Guest review by dietitian Nicole Senior APD, AN, author of Belly Busting for Blokes

Two thirds of Australian men are overweight or obese and their big bellies are putting them at risk for chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and bowel cancer. One of the reasons blokes are bearing the brunt of the obesity epidemic is they tend to outsource their food, often to the fast food industry. Meal-maker products are ideally positioned to help blokes to resist the urge of fast food and throw a meal together with a minimum of fuss. Birdseye Create-a-meal is such a product. It all sounds good, but how does it stack up?

 

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More than 1.5 million Australians have diabetes. Given the rise in obesity and sedentary lifestyles, more than twice this number will be at risk of developing diabetes in the next 25 years. So it’s timely that the nutrition team from the CSIRO Wellbeing books and Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute have published a book on diabetes.

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Guest review by Airlie Lacy, student dietitian

Too tired to cook? Too busy to shop? Need to lose weight? Busy lifestyles often leave little time to shop, cook and eat the right meals for weight loss. Take-aways are quick and easy but they're no good for your waistline. Are home-delivered diet meals a better option for you? We put one lot to the test ...

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Guest review by dietitian Josephine Mollica from Eat Wiser

You have probably heard of Sebago, Desiree or Kifler potatoes, but have you heard of the Carisma potato? This new variety of potato has just hit the shops riding on its claim to be the first low Glycemic Index (GI) potato. It is grown in South Australia and only available through Coles supermarkets. The potatoes have an oval shape, white skin similar to the Nadine potato and pale yellow-coloured flesh.

 

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Guest review by dietitian Emma Stirling APD from The Scoop on Nutrition

Are you a vegetarian? Or perhaps experimenting with more meat-free meals due to the growing green scene? Well, we've got great news for you. There's a brand new player in town, so I was thrilled when Catherine asked me to write this guest review. Quorn has certainly raised the bar in ‘mock meats' and demonstrates how today's food technology can be instrumental in our future food solutions. You'll just never guess where it originates from ...

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With all the advertising hype targeting heart disease and high cholesterol and with some websites proclaiming it the "world's healthiest oil", best for body builders and even menopausal women, rice bran oil is the oil I get most questions about. How much healthier is it? What's it like to cook with? And how does it taste? Here are some answers...

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Post by Catherine Saxelby and home economist and dietitian Diane Temple

"Fast, fabulous & flavoursome recipes using 4 Ingredients. Written by Rachael Bermingham and Kim McCosker, these bestselling cookbooks are jam packed full of quick, easy and very delicious recipes that you can easily whip up to WOW your friends and family ..." That's the promise.

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A "natural" sweetener, Stevia was approved for use in late in 2008 in Australia and the US and the first Stevia products are now appearing on the supermarket shelves.

It's not considered "artificial" and marketing for stevia makes much of it being 100% natural - which appeals to consumers - compared to aspartame or acesulfame-K which are often regarded as "chemical" and can't escape the cancer-scare rumours that have been circulating for years.

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Soup is one of my favourite winter meals. Thick and hearty, it's warming and satisfying. It's a key food if you want to lose some weight without going hungry.

Soups are pretty easy to make (unlike pastry or fiddly finger food) but, depending on the type, can take 2 or 3 hours, as they often require long, slow simmering.

 

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My taste buds died and woke up in flavour heaven! I've just bought my first bottle of pomegranate molasses and can't believe how magnificent the flavour is! How come I got to the ripe old age of 50-something and never ever sampled this before? Something as basic as a marinade for lamb, pork or chicken now sends me into raptures. A salad with a teaspoon of the molasses in the dressing has me drooling. Even sipping a ‘cordial' made pomegranate molasses in a glass of water is refreshingly divine.

I know you'll think I've gone insane but I've never tasted anything so sublime. Honestly. It's the combination of understated sweetness with that astringency that you only find in balsamic vinegar or too-strong tea (must be those amazing polyphenols - aka tannins - which the tea blenders tell me is what makes you mouth pucker).

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