Bananas must be the ultimate healthy snack, packaged in their own smart yellow wrapper and packed with essential vitamins, minerals and fibre. They also contain far more carbohydrates than most fruits, but are lower on the glycemic index than most tropical fruits. Made even lower by eating them with a handful of nuts or seeds.

Bananas pack lots of dietary fibre, with 100g – roughly one small fruit – providing 14% of your daily dose. Epidemiological research in the US has shown that eating plenty of high-fibre foods can, in the long term, lower the risk of cardiovascular and coronary heart disease by up to 12%. Eating fibre-rich foods also keeps your bowel movements regular, preventing constipation and reducing the risk of developing colon diseases such as diverticulitis and cancer.

Bananas are high in potassium, with that one small fruit providing 10% of your daily recommended allowance. Diets rich in potassium can help to lower blood pressure, which slashes your risk of having a stroke. 100g of banana also provide nearly 30% of your daily needs of vitamin B6, which plays an important role in manufacturing antibodies in the immune system, aiding protein metabolism and red blood cell formation and helping the central nervous system to function normally. Finally, bananas are also effective antacids, and contain substances that can inhibit Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium which has been identified as a major cause of stomach ulcers.

Finally, according to a recent review in Biotechnology Progress, researchers have found that bananas are the most promising edible vaccine against hepatitis B, which is carried by about five per cent of the world’s population.

Nuts are highly nutritious foods but are often overlooked in a healthy diet because of the belief that they are ‘fattening.’ Research, however, shows there are a number of health benefits to be gained from eating nuts regularly and the broad range of nutrients they contain makes them highly beneficial. Including nuts regularly as part of a healthy way of eating has been shown to offer protection against heart disease, lower blood cholesterol levels and may reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Intriguingly, eating nuts in moderation can also have benefits for weight control.

Nuts are so healthy because they are naturally rich in a wide range of vitamins and minerals, fibre, protein, healthy fats, plant sterols and antioxidants, which together contribute to good health. Nuts are also a great source of the healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, which help lower blood cholesterol levels, particularly when they replace saturated fat in the diet.

Macadamias, cashews, almonds, pistachios and pecans are rich in monounsaturated fat, while walnuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts and Brazil nuts are rich in polyunsaturated fat. Walnuts are also an excellent source of the polyunsaturated omega-3 fat, which has benefits for lowering blood pressure and reducing inflammation in the body. (Peanuts are not actually a nut but a legume but are often used in the same way as nuts.)

All nuts contain fibre, with hazelnuts, pistachios and almonds topping the list. While it is well known that fibre is needed for a healthy digestive system, it also has many other important functions in the body. For instance, fibre-rich foods travel more slowly through the digestive system and this effect can help to keep you feeling full. This is one of the reasons why nuts are a great filling snack between meals.

Other health benefits of nuts

Nuts are particularly rich in vitamin E and folate (folic acid), with some varieties providing around 10 per cent of the recommended dietary intake (RDI) for folate and up to 20 per cent of the RDI for vitamin E in a 30g serve. Almonds and hazelnuts are the best sources of vitamin E, while peanuts, hazelnuts, cashews, pistachios and walnuts provide useful amounts of folate.

Nuts also contain the minerals magnesium, zinc and selenium. A 30g serving of brazil nuts, almonds and cashews provides more than 75 per cent of the RDI for magnesium, while a serve of cashews, pine nuts or brazil nuts provides more than 10 per cent of the RDI for zinc. Just one Brazil nut provides the whole day’s RDI for selenium! (Selenium is a micronutrient which is said to be helpful in preventing conditions ranging from heart disease to cancer.)

Nuts contain a range of ‘plant chemicals’ such as flavonoids, luteolin and resveratrol (in peanuts), which have all been shown to have antioxidant properties. Antioxidants help protect the body from a range of lifestyle-related diseases.

Nuts contain plant sterols (those substances found in margarine designed to lower cholesterol), which improve the levels of cholesterol in the blood by reducing cholesterol absorption from the intestines. Pistachios, pine nuts, almonds and macadamias are the best nut sources.

The downside

Allergies aside, the potential downsides of nuts is that because they are so tasty they are easy to overeat. Eating 30 grams of nuts a day has been shown to be effective in reducing the risk of heart disease by 30 to 50 per cent and lowering cholesterol levels by 10 per cent so that’s what you should be aiming for.

Because each nut provides a different mix of nutrients, alternate the varieties of nuts you usually buy, or try a mixed nut combination.

