A little bit of what you fancy does you good

Stash away that sweaty gym kit and start perusing the supermarket shelves for chocolate, coffee and red wine. Apparently, a little bit of what you fancy does you good – and exercise, it seems, can harm your body.

Yes, those slobs and slackers who pride themselves on their Homer Simpson-style couch potato habits may not be as unhealthy as those fitness freaks would have you believe.

When exercise is taken to extremes it can do more harm than good, according to new research by Professor Greg Whyte, who recently trained Little Britain star David Walliams to swim the English Channel.

“Moderate physical exercise can be good for you but exercise of the kind done by elite sportsmen and women can be detrimental to your health,” he warns.

And there’s more good news on the food front for people who recoil at the idea of feeding their face with the recommended five-a-day.

In recent weeks, caffeine and chocolate have been reported to reduce stress, and the odd tipple of red wine can be good for our hearts and stave off gum disease.

Health guru Gillian McKeith may be tutting at the revelations but will giving in to our guilty pleasures turn us into saints or sinners on the health front?

Cumbrian bon viveurs are unanimously agreed that a little bit of what you fancy does you good.

Richard Muirhead, who runs the Old Smokehouse in Penrith, is yet another advocate of moderation in all things.

He says: “We need salt and fat – just not too much. You should follow your taste buds rather than health fads. People buy a joint of meat from a supermarket which looks very red and then wonder why it shrinks when they cook it and why it doesn’t taste succulent – it hasn’t been hung long enough.

“We should avoid food that is full of preservatives or which has been frozen too long. There are so many wonderful foods and we should be eating them without overindulging.’’


Emma Andalcio, who runs Zest restaurant in Whitehaven with her husband Ricky, says: “There is too much over-the-top advice about what we should eat and drink.

“You don’t go far wrong if you eat a balanced diet and enjoy a couple of treats now and again.

“Ricky lost three-and-a-half stone recently yet he still enjoys good food. We went out for Sunday lunch the other week and a friend admonished him that he shouldn’t be eating roast potatoes.

“You shouldn’t deny yourself anything – the idea is to eat roast potatoes or a pudding and then be careful for the next few days.’’

Wine merchant Philippa Sedgwick, who runs her own business from Crosby Lodge, says that moderate drinking is positively good for you.

“A glass a day can reduce the risk of a stroke because alcohol has an anticoagulant effect making blood less likely to clot which means a reduction in the build-up of cholesterol in the arteries,” she says. “Red wine is better for you than white which has more hidden sugars and quality wines are better for you than cheap ones. Of course drinking too much wine raises some health risks like cancer of the digestive tract and some people are allergic to wine. Ashmatics can be troubled by the sulphites in white wine.

“My tip to anyone who is going to over-indulge is not to mix the grape and the grain and to drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration.’’

Caroline Baxter who, along with her husband Graeme, runs Yates Brewery Ltd in West Newton, agrees that alcohol which is taken sensibly and moderately may be positively good for you.

“Beer is made of natural ingredients like malt, hops and water. A little of what you fancy does you no harm,’’ she adds.

Cheese is another food which occasionally gets a bad press. Carolyn Fairburn of Crofton Cheese, near Wigton, takes a common sense approach to the food she loves: “We start off in life drinking whole milk and then suddenly we are told that cheese (which is basically whole milk) is bad for you. But cheese is a natural food which gives you all the nutrients that you require.’’


Dr Rebecca Wagstaff, director of public health at Cumbria Primary Care Trusts, agrees that common sense should prevail when it comes to diet and exercise.

She points out that a staggering 60 per cent of Cumbrians do not take enough exercise.

She says: “If you haven’t done any exercise for ages, it is silly to go for a six mile run up the fells. Start by walking and then, if you wish, progress to jogging. The government recommendation is for an adult to take half an hour of exercise five times a week while children should do moderate exercise for one hour every day. You need to give your heart and lungs a regular work-out.

“Gentle exercise can halve the risk of heart disease and also reduces the risk of some cancers.’’

Dr Wagstaff adds that five portions of fruit and vegetables a day are also vital to good health. She adds: “You can enjoy puddings and chocolate – just don’t live on them.’’

EXERCISE EXILE?
If you develop a rash when you enter a gym, the fact that fitness fanatics may be pushing themselves too far will have you laughing in your La-Z-Boy luxury recliner.

The truth is exercise can increase ill health and death rates if approached in the wrong way – but that’s no excuse not to put on a pair of trainers and move those muscles.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Eggs, chocolate and nuts all receive a bad press but the occasional indulgence can be beneficial, according to nutritional biochemist Jeannette Jackson.

NUTS

“People often think nuts are high in fats and this is true, but they are the good guys, the polyunsaturated fats,” says Jackson.

“Nuts can be a very good source of dietary fibre, magnesium, potassium and vitamin E. A few nuts a day, particularly walnuts and almonds, will help heart function, blood cholesterol levels and help minimise blood clotting.”

EGGS

“Some people steer clear of eggs because of the saturated fat content in the yolk. However they can be extremely beneficial because they contain choline,” Jackson says.

“This is a crucial component of cell membranes, so eating eggs helps brain function, concentration and clarity of mind.”

CHOCOLATE

“Chocolate if nothing else helps to reduce stress,” Jackson says. “However, make sure you eat chocolate which has a high cocoa content – above 70 per cent cocoa is the recommended limit.”

DRINKING DELIGHTS

There’s a big difference between the odd tipple and turning into a raving drunk, and alcohol in moderation can have benefits for your body as well as oiling the wheels of social interaction.

When some people need sobering up after a tipple or two, they often reach for a cup of coffee.

Caffeine can make women better partners in times of stress, according to recent research by the British Psychological Society.

YIN AND YANG

You don’t have to become best friends with your fitness instructor and follow a macrobiotic diet to live a healthy lifestyle, but camping out on the sofa and scoffing chocolates all day, every day, is a sure-fire recipe for ill health and an increasing waistline in the future.

There is a happy medium. Psychotherapist and co-author of Beyond Chocolate Sophie Boss has this advice: “The best way to stay fit and healthy is to find a way to move your body that you really love, experiment with lots of different things and it may mean doing a variety of different forms of exercise rather than just sticking to one.

“And then do whatever you enjoy when you feel like it.”

When it comes to food, faddy diets should go out of the window if you’re aiming for the body beautiful.

“Depriving ourselves of any kind of food just makes the cravings stronger and perpetuates the ‘all or nothing’ mentality which has many women and men yo-yo dieting endlessly,” says Boss.

“It’s about listening to our bodies, re-learning how to eat when we are hungry, eating what we want without feeling guilty and stopping when we’ve had enough.

“When we do this we regulate our diet without having to rely on experts to tell us what to eat.”