1. Alex Fisher asks: I often get peckish in the afternoon around 4pm. Can you suggest some low calorie snacks that will keep me going until dinner?
How about a piece of fruit and something high protein like some soya ‘nuts’ (instead of peanuts), a big handful of prawns or a couple of marinated mini chicken fillets? Protein is particularly filling and is the type of snack that is most likely to keep you going until dinner time!
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2. Harriet Richardson asks: What is the difference between eating fresh fruit and dried fruit?
When fruit is dried, a lot of the water content is removed, which means that on a weight basis (i.e. per 100g) the calorie content goes up considerably. This means you have to take care about how much you eat. When you think that a tiny dried apricot has just the same amount of calories as a plump, fresh one, you get the idea. On the upside, it’s really easy to get an extra portion of fruit by consuming just one to two tablespoons of any dried fruit of your choice! Dried fruit is also a good way to satisfy a sugar craving naturally and healthily, however the concentrated sugar can harm teeth if you eat it too often between meals. With this in mind vary the sweet treats you have and include some made with Canderel, which will not affect your oral health.
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3. Sue Merry asks: Can I make summer pudding using Canderel?
Yes, summer pudding lends itself very well to the use of Canderel! For every slice of bread you use, I’d suggest using a tablespoon of Canderel granular sweetener. An ideal quantity to serve 4 people would be around 10 slices of bread, 10 tablespoons of Canderel and 750g of fruit. Or just use your favourite recipe and Replace sugar spoon for spoon with Canderel or divide the weight (g) of sugar by 10 to get the weight of Canderel that you need to use.
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4. Barbara Jones asks: What is the lowest calorie alcoholic drink?
Pure alcohol contains 7 calories per gram, but some alcoholic drinks also contain sugar and other calorie-containing constituents such as cream. The lowest calorie alcoholic drink is actually a spirit with a low calorie mixer. A single gin and diet tonic or a Bacardi and diet Coke has only around 56 calories, compared to 89 calories in a glass of wine (120ml) or 129 calories in a glass of Baileys (37ml). But remember that if you make your measures a double the calorie content also doubles!
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5. Sandra Dickenson asks: Are Canderel granules ok to use in hot drinks?
Yes, they’re perfectly fine to use in hot drinks like tea or coffee, or in fact any hot drink you want to sweeten! Just replace a spoon of sugar with a spoon of Canderel.
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6. Richard Atkinson asks: As a diabetic is there a limit on how much Canderel I can have in a day?
There are no special limits for a diabetic as Canderel does not affect your blood glucose levels like sugar can. For adults in general the Acceptable Daily Intake of aspartame, which is the main sweetening agent in Canderel, is 40mg per kg of body weight each day.
Set by the EU scientific committee for Food the Acceptable Daily Intake (or ADI) is a scientifically derived estimate of the amount of a food additive that can be routinely consumed every day over your lifetime without health risk. As Aspartame is needed in such small amounts in Canderel, a lot would have to be consumed every day to reach this amount. For a 70kg (roughly ten stone) adult this equates to around 110g Canderel granules (220 teaspoons), 154 tablets or 87 sachets of Canderel Vanilla daily.
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7. Carole Lewis asks: Does Canderel contain Aspartame?
Yes, it contains the intense sweeteners aspartame and acesulfame K, along with carbohydrate carriers including lactose for tablets, maltodextrin for granules and dextrose for Vanilla.Each tablet contains just 8.5mg of aspartame and each spoon of Canderel granules just 7.1mg.
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8. Charlotte Lewis asks: There is a new craze for whole-wheat and whole grain products over white products, what is the difference?
Whole grains are considered healthier because they contain (as the name suggests) the whole of the grain – i.e. bran, starchy endosperm and wheat germ parts, not just the starch fraction. The wheat germ is the most nutrient rich part of the grain whilst the bran provides fibre for a healthy digestive system. Research shows that people who regularly eat three portions of whole grains a day have a lower risk of heart disease. They may also suffer less bowel disease and manage their weight more easily.
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9. Tania Martin asks: If I don’t really eat vegetables, should I be taking any supplements?
Eating a variety of fruits will help make up for some of the nutrients you may be missing by not tucking into vegetables. Vitamin pills won’t really replace vegetables though, as they simply can’t replicate the complexity of a food. The best thing is to try to find some vegetables that you like or can easily sneak in, in a way you find palatable. How about roasted vegetables (rather than boiled), mashed sweet potato or vegetable soup? You could also put extra tomato puree on a pizza, and have some fried onions with your barbecue hot dog! With a bit of experimenting you should be able to find some that you like.
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10. Sarah Green asks: Does Canderel give you energy in the same way sugar does?
No, energy comes from calories and Canderel is much lower calorie than sugar with only a tenth of the calorie value on a volume basis. That’s exactly why Canderel is so good for slimmers. If you’re looking for energy it is found in the other components of the food it sweetens that will provide this, not in Canderel itself.
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11. Louise Simons asks: I am finding my vegetarian diet really boring, what sources of protein can I add to my diet to liven things up?
Vegetarian protein sources include eggs, nuts, quorn (try quorn sausages, burger etc) as well as tofu, beans (including baked and frozen soya beans), milk and cheese. It’s worth investing in a good vegetarian cookbook to learn how to use these ingredients imaginatively and well.
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12. Sam Jackson asks: I am a diabetic and wondering what are the best foods to eat to keep my blood sugar steady?
