Page 91 - Delicious - UK (February 2020)

your health.

SE A S O N ’ S E A T I N G S
What’s at its best right now – and why it’s so good for you

SWEET POTATOES
Sweet and comforting, filling and versatile: there’s a lot to love
about sweet potatoes. Happily, these radiant root veg are nourishing,
too. Just 80g – about one medium sweet potato – counts as one of
your five-a-day. The orange ones (there are white varieties, too) are
particularly rich in fibre, as well as beta-carotene, an antioxidant
that converts to vitamin A when eaten.

How to enjoy
Because they’re sweeter and ‘wetter’ than standard potatoes
when cooked, less butter or milk is needed to whip up smooth and
creamy mash. Thanks to the natural sugars in sweet potatoes, they
caramelise beautifully when chopped and roasted: include them
in leaf or grain-based salads, or add to stock and whizz to make soup.
Find the recipe for the warming sweet potato and ginger soup, left, at
deliciousmagazine.co.uk

TRENDING ACORNS
Cancel the kale order and head for the forest: acorns are now a superfood.
The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry triggered the trend, reporting
WHAT THE acorns might be useful in treating obesity and type 2 diabetes. A note of

PAPERS SAY warning: acorns contain tannins, which can be toxic to humans and animals,
so only eat ripe ones (brown, not green) and soak them in water first. See
“TWO DIET DRINKS A DAY COULD the Woodland Trust website (woodlandtrust.org.uk) for more details.
INCREASE THE RISK OF EARLY
DEATH BY MORE THAN A QUARTER”
So declared one newspaper report
on research by the World Health IN: SAVOURY BREAKFAST
Organisation looking at soft drink Manufacturers of breakfast
consumption and health problems. cereal have persuaded us
But aren’t soft drink manufacturers DID YOU SWAP that the first meal of the
being praised for using artificial day must be sweet. But
KNOW?
sweeteners instead of sugar? SHOP savoury breakfasts can
PHOTOGRAPHS AND ILLUSTRATIONS: JESSIE WHEALEY, ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES
As it turns out, the headlines be just as speedy and
didn’t tell the full story. Researchers more nutritious.
BECAUSE SMALL
asked more than 450,000 adults Although they’re
CHANGES CAN MAKE
about their soft drink habits over often fortified
A BIG NUTRITIONAL
16 years, but they didn’t specifically with nutrients,
Fruit and veg, meat, DIFFERENCE
investigate the health effects of breakfast cereals
artificially sweetened drinks. What’s poultry and fish are are often highly
more, the study’s authors pointed generally in the OUT: SUGARY processed and
out that early deaths might have outer aisles of the BREAKFASTS stuffed with sugar.
been due to generally unhealthy supermarket. Keep CONSIDER A SAVOURY
lifestyles that included soft drinks, to the perimeter PORRIDGE: just add
rather than sweetened beverages leftover cooked veg,
and your shop will
being the actual cause (although this grated cheese and herbs,
wasn’t widely reported). Conclusion? be quicker and and a poached egg. Or top
It’s wise to limit your intake of soft based on fresh, wholemeal toast with smoked
drinks, however they’re sweetened. whole foods. salmon or tinned sardines.

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