Weekly grocery shops can often feel like a minefield if you are trying to eat healthily and steer away from junk food and sugary snacks.
With so much contradictory advice out there, it can be difficult to decide whether to purchase fat-free and low calorie products or stick to full-fat options in a bid to lose weight.
Now, diet guru Dr Michael Mosley, who is famed for creating the 5:2 and Fast 800 eating plans, has explained the foods he always buys when grocery shopping to help with weight loss and keep his body healthy.
In an interview on BBC Radio Wales, the expert explained that items such as full-fat butter, Greek yogurt, olive oil, nuts and fish were the things that he and his wife often ate.
Speaking about food shopping, presenter Behnaz Akhgar asked: “I’m going shopping later ok - I’m being a bit selfish here. People approaching the weekend will be going shopping. Is there one or two items which you and Claire always include in your shopping basket when you’re out and about?”
Dr Mosley replied: “I think I like to include full-fat yogurt. I’m a big fan particularly of Greek yogurt because it’s got more protein and more taste. I eat quite a lot of yogurt.
“I also include some healthy forms of protein - I’ve turned into a major fish fan recently. I used to hate fish. You have to try to chose the sustainable stuff, but the thing about fish is it’s so flexible, it’s so full of good stuff omega 3, fatty acids and things like that.
“The other thing I always make sure I’ve got plenty of is olive oil because that is the closest thing we have to the ‘elixir of life’ in the sense that it is a fundamental part of the Mediterranean diet.”
Behnaz replied: “A friend of mine has a spoonful of it every night before he goes to sleep. He swears by it.”
Dr Mosley said: “There’s plenty of evidence for the benefits of olive oil and there are lots of myths around it. The idea that you shouldn’t cook with it because of it’s smoke point. But that’s nonsense, I’ve looked into that. I do think it’s a super healthy oil but it’s also a bit expensive as well.
“That’s also something I try to make sure we’ve got plenty of in the house. Also nuts because I’m a big fan of nuts as a snack. I have a very sweet tooth and given half a chance I’ll be reaching for the bars of chocolate, so I have to keep them out of the house and I have nuts in the house instead to make sure that hits the spots but it isn’t quite as packed with calories.”
The conversation then moved on to the best butter to buy. She asked: “What about butter? I used to have margarine many moons ago and then I read how bad it was and I switched to full-fat butter. I cook with it, I have it on my toast and I’m like this is natural, it’s true to its form, it hasn’t changed blah blah blah. It’s high saturated fat isn’t it?”
Dr Mosley said: “I’m kind of a fan of butter as well. Like you I used to consume margarine and I became less convinced by that. The thing about butter and indeed quite a lot of dairy products is although they do have saturated fats in them, they don’t seem to be the unhealthy form of saturated fats so the evidence now suggests that certainly in moderation butter is a perfectly healthy thing to be consuming and like you I’m a fan of it.
"I put it on my greens which often makes them sparkle a bit and makes them tastier and yep, I’m a fan.”
Behnaz replied: “OK I’m going home tonight and having butter, I’m having olive oil - all in moderation.”
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