by Sunita Patmanathan
I always get asked the same question again and again, “Where does all the food you eat go to?” I must admit I am lucky when it comes to having high metabolism but don’t get me wrong, I don’t just sit and eat all day long and. I exercise every day, cook almost all my meals and never binge eat! There must always be a balance as too much of anything is no good.
This got me thinking about Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. It was such a huge thing last year. Basically, Jamie Oliver was on a mission to change the way Americans eat and also reduce obesity in America. Then, he moved on to Australia, UK and the EU. Among other things, he was trying to change the unhealthy meals given to kids in school and inspire people to cook more healthy food at home. Lots of people out there want to learn how to eat better, and if he is providing a way for it, then I think it’s great! You can check out more here
These are the key facts about obesity in the world according to WHO (taken from *updated march 2013
Facts about overweight and obesity
Overweight and obesity are the fifth leading risk for global deaths. At least 2.8 million adults die each year as a result of being overweight or obese. In addition, 44% of the diabetes burden, 23% of the ischaemic heart disease burden and between 7% and 41% of certain cancer burdens are attributable to overweight and obesity.
Some WHO global estimates from 2008 follow.
• More than 1.4 billion adults, 20 and older, were overweight.
• Of these overweight adults, over 200 million men and nearly 300 million women were obese.
• Overall, more than 10% of the world’s adult population was obese.
In 2011, more than 40 million children under the age of five were overweight. Once considered a high-income country problem, overweight and obesity are now on the rise in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in urban settings. More than 30 million overweight children are living in developing countries and 10 million in developed countries.
Overweight and obesity are linked to more deaths worldwide than underweight. For example, 65% of the world’s population live in countries where overweight and obesity kill more people than underweight (this includes all high-income and most middle-income countries).
40 million kids overweight!! How is that even possible?! Well I guess it is possible with the amount of rubbish that food manufacturers put into all these preserved food. We as consumers need to be aware of all the things we put into our stomach and learn to eat healthy. I am not saying let’s all become vegetarians, all I am saying is that instead of buying that disgusting premade burger, just get some mince and make your own. By this at least you know what is in that dish. And if you change, your kid will as well.
Have a look at his website (the link above). So much information, simple recipes and ways to help with obesity. Now not only you will learn a whole range of things about food, you and a friend might also be the lucky one to win a cooking lesson with Jamie Oliver. He will fly you to London, throw in £1K spending money and 4 nights hotel stay!! Now who wouldn’t want that right??!! More information on that here :
I also wanted to share with you a simple yet yummy lunch box treat that I often do. Its absolutely delicious and healthy!
All you need is:
250g raw jumbo prawns
½ teaspoon of minced garlic
1 teaspoon of sweet chili sauce
1 small shallot – finely chopped
3 basil leaves – chopped
1 teaspoon of olive oil
2 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 ripe mango – cubed
1 ripe avocado – cubes
Salt and pepper to taste
1) Marinate the prawns with garlic, sweet chili, shallots, basil and olive oil. Dry fry the prawns.
2) Once the prawns are cooked, turn heat off, add lemon juice, mango, avocado, salt and pepper.
More information on the recipe here
Let’s try and beat obesity one step at a time! and try and win that date, I mean cooking lesson with the fabulous Jamie Oliver itself!!