Julie Meek - Sports Dietitian and Professional Speaker

Hello

Welcome to the winter edition of FoodBytes.

I am back from a fantastic trip to Japan where I met some truly generous and thoughtful people in my hosts at Yakult. A city full of 12 million people is amazing (although I didn’t see 12 million at once) and it is buzzing. According to our friend Shin, he gets on the train to go to work with a perfectly ironed shirt and gets off the train with one that looks like it just came out of the washing machine. It brings new meaning to up close and personal.

I was one of seven Australian team members and we then became an international team with 6 other countries, fabulous cultural diversity. Naturally I am interested in food and I wasn’t disappointed. The food was divine, and though I wasn’t always sure what I was eating, I know I got a good dose of antioxidants in gallons of green tea, iodine in the sheets and shreds of seaweed and omega-3’s in the delicious fish and seafood.

Some of the highlights included time spent at a primary school and seeing firsthand what an amazing lunch system Japanese schools have, cycling around with a Yakult lady doing home deliveries and of course the sumo. The Yakult ‘ladies’ are very important within the culture of their company and as they deliver 4.6 million bottles per DAY in Japan, I think that is understandable! For a more in-depth look at my experience of Japan check out my blog and for more info on probiotics, see the May newsletter.

Saturday mornings are one of my favourite times of the week. I get to do some exercise with friends and then treated to a gourmet brekkie at Café Ranson. Geoff, our very own gourmet chef comes up with some very special breakfast delights and each week there seems to something better than the last. This month I share a quick, easy and very delicious breakfast dish from Geoff, a recipe that he adapted from Donna Hay, Homemade Baked Beans.

Man + Health = Good

June 14th – 20th is International Men’s Health Week and it provides a moment for all you men out there to reflect on your health. The major health risks for men are depression, Type 2 diabetes and prostate cancer, and the risk for all of these can be drastically reduced by a few simple actions. They might seem basic but sometimes it’s the simple things that are most effective.

1. Check in regularly with your GP and know what you are working with
2. Get your legs ticking over (most days would be good)
3. Be social
4. Take a look at what you are eating
5. Stop smoking
6. Maintain a healthy mind and a healthy body

Imagine this. Swapping a regular can of soft drink to a ‘diet’ soft drink will save you 10 teaspoons of sugar each and every time. And just in case your mind is drifting over to artificial sweeteners, remember that there is not one single piece of evidence to suggest that they are harmful to your health in over 500 international scientific studies. The Diet Coke hoax email that continually circulates the Internet does not count as a scientific study by the way.

Head over to www.menshealthweek.com.au for more info and remember that…‘Knowing and not doing is the same as not knowing’ Anon.


Turban Chopsticks – What a Find
	Last week I attended a fantastic cooking class with some friends at a groovy place called Turban Chopsticks. As you can probably tell from the name, the name and the food has an Asian and an Indian influence and it works so well. Suresh and Mei-Sann produce meal packs, sauces and curry powder, which are very well priced, tasty, healthy and so fast. All the meal packs are vegetarian but you can add meat, chicken or fish if you want to. For a $50.00 cooking class you get instruction plus a full tummy. Their products are available at a special price on the night too. Go see them at www.turbanchopsticks.com.au.

Homemade Baked Beans
	Spray olive oil 200g flat pancetta, trimmed and chopped 1 brown onion, chopped 1 teaspoon mustard powder 2 teaspoons tomato paste 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1-tablespoon brown sugar 2 tablespoons maple syrup ½ cup chicken stock 2 x 440g tinned tomatoes 2 x 440g can butter beans, drained and rinsed Toasted sourdough or rye bread to serve Heat pan, add pancetta and cook for 5 minutes. Add onion and cook for 2 minutes until browned. Add the mustard powder, tomato paste and Worcestershire and cook for 2 minutes. Add the sugar, maple syrup, stock, and tomatoes and cook for 5-8 minutes or until slightly thickened. Add the beans and cook for a further 2-3 minutes or until heated through. Serve with the bread. Serves 4

The final word
	If you have a hot nutrition question or you are interested in finding how to improve the performance and productivity of your team, contact me at julie@juliemeek.com.au. Can’t wait for the shortest day of the year to be here… Until next time, tune into my blog. The best days go the fastest. Keep up. Until next time, Julie