Investing in your future

Eating healthily will cost you a little more in time and effort, writes Dee Copland, but it is a good investment in your long-term health and vitality.

Clean eating is a commonly used term at present, so what is it?

At its simplest, clean eating is about eating whole foods, or ''real'' foods - those that are unprocessed or minimally processed, refined, and handled, making them as close to their natural form as possible.

Examples of whole foods include fruits, vegetables, eggs, nuts, seeds, fish, chicken, lean beef or lamb, oats, quinoa and rice.

Making meals at home with these ingredients omits the extra ingredients - sugar, salt, emulsifiers, stabilisers, preservatives, colourings and flavourings - you find listed on packets.

I recently spoke to a group of women about health and vitality. I discussed the importance of socialisation and sleep and what some common buzzwords, such as ''clean eating'', meant. I also talked about nutrients in everyday foods, such as kumara and broccoli.

At the end I was asked if I ever have a ''cheat meal''. It left me wondering if I had come across as some perfect, fussy and/or antisocial individual who never strays from steamed veges.

I love food as much as the next person. In fact, I'm rather obsessed with it.

I love growing it, preparing it and most of all, I love eating it, especially with friends or family.

I choose to nourish myself and my family with the best choices available - most (not all) of the time because I feel best in doing so, but I would never turn down an invite to a friend's dinner or to a party at a pizza restaurant.

So many people have a diet mentality and have to stick to a plan and then once they reach their goal, they revert to old habits.

Some feel eating healthy food is about depriving yourself; I can honestly say I have never had a bland meal based around complex carbs, such as leafy and root vegetables, rice and some form of protein.

There are so many flavour options possible - such as chicken and vegetable stir-fry with tamari and almonds; frittata with potato, mushrooms and thyme; chickpea and roast pumpkin curry on brown rice.

If nachos were on the menu, the mince could just have onion, garlic, grated carrot, zucchini and tomatoes added and then be served with salsa and guacamole. Nutrients galore!

I know that eating well definitely takes more time and energy.

As for more cost, if you eat seasonally and source produce directly from the growers where possible, or better still grow your own, eating well doesn't have to be costly.

When we eat unprocessed foods we tend to eat less as they sustain us. A combination of fresh and frozen vegetables when produce is expensive can also be a good way to make them go further.

Vegetarian meals, such as a chickpea curry on brown rice or dahl made from lentils, are actually very cost-effective, they just take some work - think of it as an investment in your long-term health and vitality.

I find it ironic that the more time we spend watching cooking competitions on television, the less time we invest in cooking for ourselves.

Food to so many has become an inconvenience and a lost art. The average time that New Zealanders and Australians now sit to eat the evening meal is estimated to be 12 minutes.

How can we slow this down and actually appreciate the time, effort and flavours in our meals? Our digestive systems would welcome this.

With winter coming up, it is a great time to dust off the slow cooker and get busy on a Sunday preparing a few soups and meals for the week.

-Dee Copland is a Dunedin naturopath and nutritionist. The advice contained in this column is not intended to be a substitute for direct, personalised advice from a health professional.

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