Diet heavy with fish and whole grain ideas please

[Amyw Profile]

Hi everyone ,

As some of you are aware , I’ve been diagnosed with possible endometriosis and a large ovarian cyst . My gynaecologist has asked me to lose some weight and said dietary changes can basically reduce a lot of symptoms.

I basically need to eat a lot of fruit and veg , which should be fine , lots of whole grains and general high fibre and eat a lot of fish . Red meat , gluten and processed foods should be avoided .

Gils excellent salmon thread has given me ideas for this . Just wondered if anyone had any other ideas following these guidelines . Have never really considered diet before . He said about having linseeds daily, which I’m not familiar with.

Going to have pizza and chocolate tonight then crack on with this tomorrow . Going to be positive and look at this as a good thing for my health and cooking !

[jeral Profile]

That's a wide brief. Are there any fish or pulses you don't like? Is chilli, ginger, black pepper OK?

Four months is a long time if in pain. Maybe natter at them weekly in case there's a short notice cancellation you could take.

[Pampy Profile]

I love most fish and eat it regularly. I sometimes use cod, halibut or salmon in place of chicken in Asian style recipes. A favourite is tikka, which I have with salad, raita and naan. I've also recently made a Vietnamese dish called ca kho to which I enjoyed. And don't forget 'healthy' fish and chips - cod baked in the oven with sweet potato wedges. Enjoy the pizza and chocolate!

[dennispc Profile]

Suggest buying linseed or flaxseed in its ground version. Seeds tend to lodge in all sorts of crevices on their way round our systems - suggested OH's consultant.

[Amyw Profile]

That's a wide brief. Are there any fish or pulses you don't like? Is chilli, ginger, black pepper OK?

Four months is a long time if in pain. Maybe natter at them weekly in case there's a short notice cancellation you could take.

I used to love mackerel but have gone off it and don't like sardines. Oh and tinned tuna reminds me of cat food

Pulses, I hate most beans and chickpeas. Lentils I don't mind in a soup or dhal.

I've looked at high fibre gluten free ideas and it's suggested grains like quinoa , millet and wild/brown rice . I've cooked a bit with quinoa before , but never millet , amaranth etc. God am I going to miss bread though

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Whole grain without gluten is a little tricky, is gluten particularly contraindicated?

Brown rice is an obvious place to start, and you may not be aware that you can get brown rice noodles, they are very good, most health food shops are likely to have them, but I found them in my corner shop. They are really nice too, not like eating sackcloth.

You can get gluten free whole grain oats, for porridge (yum) or overnight oats (yuk) when I Googled to check the first that came up were from Holland & Barratt, if there's one near you a wander round might be indicated

Buckwheat is gluten free, and is often eaten as kasha - the grains roasted and then boiled like rice, I'd recommend buying pre-roasted and following the package instructions. Careful with buckwheat noodles such as soba, they usually contain about 50% wheat, so far from gluten free. If you Google there are also lots of other recipes for kasha

If whole grain and high fibre extends to pulses, then there are so many foods, But lentil soup made with the whole lentils rather than split red ones is a good one as you can make a batch and portion it up.

I'll have a think. Good luck, that's not a user friendly diagnosis

[Amyw Profile]

Only one study has been done that I could find , that said there was a 75 per cent reduction in symptoms when people eliminated gluten from their diet and the avoidance of gluten keeps coming up as I'm researching . I think it's worth giving it a go .

Fibres highly recommended too. I think I'll definitely change up my breakfast and go for high fibre cereals and maybe adding chia or Lin seeds to it

[Binky Profile]

The problem with buying ready-ground linseeds/flaxseeds is that they tend to go rancid if not used up PDQ. The best bet is to buy a food processor/blender and grind them as you need them (say a weeks supply). OH sprinkles the powder on his breakfast cereal.

Don't eat them whole - they just pass through the body undigested.

[DEB Profile]

besan or gram flour, chickpea flour is naturally gluten free. It's also high in protein, iron and fiber. All it is, is ground-up chickpeas that are either raw or roasted.
Corn flour is gluten-free in its natural form. It has a light, finer texture when used in baked goods. It can be used to make pancakes, corn bread. These might help
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/search/reci ... y=cornmeal
There are a number of non wheat pasta, it is a matter of personal taste as to which you like.
these may contain some recipes that you like
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/col ... luten-free
Does pork count as red meat in this case, remember chicken and turkey.

Wishing you the best.

[jeral Profile]

If you'll miss bread, look out for the Genius brand which is one of the better ones. Most g-f bread is better toasted, whichever brand. G-f pasta and pizza bases are readily available too. Rice and potatoes have no gluten. Look for oat or rice cereals.

On fish, it can be that normal meat eaters won't feel satisfied with the proverbial nice bit of fish if expending a lot of energy, so could consider having a soup or crudite & dip starter. Soups can have fish or shellfish added either by design or not. E.g. thickish blitzed sweetcorn, mushroom, leek and potato, or broths with prawns, or tasty coconut milk concoctions - both are lovely.

Virtually all white fish can have a herby crumb topping that's finished under the grill after pan-frying the base to half way up (i.e. once white, no longer translucent).

Hake, monkfish, halibut (though it'd be a shame), chunky cod loin and tuna can all take Med mixtures, i.e. toms, garlic, onion, black olives. Spuds sarladaises are my fave with that style.

Green veg gratin dollops are good too if the oven is on for a whole fish baked in parchment, e.g. gilthead bream or trout.

Delicate fish like plaice or sea bass I reckon are better with a simple lemon herb dressing, so fill up on soup or pud lol.

