is this food bad for you

SnowyOwl_2

Earwig, well done on encouraging your brother to eat properly. There is (apparently) a link between what we eat and our mental health. Food from tins or packets will be better than the repetitive, fatty, over-processed offerings from the kebab place, and fresh food cooked at home will be even better again. You're definitely on the right path to getting him to improve his diet.

For what it's worth I agree that the value/economy fresh fruit and veg is absolutely fine - it's just not the prettiest colour, correct size for the container, not the same "perfect" size as other fruit and veg, which is why the supermarkets turn their noses up at it. Nutritionally it's the same thing as the expensive things.

Would your brother eat tinned fish? I am thinking specifically of tinned mackerel and tinned sardines for their omega 3 content which has some associations with healthy mental functioning. There is very little else in the tin besides chunks of fish. One or two tins a week would be good. The mackerel is nice with a bit of cheese in a toasted sandwich. There is the vacuum packed mackerel too which is a bit nicer than tinned. I understand though that tinned tuna has lost a lot of its omega 3 content, but mackerel and sardines are OK.

Would you be willing to perhaps get him to visit you for tea once a week or once a fortnight or something, and then serve him an easy dish like shepherd's pie - and tell him how cheap and easy it is to make at home from fresh ingredients? Let him take a portion size left over home to reheat. Or if you make it at his house, share it, and then freeze the remainder for him to have another day?

Best of luck with this, I know it can be hard going when someone is mentally unfit.

kittiwoz

I like offal. I made a nice Lancashire hotpot the other week with lamb chops and lamb kidneys. I love liver and onions. I'll happily munch down on black puding sandwiches. I like corned beef fritters. I think whole grilled sprats to munch up with grilled tomatoes and bread and butter is a cheap treat.

But I won't buy cheap sausages or bugers. I don't mind that they contain offal. This is what I do mind. They contain loads of filler (like cheap fish fingers that are often only 30% fish). They contain loads of water so they shrivel away to nothing when you cook them. They normally contain more fat. They often contain more additives. Their nutritional value is generally crap. Most importantly they don't taste nice.

Is the use of mechanically recovered meat not banned now? I'm pretty sure mechanically recovered beef at least was banned in the late 90s. Mechanically recovered meat is extremely dodgy since the power jet blasts bits off the spinal cord too. Thats why having eaten cheap burgers prior to the anti-transmission measures is linked with CJD (mad cow disease).

TBH any sort of processed meat or fish where you can't see what's in it could be dodgy. Maggot Pete's chicken reclaimed from the slaughter house bins, not fit for human consumption and often not fit for animal consumption either, ended up in a lot of Supermarkets own brand chicken nuggets etc. as well as in Shipam's paste. Amazing that didn't put people off processed food really.

Trow

Mechanically recovered meat is still widely used, especially afaiaa in things like chicken nuggets - Birds Eye use chicken breast for their chicken dippers (and cod fillet for their fish fingers), but many cheaper products use mechanically recovered meat.

Rachie_B

kittiwoz wrote:

I like offal. I made a nice Lancashire hotpot the other week with lamb chops and lamb kidneys. I love liver and onions. I'll happily munch down on black puding sandwiches. I like corned beef fritters. I think whole grilled sprats to munch up with grilled tomatoes and bread and butter is a cheap treat.

.

yum me too ,love kidneys ,liver etc

we always had that kinda thing when i was small,inc tongue / heart etc ,but i couldnt bring myself to eat those now ! :eek:

i was put off any chicken "nuggets" type things when jamie oliver showed the school kids what goes in them ! OMG spewarama !

now if only i could get mhy 4 yr old to eat my HM nuggets :rolleyes:

earwig

hi thanks everyone you have pretty much cofirmed what i was worried about
i will make him when we go shoping look at the difference between the cheep food and the dearer food his mental illness is schizophenia and has it since the age of 19 he is now 34 he used to live in a care home but they shipped them all out into councill flats so they could close the home so he dosnt know how to do much it a good idea to make somethings and freeze them for him he has a free bus pass so he could come and collect them in my view he should be back in a home as he dosnt look after himself propery but there is no chance of that so its up to me to try and help him and his diet is the first step

£Ronnie

:A Good for you, he is very lucky to have you to help him.
I don't think I could do it, and I admire you for this....:A
It may well be hard though and babysteps is probably the best way to go. Let us know how you get on with the food awareness plan.

BOL
Ronnie

filigree_2

You could ask the social worker if there are training courses available, I know my local adult education college offers life skills training for adults. Cookery lessons would help him with his diet, and it would give him something positive to do to pass the time.

caroline1973lefty

Think there is some really good advice on this thread. Anyone interested in the link between good diet and mental health might want to have a look at information that MIND have put together:

http://www.foodandmood.org/
http://www.mind.org.uk/Information/Booklets/Mind+guide+to/Mindguidetofoodandmood.htm

There is a lot of emphasis on cutting out 'dietary stressors', in particular, sugar. I know from my own experience that when I have managed to reduce sugar it has had a dramatic effect on my mood. And one of the problems with junk food is that it often has lots of sugar hidden away (nutrasweet is even worse).

I was given some good dietary advice by an alternative health practioner when I was very down (and eating very badly) last year. I think if she had said 'eat this, eat that, don't eat this and that' I would have felt overwhelmed. Instead she said I should a) drink more water and b) try and eat a tablespoons worth of nuts or seeds each day. That was it! Because it was so simple, I ended up thinking - oh I can do that - and I can probably eat some more fruit and vegetables too...

Lastly, just remember to take care of yourself! It's great that you're looking out for your brother but remember to give yourself nice treatment too. :grouphug: