Why do kids eat better than us? Orange and chilli aubergine cake

This week, I went to a really thought provoking talk about breast feeding. I know it sounds odd, I wasn’t expecting to be interested either. But this very impressive researcher’s work shows that women who have poor body image and disordered eating tend to overfeed their new born babies. The more conscious you are of your own body and eating behaviours, the less likely you are to let your baby listen to their natural hunger signals and force them to eat more than they actually need.

At this period of our lives, our brains are more impressionable than ever. The first two years of life are where huge chunks of our personality and behaviours are determined, so the way our mothers interact with us during this time will shape our relationship with food for the rest of our lives. Many people don’t realise that overfeeding their babies is likely to disconnect children from their instincts, potentially causing irreversible damage to their ability to self-regulate food intake.

In a similar vein, The Guardian wrote an interesting article only children below the age of four possess the ability to stop eating when they’re full. That feeling when you’re stuffed from a big Chinese takeaway but you just keep on picking, or when you still crave chocolate after a huge roast? That behaviour is not innate; it’s a learned emotional response to food. We use food to make use feel happier or calmer, because being full allows us to ignore negative feelings.

It seems like there is a critical window of development in early life where babies use their internal signals to know when, how much and what to eat. Without social influence, we would continue to rely on these hunger signals to guide our eating behaviours  across our entire lives.

If that mechanism stayed in place throughout adult hood, I assume that there would be a lot less people over eating and obesity probably wouldn’t be the global epidemic that it is. However, with the influence of an anxious mother who insists that her child eat drink more milk that it actually wants, or early consumption of sugary, processed baby foods, kids quickly learn to ignore their own bodies and eat how society dictates.  The extent to which a child listens to their hunger signals will either strengthen or weaken the neural pathways that tell the brain when we feel hungry and full.

As the very wise Meri Leston explains, the things we say to children wil have an effect of them for the rest of their lives. When it comes to body image, the seeds of self-doubt can be planted all too easily.

‘Why is it that we can’t stop describing little girls pretty or little boys as strong. That’s just going to set them up for an expectation of disappointment ‘- Merri Leston, TED x Oxford.

It’s so important that we realise just how sensitive children are to the influence of adults, and how readily their eating behaviours can adapt. By encouraging kids to tap into their own natural hunger signals, we could hopefully prevent another generation of emotional eaters. Of course, in a time where body image issues are at their highest, and our relationships with food are more complex than ever, change feels impossible. But it starts with understanding why we’ve developed this maladaptive relationship in order to become aware of how we can stop from passing this down to future generations.

This week is a rich and wonderful cake which is made with a secret ingredient – aubergine. Don’t be put off, it still tastes chocolatey and sweet, the aubergine replaces flour making it gluten free and high in anti-oxidants, enjoy!

Chilli and orange, aubergine chocolate cake:

Ingredients

2 aubergines

300g 70% dark chocolate

50g cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

60g ground almonds

3 eggs

200g honey

1 orange (juice and zest)

1 teaspoon chilli flakes

1. Cook the aubergines in a microwave for 8mins, until soft.
2. Scoop out the insides and puree the aubergine in a blender or food processor.
3. Add the chocolate, which will melt in with the aubergine.
4. Mix all the other ingredients in a bowl.
5. Fold the melted chocolate and aubergine mixture  with all the other ingredients.
6. Grease a cake tin and pour the mixture in evenly.
7. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes (make sure you check if it’s cooked through, if not give it another 5-10 minutes).
8. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool.
9. Sieve cocoa powder an chilli flakes over the top of the cake to garnish. You can also cut some of the orange peel and twist it for a pretty orange swirl.

Finding the Middle Ground Between Obesity and Disordered Eating: Mexican Style Corn on the Cob

The headlines recently have been presenting a pretty bleak picture of our society’s relationship with food. It feels like we are all stuck between a rock and a hard place – we either give over to a life of macdonalds and couch potato-ing (yes, it’s a verb) or constantly obsess over food to the point where we’re counting calories in toothpaste.

Part of the problem is that, seeing as nearly all basic human responsibilities have been replaced with technology, modern life makes it all-too easy to live a sedentary lifestyle. From the invention of the wheel to do our heavy lifting for us, we’ve developed tools to replace almost every physical task. While robots do all our foraging, building, making and cleaning, we have nothing to do but waste our days in front of screens.  I mean, they even invented a remote so we don’t have to get up to watch TV. Heck, just the thought of walking to the kitchen to get your second tub of ben and jerrys can be exhausting.

