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Nothing says summer quite like a chilled mango and their health benefits make them a fantastic choice too. It’s easy to see why they are Australia’s most popular seasonal fruit; we consume around 8 million trays of them every year!

Mangoes (or mangos) are packed full of energy, are low in fat and brimming with calcium and other vitamins that are essential for a healthy body.

An average sized mango provides three times your recommended daily intake of vitamin A and C. They also provide more beta-carotene than any other fruit as well as being an amazing source of potassium and fibre.

Mangoes help you to maintain a healthy blood sugar level since most of the energy they provide comes in the form of carbohydrates. Being low GI means they will always keep you feeling fuller for longer and reducing the tendency to over-snack. Half a mango only contains 248kj or 60 calories for those watching their daily calorie intake.

As well as their health benefits they just taste delicious and are versatile too. You can eat them all by themselves or add them to dishes both sweet and savoury or even make drinks out of them. Try a homemade mango smoothie, or adding some freshly sliced mango to desserts such as Pavlova or to a summer salad for a touch of sweetness and vibrant colour.

Mango season, just like summer, never seems to last long enough so get them while you can. Your health and your tastebuds will thank you for it.

Fun fact: Mangoes have been around for over 5000 years and there are more than 1000 varieties around the world. What’s your favourite?

Check out the Fitstyler Healthy Recipes page (http://www.fitstyler.com.au/Health_Nutrition/Healthy-Recipes/) for some tips!

When it comes to food intolerances or behaviour, who is the best judge of what and how food and its additives affect a child? The parents are.

A recent article in the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health wrote that while some children did indeed experience a reaction to some food additives, food intolerances is ‘often confused with a range of adverse symptoms which may be coincidental to the ingestion of food’. It went further and stated that there was no evidence to suggest that food additives such as food colourings or flavours cause clinical symptoms.

On one side of the issue we have Dr Paul Turner and Professor Andrew Kemp of Sydney’s Westmead Children’s Hospital whose research has found that only 1 – 2% of children have ‘medically-verified’ food intolerance. On the other side estimates that 20% of parents currently believe that their children suffer from intolerances to food additives, food or a common ingredient found in food.
Regardless of whether or not the food intolerance is medically verified, parents are always aware that certain foods or their additives or ingredients may affect their child in different ways. We have all heard horror stories of how some children react after consuming red cordial or a lot of diary. Just because it is not officially, medically classified as food intolerance doesn’t mean that your child is not showing intolerance. Some children may not be classified as lactose intolerance and yet will suffer from an upset stomach after consuming. Some children get headaches after consuming foods with yellow, artificial colours added.

As always, if you feel you child may be suffering from an allergy or serious food intolerance you should seek medical advice, however if you child has just a mild reaction you should monitor their diet closely and consider eliminating the food products that contain the culprit. Many of the foods today that cause reactions in children are highly-processed anyway so removing them from your child’s diet is a good idea. Beware of the foods, additives, ingredients that are affecting your child, read the labels, educate yourself for the benefit of your child’s health. If an additive is causing an immediate physical reaction for your child imagine what the long-term impact may be.

Coles Supermarkets have announced recently that they will be removing all artificial colours and flavours, including MSG, from their Private brand products. A great sign that the additives are making a difference to our children and one that will hopefully make shopping for appropriate food that little bit easier.

Are weight loss centres more focused on signing up members?

Weight loss clinics represent a $792 million a year industry but have recently been accused of using aggressive tactics and bizarre advice to ensure people sign up to their programs.

Consumer watch-dog Choice has conducted ‘mystery shop visits’ of Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and two other operators within the industry and with frightening results. The visits found that some operators were not taking note of medical conditions or medications before offering advice, were claiming that a potential client should ‘not bother with exercise’ and were misdiagnosing medical conditions such as thyroid and adrenal problems and using terms such as obesity syndrome.

The major concerns coming from the assessments are that trying to reach sign-up or sales targets are outweighing the true requirements of clients. The hard sell is concerning misinformation and scare tactics being used as well as claims that no exercise is necessary in order to lose weight.

While some people do need the support and direction offered by professionals there may be more benefit by employing the services of a nutritionist/dietician and personal trainer. These professionals understand that each person is different and so are their needs and special requirements.

