A healthy 'full English'...

Pollycat

Charlton_King wrote: »

Fascinating reading, this thread. I think people's reactions will vary according, literally, to taste.

Yes, animal fats with high lipids really should be avoided if you're going to make any claim at all to having a healthy breakfast. Having said that, folk will go out of their way to "let themselves off" in their own mind if they're hooked, for example, on the taste of caramelised pork.

The claim that sausages are "quality meat" or "proper" is akin to pouring salt over your food but of course it's "all right because it's sea salt".

You get the same thing in many areas.

I'm with you, Alan, especially if it's as tasty and authentic as you say - and particularly interested by the fact that it does have a high veg content at the start of the day. I often find myself struggling to get the five when I realise in the middle of an evening what I've eaten during the day. This bears thinking about.

No. it's not 'akin to pouring salt all over your food' at all. :rotfl:

I personally don't pour salt 'all over my food'.
I don't use salt in cooking at all.
I buy 'low salt' versions of food where possible.

As for 'quality sausages' or 'proper sausages' -

Pollycat wrote: »

I have a 'full English breakfast' once in a blue moon so wouldn't worry unduly about it being that healthy.

Pollycat wrote: »

Re the thread topic, I go with the 'everything in moderation' principle.

And I'm curious what 'high veg content' the breakfast in the first post contains that wouldn't be on a 'full English breakfast' with non-veg bacon and sausage.
Or would that be the soya in the couple of sausages?

MandM90

Hi Alan,

I'm vegan so also enjoy Linda Ms as an alternative on a Sunday morning. We sometimes also ring the changes with a smashed avocado on toast (so fatty, so tasty!) or sauteeing some spinach with our mushrooms. I also second the recommendation for Cauldron sausages!

Well done for taking control of your health - my mum managed to get taken off her type 2 diabetes meds by cutting down animal products to a minimum. Hope you experience the same effects to your health

When we were meat eaters we would sometimes have organic bacon medallions for brekkie, with poached eggs, beans, grilled mushrooms and tomato. Once you're tucking in you really don't miss the greasy spoon equivalent and after a while your tastes do change.

I realise everyone is different but let's not discourage posters from contributing to our wonderful community!

Stoke

I'm an active member of Slimming World, still progressing on my weight loss journey.

The SW answer to a full English is:

Egg - Poached or Fried with Frylight only.
Sausage - SW Syn-free Sausages (from Iceland) or the Linda Mc sausages. My opinion is the SW sausages have an unfairly gained bad rep. They don't have the same texture as cheap sausages, they don't go through quite the same level of intensive processing. If you're used to cheap sausages, you probably won't like the SW ones, not initially anyway.
Bacon - Yep, just cut away all of the visible fat, or buy the pre-cut fat free bacon rashers that are now readily available.
Tomato - Not for me, but others might.
Baked Beans - Heinz, no reason not too.
Mushrooms - Fried in Frylight
Bread - Brown
Espresso - No sugar, no milk.

On SW, the above meal would be considered completely free and would probably set you up very well for a long day. It'll be low calories compared to the greasy death on a plate breakfast you might get at some cafes.

Regardless, there's nothing wrong with the occasional unhealthy breakfast, or trip to a McDonald's. It's all about moderation, something that is clearly misunderstood by half the British population.

Pollycat

Stoke wrote: »

Regardless, there's nothing wrong with the occasional unhealthy breakfast, or trip to a McDonald's. It's all about moderation, something that is clearly misunderstood by half the British population.

:T
And there we have it.

The thread generated opinions about eating meat products on an occasional basis.
There is nothing wrong with that (imho).
It also generated opinions on the taste of vegetarian sausages.
There is nothing with with that either (imho).

Are we to have a forum where everybody agrees with everybody else?

I've just had a jacket potato with some fancy French full fat cream cheese with herbs on. :eek:
Would I have the same tomorrow?
Or the next day?
Or next week?
No, of course I wouldn't.
Because I exercise moderation and variety in the food I cook and eat.

Stoke

Pollycat wrote: »

:T
And there we have it.

The thread generated opinions about eating meat products on an occasional basis.
There is nothing wrong with that (imho).
It also generated opinions on the taste of vegetarian sausages.
There is nothing with with that either (imho).

Are we to have a forum where everybody agrees with everybody else?

I've just had a jacket potato with some fancy French full fat cream cheese with herbs on. :eek:
Would I have the same tomorrow?
Or the next day?
Or next week?
No, of course I wouldn't.
Because I exercise moderation and variety in the food I cook and eat.

Moderation is undoubtedly where it is at and for me, it's the lack of moderation that caused me to gain weight in the first place. As someone who became very overweight (BMI around 40 at one point), I have seen a few sides to weight and the relationship people have with food. I was thin, then I became fat, and now I'm part way through a weight loss journey which has seen me go from very overweight to being fairly average (I'm still trying to lose more weight though).