With this increasing reliance on tools and technology, exercise has been taken out of our daily routines, meaning we have to make a huge effort in order to lead an active lifestyle. The lack of exercise combined with an excess of unhealthy foods makes being healthy a constant battle. On top of that, as Western-living seemingly guides us toward obesity, not only do we have to make the conscious decision to be eat right, but we then have to deal with temptation on a daily basis. This means that the dichotomy between fat and skinny is ever-expanding. Once you choose to be healthy it’s very easy to become obsessed. Orthorexia Nervosa is the newest eating disorder, where people become excessively preoccupied with eating healthily to the point where they fear foods perceived to be unhealthy. There have been an increasing number of cases of health bloggers and instagramers who, with good intentions, begin a healthy journey that subsequently becomes a life-destroying illness.

Although these may be extreme cases, it is quite difficult to engage in a healthy lifestyle without comparing yourself to the perfect fitspo community who appear to eat only vegetables and wouldn’t dream of sacking off  a gym day. It really feels like our relationship with food is broken. We either ignore the effects of diet on physical and psychological wellbeing and eat what we want, which will almost inevitably result in obesity and or/illness. Or on the flipside, we are conscious of our weight and the way in which diet and exercise can effect us, which leads to obsession and psychological distress.

Obesity or disordered eating, the choice is pretty bleak. Of course this is a gross simplification of something that isn’t so black and white. I like to believe that there is a middle ground – exercising and eating right without letting it control your life.

The key, I think, is to not strive for perfection. Whatever the opposite is to an all-or-nothing approach, (everything in moderation?), do that. If you’re overcome with guilt a having one square of dark chocolate or spend your entire work-out calculating how many calories you’re burning off, you’ve gone too far. I’ve even read of health foodies documenting their guilt at eating too much fruit. If you feel this level of obsession happening to you, take a step back and acknowledge that no one is perfect. Even the slender yogi’s whose instagram feed is inundated with photos of green juice and lycra have off days.

Finding the middle ground isn’t so much about finding the perfect workout or diet as it is about finding the right mindset.

Try a 70-30 balance, being healthy 70% if the time and doing what makes you happy 30% of the time. Most importantly, for the lifestyle to stick without feeling like a chore or obsession, you have to enjoy it. If you hate the taste of kale, stop eating it. If you love reese’s peanut butter cups, don’t give them up. If you try to take up running and find yourself dreading each run, don’t hesitate to find a different form of exercise that you actually enjoy. There are many ways of being healthy and no one way works for everyone. It takes time and effort to try different things but slowly you’ll get to know what works for you and find your healthy groove.

I’ve been trying this for about a year and have still not quite found the middle ground. As soon as I start to compare myself to fitter, slimmer, healthier people and try to adopt their habits, I take one step back from reaching the optimum balance.

But what I have learnt is that there is more to life than having a perfect exercise and nutrition plan. When you find the middle ground life becomes less guilt-ridden. Food tastes better, cooking is funner and exercise is more fulfilling. But most importantly, an enormous load of stress and relief is lifted.

Mexican Style corn-on-the-cob:

Ingredients

1 lime

2 corn on the cob

Handful of chopped coriander

1 tablespoon feta

1 teaspoon capers

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 chilli pepper

1. Boil the corn on the cob for 10-15 mins.
2. Meanwhile finely chop the coriander and chilli, mix in a bowl with olive oil, capers, lime juice, salt and pepper.
3. Drain the corn on the cob. To blacken them, hold with tongs over the hob for about 30seconds until black, turning so each part changes colour.
4. On a plate, drizzle the mixture over the corn on the cob and top with crumbled feta, salt and pepper.

Eat locally – Spring green salad with poached egg

This week I had the lovely experience of going to a pop-up restaurant on a local farm. The menu largely consisted of locally grown and killed produce, including the most delicious cherry tomatoes I’ve ever tasted and tender rabbit found in nearby fields. I would say that knowing the rabbit was killed only a few miles from where we ate made it harder to eat but I’d be lying… it was still bloody delicious. In a way, knowledge that the food was grown on the same ground we were eating on made it taste better, not only because of the freshness, but probably mainly due to the smug feeling of moral superiority that came with the meal.

The benefits of buying locally-grown foods have been hashed and rehashed, with the cynical likes of Jay Rayner asserting that buying local, fresh produce is a middle-class choice rather than a solution to save the food system. Some even claim that local produce do not rival the flavour of imported foods. This is probably a fairly accurate claim – let’s face it, the likes of you and me probably couldn’t tell the difference from a locally grown tomato and one shipped from Peru. But sourcing food locally provides something that soulless cooperations simply cannot – community. With the ability to have your shopping delivered straight to your door without having to interact with anyone but the Ocado man, modern life can be incredibly lonely. No longer do we say hi to the milk man every morning or haggle with the butcher at the price of a a lamb shank. I can sadly say that I never thought to learn the names of anyone at the Tesco counter, despite visiting almost every day. I had no clue which part of the world my food comes from or given second though to the farmers that have slaved over my meal.

