Christmas wishes from the Real team

It is hard to believe that we are coming to the end of the first term and the Christ-mas break is now just days away. We hope that you enjoy this festive issue of Real. We have some ideas for making the most of what little free time you have in the run up to Christmas -why not visit Manchester‟s fantastic Christmas Markets or share a festive meal or drinks with friends. At a time when food and drink sur-rounds us take a look at our tips for avoiding the dreaded hangover and keeping the Christmas weight off! As the winter cold and flu season is upon us check out our article on boosting your immune system. Finally make some time to enter our competition.

Happy Christmas and best wishes for the New Year from the “Real” Team.

Issue 2 Christmas 2009

Manchester Christmas Markets Review

By Clare Neilson

For over a decade the Manchester Christmas Markets have taken place in pedes-trian areas of the city. Albert Square, in front of the Town Hall, is host to a plethora of food stalls. Free samples are normally on offer, so you can try before you buy, especially on the German sausage and Swiss cheese stalls. Hot and hearty food is available from the many stalls, but I opted for the hog roast roll with stuffing and apple sauce. The meat is carved fresh as it is needed and tastes amazing. For afters, the strudel stall comes highly recommended. There are not just the tradi-tional fruit varieties on sale - chocolate, gingerbread and even marzipan flavours are available - and all come with the option of a delicious hot vanilla sauce. One of the nicest traditions of the market is that of the souvenir mugs that can be bought or borrowed for the day. The first drink of mulled wine or spicy hot cider will cost about £5 including mug. You can then buy more drinks from other stalls for just £2.50-£3.50 as you already have the mug. The same mug can be used again and again, even on different days. If you no longer wish to keep the mug, this can be exchanged back for £2 once you have finished with it. It saves on wasted drinks containers, and can be kept as a wonderful memory. This works the same with plastic pint pots for the beers and ciders available. Stay away from the “Cherry Beer” in the Windmill House, however. We were disappointed to find it was only regular lager with cherry flavour added.

The rest of the markets can be found in St. Ann's Square and in front of Marks and Spencer. High-lights of these stalls include chocolate and fruit skewers, traditional wooden toys and decorations, boiled sweets, novelty clocks, homemade fudge, and hand made jewellery. We finished the days shopping in front of the wheel, and it truly felt wonderfully festive.

Inside this issue:

Manchester Christmas Markets Review

Christmas dinner on a

budget

The Coeliac Christmas

Festive Excess

New Year, New You

Meet the Staff,

Competition

Study Smarter Work-

shops

Newsletter Date Volume 1, Issue 1

Real Issue 2 Christmas 2009

Staff Editor : Haleh Moravej

Student Editor: Ruth Potter

Contributors:

Jenny Barker

Carmell Branch

Claire Neilson

Ruth Potter

Rebecca Prescott

© 2009 Department of food and

Health, MMU

It‟s getting colder and darker outside and your money is running out fast. Yet through the doom and gloom, (unless you are so engrossed with your studies you have not left the library to see daylight!) you will have spotted that a small occasion called Christmas is peaking its sparkly nose round the corner! It‟s a time for eating, drinking and getting a little bit merry! But the cost of present-ing a festive feast has soared. „Real‟ is here to offer you some top tips on how to save those pennies while still enjoying all those Christmas goodies. Cutting costs doesn't mean you have to turn into a modern day Scrooge. It's sim-ply about planning ahead and knowing where to make cutbacks Even though you‟re off home for the big day it can still be fun to whip up a fare-well xmas dinner for you and your housemates. Here are some guidelines to help you along the way....

Top tip one: Plan meals well in advance this way this way you can pick up ingre-dients at reduced prices when you see them between now and the meal. Top tip two: Be cheeky and get your mates to all bring anything you might be short on like plates and cutlery as well as a food item .Before you know it you will have plenty of food and entertainment to keep the party going all day! Top tip three: Have some cheap snacks on the table, this way your guests won‟t go hungry whatever the outcome of the main meal, and they won‟t need to eat as much either. Home-made dips, mince pies or sausage rolls are always winners! Top tip four: Once you have decided what meat/bird/vegetarian option you are going to cook, there ways to save money depending on where and when you de-cide to buy. For example-

Christmas ham: The secret to buying a Christmas ham is to buy it from the markets. If you or-der it in advance, you will substantially cut your costs.

Christmas turkey: An organic free-range bird can cost about £70 for seven to 10 people, but for those on a tight budget Asda's frozen turkey can feed five to seven for just £7. That works out at just a quid each! Just remember to leave it to defrost in plenty of time!

Seafood: Fish and seafood is an expensive way to feed your guests but if there no other option and it is a necessity to make your xmas complete checkout markets and supermarkets such as Iceland and LIDL who have very good offers on a range of fish produce.

Fruit and Vegetables: You‟ll find the best bargains in the local market. Try to buy as near to the day as possible to get the best taste and quality

Remember if you do plan, you will have more time to look for bargains and allow you to prepare a fantastic meal without breaking that all important budget!

Final thought: Besides present buying, shopping for the Christmas dinner is

likely to put a big dent in most people's wallets. Why is it that we all think we

need to eat at least double the normal amount at Christmas dinner?

