Are You Carb Smart - Screening Bread Made Easier

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A low carb diet may be your plan for your beach body but are you giving up the right carbs?

You don’t need to be a carb loather to have a fabulous body.  Give it up now and you’ll only probably end up over eating or over-compensating at a later meal. 

You may think that it’s easier to distance yourself from this vital energy source, but before you turn your back on all carbs, consider what you are going to replace these with.  If it becomes apparent that your bread in sandwiches or toast are traded in for scones, biscuits and cakes then you may just want to re-consider. 

Trading in low glycaemic index carbs or slow releasing carbs for sugary and high fat snacks could be you committing food suicide.

To make the journey back to carbs easier, let's practise our nutrition screening tool.  It really is a quick way of analysing your bread.  See Be Shopping Savvy - Nutrition Labelling Decoded.

I picked up this ‘purple’ version of Tesco’s Finest Multiseed Farmhouse Batch as it really is one of my favourites.

The fats are below 10g/100g.  The ingredient list tells me that the fats are likely the heart loving types from seeds such as sunflower seeds, linseeds, pumpkins seeds and so on.

I am very pleased with the fibre content of this bread, it’s a whopping 7.5g/100g.  I am definitely happy and confident purchasing this little treasure for my breakfast or lunch.  I don’t eat bread daily so I am not too worried about the salt content. 

If salt is important to you, then instead of getting bogged down by the numbers, simply choose a brand that contains the least amount of salt per 100g (after you've applied our golden nutrition screening tool of course)!

This high fibre bread sure kills the hunger pangs.  Why not team this with tomato, cucumber slices and reduced fat cheese for a savoury snack option.  


Remember, portion sizes are key if you are trying to restrict your energy intake for weight loss.

So get trending with the right carbs.  The smart carbs.

Lovely readers, what's your favourite type of bread to eat?

Aero Bubbly – You’ve Been Screened

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It’s not every day that you discover something presented in the form of chocolate that you can eat guilt free.  Unless it’s a few squares of 70% coco, dark chocolate that is. 

Every so often I need a chocolate fix and by the time I have reached this stage, it’s often too late.  I am onto the next level, which is definitely disaster.  So I like to be prepared when this happens.

What do I eat when I do fancy some chocolate?  Have it I say.  And I do.  Yes, be outraged, but I like to live a little.  You’re much better off giving into a craving now, than trying to overlook it, only to later surrender to a bottomless chocolate something..

So look no further than a chocolate mousse.  I admit that this particular mousse does fail the golden rules of the nutrition screening tool (see Be Shopping Savvy).  It has no fibre (no surprises there), has mountains of sugar (21.8g per 100g), but at least the fats are under 10%. 

So don’t despair.  At least cream was only featured at the very end of the ingredient list.  I was pleased to note that most of the fats were from milk, milk chocolate and cocoa butter.  At 97 calories per pot, it certainly isn’t going to break the calorie bank.  Don’t forget a pot only weighs 59g so your snack is only providing just over 3.5g fats per snack. 

Don’t get me wrong.  I may have fallen in love with chocolate mousse, but I am not planning to indulge daily.  This is for one of those days when I am seized with an uncontrollable urge for something chocolatey.  

In fact, you’ll see this feature in my Food Diary a few times a week and then not at all again for several weeks.  Don’t forget to check out other brands of chocolate mousse, you may find one with a lower fat and sugar content.  If you do, shout it out to me.

It’s all in the art of balance.  Life’s too short to cry over every extra calorie or fat here and there.  Have it but make sure you slot in an exercise session to compensate for the extras. Oh and did I forget to mention that a whole bar of Cadbury Dairy Milk (weighing 49g), contains 260 calories?

Feel better?  I feel so good that I can have it, that I am going to put this straight back in the fridge.  I am still high on endorphins after my run!  Sure beats an Aero.

How do you deal with a chocolate craving?

Breakfast Attack: How To Screen Your Cereal

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Do you ever feel bewildered by the number of breakfast cereals available on the supermarket shelves today?

If you have applied my screening tool for decoding nutrition panels (refer to article 'Be shopping savvy' for more info), then you may have noticed that very few breakfast cereals actually meet the golden criteria of <15g/100g sugar, <10g/100g fat and >5g/100g fibre.

Breakfast cereals are tricky as you want to consider the actual source of the fat and sugar.  If you find a cereal that receives your stamp of approval for fats and fibre, but not for sugar (contains >15g/100g), then I suggest that you look closely at the ingredient list.  

There are many reasons why breakfast cereals fail in this area and it's purely due to the added sugars.  Don't forget that any honey or syrups that are added to the cereal will also contribute to the total sugar content of the cereal.  If your favourite cereal is low in fat but high in sugar, think about where these sugars are coming from.  Is there dried fruit in this cereal?  Is fruit listed as one of the top three ingredients or is it sugar, honey and syrups?

Sugar added to cereal is not the same as sugar from dried fruit

For example, let's have a look at Alpen High Fruit cereal.  

This is a perfect example of a low fat, high fibre cereal with a high sugar content.  The good news is that the majority of sugars are sultanas, raisins and dried apple pieces.  There's further dried fruit in the form of blackcurrants and cranberries.  Sounds delicious.  As a rule, dried fruit contributing to the total sugar content of the cereal is not the same as added regular sugar.  


Fruit provide dietary fibre and are also a source of essential vitamins and minerals.  The verdict?  I am not complaining.  If you are a fan of muesli type breakfast cereals, then dig in (after you've applied the screening tool ofcourse)!

If you want a cereal without the extra fruit then have a look at Alpen Original.   This particular cereal is also low in fat and receives the tick for fibre.  Did you notice that the sugar content is lower at 23% compared to 30% from the High Fruit range?  Did your beady eye also notice that Alpen Original has ordinary sugar added as their fourth ingredient?  Think of the Alpen High Fruit as the cereal that's full to the brim with dried fruit, whilst Alpen Original has clearly needed a boost in flavour with a bit of regular sugar.

Ladies it's your breakfast, pick the one that tickles your taste buds.  Personally, I prefer waking up to a small bowl of Scottish Jumbo Oats, stocked by Waitrose.  It has a whopping 10.8g/100g of dietary fibre and is just right with a dash of skimmed milk and a teaspoon of brown sugar or dried fruit.  It's the perfect breakfast made easy.  More importantly, I am in control of how much sugar gets added every morning, not the manufacturer.

Enjoy the last day of your Easter holidays! Don't forget your breakfast tomorrow.


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