Today marks the beginning of Healthy Eating Week, running from 13th – 17th June 2022. This is an annual initiative launched by the British Nutrition Foundation to bring together people across the UK and encourage healthy lifestyles. This year’s focus is Eat Well for You and the Planet, and each day of the week focuses on a different theme. This blog explores these themes in more detail and offers helpful tips on how you can integrate them into your daily life.
Monday: Focus on fibre
Fibre is great for maintaining bowel health, lowering cholesterol levels, and even keeping your blood sugar levels down. How can we opt for more fibre in our meals and snacks?
An easy way we can incorporate more fibre into our diets is by making healthier food swaps. Swap your usual bread for wholemeal or granary breads, or a high fibre white bread. You can also swap your usual pasta for the wholewheat kind or switch from white to brown rice. These swaps might seem small, but they can make a huge difference to the amount of fibre in our diet.
Tuesday: Get at least 5-a-Day
We all know getting at least five 80g portions of fruit or vegetables a day is key to our diet. They should make up over a third of the food we eat a day. But many of us fall short of this goal.
Boost your fruit and vegetable intake by packing a healthy lunch for work or taking fruit as a snack. Veggie packed soups and stews are an easy way to increase your vegetable consumption and even use up what’s left in the fridge. Don’t forget that fruits and vegetables can be dried, frozen or tinned – it all counts! Keep your mind open to make sure you are getting all the essential nutrients.
Wednesday: Vary your protein
Protein is also vital for the body. It gives us energy, makes antibodies and keeps our cells healthy. But perhaps it’s time we get creative with the types of protein we eat.
Why not try a new recipe with some tofu or chickpeas? Chickpeas also contribute to your five-a-day so it’s extra beneficial to a healthy lifestyle. Nuts and seeds are another great way to boost your protein as a quick and easy snack. Experimenting with different ways to eat protein can make cooking more fun and adds some variety and balance to our diets.
Thursday: Stay hydrated
We should be drinking around 6-8 glasses of water a day, according to The Eatwell Guide. It’s easy to forget the importance of water to maintaining a healthy diet.
Sugar free drinks, tea and coffee all count but we should limit our daily sugar and caffeine consumption. Not a fan of plain water? Flavour your water with a low sugar or sugar free squash. Always having a reusable water bottle nearby ensures you always have something to drink. Plus, using the tap to refill your bottle will help to save money and is better for the planet.
Friday: Reduce your food waste
The UK throws away around 9.5 million tonnes of food every year, according to Business Waste. For the sake of the planet, as well as our health, it’s important to consider the ways we can reduce food waste.
Pre-planning your meals before your food shop helps prevent buying things you don’t need that could lead to waste. Prepping meals in advance is another way to cut out waste, you can even freeze leftovers so you always have something healthy to eat. Cleaning out the fridge regularly can also help us keep track of all our food’s use-by-dates.
Remember that Healthy Eating Week is something that everyone can get involved in! Whether you work in Early Years or Secondary School, there is lots you can do to promote a healthy lifestyle – design healthy school menus, deliver cooking lessons, create food fact files, or even bring a fruit basket to your next staff meeting.
We hope these tips will help you make the most of the British Nutrition Foundation’s Healthy Eating Week. If you would like some more inspiration to promote healthy eating, physical activity, mental health, or any other aspect of wellbeing, explore our One Wellbeing service to find out how we can help. Find out more.