Since moving to a smaller town, I’ve learn that food, at each step, should be about people. From getting a discount from the bread lady, cooking and learning recipes from your mum to sharing good food with your family and friends, food is about people. By sourcing locally, you are not only helping the sustainable food chain and getting fresh produce, but you are helping to build up the community feel that has been lost from most large cities.

Here’s a spring green salad made from entirely local produce bought at the farm. Next time you’re planning a meal, pop down to your local market or independent shop – trust me, being on first name terms with people who have the power to give out food has some serious perks.

Spring Green salad with poached egg:

Ingredients

1 bunch asparagus

1 garlic clove

1 cup soy beans/edamame

1 handful flaked almonds

1 bunch spring onions

1 pinch chilli flakes

1/2 lemon

2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Lightly fry asparagus and chopped garlic in olive oil for 8-10 mins until tender

2. Add soy beans and flaked almonds and cook for a further 5-6 mins

3. Add chilli flakes and spring onions. Squeeze in 1/2 a lemon and olive oil. Season well.

4. Poach an egg in pan with hot water by swirling boiling water and cracking and egg in the centre. Cook for 2-3 mins.

5. Serve the salad and top with poached egg.

Eat away your stress – Miso-glazed aubergine with green tea rice

 

Although summer is fast approaching, May is always a fairly stressful time of year filled with late-night library sessions and fretting about exams (which explains why I’ve not been posting regularly…I’d much rather write this blog that revise statistics but I don’t think learning about the benefits of healthy cheesecake would have really been conducive to me passing).

I’ve written before about comfort eating, how we often turn to food in times of stress. Eating makes us feel nutured, which acts as a mechanism to soothe high emotions. When we are stressed, the hormone cortisol is released in excess. The primary functions of cortisol is boost energy in our bodies by to increasing sugar intake. Cortisol interrupts our hunger system in several ways by suppressing carbohydrate digestion and blocking insulin release. This explains why we might crave high sugar foods in times of stress, as our bodies have depleted energy resources. So that 4 o’clock pick-me up muffin that is a daily essential during revision time is actually your bodies reaction to stress and low energy.

I don’t need to bang on about the problem with relying on sugar for energy or that eating high sugar food is only going to make stress worse, so instead I’m focusing on the positives – how can we use food to help us when we’re stress?

I devised a recipe where each component is designed to help you relax and destress: miso-glazed aubergine steaks with green tea rice.

When it comes to the association between physical and psychological wellbeing, the gut-brain connection is often overlooked. Our intensites have millions of nerves that feedback to the brain, meaning that our digestive processes heavily influence neural functioning and vice versa. This somewhat explains why digestive malfunctions like IBS are triggered by stress. When the brain is overloaded it creates inflammation in the gut, thus producing IBS-like symptoms. So looking after your stomach and digestive system is a way of indirectly helping your brain. Fermented foods are a great way to improve the health of your gut. Please note, this doesn’t mean you should all go an drink a 6-pack of beer when you’re stressed…although a cold glass of beer after a long stint in the library is actually pretty damn relaxing. You can either ferment your own fruit and vegetables (which is great for you but also quite time consuming and difficult) or eat shop bought fermented foods such as miso, sourdough, anything pickled, sauerkraut, soy sauce, some yoghurt and cheese products. My personal favourite is miso, it has a strong but complex umami flavour which really enhances the meaty flavour of veg such as mushrooms or aubergine.

I’ve paired this with green tea rice – green tea contains theanine, which helps to relaxation our nervous system, reduce anxiety and elevate mood. By boiling the rice in green tea, the healing properties and subtle flavours infuse into the meal.

So here’s the recipe – I know it’s easy to think that cooking is an added stress to your day when you have a million things to do but it also provides a great opportunity to just take a break, relax and eat damn good food.

Miso-glazed aubergine steaks on green tea rice:

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

3 aubergines

1 tablespoon coconut oil (or any oil you prefer)

3 tablespoons white miso paste

3 tablespoons mirin (or sweet wine)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon honey

1 pinch Chinese five spice

Brown rice or quinoa

4 green tea bags

1 cup edamame

2 garlic gloves

1 pinch ginger

Chopped spring onions and sesame seeds for garnish

For the aubergine:

1. Cut the aubergine into chunky slices and brush with coconut oil. Season well

2. Lightly score the flesh in diagonal lines, roast in the oven for 15 minutes.

3. Whisk together the miso paste, mirin, soy sauce, Chinese five spice and honey. Season with salt and pepper

4.  Pour half of the glaze and grill for around 1 minute until the glaze begins to bubble slightly.

5. Flip the aubergine steaks, cover in the glaze and grill for 1 minute.

For the rice:

1. Cover tea bags in 3 cups of boiling water for about 5-8 minutes.

2. Remove tea bags and combine rice, garlic, ginger, and tea in the pan. Bring to a boil, cover pan and simmer 10 minutes.