And when I recommend eating nuts for their health benefits, don’t forget that I mainly mean the unsalted varieties. Raw, unsalted nuts are naturally low in sodium, with a 30g serving containing less than one per cent of the RDI, whereas the same quantity of salted nuts contains around 15 per cent of your sodium RDI. Most of us consume more sodium than we need, so always best stick to unsalted nuts. But if it was a choice of salted nuts and a bar of chocolate, go for the salted nuts!

Simply follow these tips to enjoy more nuts in your daily diet:

• Nut and dried-fruit mixes are a great snack on the run.
• Make your own muesli at home using rolled oats, dried fruits and chopped nuts of your choice.
• Team nut spread such as cashew or almond spread with banana on crackers.
• Mix crushed macadamias or walnuts with wholemeal breadcrumbs, herbs, olives and onion for a tasty stuffing.
• Sprinkle crushed walnuts through a tuna or roasted vegetable salad.
• Mix crushed cashews, almonds and pecans to make a topping for live natural yoghurt.
• Add chopped pistachios onto a piece of fish grilled with lemon juice and garlic.
• Sprinkle roasted pine nuts on pasta dishes.

It’s that time of year when children go off to college, and mums all over the country experience separation anxiety. The house is suddenly much quieter, the refrigerator much fuller and the biscuit tin so tempting. Here are some tips on weathering empty nest syndrome without piling on the pounds:

Don’t be alarmed if you experience feelings of sadness and loss of purpose when your last child leaves home. These are normal reactions and researchers from Cambridge University have shown that even animals suffer from it and continue to bring food home to offspring that have flown the nest. Find someone to talk to, such as your partner or a friend. If you don’t feel better, consult a counsellor or therapist.

Now’s the time to go through your fridge and food cupboard and throw out all those things you know aren’t good for you. Remove temptation so that if you get the urge to comfort eat the food simply isn’t there.

When you go to the supermarket make sure you aren’t hungry so that you aren’t tempted to fill your trolley with fast food and unhealthy snacks. You’ve got the time now to choose healthy foods and ingredients that you really like.

For one thing, try to plan 5 to 6 small meals with one to be eaten around every 3 hours of the day and make it a point not to miss any of them. It takes an average of 2 ½ hours for the human body to digest a meal, so by the time you start to feel a comfort food craving coming on, it’s almost time for your next meal anyway.

When you are at home, always try to keep some fresh fruit on hand. If you are hit with a craving fruit is a better choice than cake or chips. Cut up some fresh veggies like carrots and celery and keep them in the fridge with some hummous. This will give you another quick and healthy snack that you can just grab and eat during a craving.

If you’ve always wanted to get fit but haven’t had the time; now’s your chance. Go for it! Schedule your exercise session in the mornings so that you feel energised and focused for the day ahead. And if you can afford it hire a personal trainer; remember it’s your time to shine now!

If you get a craving, wait 15 minutes before giving in to a craving. Try to engage in another activity such as taking a walk.   Sometimes even a five minute distraction can help ward off the cravings.

Set short-term goals: Take things one day at a time, focusing on getting through the next 24 hours — if this seems overwhelming, then the next hour — without succumbing to temptation. Whenever worries about tomorrow or next month come to mind, bat them away and return to thinking about today.

If you work, now’s your chance to really give it your all or perhaps change career to retrain if you’ve always wanted to do something new but couldn’t because of the kids. If you don’t work take up a new hobby, sport, study programme or volunteer effort to regain your sense of purpose and fill those lonely hours. You may even want to plan a trip abroad to a country you’ve always wanted to visit. If you’re in a relationship plan some ‘dates’ with your partner; it’s been years since the two of you could come and go as you pleased so enjoy it. If you’re not in a relationship go through your address book and get in touch with old friends or better still make new ones.

Find a way to communicate regularly with your teenagers by phone, e-mail or letters. Keep in mind that this is an invigorating time in your relationship with your child – a chance to go from being a teenager’s parent to a young adult’s vital, trusted friend. Set a good example to your child and encourage them to find their feet in the world by doing the same yourself; even though they have moved out you are still and will always be their first role model. So if you want your child to be fit and healthy it’s your job to eat well, exercise regularly, manage your weight, enjoy your life and set a healthy example for them to follow.

And finally, it is not unheard of now for empty ‘syndromers’ and 50 somethings to go on a ‘gap year’, they are called Grey Gappers.  Gap years were unheard of in my generation; we went straight from school to university or school to work.  So some people feel that they have missed out on this kind of experience and decide that once the children have left home they are going to take a year off and go the equivalent of backpacking but maybe with a suitcase and better class of accommodation!