Nutrition
At C1 we care about what we fuel our bodies with. If you eat rubbish then it’s pretty likely that you’ll feel rubbish. In addition we believe the one main fact that if you eat more calories than you burn you’ll get fat – simple really, your body has evolved over millions of years to be as economical with calories as it possibly can be and it’ll store any spare to help it hunt down the woolly mammoth and survive famine. It is just not used to the levels of available calories that are now out on our high streets and it responds by storing them for later. Get out on your bike.
The brain and body friendly diet in a nutshell
There are really good cries that we should now be all familiar with when it comes to talking about nutrition:
The starting point for tuning up your brain is to follow an optimum nutrition diet and take daily supplements. Even if you have no mental and physical health problems as such, this regime can increase your mental energy and wellbeing, improve your mood and sharpen your mind.
Here are ten golden rules to follow to make sure your diet is supporting our work and your health:
1: Every one knows that you must eat five servings, more is better, of fruits and vegetables per day. If you can choose dark green, leafy and root vegetables such as watercress, carrots, sweet potatoes, broccoli, brussel sprouts, spinach, green beans or peppers, raw or lightly cooked. And choose fresh fruit rather than tinned. Have bananas in moderation as they are complex foods and are difficult to digest. Dilute your fruit juices if possible and only eat dried fruits infrequently in small quantities, preferably soaked.
2: Eat wholefoods – wholegrains, lentils, beans, nuts, seeds, fresh fruit and vegetables – and avoid refined, white bread and overcooked foods.
3: Combine protein with carbohydrate foods by eating cereals and fruit with nuts or seeds, and ensuring you eat starch foods (potato, bread, pasta or rice) with fish, lentils, beans or tofu. Eat vegetable protein sources, including beans, lentils, quinoa, tofu (soya) and ‘seed’ vegetables. If eating animal protein, choose lean meat or preferably fish, and organic whenever possible.
4: Avoid any form of refined sugar and any foods with added sugar.
5: Try to eat four or more servings per day of wholegrains such as rice, rye, oats, wholeweat, corn or quinoa. This can be done as cereal, breads and pasta and as snacks during the day if you need them.
6: A serving of herring, mackerel, salmon or fresh tuna two or three times a week provides a good source of omega-3 fats
7: Eat eggs – preferably free-range and organic but no more than one a day.
8: Eat seeds and nuts. The best seeds are flax, hemp, pumpkin, sunflower and sesame. You get more goodness out of them by grinding them first and sprinkling on cereal, soups and salads.
9: Use cold-pressed seed oils. Choose an oil blend containing flaxseed oil or hemp oil for salad dressings and cold uses, such as drizzling on vegetables instead of butter.
10: Minimize your intake of fried foods, processed food and saturated fat from meat and dairy products.
Remember if energy in > energy out you’ll gain weight - simple
