There’s a new convenient meal option on the market. What’s more it’s just screaming out for pride of place next to the tinned tunas, microwavable rice tubs and baked bean pots as part of a quick and healthy lunch fix. Why? Because it’s healthy and it’s ready to eat! There’s no heating, draining or decanting needed. This new Edgell bean salad is a complete, balanced meal in a single ready-to-eat bowl. Intrigued? So was I...

Every time I post a tweet about my new spiralizer or upload an image of some zucchini noodles I’ve just made to Instagram, I get asked: “What brand of spiralizer did you buy?” and “Do you recommend a spiralizer?” So I thought I’d take a few pics and share how I came to decide on this brand.

I’m a big bread fan, as many of you know. Bread is my favourite carbohydrate, way above rice, pasta or potato, and I’d hate it if I couldn’t eat it. Having worked in the bread business, I appreciate how much effort goes into baking each loaf. Naturally I jumped at the chance to taste-test a little-known bread (did I need an excuse?) and put it through the Foodwatch review system. Here’s how we rated the Alpine Breads loaf sold under the label of Super Natural Protein

This post has been sponsored by Alpine Breads

Type 2 diabetes is everywhere and on the rise. According to Professor Peter Coleman, the Director of Diabetes and Endocrinology at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, in his Foreword to this book, diabetes affects at least 1.1 million Australians. But does eating too much sugar cause it? Should you cut out all carbs to manage it? And is there really such a thing as reversing what is a chronic disease? All these questions and more are answered in Dr Alan Barclay’s new book ‘Reversing Diabetes’.

Do you prefer jam or fruit spread on your pikelets or scones? Is fruit spread a healthier choice than plain ol’ jam? It certainly sounds as if it is. Here we’ve reviewed four popular jams and fruit spreads, comparing the same strawberry variant against a straight strawberry conserve plus a spread with no cane sugar at the other extreme.

Dried cranberries are a great tart addition to salads, biscuits, muesli bars and trail mix. However, unlike other dried fruit (think raisins, dates or dried apricots which are naturally sweet enough), dried cranberries need some added sugar to make them palatable. They’d just be way too tart otherwise. So the question is: “have you ever realised just how much sugar is added?” What’s more, is this new reduced-sugar version any healthier for you?

I recently caught up with Australian dietitian Sallyanne Pisk and was delighted to receive a copy of her new book Eating For You which distils the knowledge she has gleaned from years of private practice, health service management and research. Take a look...

Sick of sweet, fizzy drinks or mocktails at the club when you don’t want to drink any alcohol? Want to get a good night’s sleep and be on top of things the next morning but still enjoy a beer out with friends? Then listen up – there’s a new beer on the market with only 0.9 per cent alcohol but with the full flavour and good taste of full-strength beer.

Can you really get something healthy from a plant that produces something unhealthy? It appears so. An Australian company has found a way to turn the usual waste product of sugarcane into a powdered fibre with endless, beneficial possibilities...

 Nothing irritates me more than throwing out packets of wilted mushy herbs at the end of the week. Such a huge waste! Unless I’m using them in a Vietnamese salad, those bunches of fresh, pre-cut herbs are always too large. Now I reckon I’ve found a better alternative – Poppin Pods.

This post has been sponsored by Poppin Pods

Catherine reviews many new foods, supplements and dietary products for no payment. It's part of her role as a nutritionist and dietitian as it helps shoppers understand the pros and cons before they buy. However, if you have a product you would like Catherine to review, why not request a Sponsored Product Review?

Many women spend much of their lives going from one unsuccessful diet to another, convinced that they just haven’t found the right one yet, or that they lack the willpower necessary to stick to one. But what if the problem is actually DIETING itself?

Lately my social media feeds have been flooded with photos of ‘sugar-free’ sweet treats. Made popular by celebrity, Sarah Wilson, and her book ‘I Quit Sugar’, these recipes fill the hole left by traditional, sugar-containing sweets, chocolates, muffins and slices. Are they actually any better? 

Named after the celebrity-studded South Beach in Florida USA, the South Beach Diet promised to be easy and enjoyable with no suffering or deprivation. But once you read through the 14 days of the initial weight-stripping (Phase 1), you soon realize that it's a very restricted diet, only one degree better than Atkins. Will you lose weight on it? Absolutely, but not for the regime or combination of foodstuffs - simply because you're only taking in a meagre 4500 kJ/1070 cals per day!

The Low GI Diet won't eliminate all your carbs but it does make you think about choosing ‘smart carbs' to help your weight loss efforts. Legumes, pasta, grainy breads and the right types of cereal, rice and snacks are preferred over white bread and refined cereals.

It's based on the Glycaemic Index (GI) concept which says that low GI carbs are digested and absorbed much more slowly and so last longer in your system. It was originally a concept for diabetes but now has advantages for dieters too.

Sandra Cabot's book Can't Lose Weight? You could have Syndrome X promises help for those struggling to shed weight. However, it's no magic bullet - you will still have to exercise and change the way you eat. Is it helpful or is it just another fad diet? Here's my review...

Is sugar the key culprit in the obesity crisis? If I cut out ALL sugar (including honey and agave) and everything sweet, will it be easier for my body to shed weight?  I ate and cooked from Week 1 of the IQS program by Sarah Wilson (see my review of the book here) to see if, and how, it would help me lose a little weight. Here's how I fared on the first week ...

Forget sugar as the sole villain. Don’t blame fat alone for the flab. Forget carbs as the culprit. There is no silver bullet for weight loss and there is no ONE single food or nutrient that can be blamed for our expanding waistlines. Nor ONE single reason for the decline in our physical activity levels. There are many and they’re different for each person who’s carrying excess weight. I’ve unearthed at least 13 possible causes but I’ll wager there are many more. So look down my list and tick off which of these 13 (unlucky for some) factors are responsible for your underlying problem. 

The best-selling CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet has come under scrutiny over the validity of its research and the concern that a diet high in meat can lead to bowel cancer, which is one of the more common cancers at present in Australia. CSIRO has also been criticised for lending its name to a diet book as they are the country's national research agency.

As part of his series on weird and wonderful diets, James Valentine has asked me to roadtest some of them and then present my experiences and my nutritional verdict for his listeners on the Afternoons with James Valentine program on ABC 702 local radio. This month I followed a Raw Food Diet for one week. Keep reading to see how I went.

Over the years the Raw Food Diet has waxed and waned in popularity. It was around in the 1980s with Leslie and Susannah Kenton’s Raw Energy movement. This spawned several books about the advantages of a raw diet plus the usual accompanying recipe books. Now, some 30 years later, the Raw Food Diet is popular with a whole other generation of people looking for ways to stay trim and healthy. So what is it?

I’ve never been wild about the Paleo Diet, I must admit. It’s never seemed right that we humans haven’t ‘evolved’ from our caveman days, nor our food either. I mean carrots today aren’t the same as the thin, bland, lacklustre carrots of our hunter-gatherer ancestors; meat from domesticated animals raised by mass production methods, even if grass-fed, is not wild bison, buffalo or kangaroo roaming the plains; fruit is juicier, veggies are less bitter etc.