1. Healthy Food in a Hurry by Cryptomonadales
HEALTHY FAST FOOD
Whether you're a mother with a family, single with a hectic social life or an executive who
travels a lot, being continually short of time seems to apply to all of us. Lack of time is used as
an excuse for avoiding just about anything we don't want to do, but particularly for not doing
things which we know are good for us!
In actual fact eating healthily is not necessarily more time consuming. The key to success is
forward planning. We're not talking about planning an a la carte menu, rather a rough plan of
lunches and dinners for the week. Setting aside half an hour to do this, once per week, means
time saved on thinking about food for the rest of the week. It will also mean no more popping
into the supermarket on a daily basis for "something quick" and spending valuable time and
energy battling your way through the check out at peak times. Not to mention the health benefits
which will be huge.
Tips For Success
As everyone knows, the challenge with diets and exercise regimes is sticking to them once the
initial burst of enthusiasm has worn off. Here are some tips!
· Build up a store of essential staples in your cupboard which have a long shelf life, that you can
draw upon at any time. You will have less ingredients to buy from scratch then which makes the
shopping list less daunting.
For example:
Miso powder for a healthy stock or soup, Tamari Sauce (a healthier alternative to soy sauce),
Harissa (spicy paste for adding to homemade sauces), tobasco sauce, Dried seaweed (e.g. Nori)
for crumbling into rice/stews (rich in iodine), Dried mixed herbs, paprika, chilli powder,
turmeric, coriander, Coconut milk/cream/Soya cream (good dairy free alternatives to cream),
Long life vacuum packed rye bread (usually has a shelf life of a few months), Spelt or buckwheat
pasta, Brown rice/quinoa, Ryevita/oatcakes, Tubs of mixed seeds, Packets of unsalted nuts, Oats,
Tinned sardine/mackerel/salmon fillets, Tinned beans e.g. kidney beans, butter beans, no added
sugar baked beans, Lentils (puy, green & red), Soya/oat milk, Vacuum packed beetroot (for

2. salads), 100% fruit jams, Cashew or almond nut butter, Bounce Balls (rice based cereal bars),
Herbal tea, Green tea
· Have frozen vegetables on hand e.g. peas, broad beans etc.
· Stock up the freezer with the less widely available healthy staple items like spelt pasta and
good rye bread.
· Become acquainted with a local health shop that sells a good range of food and stock up several
times per month.
· Make use of the many supermarket and organic delivery services operating nationwide.
· It may seem like too much trouble to make a healthy packed lunch but remember the time
you'll save walking to the sandwich shop, queuing up and walking back to the office. You can't
go wrong with a rice salad (mix cooked brown rice with prawns/hard boiled
egg/chicken/salmon/kidney beans, add olive oil, lemon juice, chopped spring onions & fresh
herbs) which improves in flavour if made in advance and kept in the fridge.
· It's essential that you enjoy your food. Try out a new recipe once every 2 weeks to keep you
inspired. I love Laura Santtini's book Flash Cooking which contains easy to prepare healthy
recipes with some interesting flavours.
· Reward yourself for the changes you make to your eating habits, however small because each
one makes a difference. Focus on what you do well rather than the times when you go off track
with your eating.
· Be realistic. No one can follow a perfect diet 100 % of the time and to try to do so only causes
feelings of guilt and failure which will negatively affect your body chemistry and impact on
digestion.
EGGS - HEALTHY FAST FOOD
One food which is fast to prepare and very healthy is the humble egg. Eggs contain particularly
high quality protein and sustain energy for long periods. This is backed up by a recent study
which found that eating eggs for breakfast keeps you fuller for longer and eating less at lunch
time! Participants were given either eggs or wheat cereal for breakfast. Both the egg and cereal
breakfasts were identical in terms of calories, weight, percentage of carbohydrates, protein and
fat. Yet participants felt fuller after the egg breakfast and this was confirmed by tests. Levels of

3. grehlin, the hunger signalling hormone were significantly lower and levels of the hormone PYY
which signals fullness were significantly higher. Participants ate much less food at lunch time.
EGG FACTS
1 medium egg contains:
· 71 calories
· 6g protein
· Negligible carbohydrate
· 5g fat (2g saturated)
· Eggs do not have a significant effect on cholesterol levels. This myth has been exploded in
recent years restoring their reputation as a super healthy food
· Eat from 5-8 eggs per week hard boiled in salads, soft boiled, scrambled or poached for
breakfast or whisked into omelets. Eggs can be hard boiled in advance and kept in the fridge for
sustaining and low calorie snacks.
· Remember that when making scrambled eggs no milk or butter is needed, simply whisk up the
eggs and stir the pan continuously to avoid sticking!
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