Jemma O'Hanlon

Dietitian, Consultant, Keynote Speaker

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  • 18 May 2025

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  • 14 June 2023

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    The truth behind coconut oil

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    Plant-based meat substitutes

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  • 10 May 2023

    The truth about lecithin

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  • 03 May 2023

    Intermittent fasting vs daily calorie restriction

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  • 26 April 2023

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  • 19 April 2023

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Food variety boosts nutrition and ensures good health

Written by Catherine Saxelby on Thursday, 03 February 2011.
Tagged: balanced diet, food variety, healthy cooking, healthy eating

Food variety boosts nutrition and ensures good health
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Eating a wide variety of foods is a key principle in nutrition. It’s so important that the official government guidelines on healthy eating state ‘Eat a wide variety of nutritious foods’ as their first guideline, ahead of guidelines that we limit saturated fat, choose foods low in salt, limit your alcohol and prevent weight gain. I can't stress how much variety matters. Think swings and roundabouts! Study after study shows that those of us who eat a wide variety are in better health and live longer than those who don’t.

 What is food variety?

Variety doesn’t mean six different cereals in the cupboard or different biscuits for morning tea.  It means a range of biologically diverse foods.  For example with fruit, don’t just buy apples, mandarins and bananas but extend your fruit bowl to rockmelon, blueberries, grapefruit and cherries (and everything else that’s in season). Where one fruit is low in a vitamin or an antioxidant, you make up from another. Lots of different colours in your fruit and vegetables mean lots of different antioxidants.

People usually think of variety in terms of different fruit and vegetables with all their colours and shapes. But it applies to all food groups including grains.

If you’re eating Weet-bix for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and pasta for dinner, you’re basically eating the ONE grain wheat. Yes it’s a versatile and nutritious grain but you shouldn’t just stick to wheat.  To get the most nutrients, branch out into rye (for crispbread or bread), oats (porridge and muesli), barley (in soup), buckwheat and quinoa (in salads and side dishes).

What number to aim for in food variety?

Some guidelines suggest eating 30 biologically-different foods each day. Around 20 is a good initial goal. It sounds daunting at first but it’s not that hard. If you make up a muesli at home, as I often do, you’ll be mixing in 9 different foods – two types of nuts (almonds, walnuts), two types of seeds (pumpkin, sunflower), two grains (oats, psyllium), three fruits (sultanas, apricots, currants).  Plus the milk or yoghurt and fresh fruit you have with it - and that’s just for breakfast. Check out the ingredients below ...

Catherine's home-made toasted oat muesli

Here's one of my fave home-made toasted muesli ideas. Honestly it works well with just about any seed, nuts or dried fruit. Just start with the oats as your base and go from there!

Food Variety Ingredients9 ingredients in my muesli for variety:

  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • ½ cup pumpkin seeds
  • ½ cup sunflower seeds
  • ½ cup slivered almonds
  • ½ cup chopped walnuts
  • ½ cup psyllium or rice bran flakes (optional - for extra fibre)
  • ½ cup sultanas
  • ¼ cup chopped dried apricots
  • ¼ cup currants

To serve:

  • milk or yoghurt
  • sliced peach or strawberries or banana or other seasonal fruit, whatever you have in the kitchen

 For all the details of how to toast this muesli, click here to view.

7 easy ways to get more variety into your daily diet

1. Serve 4 or 5 different vegetables for dinner, not  two. If you’re cooking for one or two, cut your vegetables about the same size so you can simmer them in just one pot and they’ll cook in the same time. Saves on washing up.

2. Turn up the heat under your wok and stir fry onion, garlic and then toss in as many sliced or diced vegetables as you can – capsicum, mushrooms, zucchini, cabbage, chilli, garlic, onion, carrot, green beans, snow peas as well as leaves like baby spinach or a handful of coriander to finish.

3. Toss together a large mixed salad with many different salad leaves and fresh herbs instead of just lettuce.

4. Make up a fresh fruit salad using 4 or 5 different fruit. Top with the pulp of a passionfruit. Or buy a fruit salad when you’re passing a fruit bar or lunch place.

5. Flavour your cooking with different spices and herb blends  – they help you cut back on salt and are incredibly rich in phyto-chemicals (antioxidants) for longevity and top health.

6. Throw in a handful of nuts or seeds or bran to a bought muesli. Commercial mueslis never have enough interesting ‘bits’ in them, in my opinion.

7. Try different herbal teas – peppermint, rooibos, chamomile, ginger as well as blends. You can keep tea bags of the various herbal teas so you can mix and match to your mood.

Downloads / Fact Sheets

Adobe PDF icon 100x100Salads are great ways to boost the variety of what you eat. Download my Fact Sheet on "A salad a day keeps the dietitian away".

Read my article on "You are what you eat".

Reviews

  • Product Review: Low-sugar alcoholic ginger beer

    Product review: Low-sugar alcoholic ginger beer

    1 March 2023 by, Catherine Saxelby

    Want something to drink before dinner? Something that’s LOWER in alcohol than wine? To match his beer? Then look no further than Bundaberg’s low-sugar alcoholic ginger beer.

    You can drink Bundaberg low-sugar ginger beer straight from the can, or pour it into a long glass over ice with a slice of lime.

     

    Read more
  • Product snapshot: Khorasan Macaroni

    Product snapshot: Berkelo’s Khorasan Macaroni

    14 September 2022 by, Catherine Saxelby

    I’m loving this macaroni from Berkelo. I was sent a sample for Whole Grain Week 2022 by the Grains Legume Nutrition Council. I cooked it up and found that it was just divine! Read on for more …

  • Product Review: super-high-oleic-safflower-oil

    Product review: Super high-oleic safflower oil

    11 May 2022 by, Catherine Saxelby

    “What does super high-oleic mean?” I hear you ask.  Also, “I haven’t heard of safflower for ages. What’s the deal?” Read on and all will be explained.

