# MHApps Take Control – Nutrition – Importance of Nutrition And Diet In Recovery

Nutrition
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- Nutrition “Remember, cooking isn’t hard, elitist or poncey. It’s just about learning little bits of information and trying something different once in a while. Just think, if you’re lucky you’re going to live for about seventy-five years and you’re going to be eating three times a day, every single day for the rest of your life – you might as well be good at cooking!” (Jamie Oliver. Cook with Jamie)*
  * In case you were counting that’s 1095 meals a year and 82,125 for 75!
  Common sense says that we are what we eat. How we choose to eat literally shapes us! Now scientific research is backing this up, showing that our diet has a real and measurable impact on both our physical and mental wellbeing. This means that we can positively affect our mental health by what and how we eat. So take a grip on your wellbeing and get to your kitchen.
  With food and diet, doing what we like can also be what is good for us. We can eat our way to health and happiness. Food is one of our earliest pleasures, and also one of the first areas of our life that we learn to control and experiment with, developing preferences and tastes.
  It can also be one of the first areas in our life where we learn bad habits. It is never too late to look at your relationship with food and make it a positive one. Everyone can find room for improvement.
  “The body of evidence linking diet with mental health is growing at a rapid pace. As well as its impact on feelings of mood and general wellbeing, the evidence demonstrates it’s contribution to the development, prevention and management of specific mental health problems.
  The implications are far-reaching for all those with a stake in the care, treatment and prevention of mental illness. They must be embraced by stakeholders, if current and future generations are to ease the growing health, economic and social burden of mental ill-health.
  There is an urgent need for policy-makers, practitioners, industry, service users and consumers to give proper credence to the role that nutrition plays in mental health.” (Extract from Feeding Minds. The impact of food on mental health. Mental Health Foundation)
- A good diet is not one that makes you feel guilty or anxious. Eat well, remember your 5-a-day veg or fruit, and have an occasional treat. Don’t worry if each day is not perfectly healthy, tomorrow is a new day. So look in the cupboard and shape your future health and happiness.
  You can get your five a day from frozen, fresh or tinned fruit and veg, just remember to check for added salts and sugars.
- Learn to “read” your plate! Is there enough of what you need?
  Is there too much of everything?
  Is there room left for a nice desert?
  Is there going to be a lot of exercise needed to work it off?
  Is this plate going to perk you up or put you to sleep?
- Top five tips to better health · Reduce salt intake. Look at food labels to see how much is in them
  · Cut out or reduce fizzy drinks
  · Drink more water
  · Try to get one more fruit or veg portion into your day
  · Eat fibre
- Salt facts You need no more than 6g of salt per day. This would look like one teaspoon of salt. Salt can be hidden in a lot of pre-packed foods, even sweet stuff and cereals, so it is very easy to be over the limit.
- If there is more than 1.5g per 100g, that is high salt content Choose fresh foods and processed foods with no or reduced salt. Lowering your salt intake reduces your risk of high blood pressure, heart disease and strokes.
- Sugar facts You should need no more than 40g of sugar a day. One can of soda can have all your sugar needs for the day. Some have the equivalent of 10 spoons of sugar!

- 5-a-day. what counts as a portion? 1 big apple
  2 plums or kiwis
  90g cooked fruit or green veg
  40g dried fruit (a handful)
  1 cup baked beans
  large bowl of salad
  100ml or an average glassful of fruit juice
  1 smoothie counts as 1 portion of your ‘5 a day.’ Even if you drink 3! Try some fruit for breakfast and snacks. Frozen veg are good to eat and can be easier to prepare.
  Boil, steam or grill your fruit for a change and top it off with low fat yogurt for a treat
  If you fry use vegetable fats, not animal fats.
- Food dictionary The 3 fats
  Saturated fats are found in meats, cheeses, cream, eggs and processed food. Too much saturated fat has been linked to obesity and cancer.
  Polyunsaturated fats are essential fats, containing necessary Omega 3 and Omega 6.
  Omega 3 is found in fish, fish oils, flaxseeds and walnuts.
  Omega 6 is found in vegetable oils (sunflower, grapeseed).
  These can help to lower cholesterol, ease arthritis, PMS and skin complaints.
  Monosaturated fats lower bad cholesterols and may help to raise good HDL cholesterol. Found in olive and rapeseed oil, nuts such as almonds, pumpkin and sesame seeds and avocadoes.

