Aviva Total Politics 2010 Election Map

Total Politics - because knowledge is power

 

The curse of the canapes

 

Sarah MacKinlay and Phillip Nifield

 

"Spring roll sir?" "Chicken satay madam?" "Salmon blini?"
These fun, bite-sized little nibbles, a meal in a single bite, might seem innocuous - but they aren't. Medical nutritionist Naomi Beinart says: "Canapés may look harmless, but think again! The average canapé will be processed and not made with nutrient-rich fresh food, so your best bet is to pick the healthier choices." Her advice is simple: "Avoid puff pastry as some vol-au-vents can be up to 100 calories each, and steer clear of anything deep fried."
Beinart's advice is to eat Japanese and Thai-style sushi-based canapés if they are on offer, as these should contain just 25 calories each. Ideally, you should try to eat protein-rich snack before attending receptions so you don't need to eat out of hunger.
As endless trays pour from the kitchen and waiters swagger through the gathering, daring you to take one more of the carefully crafted morsels from their plate, it all becomes increasingly difficult to resist.
The scene is familiar to the politician, who will find themselves in such a situation two, three or four times a week.
First Minister Rhodri Morgan is all too aware of the dangers of a poor diet, stress and a lack of exercise these days. He avoids the lift and climbs the 129 steps to his office on the fifth floor at the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff.
He usually repeats the walk at least another couple of times a day as part of a regime of exercise and a radically changed diet that has seen him lose more than three stone.
It was a year ago that the 68-year-old Welsh Labour leader was taken ill at home with severe chest pain and underwent a procedure involving the insertion of stents to open two partially blocked arteries.
He had initially attributed the chest pain to eating chilli peppers. "The cardiologist told me in a follow-up appointment that my arteries were 99 per cent blocked and he didn't want me coming back in five years time with the stents blocked up."
The near-heart attack happened just days after Rhodri and the Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones had agreed their coalition to run the Welsh Assembly, following tough negotiations between the parties.
"I exercise and always thought I ate healthily. I never had a bacon butty like lot of MPs who used to eat comfort foods when I was at Westminster, so I wondered 'why is this happening to me'? I thought food like dark chocolate and brazil nuts were healthy and jam and sugar were bad things.
"I used to love eating rhubarb and apple tart. Now I eat them stewed, without the crust, and also I can't eat Welsh cakes which, I suppose, is a bad thing for the First Minister of Wales.
"My diet is high in protein and low in fat - lots of veg, potatoes, wholemeal bread, more food than I had before. I prepare homemade muesli at the weekend and have it for breakfast through the week with whatever fruit is in season on top.
"The result of the changes is that I've lost the rubber tyre around my waist and I've gone down from 15st 8lbs to 12st 7lbs. I now have one glass of wine a day, instead of two, but I still go out on a Sunday for a pint with the old gang. Three pints a week is my maximum now though."
Before his heart scare, Morgan enjoyed walking - usually a couple of miles three nights a week. Now he has stepped that up to 20 miles a week, taking in at least one steep hill, so he's out of breath.
"I've counted the number of steps to my office from the ground floor. There are 129 and I walk up and down usually three times a day when I'm in the office and try to increase my speed as I go.
"Old age creeps up on us all with less exercise than when we were younger. But I'm really feeling ten years younger as a result of the changes I've made to my lifestyle. I can certainly recommend the British Heart Foundation's healthy diet."
The strict diet has meant Morgan having to turn down food served to him at official functions. "I have to be a little rude and say I can't eat this or that. They bring me a low-fat alternative and I always have a fresh fruit salad as dessert."
He admits the heart scare has meant cutting out many of his favourite foods such as pizza, and Chinese and Indian takeaways. "I now eat a lot of fish - salmon, trout, herring, mackerel, which has Omega 3 which is really good for you. I still enjoy a steak," adds Morgan, who now takes three tablets a week for his condition plus a 'baby' aspirin.
His revamped lifestyle has also meant changes for his wife, Cardiff North Labour MP Julie Morgan. "Julie follows about 50 per cent of the diet."
Morgan says that despite the scare last summer, he has not altered his plans to step down as First Minister on his 70th birthday, in September next year.
"I still put in the same number of hours in my role as I did before my scare. I do feel enormously fit but I'm not going to change my mind.
"I plan to step down on my birthday next year. I will continue on the backbenches until the 2011 Assembly elections and I'll then be channelling more of my newfound vigour and health into playing football and rugby with the grandchildren," says Morgan, who represents the same Cardiff West constituency as when he was in Westminster.
Adding more stress to an already busy life can be avoided. Coffee is one of the main culprits and Beinart suggests that, from a naturopathic medical perspective, the negative aspects of drinking coffee on a daily basis outweigh the apparent positives.
She says: "Coffee has been linked with cardiovascular disease, although it has also been linked with reducing the risk of developing gallstones and kidney stones.
"Caffeine stresses the body by causing your adrenal glands to work overtime. You don't need this! Try alternatives such as herbal teas, and try to keep your blood sugar balanced by snacking on nuts, seeds, dried and fresh fruit and energy bars."
The best snacks to have on the go are small bags of nuts, seeds and dried fruit that you can buy from most supermarkets and cafes. Energy bars are also great and easier to have in a bag, but look out for high-sugar glucose syrup and additives.
"Make sure you keep up routine blood tests to check cholesterol levels and blood pressure, and try to eat as balanced a diet as possible," she adds.

