A few small changes can make a big difference to your diet Case history: Kenneth Dainton
Ken is a retired chartered surveyor from Warwickshire. At 71, having been keen on sport all his life, he still goes walking regularly and plays golf twice a week. He also likes to eat healthily but despite this has found weight creeping on over the years.
He's 5 ft 11 inches tall, and managed to lose a stone in two weeks 18 months ago on the Atkins Diet to get down to 14 stones, and still likes to follow its general principles. "I have high cholesterol, which is familial," says Ken. "But it isn't a cause for concern as long as I keep taking the pills!"(statins). Ken had an angioplasty in 2000.
Ken would like to know if he can improve his diet even more with a once-over from the Diet Detective.
The evidence
Day 1 - week day
Breakfast
Cup of tea
Muesli and fruit
Mid morning
Coffee and digestive biscuit
Lunch
Ham, mixed salad with avocado and mayonnaise
Glass of water
Cup of tea
Evening
Glass of wine
Nuts and raisins
Lean meat (eg steak, pork, lamb or chicken)
Salad and coleslaw or green vegetables
Two glasses wine, coffee, whisky or brandy
Fish and chips once a week
Late breakfast
Bacon and eggs
Cup of tea
Snack
Coffee and small biscuits
Early supper
Glass of wine
Nuts and raisins
Day 2 - weekend
Roast meat
Selection of vegetables
Roast potatoes
Wine with meal
Coffee with whisky or brandy
The Diet Detective reports:
With Ken's medical history it is important that he maintains a reasonable weight and keeps himself fit and eats a healthy diet. While he finds the Atkins way of eating suits him, and while it is true that many people (particularly men) find it an easy way to lose weight, I think there are better options.
Atkins is basically a diet high in protein, with items such as meat, cheese and eggs as staples, and low in carbohydrates such as bread and potatoes. The strictest form of the Atkins also frowns on fruit because it contains sugars. It helps people to lose weight quickly because it restricts calories and protein foods help to speed up the metabolic rate.
But a high protein diet is often very high in fat and saturated fat - saturates intake should be kept low if you have high cholesterol and/or are at risk of heart disease.
Such a diet is also often very low in dietary fibre.
Ken's recent diet has helped maintain his weight but he would like to lower it a bit more. I suspect that his lack of success in recent months is down to the fact that while he is still eating a high protein diet, he is also eating quite a lot of carbohydrate! Overall I'd rate his diet 6 out of 10.
My recommendations for Ken:
The consensus of opinion at the moment is Mediterranean type diet that's low in saturated fat is the best way to protect cardio-vascular health. This would have you eating more whole grains, fish, fresh fruit, pulses like lentils and chickpeas, olive oil, nuts and seeds, with less reliance on meat and dairy. Such a diet has a beneficial effect on cholesterol levels, blood pressure (and is also a fairly easy means to weight control and waist circumference reduction, without calorie-counting or weighing everything).
You are also eating quite a lot of salt (in items such as prawns, ham, mayonnaise). For nut snacks always choose unsalted ones - Brazils, almonds and walnuts are very good for heart health.
Breakfast: Save the bacon and egg for once a week on a Sunday brunchtime and the rest of the week eat your muesli; check the label and try to go for those based on oats (which help lower cholesterol) with some chopped fresh fruit on top for vitamin C, fibre and plant chemicals.
Lunch: Sometimes use olive oil French dressing instead of mayo or mix mayo half and half with natural bio yogurt. Try to have less-salty lean proteins sometimes, such as cooked chicken or tuna in water, or through winter have a hearty lentil and vegetable soup (eg New Covent Garden) or a veg soup with a little grated Parmesan on top, and some wholegrain rye bread.
Evening: Plain roasts and veggies are fine if the meat is lean but give yourself smaller portions, aim to have at least one green vegetable a day and have lots of different coloured veggies as well e.g. orange, red, purple, yellow. Assuming fish and chips means battered white fried fish, also have one oily portion of fish a week, plainly cooked e.g. grilled salmon, or mackerel fillets. For occasional chips, try cutting baking potatoes into wedges, brush with olive oil and bake until crisp.
Alcohol: You're just on the top end of your alcohol limit (3-4 units a day) assuming small glasses. Try a glass of water or two during the evening to help keep total alcohol within this limit.
Between meals: have one or two pieces fresh fruit (e.g an apple or pear and a kiwi or satsuma) or a small handful of fresh nuts.
Conclusion
A few small tweaks can make a big difference to how healthy your diet is.