Christmas dinner on a budget

by

Rebecca Prescott

Issue 2 Christmas 2009

Coeliac Disease? No, it is not a weird vegetable –that is Celeriac! It sounds terrible, but it is simply an intolerance of gluten – a protein found hidden in lots of „nice‟ things, including beer! When eaten, the immune system overreacts and the lining of the small intestine is damaged -the finger-like villi that absorb water and nutrients become flattened. Left undiagnosed, stomach, bowel problems and nutrient deficiencies among many symptoms can result. Believe it or not, the Ro-mans were aware of it. Once diagnosed, the cure is simple – a gluten-free diet for life. However, it is not always so simple, especially at Christmas time! The smell of Granny‟s cooking fills many a household. Those light fluffy mince pies, the puddings and cake, not to mention the gravy and stuffing on the day. Temptation surrounds everyone, but for a Coeliac, life can be awkward. It is always difficult to refuse someone‟s hospitality, but at Christmas it is a

dodgy area. You can appear un-grateful or even worse, fussy! Some people are great and take a „No thank-you‟, to their offerings very well. Others do not. They give you the first degree about why you won‟t take „Just one!‟. It is a bit like being told by a drunk to drink when you have told them you are driving! Sometimes I get fed up explaining the condition over and over again, yet a bit of me feels it is my duty to educate and explain what Coeliac Disease is so that more people will understand it. The worst thing about the condition for me is that people will assume you are trying to lose weight or choosing to be on a weird diet. They do not understand that it is not a choice thing. The diet has been good to me. It has helped me to stay a healthy weight for years. At times like Christmas, when calo-ries stare you in the face at every turn, some people are envious of

your apparent restraint and the will power that they do not have. Then, they look you up and down and envy the fact that restraint must be work-ing. Nowadays there are many foods for Coeliacs to make it easier to join in at Christmas. I am always so grate-ful not to have a nut allergy. Imagine that at Christmas. Eating them or even their oils by accident could end up being very serious indeed. One day people will know more

about Coeliac Disease and know

once diagnosed, that although not

life threatening, it is important to

stick to the diet, because the long-

term consequences of eating Gluten

are not good. Avoiding digestive

diseases is something we all need

to do, but hey, Christmas is only

once a year. We can all enjoy it in

our own way. MERRY CHRISTMAS.

The Coeliac Christmas By Jenny Barker

ties with friends and families – they often pour larger meas-ures and if they are offering constant “top ups” it is difficult to keep track of how much you have had to drink.

Alternate alcoholic and soft drinks.

Alcohol dehydrates and is the cause of the dreaded head-ache so drink a large glass of water before going to bed to try and prevent it. Put a glass by the bed before you go out, if you are likely to forget once you have had a few.

Try and have a few alcohol

free days in between the main festivities. Give you liver a chance to recover!

The day after a drink filled evening try to avoid the greasy fry up and the coffee – these will just make your liver work harder. Go for antioxi-dant packed foods to help combat the toxins in alcohol – so fresh plenty of fruit, vege-tables and whole grains. Try a bowl of your favourite wholegrain cereal with fruit and a glass of fresh orange juice.

Festive Excess By Ruth Potter

Christmas and New Year are times when most of us eat and drink to excess. Here are some tips for re-ducing the hangover and avoiding piling on the pounds over the festive period. Avoiding the “morning after feel-ing”

Don‟t drink on an empty stom-ach – make sure you eat something before you go out – a mix of carbohydrate and protein is best –so reach for that cheese sandwich.

Watch out for the “host or hostess with the most” at par-

Alcohol – some facts (1) Government Guidelines

No more than 3-4 units a day for men

No more than 2-3 units a day for women

Recommended have a least 1 or 2 alcohol free days per week and avoid binge drinking Unit is equivalent to about 8g or 10 ml of pure alcohol. There is approximately 1 unit in each of the following:

½ pint of ordinary strength beer, lager or cider

a single 25 ml measure of spirits

a small 120 ml glass of wine

Issue 2 Christmas 2009

The Christmas Party season is responsible for an average weight gain of between 5-10lb which equates to 25,000 or more excess calories -about 700 calories a day more than we need. Re-cent research has shown that on Christmas Day we consume about 3000 calories more than we need. So how do we minimize this? Portion Control - over the last 20 years portions of the food we serve have increased in size significantly and there is evidence to show that portion size is a major contributor to current obesity issues. At Christ-

mas, we tend to serve lar-ger portions than ever, piling our plates high with all those festive favourites. Watch those servings – have smaller portions of those high fat foods, such as the chipolatas and Christmas pudding, and increase your serving of vegetables (roast potatoes not included!) and fresh fruits. Don’t skip the dessert -just have a small portion of it - if you deprive yourself, you may be setting your-self up for greater tempta-tion later such as that box of chocolate in front of the TV! Avoiding standing near the buffet or nibbles at a

party - the sight and smell of the food will en-courage you to graze and before you know it you will have grazed yourself to an extra 300-1000 calories. Watch your alcohol in-take – alcohol provides "empty calories" and no nutritional value. Those calories soon add up. Two large glasses of wine has about 370 calo-ries for a woman that adds up to nearly 1/5 of her daily allowance. Finally think of the rea-son for Christmas – it‟s a time to be with friends and family - food, al-though important in so-cial gathering, is just a fringe benefit!