3. Add edamame and cover pan again. Cook 5-10 minutes more until rice is fluffy.

To serve, place aubergine steaks on a bed of the rice and garnish with spring onions and sesame seeds.

The Mediterranean diet or attitude? – Prawn, olive, tomato and fresh basil pasta

 

One of the media’s most beloved health regimes is the Mediterranean-style diet. I’ve seen endless articles claiming that the mediterranean diet reduces heart disease, fights dementia, makes you live longer, cures depression and is even better than exercise. To be fair, these bold statements are usually (loosely) backed up with research demonstrating physical and mental health improvements after a dietary change.

The Mediterranean diet is based on traditional Greek, Spanish and Italian eating habits, lots of vegetables, beans, legumes, healthy fats (namely olive oil) and moderate amounts of fish, chicken and wine (wahey! I’ve now started using this as an excuse to drink more wine – beware, it’s a dangerous game, especially when you realise that the Mediterranean diet recommends 7 glasses per week and you are just pouring your 7th of the night…). Nutritional researchers have spent years trying to pinpoint the exact component fostering these health benefits. Is it the oleic acid in the olive oil, antioxidants in red wine, omega 3 in the fish?

 

While this diet is obviously proven to be beneficial, I can’t help feeling like the media has missed the point (as per). It’s not like consuming more olive oil or drinking an extra glass of wine is going to suddenly cure your heart problems and make you lose a bunch of weight. Any diet that includes a wide variety of unprocessed foods, mostly fruit and vegetables, healthy fats and small amounts of lean protein is going to yield a range of health benefits…because that’s what humans are designed to eat.

The Mediterranean diet is merely an example of what we already know is the way we should be eating – as Michael Pollan puts it “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants”. There are many diets which embrace these practices, be it a vegan diet or Okinawans eating an Asian diet. One study compared multiple diets including low carb, low-fat, Mediterranean, vegetarian, vegan, low glycemic, and Paleo. They found no one overall healthier diet but shared principles that stood out as the healthiest – limited in processed foods and rich in plants.

So why are we repeatedly told that it’s the Mediterranean diet that we should be following for a longer happier life? I think what people are missing that it isn’t just about what you eat, but about how you eat.

The diet represents a cultural attitude to eating that fosters pleasure. The Mediterranean lifestyle involves a more leisurely pace of life for more time to cook the fresh produce, to eat slower and (therefore less), and used meal times as a way to relax and bond with family. This couldn’t be more different from the current American and UK eating habits, where food is designed to be purchased and consumed as quickly as possible, to take the least time out of our busy schedules – we often don’t even sit down and stop moving to eat, never mind 2 hour lunches every day. Perhaps what makes the Mediterranean diet so special is that it creates a sense of positivity surrounding meal times, essentially following the ethos of mindfulness where you focus on nothing but the food. They’ve already shown that attending to your food in a positive way improves digestion and, importantly, mends our broken relationships with food. So instead of changing your diet by consuming volumes of olive oil or increasing your feta intake, embrace the Mediterranean attitude to food. Make meals the part of the day where you relax, spend time with family and eat slowly…not only will this benefit your health but you’ll enjoy your food a helluva lot more.

Here is my go to meal when I want to impress, and it’s Mediterranean inspired!

Pasta with a prawn, olive, tomato and basil:

 

Ingredients

1/2 packet whole-wheat spaghetti (Could substitute with courgetti for gluten-free)

1 jar olives

1 punnet cherry tomatoes

2 handfuls fresh basil

1 packet uncooked prawns

2 anchovies from tin (or use anchovy paste)

splash olive oil

1. First boil the pasta in slightly salted water for 10-15 mins or until cooked to your liking.

2. Meanwhile chop tomatoes and olives in half.

3. Cook the tomatoes, 2 anchovies and olives in a pan with a splash of olive oil for 5 mins.

4. Add basil (put a few leaves aside for garnish) and prawns and cook for a further 3-4 mins. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Once the pasta is cooked, mix in the sauce and top with fresh basil leaves to serve.

Let your instincts do the eating – healthy eggs Benedict

It’s egg time. Spring has sprung, flowers are bloomin’ and the country is consuming chocolate at an alarming rate. I used to really hate eggs, I thought of them as kind of gelatinous baby chicken which made them seem really unappetising. But for some reason I stopped caring that yolk is a failed fluffy chick and started eating eggs. This seems to be the case with many people and different foods. As children the thought of consuming foods like fish or spinach is so disgusting that it warrants a visceral reaction. But as we grow into adults, our preferences evolve and get over our innate predisposition to likevery plain or sweet foods. Remember trying your first beer and thinking it tasted like piss? Or having to run around gasping for water after tasting a curry so mild that you’d now scoff at the thought of ordering.

Why do our likes and dislikes change so much as we grow?