  • Product Review: Healthy Life Food Tracker

    Product review: Healthy Life Food Tracker

    6 April 2022 by, Catherine Saxelby

    When I was first asked to write this review, I thought, Not another tracker.

    After all, there have been several in recent years, such as My Fitness Pal and Everyday Diet Diary. But this one is different. It works by using your Everyday Rewards card AND your shop at Woolworths.

  • Product review: Lite n' Easy

    Product review: Lite n' Easy

    20 October 2021 by, Catherine Saxelby

    With home delivery on the rise, this post is reviewing none other than that stalwart Lite n’ Easy. We all know their meals are good for weight loss (which we all need after COVID-19!), but did you know they’re also good for general health and wellbeing ? Eating well to nourish yourself – putting your mental health and wellbeing at the forefront – is gaining momentum. Lite n’ Easy meals also ensures you satisfy your need for vitamins, minerals, fibre and phyto-compounds, such as sterols and carotenoids.

    clipboardThis post has been sponsored by Lite n' Easy.  

     

  • Product review:  Birds Eye Plant Based range

    Product review: Birds Eye Plant Based range

    15 September 2021 by, Catherine Saxelby

    When you think of Birds Eye, their frozen peas and fish fingers probably come to mind. But I bet you’d never think of plant-based products!

    clipboardThis post has been sponsored by Birds Eye. 

  • Read on - here I take a look at these cute mini-pots of fresh growing herbs for your kitchen. Are they worth buying? Are they easy to look after?

    Product Snapshot: Olina’s Snackers Crackers

    2 June 2021 by, Catherine Saxelby

    We sampled Olina’s latest offering in the seeded cracker range – called Olina’s Bakehouse Seriously Seedy Snackers (which is a great name BTW). They come in four flavours: Barbecue, Chilli & Lime, Beetroot & Sour Cream, and Balsamic Vinegar & Caramelised Onion. Take a look at our verdict.

Healthy Weight Loss

  • Intermittent fasting vs daily calorie restriction

    Intermittent fasting vs daily calorie restriction

    3 May 2023 by, Catherine Saxelby

    As you probably know already, intermittent fasting (IF) has gained favour as an alternative regimen to daily caloric restriction (DCR). Fasting is shown to extend the lifespan of rats, and has been associated with metabolic benefits in humans, yet the results so far have been inconsistent. So, which regimen is best for healthy weight loss?

    Read more
  • The lifestyle diet craze

    The lifestyle diet craze

    15 March 2023 by, Catherine Saxelby

    What sort of a diet should you follow to lose that excess weight? These days, it’s pretty confusing with high-protein Keto advocates clashing with plant-protein followers … as well as intermittent fasters, juice-only dieters, no-carb dieters and no-animal (aka plant-based) dieters. Plus all the ads for anti-hunger supplements, meal-replacement shakes and home-delivered meals, more of which somehow appear every day. So, what sort of diet should YOU follow to lose that excess?

  • Protein shakes for weight loss

    Protein shakes for weight loss

    9 November 2022 by, Catherine Saxelby

    These days, protein shakes aren’t bought by just body builders – they’re so popular that you can readily buy a 400 g tub at your local supermarket or service station. And with tempting claims such as ‘Facilitates muscle toning’, ‘Contains transformation-making protein’ and ‘Tastes incredible, mixes easily’, why wouldn’t you grab one? But protein shakes aren’t the magic answer to all your weight-loss woes. Let’s take a look at what you get for your money.

    Guest post by dietitian Zoe Wilson APD

  • What is your relationship with food and eating?

    How to beat those cravings

    20 January 2021 by, Catherine Saxelby

    Many of us have cravings from time to time and for different reasons. One thing is certain, they can sabotage all your best efforts at a healthy diet and/or weight loss. The good news? You CAN beat them. I’ll tell you how.

  • What is your relationship with food and eating?

    How to lose weight WITHOUT going on a diet

    14 October 2020 by, Catherine Saxelby

    The word 'diet' is a turn-off for most people. It sounds hard, unpleasant and unpalatable. Losing weight doesn’t have to be hard AND it doesn’t have mean sticking to a 'diet'. You can forget Paleo, Keto, Vegan and Raw, Gluten-free and Intermittent Fasting. To lose weight, you don’t have to follow any specific diet. What you need is simple, healthy, nutritious food and a few tips and tricks.

  • What IS a healthy balanced diet for weight loss?

    What IS a healthy balanced diet for weight loss?

    16 September 2020 by, Catherine Saxelby

    Healthy weight loss happens when you lose weight slowly and steadily (around 1 kg or 2 pounds weight loss a week). Your goal is to lose weight while still getting your essential nutrients but from smaller portions. You certainly don’t want to be tired with no energy! That’s why you need regular healthy meals and snacks on hand to ensure your vitamins, minerals, omega-3s and fibre needs can be easily met. There is a new range of healthy weight loss meals available and it’s one that I’d like to recommend. With these ready meals, you’ll say goodbye to meal planning, shopping, meal preparation and cooking.

    This post is sponsored by Chefgood 

  • Kitchen make-over for the New Year

    Kitchen make-over for the New Year

    8 January 2020 by, Catherine Saxelby

     “This year, I'm going to lose weight!”, or “This year I’m opting for a healthier lifestyle!” Is your 2020 New Year's resolution something like one of these? If so, how is it going to happen?