It's about moderation, variety, and just a bit of self-discipline. I'll openly admit that Saturday at around 11am, I was tucking into a Large Full English from Wetherspoons. Nothing particularly healthy about that. Instead of compounding that by having a McDonald's for lunch and a takeaway for tea, I skipped lunch altogether and then had a light tea. Net result? A surprising drop in my weight, when I got on the scales.

Moderation. Once people get the hang of it, the obesity crisis will come to an end.

halogen

I do a full english every few months or so and I microwave the lot. Sorry. It's just so much easier and quicker.

fuddle

Pollycat wrote: »

:T
And there we have it.

The thread generated opinions about eating meat products on an occasional basis.
There is nothing wrong with that (imho).
It also generated opinions on the taste of vegetarian sausages.
There is nothing with with that either (imho).

Are we to have a forum where everybody agrees with everybody else?

I've just had a jacket potato with some fancy French full fat cream cheese with herbs on. :eek:
Would I have the same tomorrow?
Or the next day?
Or next week?
No, of course I wouldn't.
Because I exercise moderation and variety in the food I cook and eat.

Pollycat you use the clapping hands smiley as if you've been vindicated and I'm a tad confused at that.

There's nothing wrong with eating meat products on occasion if you want, just like there's nothing wrong with eating a different recipe with 'health' in mind.

For some of us it isn't about moderation. It's about avoiding. If I had your full fat cream cheese today, your quality saturated fat sausages tomorrow and continued with that mentality having everything in moderation but still consuming different saturated fat items every day, or even regularly, then my heart would be in more difficulty than it is now.

Pollycat I am in heart failure at age 38. I have inflammation of the heart and medicated for it to pump properly. The damage might be long lasting or I might be lucky and recover. What I have can kill me. All caused through contracting pneumonia 18 months ago.

I'm telling you this because sometimes people make choices out of panic and fear. Can I eat a 90% pork sausage tomorrow? Yeah, course I can and I'm sure I will be fine but I don't want to any more. I want to do the best I can for my heart and my health. That's why I applaud Alan for his first post. He's a heart patient who looks to be looking at ways to help himself recover and avoid further problems. Alan shared. You disagree with him, with me, and that's ok but sometimes moderation isn't the key, it's the slippery slope to further problems.

pigpen

I actually think LM veggie stuff are all utterly disgusting.. the tesco soya lincolnshire veggie sausages are really nice.. and I am as picky as a toddler.. and I even quite like the quorn cumberland ones.. you can also get reduced fat pork sausages or 100% turkey or chicken sausages all of which are 'better' than the fried beef jobbies.. I always grill or oven my sausages rather than fry them too. I don't eat meat because it makes me ill.

Omelette or scrambled eggs are just as good as poached and they aren't snotty unlike poached eggs which are never cooked on top..

Fake bacon... the real stuff is bad enough.. if you feel the need to not eat meat why would you want to simulate the real stuff? But bacon flavoured turkey.. that's just weird! and no doubt packed with salt and other toxic rubbish which is worse than the small amount of saturated bacon fat

Baked beans.. make your own! It isn't hard!

Or better still.. have the proper fry up once in a while and get out of your chair and do some exercise occasionally!! It matters much less what you eat if you do some exercise too.

Natural fat is fine in moderation.. That is the key to ALL things. but we do also need it .. fat coats our nerve cells, if our nerves do not have enough fat they cannot work properly. Many artificial sweeteners are highly carcinogenic and many have a strong laxative effect.. not so good if you can't get to the lav quickly or only at set times. We've all laughted at the 'sugar free haribo' reviews on amazon!

Some people have very strange ideas about 'healthy' and most just need to get up and move more.. me included.. but I am not deluded in that! I think there is so much conflicting, contradictary waffle rolling about that it is hard to pick out what is right or wrong. My theory is eat less, eat a bit of everything and avoid the stuff you know is stupid.. alcohol, smoking, illegal drugs, too much sweet and not enough savoury (and vice versa) and get off your rump and do more!

Our bodies aren't made to be overwhelmed with any one thing and deficiencies and over indulgence of anything will cause problems. Addressing the reasons you have health issues as an individual is great.. but it is presumptuous to assume the same goes for everyone else.

Sometimes only a good old fashioned fat overload fry up is the only thing that cuts it!

fuddle

We do need fat. We need Omega 3,6 and 9 essential fatty acids, in the correct ratio, for all areas of the human body.

I'm going to stick my head on the block and suggest that we don't need saturated fat at all.

Consuming refined carbohydrates with saturated fat is also quite dicey for the health.

I educated myself and made a choice for me. I agree that it's presumptuous to assume everyone is in the same boat which is why I said, for some, moderation isn't acceptable.

pigpen

fuddle wrote: »

We do need fat. We need Omega 3,6 and 9 essential fatty acids, in the correct ratio, for all areas of the human body.

I'm going to stick my head on the block and suggest that we don't need saturated fat at all.

we do need some.. we need about 20-30g per day depending on age, gender, activity level, it's a really tiny amount.. but the average person has triple that in one meal!