We build up tolerance for alcohol and spices, not because our taste buds change but because we expose ourselves to these flavours until our bodies accept them.Psychologists have found that repeated exposure to disliked food over a period of weeks or months generally results in the eventual acceptance of that food. From an evolutionary perspective it make sense why children are hesitant to try new foods – humans have adapted to the potential danger of eating unrecognisable berries or leaves by avoiding novel foods until they could be sure they are safe to eat.  So basically if you eat tomatoes enough times your body will accept that they are not poisonous and you’ll finally stop having to pick them out of every salad.

This process continues throughout our lives until we develop a spectrum of different palates almost as sophisticated as our acquisition of language. If we are evolutionarily designed to learn and acquire an unconscious understanding of food, then why do we need to look to science to tell us what we should be eating? I’m reading a great book by Michael Pollan called ‘In the Defence of Food’ which essentially blames the ‘era of nutrition’ for obesity and modern health problems. As a society we stopped trusting our instincts and looked to professionals and food companies to tell us what to eat. This gave them almost complete control over our diets. Unfortunately, due to bad science and the money obsessed food industry, processed foods became favoured and the Western world didn’t know any better.

Pollan uses the low-fat debate as an example. In the 60s, nutritional science made some far-fetched discoveries that were to change the history of food. ‘Eating fat makes you fat’ was the new revelation that almost all believed to be true, and many still do.  Based on this ‘evidence’, the Western population were driven ditched fat and increased carbohydrate consumption causing huge weight gain and increase in cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Of course, the food companies pounced on this and began to market their foods as ‘low-fat’… which meant replacing the healthy fats with a bunch of sugar and chemicals that are bound to be worse for our health. But the nutritional content of the food does not matter to the everyday person who has read in every newspaper that saturated fats should be avoided at all costs. However, when the data was reviewed, not a single study has found a concrete proof of the negative consequences of a high-fat diet. Our society relied on science to tell us what to eat and as a result we ended up fat, miserable and left the fate of the NHS hanging in balance.

It is important to remember that we are animals. Just look at how cleverly we adapt our flavour preferences based on experience. We do this without reading research or food labels but using complex psychological processes that were designed long before we had any academic understanding of nutrition. Don’t justify food choices based on research that’s probably going to become debunked in a years time. It’s so easy to read research that says chocolate actually fights cancer and use this as justification for reaching for a fourth easter egg but try to listen to what your body wants and needs. Somehow, as a society we must unearth our innate ability to know what’s good for us.

In the spirit of easter and my new love for eggs I have this delicious brunch recipe for you all. Eggs Benedict is one of the most amazing dishes but unfortunately is pretty unhealthy. So I give you my take – healthy eggs Benedict salad that your instincts will tell you to eat again and again!

 

Ingredients (per person)

2 eggs

1 handful salad leaves

3 radishes

1 handful edamame beans

1 red onion

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil

For the ‘hollandaise’

1 tablespoon greek yoghurt

1 teaspoon mustard

1 splash lemon juice

salt and pepper

1. Finely slice the radish and chop the onion

2. Mix all the vegetables together and drizzle with olive oil and vinegar

3. Meanwhile poach the eggs. Heat boiling water in a pan and create a whirlpool by swirling with a wooden spoon. Crack the egg in the centre of the whirlpool so the white covers the yolk. Leave to cook for around 3 mins.

4. To make the sauce simply mix ingredients together and season well.

5. Place the egg on top of the salad bed and drizzle with the ‘hollandaise sauce’

Life.2 – crispy cauliflower tots with sweet chilli sauce.

Think of your favourite food.  Picture the way it looks, the different smells that come to mind. Imagine the way it feels as you take your first bite and the flavours that overwhelm your senses. Is your mouth watering or your stomach rumbling? That feeling is called the ‘Cephalic Phase Response’ – the chemical response from your brain that begins the digestion process. If metabolic activity can be stimulated by just thinking about delicious food, just imagine the effect of being completely focused while eating it.

Receptors in the mouth and nose stimulate digestion when food is smelt, tasted and chewed. Being fully aware of this process increases production of digestive enzymes and increases blood flow to the stomach and gut tract to prepare for break down of the food.  An overwhelming 30-40% of metabolic activity comes from this Cephalic Phase Response. So directing attention away from the eating processing by watching TV or talking the phone as your eat reduces metabolic efficiency to 60%.

This is essentially mindful eating. Mindfulness is a bit of a buzz-word at the moment. The practice of focusing on the present and being completely in the moment is nothing new – buddhist monks have been reaping it’s benefits for hundreds of years. I’ve written about mindfulness eating in previous posts, but I thought it was time to reiterate how incredibly powerful this tool can be.

New scientific research  into the cephalic phase response further emphasis how focusing attention on a meal can completely alter the digestive mechanisms in your body. In one study, participants were given a mineral drink and the level of nutrient absorption in the small intestine was monitored. Some were asked to simply sit after drinking while others were asked to concentrate on two conversations at a time, one speaking about time travel and the other speaking about economics. Those who were relaxed digested the drink at 100%. Those who listened to the two conversations took an hour longer to metabolise the whole drink. This just shows how attending to things unrelated to your meal can use up valuable cognitive resources and decrease your metabolic rate. Each time you eat while sending emails at work or watching TV, you are assimilating your food at the minimal level.

For the brain and body to fully digest optimally, they must be aware of exactly what is being eaten. Have you ever wolfed down some food only to feel completely unsatisfied and like you could eat it all over again. This happens because the brain doesn’t register the food, so doesn’t adjust hunger signals in an appropriate way. So the brain still thinks you’re hungry and causes you to carry on eating more than you intended or needed. It’s been argued that food addiction or over eating isn’t a willpower disorder, but an issue of awareness that hinders the cephalic phase response from doing what it’s supposed to. This is where mindfulness comes into play – being fully focused on your tasks decreases hunger and improved metabolic rate. But being mindful doesn’t just improve digestion, it enhances the entire food experience.

Given these potential benefits, I challenge you to take a leap into mindful eating, starting with the raisin experiment. It really demonstrates how much we are missing when you scoff down a meal in a matter of seconds whilst sending a snapchat, watching house of cards and chatting to our housemates at the same time. This is one of the first practices they teach when learning mindfulness. It encourages you to mindfully eat a single raisin by really focusing on all the sensory experiences your body is undergoing.

1. Grab a raisin – just one – or a similar dried fruit, if raisins aren’t your thing.
2. Sit comfortably.
3. It’s time to wrap your senses round your raisin. Look at it. Really see it. What do you notice? Can you see its texture? What about the bumps and lumps? Is it shiny?
4. Have a sniff. What does it smell like? Let your fingertips really feel the shape and texture. Allow yourself to become fully absorbed in the experience.
5. If your mind wanders during this experience, just allow it to be gently guided back to your raisin.
6. After a few minutes, pop the raisin in your mouth – but it’s not time to chew yet! Spend a little while focussing on what it feels like in your mouth, with your tongue and your teeth.
7. Then, when you’re ready, take a bite. Have a good chew. Notice the full experience of the raisin’s flavour – how it builds in your mouth. How incredibly sweet it is.
8. When you have swallowed the raisin, you’ll notice you can still taste it for a while.

The creator of this experiment and general mindfulness guru, Mark Williams, spoke at a panel organised by Meeting of Minds – a committee I help to run to encourage students to talk about mental health. He described mindfulness as ‘life point 2’ and I couldn’t agree more. Although used as a therapeutic technique, mindfulness isn’t just a self-help tool but a way to genuinely enhance your everyday experiences.Have a go and try something new… it’ll probably be the best raisin you’ve ever had!

Here’s a recipe for cauliflower tots – a healthier version of potato tots you can MINDFULLY snack on or serve as a great canapés.

Ingredients

1 cauliflower

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 chilli

1/2 onion

Handful chopped parsley

1 egg

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

1. Boil cauliflower until soft. Pulse a few times in a food processor until it is fully broken. 2. Mix cauliflower, breadcrumbs, chopped chilli, parsley, cheese and eggs into a large mixing bowl until combined 3. Preheat oven to 200. Shape mixture into tot shapes and firmly press so the mixture holds together. 4. Bake for about 15 minutes until they brown, flip and cook for another 10. 5. Serve with sweet chilli sauce.

The Thinking Kitchen Dinner Party – chocolate banana bread

It’s been a crazy busy week so this’ll be a fairly short post (I seem to have momentarily forgotten that I’m supposed to being doing work for my master’s instead of spending all my time researching, talking and thinking about food). There’s been a new development at the Thinking Kitchen – food workshops to encourage healthy eating and educate students about the link between food and mental health. We teamed up with the Oxford Hub for happiness week to make a ‘serotonin menu’, basically designed to increase serotonin transmission in the brain which has shown to boost mood and fight depression in a natural way.

The menu was based on the key nutrients and foods that promote serotonin functioning:

• Tryptophan (precursor to serotonin) – nuts, lentils, beans, oats, seeds, tofu, chicken, seafood
• Vitamin B12 (neurological synthesis) – bananas, eggs, nuts
• Folate (serotonin regulation) – spinach, dark chocolate, avocado, asparagus
• Magnesium (serotonin transportation) – almonds, spinach, edamame, peanuts

Another vital piece of advice to improve happiness through food is to NOT CUT CARBS! Carbohydrates are better at passing from the bloodstream into the brain. You can boost tryptophan levels by eating more simple carbohydrates; they help eliminate the competition for tryptophan. E.g. whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes.

So I spent the whole day in the kitchen (sorry master’s course) creating the wonderful and vibrant menu for the 25 lucky diners. Bear in mind that I live in a student flat which literally only has one small pot and a rusty baking tray so I pretty much had to make each component one by one (I am now a pro pot-washer), but it all turned out pretty well!

In the spirit of being green and resourceful, the food and I hitched a ride with the lovely eco delivery service pedal and post to feed the hungry students.

Here’s the high serotonin menu, adapted from some of previous recipes from the Thinking Kitchen

Superfood shots

Freshly pressed apple, cucumber, spinach, celery, lime, mint and ginger

 Main Course

Roast pear and lentil salad with goats cheese, walnuts and cherry tomatoes in a balsamic dressing

Dessert

Oaty banana cake with coconut, mango and guava ‘ice cream’
            

The event was a great success and I think everyone left feeling happier and full of energy! This is hopefully the first of many more foodie events in Oxford, including meals and education on how to promote sleep and reduce stress. Watch out for these events as tickets are going pretty fast!

Here is the recipe for banana bread with mango and coconut ‘ice cream’ I made for dessert, it got rave reviews and is pumped full of serotonin producing nutrients!

Ingredients

3 bananas

1 tablespoon natural greek yoghurt

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs (Use flax egg mix for vegan)

1 cup coconut oil (or butter)

1 cup plain flour (I recommend using wholemeal or buckwheat)

1 cup oats

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon peanut butter

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Handful dark chocolate chunks

1. Preheat the oven to 180

2. Mix coconut oil/butter and sugar in a bowl

3. Add mashed banana and eggs, whisk well.

4. Add all the other ingredients other than chocolate chunks.

5. Spoon the mixture into a square cake tin and scatter the chocolate chunks on top.

6. Bake for 20-30 mins, keep checking as it can overcook really easily!

7. Leave to cool and serve with vegan ‘ice cream‘.

Eat right, sleep tight – Roasted spiced nuts

 

Insomnia sucks. I’ve always been really lucky that I’ve been a good sleeper, I can normally fall asleep in any condition, no matter the hour, bed quality or background noise. However,  in the last few days my body clock has been messed up and my sleep cycle has gone completely awry. After trying all possible pillow-positions, flipping and flopping twenty times and checking my phone only to realise that I’ve been awake for three hours, I sunk into the depths of the night with utter despair. I’ve stopped being so smug about sleep and now feel really sympathetic for dismissing my friends who have sleeping troubles. My housemate once told me that the problem with insomnia is the more you think about it the worse it gets. Well now I completely agree – there is no worse feeling than knowing your body is exhausted as soon as you hit the pillow, your brain just won’t switch off.

I think the importance of sleep is really understated. There are numerous studies which highlight the dangerous effects of poor sleep – you only have to wikipedia ‘sleep deprivation’ to be met with a list of scary physical consequences such as headaches, hallucinations,  risk of diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, obesity etc. This is coupled with adverse brain functions like poor cognitive function, memory, mood and inappropriate emotional response. Sleep deprived individuals almost always perform worse on cognitive and memory tasks than those who have had a full 8 hours.

When researching this, I was surprised to find that one of the greatest potential side effects of sleep deprivation is weight gain. Sleep deprivation disrupts hormones levels that regulate glucose metabolism and appetite. Acute sleep loss is associated with increased hunger and food consumption. One study compared healthy food decisions of healthy men after a good or disrupted nights sleep. They found portion size and hunger ratings were higher in those who had been disturbed in the night. Several studies even suggest that the obesity crisis may be partially caused by a general decrease in sleep.

So sleep deprivation can wreak havoc with your eating habits, increase your appetite, slow your metabolism and make your gain weight. But on the flip side, diet can be a helpful tool to help improve your quality and length of sleep.

I think this close interaction is understated in our general understanding of sleep. Here are some dietary suggestions for a better nights sleep:

In the daytime:  The key nutrients the body needs for successful sleep is vitamin B and tryptophan. Tryptophan produces serotonin, which regulates sleep (and improves mood). Tryptophan-promoting foods include oats, dairy, eggs, fish,  chickpeas, seeds, nuts and bananas. It is also important to include complex carbohydrates to improve the transportation of tryptophan into the brain. This means whole grains, oats and beans rather than high-sugar carbs like in white bread and pasta. When you eat high sugar foods, you get drastic highs and lows in blood sugar, and that doesn’t promote healthy sleep. So a food promoting diet should be balanced but rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains and protein.  Check out some of our previous recipes for inspiration.

Foods high in magnesium have also shown to be beneficial to sleep – Magnesium is vital for the function of GABA receptors. GABA is a neurotransmitter that has a calming response on the brain. Without it we find it difficult to switch off, become tense, our thoughts race and we lie in bed staring at the ceiling. High magnesium foods, are nuts and seeds, berries, melon, leafy greens, soya beans or black beans.

