by Gordon Hamilton

Created on: December 21, 2008

The inherent dangers of eating processed food have been meticulously documented in all branches of the media in recent times. We have all been subjected to stories about the damage which chemicals and fats we had never until recently heard mention of are doing to our bodies and how they are likely to both cause us health problems in the longer term and ultimately shorten our lives. Yet so many of us still eat those processed foods and junk foods on an every day basis. Why?

In a lot of instances, it is because we are labouring under the misconception that we have no alternative. We genuinely believe that we are too busy leading our hectic lives to eat in a healthy fashion. We may make a stab at it, on perhaps weekends or holidays, but when the working week rolls round again, we revert to our old habits. Hopefully, I can demonstrate here how we can eat in a healthy fashion and avoid those processed foods without compromising or significantly altering our way of life.

The first step we have to take is to realise the importance of eating the right foods at the right time of day. This means eating a full and nutritious breakfast, a satisfying lunch and a lighter meal simply to tide us over in the evenings. Eating too much at night means that we are going to bed with the food undigested and it is broken down in to energy as we sleep. As we are not using said energy, it simply turns to fat.

Breakfast

Buy some natural wholegrain cereal from your supermarket. Wholegrain cereals are extremely good for your heart and of course require no time be spent in preparation. When you get up in the morning, pour yourself a glass of fresh fruit juice, put some cereal in to a bowl and add some semi-skimmed milk. Semi-skimmed milk is lower in fat than conventional milk but does not have the tasteless quality of fully skimmed. Add a chopped banana for extra vitamins and sustenance.

Put two slices of bread in to the toaster to toast while you drink your juice and eat your cereal. Spread the toast with sunflower or olive oil based spread as opposed to butter or margarine. There are some delicious butter alternatives out there - simply experiment until you find the one which suits your taste, or ask friends or colleagues for advice.

As an alternative to the cereal, try some low fat natural yoghurt. Use it as a dip for some freshly chopped fruit such as apples, bananas, even strawberries.

Lunch

There seems to be a great misconception in the world that sandwiches are necessarily a fat-laden, unhealthy

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