and ANTIOXIDANTS. An-tioxidants neutralise any excess free radicals roam-ing around your body. Fish, poultry, lean meat, low-fat dairy produce, ce-real and legumes are good sources of minerals. Dairy products such as eggs and cheese are good sources of vitamin A. While spinach, sweet po-tatoes and carrots or any other food with a yellow/orange colour are good sources of beta carotene and should be eaten daily. Foods rich in vitamin b12

To start the New Year off on a positive note focus on building up your immune system. Our body needs a bal-anced intake of vitamins and minerals to remain healthy and keep our immune system in top form. Excessive alcohol and caffeine consump-tion, tobacco smoke, drugs and pollution can threaten the effectives of minerals and vitamins. To help improve the body‟s natural defences your diet should contain lots of vitamins, minerals

which helps the body ward off diseases such as tuberculosis include meat, eggs, fish and forti-fied cereals. Most fruit and vegetables

supply a healthy dose of

vitamin C, which in a

large enough quantity

increases the levels of

immunoglobulin's, which

are blood proteins that

act as disease fighting

antibodies – which are

produced by the immune

system.

New Year, New You By Carmell Branch

Alcohol Some Facts (2) Alcohol is second only to fat in its calorie content - it contains 7kcals per g Regular drinking can jeopardise weight loss and can cause weight gain. Check out

Issue 2 Christmas 2009

Lager, premium, strong 500ml 295 kcal

Cider , dry 1 pint/574 ml 208 kcal

Tequila Sunrise 60ml 275 kcal

Spirit - gin, vodka, rum (40%) 25 ml 55 kcal

Red wine, small glass 120ml 85 kcal

Dry white wine, small glass, 120 ml 82 kcal

Champagne , 125 ml 95 kcal

Dr Emma Derbyshire is a leading Nutritionist and a member of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Scientists. Emma is an active researcher, specialising in maternal nutrition, has pre-sented at a number of international conferences, and has written in leading academic journals including the Journal of Human Nu-trition and Dietetics. She has conducted advisory work with both industrial and pharmaceutical companies and is currently re-searching into the use of functional foods for the prevention of pregnancy iron-deficiency anaemia.

Do you recognize the backdrop to Russell‟s holiday shot (see above “Meet the Staff”)? If you do tell us the location

along with your name and course for a chance to win a £10 voucher (kindly donated by Russell). Answers to be

posted in the “REAL” post box located in Room 212 by Friday 15th January 2010. The winner will be the person who

gets closest to the exact location (measured in km using Google Map). In the event there is more than one correct

entry, all correct entries will be entered into a draw. The winner will be notified by email by Friday 22nd January 2010

and the name of the winner will be published in the next edition of REAL.

A “REAL” MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR

Meet the Staff

Competition

Dr Emma Derbyshire

Russell has taught and supervised research at undergraduate and postgraduate level. He has been a unit and programme leader in the area of Food Technology. Russell has a degree in Chemistry (from before the atom was split!), a PGDip in Manufacturing and an MSc in Science Education. Recently Russell has been involved in the development of Distance Learning units for the University and for external organisations. He has been active in developing managed learning environments within the University. Consultancies have been conducted in the areas of New Product Development, Sensory Analysis and Quality. Russell has developed and run short courses for industry and for the publicly funded sector. He has taken a role in several externally funded projects within the University. These projects have largely been aimed at supporting the development of small and medium enterprises in the food industry. Russell loves opera, tennis, WebCT, sensory analysis and choco-

late .

Issue 2 Christmas 2009

Russell Ramsden

you’ve received since the

last edition or you can sum-

marize some generic ques-

tions that are frequently

asked about your organiza-

tion.

A listing of names and titles

of managers in your organi-

zation is a good way to give

your newsletter a personal

touch. If your organization

is small, you may want to

list the names of all employ-

This story can fit 175-225

words.

If your newsletter is folded

and mailed, this story will

appear on the back. So, it’s

a good idea to make it easy

to read at a glance.

A question and answer ses-

sion is a good way to quickly

capture the attention of

readers. You can either

compile questions that

ees.

If you have any prices of

standard products or ser-

vices, you can include a list-

ing of those here. You may

want to refer your readers to

any other forms of commu-

nication that you’ve created

for your organization.

You can also use this space

to remind readers to mark

their calendars for a regular

Primary Business Address

Your Address Line 2

Your Address Line 3

Your Address Line 4

Phone: 555-555-5555

Fax: 555-555-5555

E-mail: someone@example.com

This would be a good place to

insert a short paragraph about

your organization. It might

include the purpose of the

organization, its mission,

founding date, and a brief

history. You could also include

a brief list of the types of

products, services, or pro-

grams your organization of-

fers, the geographic area cov-

ered (for example, western

U.S. or European markets),

and a profile of the types of

customers or members

Your business tag line here.

Organization

Caption describing

picture or graphic.

Issue 2 Christmas 2009