She also advises that keeping your blood sugar balanced is the best way to avoid serious illness later in life, as once it is unbalanced, the rest of your body tends to follow the same way. To do this, ensure that you eat regular small meals and healthy snacks, and try to eat your main meal at lunchtime so it has time to digest. Your daily meals should consist of lean proteins such as fish and white meat, vegetarian proteins such as beans and pulses, complex carbohydrates such as brown rice, brown pasta and wholemeal bread, and as much salad and vegetables as you like - a diet similar to the one Rhodri Morgan has switched to.
Long hours and not enough sleep has a pretty dreadful impact on your life, Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb tells Total Politics, says he has "lots of stress and not enough sleep".
Christine Ward, senior dietician at Spire Murrayfield Hospital in Edinburgh tells Total Politics: "Most people sleep between seven to nine hours a night. Sleeping too few hours however can have detrimental effects on physical and mental health - including the decision-making process. Stress, meanwhile, is strongly linked with abdominal obesity and this is in turn linked to metabolic syndrome, whose symptoms include high blood pressure, high cholesterol and elevated glucose levels."
Lamb has taken some measures to address his unhealthy lifestyle by taking up running and giving up smoking. But because he works from 9am to midnight during the week, he doesn't have the chance to exercise until the weekend. Although he eats fruit, he admits to snacking on crisps and chocolate and has a penchant for the energy drink, Red Bull. But anyone who works a 15-hour day could be forgiven for needing some kind of pick-me-up.
Long periods without food and missing meals can make it far easier to reach for unhealthy fast food options when your stomach is growling. And becoming overly hungry can mean over-compensating and eating far too much when you do finally eat.
Ward explains how: "Eating late at night can cause poor sleep patterns and increase your chance of weight gain because the body is trying hard to digest the food when it really wants to be sleeping."
Continual snacking is another danger zone, as many snacks offered at functions tend to be high in fat. Canapés are small and tempting, so it's easy to consume too many. Ward adds: "When alcohol is flowing freely at evening receptions, the chances are you will consume far more than you realise. This, together with an abundance of food, often leads to taking onboard huge amounts of calories.
It's important to remember that one drink does not equal one unit of alcohol. One cocktail for instance can contain many units of alcohol. A good option is to alternate alcoholic drinks with diet soft drinks or Perrier water to keep the calorific value and alcohol volume down.