Making good diet choices can be difficult particularly when you’re unsure about which foods and beverages are the healthiest.
Sydney nutritionist Lyndi Cohen has debunked the myths surrounding a variety of our favourite spreads, caffeinated drinks and cooking oils; and revealed the better choice you should be making.
Nutritionist Lyndi Cohen (pictured) recommends moving away from processed foods and opting for more fresh products
Butter versus margarine
Butter has recently made a comeback to household fridges largely due to popular television cooking shows.
It’s made from cream that is churned and comprises of about 50 per cent saturated fat and four per cent trans fat – the unhealthy fats that can raise our cholesterol levels and can lead to cardiovascular disease.
Whereas most margarine products contain around 28 per cent saturated fat and less than one per cent trans fat. Some margarine products have even received The Heart Foundation’s tick of approval.
On paper, margarine seems like the better option, but according to Ms Cohen, neither butter or margarine are great for your health.
‘Whilst margarine was promoted in the 90s as the healthier option, butter is a lot less processed which is a great thing,’ says Ms Cohen.
Neither butter (pictured) or margarine are good for your health, says nutritionist Lyndi Cohen
‘It’s far healthier to spread your bread with avocado, use extra virgin olive oil and use butter occasionally.’
Tea versus coffee
It’s no secret that we are a national of caffeine addicts, but drinking excessive amounts of tea or coffee can be unhealthy.
‘Too much of anything, including coffee and tea, is going to be bad for you,’ says Ms Cohen.
The nutritionist tells her clients to have no more than two cups of coffee a day
Ms Cohen recommends satisfying your caffeine craving with just one or two cups of coffee a day.
‘Some people are highly sensitive to caffeine so need to watch their intake,’ she explains.
‘Unless it’s herbal, tea also contains caffeine so it may keep you awake if you have it too close to sleep.’
‘Both tea and coffee have been shown to be good for your health from helping you living longer to preventing disease,’ she adds.
Ms Cohen also advises skipping the sugar and biscuits with your tea or coffee to reduce calories.
Coconut oil versus extra virgin olive oil
Ms Cohen says although coconut oil is convenient for the occasional raw dessert, research shows extra virgin olive oil is the better option for cooking.
‘Extra virgin olive oil comes from the first press of the olive so it has a high density of antioxidants, which makes the oil stable at high temperatures,’ she says.
Ms Cohen says extra virgin olive oil is the best option for cooking and salads
‘The high antioxidant content of extra virgin olive oil makes is great for your heart health and can support a happier mood.
‘Nutritionally, olive oil is not in the same league as extra virgin olive oil and is not good for cooking at high temperatures so be sure to spend a little more to get extra virgin olive oil,’ she adds.
Sugar versus sweetener
We’ve all heard about the war on sugar and how sugar is the new enemy; and according to Ms Cohen it’s for good reason.
She doesn’t recommend having natural or artificial sweeteners in your diet.
Sugar can be easy to cut from your diet when you drink water instead of soft drinks and limit processed foods such as biscuits, says Ms Cohen
‘When you eat sweetener, your brain isn’t fooled – it can tell that the food doesn’t contain calories. So instead of satiating your sugar cravings, research shows you start to crave more sweet food,’ she says.
‘Your palette becomes accustomed to eating sweet flavours and so it perpetuates an addiction to sugar.’
To limit your sugar intake, Ms Cohen suggests swapping diet soft drinks for water and drinking tea and coffee without sugar.
‘It will take about two weeks to get used the new flavour but you’ll notice fewer cravings for sweet food, so you’ll be much healthier in the long term.’