There are three main elements to keeping your blood sugar steadier – eating small regular meals, eating lower GI carbohydrates (those that release sugar slowly) and making sure you include adequate quantities of lean protein in your diet. The first point is self-explanatory, whilst the second can be achieved by eating mainly starchy, preferably whole grain carbohydrates rather than the refined or sugary type. If you do fancy sweet foods, a way to keep them lower GI is to substitute the sugar with Canderel sweetener. On the third point, proteins are filling and again help to slow the rate at which sugar enters the bloodstream. Opt for lean meat, fish, beans and pulses.
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13. Susan Moncrieff asks: Does Canderel harm your teeth less than sugar?
Yes, Canderel does not effect teeth as sugar does. That’s not to say that foods sweetened with Canderel are always innocent in this regard as they may contain other forms of sugar and /or acids which can harm oral health. It is important to clean teeth well at least twice a day.
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14. Tracy Aldridge asks: My children are picky eaters, what are some ways to sneak the necessary nutrients and vitamins in their diet?
If it’s getting your child to eat healthy fruits and vegetables that’s the problem, try to make eating them more fun. For example you could make food pictures for younger children, incorporating broccoli “trees”, grated carrot “hair” or a cherry tomato “nose”.
Also mix interesting textures and flavours e.g. crunchy vegetables with creamy dips or cheese and grapes.
If all else fails there are plenty of ways you can disguise healthy fruit and vegetables. For example you can grate carrots into mince or mash peas into potatoes. Don’t forget that items like hummus, coleslaw and orange juice also count as fruit and vegetable servings and may be more acceptable to your child.
Don’t despair too much if they seem to have a limited repertoire – kids virtually always grow more adventurous with foods as they get older You can help by example - if they see you sitting down and enjoying a healthy varied diet then it’s much more likely that they will too, in time.
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15. Jo Bourton asks: I'm lactose-intolerant, what sort of calcium supplement is best to take? And in what dosage?
If I were you I’d pop along to your local health food store or chemist and ask for advice. You’ll need to check the ingredients list carefully to make sure it has no lactose or other milk derivatives in it, but beyond that choose one that suits you in terms of size of capsule /tablet etc. An adequate dosage is 800mg a day and you are probably best to have it combined with vitamin D, which will improve absorption.
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16. Wilson asks: I've heard that sports drinks are not good for you unless you exercise extreme amounts like an athlete, is this true?
An averagely fit person can benefit from an isotonic sports drink which hydrates and also supplies small amounts of carbohydrate fuel if they are exercising for more than an hour or more than half an hour in really warm conditions. I think the concern may be that these supply sugar and salt which would be a problem if you were doing no exercise at all or only very small amounts. But in the circumstances I have described they keep you going longer so you can actually achieve more out of your exercise session.
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17. Sue Jenner asks: Is there a difference between bottled water and tap water?
It could be argued only in price! Natural mineral water is untreated and has to state that it’s ‘mineral water’ on the label, but essentially it is no better for you unless you choose one of a very few waters that do have a measurable calcium of magnesium content. But if you are in a hard water area you will get these minerals in tap water anyway. Some tap water is also fluoridated which could be seen as an advantage especially for children as a protection against dental problems.
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18. Julie Richards asks: Going out to dinner seems to always ruin my diet, what are some tips for ordering more healthily?
One thing you may be doing wrong is starving yourself before you go. It’s better to make sure you have a modest breakfast and lunch in advance so you’ll be nicely hungry but not so ravenous that you end up overeating. Then try these few tips to keep on track…
- Start with soup or an undressed salad - they’ve both been shown to cut down how much you eat for a main course.
- Or eat two starters instead of a starter and a main.
- Do some homework before you go - some restaurants display their nutritional information on the web.
- Always have dressings served separately and then minimise the amount you add.
- Ask how foods are cooked - that innocent grilled fish might be swimming in butter.
- Avoid terms like creamed, breaded, alfredo, tempura, battered, béarnaise or hollandaise which all mean high fat!
- For dessert go for fresh fruit or sorbet.
- When it comes to alcohol don’t start drinking until you’ve begun your meal - drinking on an empty stomach can affect your judgment and make it much more likely that you’ll order unhealthy food.
- Intersperse alcoholic drinks with water through the evening to keep calories and alcohol units down.
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19. Heather Brooks asks: Is it ok to use a mix of Canderel and sugar in a recipe?
Yes it’s perfectly okay to do this if you want to cut down on sugar rather than replacing it completely. The easiest way of doing this is to identify how much sugar you want to use in the recipe and then replace the remaining amount either spoon for spoon with Canderel, or divide the remaining weight (g) in the recipe by 10 to identify the weight of Canderel to use.
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20. Tony Smith asks: Is drinking red wine really good for your heart?
It is thought that in small quantities (1-2 units a day), red wine can have some benefits. However, the benefits may be limited to men over 40 and women who are postmenopausal. Any type of alcohol in moderation can help people in these age groups to improve their heart health by increasing the proportion of HDL cholesterol in the blood. It is thought that HDL cholesterol is “good” cholesterol because it is being carried away from the arteries, ready for removal by the body. Red wine also contains antioxidants, flavonoids and particularly proanthocyanidins which it’s believed can help to keep blood vessels relaxed and flexible. Don’t forget that alcohol carries extra calories with red wine traditionally containing approximately 115 kcals per small glass.
