Diet Secrets from Across the Globe.

Hello Everyone, 

How are you all? Hopefully the tips and tricks in my last post helped you beat the January blues and start making better decisions! 

I was inspired to find out about diet tricks from across the globe after reading about the culture and cuisine in South East Asia whilst planning my travelling there. So today we are talking about eating habits from around the globe and how to incorporate them into your daily life.

 

Thailand and Malaysia

Thai and Malaysian food is packed with spices, and for those of you that can handle it, spices are both high in flavour, low in calories and can actually speed up your metabolism! Incorporate this into your cooking and spice up your dish by adding chilli powder to your stir fry or smother your chicken in paprika before cooking. Another well known spice heavily used in both Malaysian and Thai cooking is Turmeric. Turmeric is a super spice which doesn't just add colour to curries! It has been proven to fight the fat in your body by suppressing the growth of new fat tissue, so cook up a Tikka Masayla, sauté your vegetables with Turmeric, and add Turmeric to your salad for an effortless way to reduce your fat intake. 

France

Fancy some frogs legs and snails smothered in garlic? Not only do the French have some of the strangest delicacies in Europe but they are know for fool proof (and weight gain proof!) eating habits. The French tend to have a high fat diet but they eat in very small portions. They eat three set meals a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner and do not snack. As well as this, the French make eating a social occasion, with 92% of French families dining together in the evening. Eating in front of people makes you remember your table manners, eating slower and not piling up your plate! Just think about the benefits on your waist line the next time your heading for an unpleasant social meal.  

Hungary

Hungary are known to pickle everything from onions to eggs, however this may not be as strange as it may seem, the acid in the vinegar actually helps to reduce blood sugar levels and the formation of fats. So don't be shy with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar on your next salad to help dis-encourage fat cells from setting up camp on your hips. 

Spain and Portugal

The Spanish and Portuguese are known to linger over their meals spending up to an hour to finish their plate, yet consume fewer calories (Eh?!). This is because they are eating slowly, giving their brain time to register that they are full. Your stomach takes at least 20 minutes to let your brain know it is full, and in recent years we have developed a need of being stuffed rather than satisfied, but eating slowly is a great way to start addressing this issue. when you know you have had enough, stop eating! Your stomach expands by 20% every time you fill yourself to bursting, which makes it harder to reduce your portion size at your next meal and still feel full. So savour the flavour of your food, put down your knife and fork between bites and leave the table satisfied rather than stuffed.

Germany

An impressive 75% of Germans eat breakfast every day, and they are on to a good thing! Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day, kick starting your metabolism, improving concentration and giving you more energy in the morning. If you skip breakfast you are setting yourself up for dietary failure as you will inevitably eat more at lunch, and probably chose an unhealthy option due to your hunger. Studies prove that people who eat breakfast are slimmer than those who go without, so munch on some cereal in the morning or grab a slice of toast before heading out the door.

Greek and Mediterranean

The Mediterranean diet embraces fat’s, the Greeks are not shy about eating a handful of nuts and seeds, gorging on olives or adding Canola oil to their meal. Contrary to popular belief, eating fat, even saturated fat, has been proven to help improve the function of your liver, lungs and heart!! It has even been shown to improve your bone strength! And although I don't recommend actively trying to increase your fat intake, cooking a Greek salad and adding Olives to your meal every now and again will improve your overall health. 

Japan

The Japanese have got it sorted when it comes to diet and eating habits, with the lowest obesity rate in the world! The Japanese diet is made up of rice, fresh fish, vegetables and very little meat or sugar. In Japan they have a saying "not dressing up your meal is like going out without any clothes" their advice is to make your meal as colourful as possible fill your plate with peppers and green veggies, making less room for everything else!

Picking the best bits from the eating habits of the world has taught us to spice up our dishes, add more veggies to our plate, control our portion size and meet up with family and friends more often to make dinner/lunch a social occasion, just don't forget to savour every bite!  

Sarah Clarke

xxx 

What will you try? Please leave a comment below.