There is no one-size fits all approach to weight loss. A professional nutritionist or dietician will take into consideration your specific dietary requirements including allergies, intolerances, likes and dislikes. They will educate you on how your food choices impact on your body and how you can make healthy and safe food choice for the long term. A professional personal trainer will provide you with a tailored fitness routine that takes into account your lifestyle, your goals, your current physical ability and all while offering you support, encouragement and professional advice.

Rather than going to a weight loss clinic interested in membership numbers and sales targets, find professional that will work for you. While some of the operators in the weight loss industry offer specials to have you sign up beware of the ongoing membership costs and costs of additional products that you are ‘encouraged’ to purchase. You are able to pay a nutritionist or dietician for just the appointments you attend and many personal trainers now offer options of ‘pay as you go’. There are also options to go to personal training with a friend (extra support and encouragement provided free of charge) which can reduce the costs of the sessions or join a group fitness class such as a boot camp or spin class at a gym.

Whatever way to decide to approach weight loss make sure that is in a way that you feel comfortable and not pressured – then you are all the more likely to continue and reach your goals.

A recent study published in BMJ Open (02/06/12) demonstrated that infants tend to eat healthier and be a healthy weight as they get older. These researchers found that the toddlers allowed to feed themselves with finger foods from the start of weaning exhibited these traits.

According to the researchers, findings from the study indicate that baby led weaning may help prevent childhood obesity. Findings from the study were based on 155 children aged between 20 months and 6.5 years, whose parents completed a survey related to their children’s food preferences and weaning style.

The researchers found that 63 parents spoon-fed their children pureed foods throughout weaning while 92 parents allowed their children to feed themselves with finger foods (baby led group). Considerable differences in preferences for the foods included in the questionnaire were found in only one food group. The survey results showed that general carbohydrates were the favorite foods of these children that were self-fed, whereas the children that were spoon-fed preferred sweet foods. This was despite the fact that children in the spoon-fed group had also been offered purees that included carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables, proteins and whole meals.

They discovered that giving solid finger food to babies to help wean them off milk offer two benefits: one, these babies are more likely to develop healthier food choices; and two, they are less likely to become overweight children than are those who consume spoon-feed pureed food.
These findings were not associated with parental weight, socioeconomic factors or birth weight (Vlismas, 2009). All of these factors are likely to influence a child’s body mass index (CDC, 2011).

“Although numerous studies have focused on when to introduce solid foods into an infant’s diet, there is a dearth of evidence concerning the impact of different weaning methods on food preferences and health prospects (Brown & Lee, 2011),” explains Professor Ellen Townsend from the School of Psychology at the University of Nottingham, one of the authors of the study. “We believe our report is the first piece of research to examine whether weaning method can influence food preferences and the future health of the child.”

While no difference in picky eating was found between the baby-led and spoon-fed groups, the researchers discovered more underweight children in the baby-led group and increased obesity rates in the other group. These findings suggest that weaning style affects food preferences and health in early childhood. Based on the results, infants weaned through the baby-led method learn to regulate their food intake in a manner that results in a lower BMI (NHS, 2011) and a preference for healthy foods. According to the authors, finger foods improve a child’s awareness of textures. Prior studies (Birch, 1999) have demonstrated that presentation is an important factor in food preferences.

A mystery public vegetable garden has just appeared in our local park, Edinburgh Gardens.

The timber planter boxes seem to be made from recycled pallets. What a great idea!

Inside the veggie box are a mixture of tomatoes, spinach, beetroot, corn, lettuce and even strawberries. They’re all looking mighty healthy. It’s a great example of how a vegetable patch can still flourish in an asphalt and dirt environment.

Sadly, it’s only a matter of time before the City of Yarra removes the guerilla planter boxes. The council requires that such projects go through the usual administrative channels to determine a suitable location in the public space.

Well, as a City of Yarra ratepayer, I’m more than happy to have this left for the community to enjoy.   North Fitzroy is littered with Victorian worker’s cottages, and most have very limited space to create a working veggie garden.

Perhaps this might inspire council to create a community space for projects just like these – and then they could be enjoyed by all the local residents.

Such public gardens have already been successful at CERES environmental park and  the Collingwood Children’s farm – but we could always do with more.

And, by the way, if you’re looking to create your own veggie garden at home, Sustainable Gardening Australia have a great handbook.

Written by Andrew Talati