We believe that truly healthy eating means loving your food; having it be nourishing, delicious and satisfying so that you want to eat this way long-term.

For us, our love of food is a visceral, feeling thing that brings us joy and excitement on the daily - and we feel that the same should be true about healthy eating.

We know that healthy doesn’t mean the same thing for every person, which is why our aim is to nourish minds and bodies with healthy, wholesome foods, while still affording the flexibility required to choose what healthy looks like for you.

With our new ‘nourish’ tag, we want to highlight a way of enjoying food that brings back the basics of healthy eating, namely moving away from highly processed foods and towards simple, wholesome ingredients. We’re putting the emphasis on incorporating nourishing foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, healthy fats and delicious seasonings that offer enjoyment and nutritional benefit – as a way to enjoy healthy eating sustainably.

Sweet potato and lentil curry in two bowls

Introducing our Nourish tag

The aim of the nourish tag is to take the focus away from the numbers and onto the bigger picture of what eating well really means. Using our nourish tag, we put the spotlight more firmly on the types of foods that constitute a healthy diet, as well as the dietary patterns that support a healthy lifestyle. In this way, individuals can choose healthy meals to inspire them according to their personal dietary requirements, whether that is low or higher in calories, moderate or high protein, low or high carb etc. Where appropriate, we will highlight recipes that are:

Our nourish recipes are designed around healthy portion sizes, plenty of nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables, nourishing fats such as oily fish, nuts, seeds and olive oil, as well as a variety of proteins and wholegrains to help you to achieve your daily healthy goals. For general nutritional info, you can find this at the bottom of our recipes.

Healthy Vegetarian Salad Recipe with Tahini Dressing

Why we chose ‘nourish’

To nourish means to ‘provide (one) with food or other substances necessary for growth, health and good condition’ – that’s why you’ll find our new nourish tag not just on our healthy recipes and collections, but on all of the great content we’ve designed to nourish your health and wellbeing.

A note on sugar

Sugars found naturally in whole fruits (dried, canned, stewed), vegetables, grains, dairy, legumes etc are considered healthy as they are consumed along with all the naturally occurring fibres and nutrients that allow the body to utilise them in a healthy way.

Free sugars include syrups, all forms of sugar (brown, white, coconut), fruit juices, molasses/treacle. Where we use free sugars in a recipe, the total will be no more than 20g per serving.

Healthy Flapjacks with Seeds on a Wooden Board

A note on fat

Fat is an important part of a healthy diet. For most individuals, it is advisable to primarily focus on unsaturated fats such as nuts, seeds, olive oil, avocados etc, as well as essential omega-3 fats – found in oily fish, hemp seeds, walnuts, flax and chia seeds. Saturated fats such as those found in butter, coconut, cheese and lard should be kept to a minimum, while trans fats (found in high processed foods such as pre-packaged snacks, cakes and biscuits) should be largely avoided.

Daily ‘healthy’ goals

The exact make-up of a diversified, balanced and healthy diet will vary depending on individual characteristics (e.g. age, gender, lifestyle and degree of physical activity), cultural context, locally available foods and dietary customs. However, the basic principles of what constitutes a healthy diet remain the same.

Energy intake should be in balance with energy expenditure:

  • Sat fat less than 10% of total calories
  • Trans fats less than 1%
  • Total fat within 30% of total calories
  • Free sugars less than 10% (i.e. syrups, fruit juice, juice concentrate)
  • Keep salt within 5g/day

Example (based on 2,000kcal):

  • 22g saturated fat
  • 67g fat
  • 30g of fibre
  • Less than 50g free sugars (i.e. syrups, fruit juice, juice concentrate)
  • 5g salt (or less)

Don’t forget to look out for our new ‘nourish’ tag to on all of our healthy content.

If you’d rather see the metrics, then you can still find all nutritional info below our recipes or you can head over to our sister site: bbcgoodfood.com and look for recipes marked with a ‘healthy’ tag, which have been analysed according to food labelling standards. If you are on a specialised diet for medical reasons, please speak to your healthcare provider before making any changes to your dietary routine.

All health content on olivemagazine.com is provided for general information only, and should not be treated as a substitute for the medical advice of your own doctor or any other healthcare professional. Any healthy content featured by olive is provided as a suggestion of a general balanced diet and should not be relied upon to meet specific dietary requirements. If you have any concerns about your general health, you should contact your local healthcare provider. See our website terms and conditions for more information.