Before bed:  Really high tryptophan foods are recommended about an hour before you go to sleep such as nuts, egg whites or dairy. This means serotonin will be released when as you start to sleep, which combats the insomniac brain. Also high-carb and sugar foods should be avoided before bed have been shown to interfer with sleep.

I asked the healthy food community on instagram to help me out,  here are some of their recommendations for balanced and healthy sleep-promoting food. Click on the photos to get the recipes!

Based on these recommendations, I designed the perfect healthy pre-slumber snack to help me sleep… Spiced nuts.  Ironically, the first time I made these I fell asleep while they were in the oven…apparently their magical sleep power can be gained from just preparing the nuts! The recipe is also made with egg whites so are high in both magnesium and tryptophan. Roasted nuts sold in supermarkets are packed with hidden sugar and oil – making your own is really simple and you have the upside of  knowing exactly what goes in them.

Feel free to adapt this using whatever nuts and spices you like, it’s a pretty fool proof recipe (unless you are a big enough fool to fall asleep half way through).

Ingredients

1 bag of almonds

1 egg white

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon tumeric

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper

1. Grab two bowls, place all the spices in one and lightly whisked egg white into another

2. Coat the nuts in the egg white and transfer to the spiced bowl. Repeat until all nuts are coated in the spice mixture

3. Roast on a baking tray for 10-15mins.

Can we taste music? Roast aubergine salad with tahini dressing

Music has the ability to transport us back to our childhood parties dancing to S club 7, make our parents flail their limbs to perfectly depict ‘dad dancing’, burst into tears and cry till we’re completely dehydrated and even increase the intelligence of babies before they’re born. But what are the effects of music on our food experiences?

Researchers at Oxford have been trying to answer this question, with some surprising results. Their findings suggest that the perception of taste and pitch are interrelated. High pitched sounds are associated with sweet and sour foods, while low pitched sounds are associated with more bitter and umami flavours.

More impressively, the sounds we hear might actually alter the taste of foods. Students were fed a toffee while listening to high- and low-frequency sounds. High notes made them rate the toffee as sweeter, where as low notes made it seem more bitter. A food artist, Caroline Hobkinson, wanted to test whether this was true in the real world, so introduced the ‘sonic cake pop’. It was served in restaurants with a telephone number that the diner had to call and then select 1 for sweet or 2 for bitter. Amazingly, the tone played down the phone changed the whole perceived taste of the dish. (You can try this out for yourselves by clicking here).

But that’s not the only effect music can has on our eating experience. Have you ever noticed that fast food chains only play overbearingly loud and intolerable pop music? That’s not just because they all have awful music taste (though this is probably also the case), but they purposefully do this to control the customer’s experiences. They want you to eat fast and leave quickly so make sure they only play high tempo songs. Alternatively, really posh restaurants almost always play soft classical music to increase the quality of your perceived experience (apart from the genius that is Heston who makes diners listen to sounds of the sea before tucking into a fish dish – an idea inspired by this research lab in Oxford).

These music varieties don’t just function to set the mood, but actually change eating behaviours. One study played different types of music to individuals and monitored their number of bites. They ate twice as fast, and consequentially consumed more, when hearing ‘spirited tunes’ in comparison to classical music or silence. The unconscious power of music on food is remarkable, impacting the speed, volume and flavour of what we eat.

This research has recently been used to investigate healthy eating. For an exciting new project, we are going to attempt to reduce caloric intake through music. The idea is that softer sounds increase the body’s perception of sweetness, which will in turn make reduce sugar consumption. We’ll be collecting the results soon, so I’ll let you know if we find music to be a useful weight loss tool!

I encourage foodies and music snobs alike to try and experiment with music and taste – it’s a cool experience that can be done at home. Grab something bittersweet like coffee or chocolate and swap between these two sounds as you taste. You should notice that at high frequencies your whole mouth becomes sweeter and low frequencies make it seem more bitter.

Or have a go at making this dish for some friends. Secretly put on a range of different songs and try and see if their eating speed subtly changes with the music. I tried this and felt like a magician. It’s crazy how easily you can trick the mind. If there is no useful benefit of all these psychological musings, at least it can bring me one step closer to being Derren Brown.

Roasted aubergine salad with tahini dressing:

Ingredients:

2 aubergines

1 tablespoon olive Oil

Handful pomegranate seeds

Handful pine nuts

Handful fresh basil leaves

Dressing

2 tablespoons tahini

1 teaspoon mustard

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 crushed garlic clove

1. To make the dressing, place all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth.

2. Slice aubergines. Brush each side with olive oil and season with salt and pepper

3. Grill on both sides on a very hot pan for around 5 minutes, until soft.

4. Arrange aubergine slices on a dish overlapping, drizzle with dressing snd sprinkle with pine nuts, basil and pomegranate seeds.