- Top 5 Tips To Better Health
  · Reduce salt intake. Look at food labels to see how much is in them
  · Cut out or reduce fizzy drinks
  · Drink more water
  · Try to get one more fruit or veg portion into your day
  · Eat fibre

- Proteins: Building blocks for the Body Sugars and carbohydrates provide quick energy, known as a sugar rush. Remember they store as fat if not used. So if you do treat yourself to a cake, doughnut or chocolate bar – you need to walk it off.
  Brown rice, pasta and cereals all give a slower but steadier release of energy.
  Fats provide a slower release of energy, but are also prone to store as fat.
  Fruit and veg provide fibre, essential vitamins and minerals.
  A good breakfast with slow release of energy means a better afternoon, and less chance of binge eating and snacking.
- Starting the day Porridge with banana and honey
  Dried fruits, seeds and honey
  Beans on brown toast
  Fruit and fruit smoothies
- Quick ideal snacks Banana, yogurt and honey
  Beans on brown toast
- Easy healthy eating Boiled chicken breast and pre prepared mixed veg.
  Baked potato, tuna and cheese with low fat mayo
  Baked potato with beans

- Pick me up foods Bananas are said to elevate serontonin levels and so your mood.
  “That we love the potato so much is partly down to its versatility and, it must be said, its ability to fill us up cheaply. Potatoes calm and comfort, satisfy and satiate us.” Nigel Slater
  The following conversation about food took place in a support group.
  “What do you do to mind your health?”
  “A good diet is supposed to help. If you’re in good health you don’t notice, it’s only when you loose it that you appreciate it. Everyone knows fruit and veg are good for you.”
  “It’s to put it into practice. It’s essential. It’s not expensive.
  I buy fruit and veg every week. There’s a man comes in a van. People do not get enough fruit. They need cereals and less meat. Eat lots of vegetables. A good diet can resolve side effects, Take no cream, sugar or fatty food. If you’re eating plenty of fruit and veg, especially fruit, as it’s got juice. Juice is good for the stomach. Apples are great for you. You’re supposed to take water, and there is water in fruit, fermented water.”
  “Cabbage, it’s great for you, the best veg of all.”
  “And take plenty of yogurt, the actimel things do lower cholesterol.”
  “You can make your own yogurt, you buy yogurt in the shop, there’s bacteria in it. Heat milk slightly and add yogurt and put it in a flask.
  “Yogurt is good for you, there’s bacteria running around in it. It’s associated with long life.”
  Would you pay attention to what foods you eat, would you follow the food triangle?
  “Yes. Protein for bodybuilding, beans, meat, chicken. Carbohydrates, rice, brown bread and potatoes.”
  “Beer is good for you, it’s fermented. Guinness is too dark. A little is ok for iron. The fermented barley is good for blood. Take a glass of beer; it’s good for colds. Wine is good for cholesterol.”
  “One or two is ok, but with medication you get drunk a lot quicker. If I drink too much, the next morning I am down, I get the shakes, I drool.”
- Do you cook for yourself? “Yes, meat and veg. If I’m not cooking I eat cereals.”
  “Porridge is good for you, I do it in the microwave.”
- What about sleep? “The old people used to boil an onion and eat it with salt and pepper. They never had any trouble sleeping.”
  “Or, milk and pepper!”
  “Ugh!”
  “I just take a sleeping tablet.”
  “You don’t want to be taking them or you will get addicted.”
  “I sleep a few hours every night, I was up at 5.30 this morning, and did my little jobs before I came in. You need to be busy.”
- Food in the hospital. one person’s comments “You get 2 desserts a day, you only need one. They should change the food plan; there is no choice, no menu. It’s the same menu each week. They should ask the patients what they feel like eating, not have the same thing every day.
  And no more chicken. They give you too much chicken.
  The portions are too big. When you see it, you eat it, even if you’re not hungry, it’s comfort food. There is not enough fruit and veg, and too much meat. The food is horrible in ******v, Burn It!”
  For more practical ideas and info around moods and foods take a look at the links below.
  www.mentalhealth.org.uk/feedingminds
  www.mind.org.uk/foodandmood

Nutrition
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