Shellfish (prawns, crab) goes well with salsa, e.g. pineapple or mango - and Rose Marie sauce of course. I confess I buy such fruit in tins as ripen-at-home fruit, er, doesn't.

A word on oats. They are naturally gluten free but can contain gluten due to cross-contamination with adjacent fields or in processing plants. TBH unless you've been declared coeliac the amount in ordinary oats should be neither here nor there. Also some pure g-f oats don't have the added vits that all others do. The same thing goes before you go overkill that unless you've been told to cut out gluten altogether, i.e. have been declared coeliac, there's no need to worry about trace amounts, it's the volume of bread, cakes, biscuits in the cross hairs.

[Pepper Pig Profile]

Some great advice there. Like me you don’t like chick peas, can you do the flour as DEB suggests?

I’d suggest looking at Michael Moseley’s 800 diet, a follow on from the 5.2. Very whole grain.

[Amyw Profile]

Thank you so far people. Interesting about the chickpea flour and linseeds. I’m looking forward to eating more fish , as I tend to go for meat options by default . I’ve looked through my two HFW veg books , which have some good healthy recipes , which are still tasty . My Ottolenghi books seem to be a good source of info too . Love a bit of Ottolenghi

[wargarden Profile]

corn meal is also gluten free.
Baltimore Corn Bread. 1 quart of milk, 5 eggs, beaten separately, 1 cup ful of boiled rice, 1 of butter, 1 tea-spoonful of soda, dissolved in the milk (sour milk is the best, but sweet will do), 2 large cupfuls of corn meal, enough to make a stiff batter. Melt the butter in the rice ; add the milk, yolks, corn meal, whites, and lastly the soda. Griddle cakes are made m the same way, only the batter is thinner.

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

When I had to pull my finger out and lose weight, I stopped eating bread.
And potatoes.
Breakfast became dry oats and yoghurt. Still is pretty much.

Avocado, cottage cheese, salmon, almonds, tomatoes, couscous and the like.
Chilli, boiled eggs. Tea you don't like tea if I recall.
Spinach and banana smoothies sometimes.
Omelettes.

I cannot eat chocolate now, cannot tolerate it.

Fish, all things salmon.

[Amyw Profile]

Nice recipe Wargarden possibly not overly diet friendly. Thanks for posting though

Good memory Gil, hate hot drinks, apart from hot chocolate sadly. I love eggs in any form and Greek yoghurt too.

Am thinking lots of soup, now the weathers getting cooler . Pretty healthy most of them and very filling . Have we ever had a soup thread before ? Will have to hop into the search function.

[Mrs Vee Profile Website]

Amy, I’m not a regular here so I hope you don’t mind me chipping in.

Last year I lost nearly four stone, needed to for health reasons, and have managed to keep it off (so far!)

I’m veggie and I don’t drink alcohol (maybe a glass of Prosecco at Christmas). I already ate a lot of pulses and lentils and masses of fruit and veg. Looking at my diet then, the main problems seemed to be bread, butter, cheese and anything involving pastry so I stopped eating those completely – worst of all, though, was portion control.

I started religiously eating porridge with fruit for breakfast; big salads with fat-free cottage cheese for lunch (balsamic or lemon juice and tiny amount of evoo) or veg and lentil soup followed by fruit and yogurt; dinner was anything I liked but only a very small portion plus veg or more salad. Dinner was, and still is, served on a tea plate.

I still miss bread; I’d kill for a ploughman’s lunch or some buttered toast but I’m afraid those are off limits because I don’t know when to stop… so it’s easier not to start!

Good luck with your health issues and weight loss.

[Amyw Profile]

Of course not Mrs Vee, is lovely to see new people posting . Congratulations on your weight loss that’s fantastic

[karadekoolaid Profile]

Amy: I can offer some (Indian, Indonesian or Thai) recipes with fish. Coconut milk, coriander, turmeric, ginger - all good stuff - are often included. Fish Molee; Fish " Ishtu", Fish with whole spices, green fish curry.
As for pulses; since you don´t enjoy beans, try some of the Indian lentil varieties. Masoor dal, mung dal, urid dal and toor dal, for example. They´re all split lentils, and are very versatile. they also come in colours; pink, green, yellow, black, white and orange!
One of my very favourite recipes is Muttakos Sambhar: Toor dal with onions, tomatoes and cabbage. LOTS of cabbage, which is wonderful for the digestive system.
Let me know if you want the recipes and I´ll post them.

[Amyw Profile]

Oh definitely please, I love your recipes

[Badger's Mate Profile]

There have been some very sensible suggestions already, but here are a few more (hopefully sensible)

If you go to an oriental grocers there are usually lots of different noodles. In addition to rice and buckwheat, there are bean thread, sweet potato. As Sue mentioned with soba, best to check the ingredients but the ones I've mentioned are generally made solely with the named ingredient iirc. Bean thread noodles don't taste of beans. Do you like beans as beansprouts?

As Wargarden has said, maize is gluten free. It's a great time of year if you like sweetcorn, just coming into season. It's been pointed out that cornmeal is good, as is rice, so what about Mexican dishes? Check out some Tommi Miers recipes. In other cuisines, Polenta would be an alternative to GF pasta for a change. Whilst on the Italian theme, would you like tinned fish in a Puttanesca sauce?

Back to seasonality, it's a good time of year for tomatoes, peppers, courgettes and aubergines. Ratatouille, piperade, caponata, Imam bayildi.

Does your dislike of beans stretch to broad beans? If they're alright it's another option for dips, assuming you don't like hummus.

Best of luck, anyway. I hope you enjoy trying new things and that it helps you feel a bit better