10 healthy eating tips for travelling Australia
Let’s face it, to maintain healthy eating habits when travelling Australia, it’s a struggle! Many factors, like changing climate and time zones, changing location, eating at odd times and poor cooking facilities may lead to changing your eating habits. When travelling, it’s easier to prefer eating pre-packaged food, grabbing a snack and running into a fast-food restaurant as a quick solution to a hunger pang.
10 Healthy Eating Tips for Travelling Australia
While Australia is a country that offers some of the finest food of this world, it’s not easy to get it, simply because Australian produce is not available in common supermarekts, where the ordinary traveller shops. Unless you make your research and find out where to buy local produce, the food you can buy in Australian supermarkets, is mostly processed food. On top of this food is expensive in Australia, and this has an impact on the overall cost of travelling Australia. However there are ways to maintain your eating habits and eat healthy food at reasonable prices.
Why eating real food is important
In Australia processed food is what most people eat every day. And the rising number of fat and obese people in Australia is a clear evidence that most people don’t eat much of the locally grown and produced healthy food. Processed food is devoid of essential nutrients, it’s added with lots of chemicals. Processed food is very much fake food. Real food, instead, contains all the nutrients and micro-nutrients that our body needs to function well and provides our brain and heart with real energy.
In 10 years of travels around Australia, suffering from multi intolerances, I have found my way on how to maintain my healthy eating habits, without breaking the bank.
Australian Organic Food
Here below I have put together 10 simple healthy eating habits to follow when travelling Australia.
Eat healthy wholefoods to keep your energy level high
Wholefoods are rich in essential nutrients and don’t contain added chemicals, which are found in processed food. Eating wholemeal grain breads and food rich in fiber will keep your energy level high, all day through. If you are active in the outdoors, eating complex carbohydrates, like wholemeal pasta and wholemeal bread, provides your body with real energy. Sugar snacks, cakes, chips and all processed food with added sugar or sweeteners, all soda drinks only create fake energy, which means after a short time you need to eat again and again. On top of that, it stimulates your body to produce insuline excessively due to spike of sugar in your blood. This may lead to diabetis on the long term. I never eat food made out of refined flours, instead I eat wholemeal cereals like oats, khorasan wheat, rye and more cereals.
Shop at local fruits and veggies markets or on your way
Everywhere in Australia you can find local fruits and vegetables markets. In cities like Sydney or Melbourne there are several Australian markets. In suburbia there are many farmers selling their local products. A good rule is to ask the tourist offices or the locals for advice and directions. Moreover a good thing to do, is to stop, whenever you see a sign pointing to a fruit stall, where you can buy fresh products from local farmers.
Australian Fruits and Veggies Markets
Eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables
Eat plenty of fresh fruits and fresh vegetables. This is the best way of providing your body with all vitamins and minerals to function optimally. Australia is a country with a fantastic offer of fruits and veggies. Northern Australia is a source for excellent tropical fruits like avocados, mangos and more fruits. Avocado is a wonderful fruit that provides you with fiber and good fats, like Omega 3. I eat avocado every day with my salads or at breakfast. Pumpkin is another great vegetable that can be purchased everwhere and is not expensive, it’s easy to cook and versatile, you can also find lots of ready-made pumpkin recipies from supermarkets and health food shops.
Read food labels in supermarkets
Generally speaking additivies and chemicals in food are not good, but food industry add them to preserve or extend the shelf life of packaged food. We cannot get away with this. Most processed food contains lots of them. If you, like me, are intollerant to addivities and colourants, then you absolutely need to read the food labels in Australia. As Australian food in supermarkets is full of addivities and chemicals in higher percentages than in other countries. A simple tip, is to put back to shelf any product that has a long list of additivies and colourants, as well as partially hydrogenated oils; these oil are very toxic and on the long run may have an impact on your heart health. Don’t eat food that has 0% fat as these products contain sweeteners, and artificial sweeteners are toxic too. Don’t use soft vegetable spread, very much used in Australia, that’s one of the worst things, instead use butter or prefer organic butter.
Read Australian Food Labels
Cook your own food and make breakfast to your energy meal
Prepare and cook your own meals. I know it’s easier said than done. If you stay in place with poor cooking facilities it may be difficult. Avocado, chickpeas, veggies, seeds is a great basis for energetic salads. In Australia I weak up early and have a good breakfast as my main, energy meal. Toasted wholegrain bread, scrumbled eggs with vegetables, fresh fruits and juices, oats porridge are my favourite breakkies. In the evening I eat pumpkin soup, that helps clear my body and provides lots of antioxidants and fluids. Obviously the food intake vary from day to day, depending on the activities and on the weather too.
Cooking your own Food in Australia
Eat simple food and prefer organic food
Processed food contains lots of additives and colourant and chemicals which 100 years ago were not even considered food. So you can say loudly that most refined food you get in supermarkets is fake food. The main chains like Coles, IGA and Woolworths offer a wide selection of food, and they also sell fresh food like fruits and veggies at very expensive prices though. Woolworths runs a good organic food label called Macrò, which I can recommend, as I have used many of their products. Organic food can be found at many fresh markets and in many health shops too.
Switch to a five-meal day
Switching to a five-meal day may sound complicated, but it’s not. I have tried it out for myself and noticed that it works fantastic. Eating 5 times a day instead of 3 has many advantages. First of all it is a great way of maintaining the energy level high throughout the day. If you are very active during the day, eating small portions of food will provide your body constantly with the necessary intake of fiber, minerals and essential nutrients. You can pack your food into an airtight container or into a refrigerated lunch bag, and take it with you.
Eat Simple Food and Make of Breakfast your main meal
Drink lots of pure water
Many people forget about drinking a lot of pure water. When travelling Australia you need to change your habits and switch to a rich diet of pure fresh water. In Australia you will need to drink at least 2-3 liters of water a day. If you are active in the outdoor depending on the area, you may need 3-5 liters and maybe more, depending on your weight. But water alone is not enough; you need minerals and salts that water alone cannot replace. So, take fresh juices and avoid energy drinks, these are full of synthetic addivities and colourants. Citrus fruits are good, like oranges, lemon, limes, and many more. Drinking fresh pressed citrus can be a good alternative too.
Eat out with moderation
Eating out is part and parcel when travelling Australia, you can taste some of the finest food of this world, but food from Australian restaurants isn’t really a healthy choice, on the long run. When I eat out I choose restaurants to taste fine local food, that is locally produced. I don’t exceed with eating out though as I don’t make it to a steady habit, because I believe there is no healthier way than eating home cooked food. Here you can read more about some iconic Australian food and places to eat in Australia.
Eating out in Australian Restaurants
Take synergic, healthy food supplement
While there is an ongoing debate on whether we need food supplements or not, I speak from personal experience and my answer to this question is yes! When travelling we do need healthy food supplements. We need them because our body needs 120 essential nutrients every day, that food alone cannot provide, all the time. We need to take natural food supplement, rich in natural vitamins, minerals and essential micro-nutrients, with no added artificial chemicals like additives, sweeteners. I have been taking daily 1000mg Vitamin C, 100mg real OPC and depending on the daily activities I may add synergic CalMag (Calcium and Magnesium) and multivitamins too.
A golden rule is to avoid food that is processed and added with refined sugar or artifical sugars and products that list sugar on top place on the ingredients. If you like to eat sweet food buy plain simple food instead and then add natural sugar, like Stevia, for example. This is the healthy response for those who have a sweet tooth!
Stevia natural sugar
Now is your turn. How do you keep your healthy eating habits when travelling?
Please leave your comments and tips here below in the comment section. Thanks!
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