Food Combinations: Creative or Calorific?
Phoebe Lewin reveals the truth that hides behind popular Instagram photos and trends.
Chicken and waffles with syrup. Photo credit: Pexels
You’ve probably heard of the chip-ice cream combination, where people dip their freshly cooked chips into their vanilla ice cream or milkshake. This combination is unusually popular but is this trend healthy for you?
First, let’s start by describing what a food trend is and why it matters.
A food trend is a popular food or flavour that is consumed both in restaurants and by the general public. Restaurants need to keep up with food trends so they can update their menus accordingly and attract new customers. It tends to take off through food bloggers and other specialist experts when they try something different and post about it.
Social media also accelerates this - hyping up trends and spreading them quickly and globally. In recent years, trendy foods appear to be funny - the kind of thing that works on social media and is both visual and entertaining. Things ranging from souffle pancakes to smash burgers, all look great and appeal to people's imagination. But are they healthy?
Lily Samuels, a nutritionist based in Coventry, told us that even popular foods like jam on toast can have major health implications.
Photo credit: Lily Samuels Nutrition
She said, “When you break down the ingredients of the foods and what they have in them, it shows the amount of sugar in the jam that you’re combining with carbohydrates in the bread and other things that add to your calorie count.”
Now if you’re the type of person who eats anything, maybe take a minute to consider how it might affect your health. Sophie Hyam is an award-winning chef in Coventry and owns a catering business called Culinary Bites. Here are some of her healthy meals, which can give you some inspiration:
Photo Sophie Hyam, award-winning private chef in Coventry. Photo credit: Sophie Hyam
Grilled salmon fillets with rocket & pomegranate salad.
Beef Goulash roasted tomatoes and gluten-free pasta
Fish cakes with no egg - air fried on a bed of steamed vegetables (dairy & gluten-free)
Teriyaki chicken on rice noodles with Chinese vegetables
Squash coconut & green bean curry
She also shared what type of food combinations she has issues with:
As good as it looks, it wouldn’t look good on your waistline!
Photo Credit: Cooking with Kiona YouTube channel and Food & Wine website
Smash burgers - Sophie says “They are not healthier because they are smashed! They are still loaded with cheese and sauces!”
We know that burgers in general aren’t healthy for you anyway so there’s no surprise there.
TikTok spaghetti - I’m sure we all know that anything taken from TikTok is automatically trendy, but this type of spaghetti again is loaded with cheese and is made using bottled tomato sauce which Sophie says has a high sugar content.
All around the world, there are weird and wonderful food combinations that people enjoy. All over TikTok, food influencers (such as this one) try the trendiest foods and share their opinions on it.
We know that food can bring a lot of us together and make us happier. Whether you’re eating burgers on a night out, sharing a meal with someone close to you, or even eating ice cream after a bad day, it brings comfort and joy to those who need it.
Okay, so now you’ve grasped the fact that we human beings LOVE and NEED FOOD! We tend to see and hear of American food combinations and portion sizes but the USA isn’t the only place that has food lovers!
Coventry’s very own food blogger Ellen Manning had a lot to say about her job and why she likes it so much.
Photo of Ellen Manning. Photo credit: Eat with Ellen food blog website.
She said:
“I think Coventry is a hugely under-rated food scene. Yes, it may not be as high-end and salubrious as some towns or cities, but in terms of authentic cuisine from across the world, it's brilliant. From Korean barbecue to great Vietnamese food, Caribbean cuisine, fine dining, and everything in between, I'm fairly sure you can find food from all over the world in Coventry in a reflection of its diverse culture and population. The restaurant offering continues to improve, in part thanks to investment in the city, and while I will always champion independent businesses over big chains, I think the arrival of major restaurant and food chains in Coventry demonstrates a growing confidence in the city and a recognition that people in Coventry love great food, and choice, as much as anywhere else. I'm hugely optimistic about the city's food scene.”
I consider myself a huge lover of food, but I also exercise a bit of self-control and adopt a balanced approach to these things, accepting that if I want to look after my health, I cannot eat huge meals regularly.
As a food lover, (or “foodie” as some people like to call it) Ellen visits many restaurants in and around Coventry tasting and blogging about all the food the city has to offer. But how does it affect her health?
She said, “It's fairly well documented by top food critics that eating huge meals regularly, and eating out multiple times in a week, can have a detrimental effect on your health. The same goes for anyone who loves food. But it's also not a given that just because you love food you will automatically be unhealthy. I consider myself a huge lover of food, but I also exercise a bit of self-control and adopt a balanced approach to these things, accepting that if I want to look after my health, I cannot eat huge meals regularly. So I balance things out, exercise, and ensure that while enjoying food, I also prioritise my health.”
See, even food lovers who try all sorts of different combinations and dishes take care of their health too!
Foodie animated word cloud. Credit: Pond5 website
We’ve identified that food combinations/trends are indeed NOT healthy for you, but if you still want to have a good experience, here are 5 tips to make healthier food choices:
5 tips to making healthier food choices:
Check the labels! How much sugar/salt/fat content is in the food? Could you switch to healthier alternatives?
Homemade food. Not only is it cheaper to cook your food, but it’s also a healthier way than using store products loaded with sugar. For example, making pasta sauce rather than using bottled sauces like Sophie said.
“Eat everything in moderation” as the saying goes. If you’re going to try a food combination, let it be on occasion and not consistently.
Visit a doctor! I cannot stress how important this is. If you know you have high cholesterol, please DON’T start eating the smash burgers! Get a health check done before you risk harming yourself.
And finally, if you’re going to do all of this and still eat masses of food, don’t forget to exercise. The fat must be burned into energy, otherwise, it’s useless even trying, because you’ll be like a sloth, and a sloth never helps anyone!
So overall, whatever you do, avoid the food combinations, or make healthy alternatives to them.