The Anonymous Widower

Do Ocado Save Me Money?

Probably not in the normal way, as they are an upmarket on-line shop.

A Rough Order

I generally put my rough order in on the Saturday soon after the delivery for that day arrives at about 06:30 in the morning.

The rough order is stored on Ocado’s computer, so it’s usually just a matter of choosing the delivery slot and adding a few extras.

If I’m cooking for myself all week, that usually means I will need seven meals, which could be ready-meals, something more substantial or perhaps just a tasty home-made snack or sandwich, if I’m eating out.

Typically, my order will get refined through the week and this tends to reduce the cost, as if say I’m a bit short, I might buy something like fruit earlier in the week, rather than get it delivered on Saturday.

Fruit

I don’t eat a lot of fruit, but I do have a banana every day in the morning and when I can get them, I eat a lot of strawberries.

 

Bananas and strawberries are two fruit, that are rich in magnesium and coeliacs like me,  can suffer from a lack of it. As a child, I used to bite my nails, which stopped immediately, I went gluten-free at fifty.

From my experience, I feel lack of magnesium can cause nail-biting in coeliacs.

I usually don’t order fruit online, as I feel the quality is better in local shops, that I pass.

Gluten-Free

I am coeliac, so I have to be gluten-free.

 

In my opinion, Marks & Spencer do the best gluten-free food, so being able to shop in-store or on-line is a bonus.

Bread

I don’t eat a lot of bread in a week, so I find one of Marks & Spencer’s pack of brown bloomer slices is sufficient.

Toothpaste, Soap Etc.

I buy a lot of things like these online, as I have several days to carry them upstairs and put them away.

I have a large IKEA storage cabinet close by my front door and non-perishables are stored there first, along with my beer.

Milk

Usually, a pint plastic bottle of Marks & Spencer Organic Milk ,  lasts me all week.

But if it doesn’t l can pick up another bplastic ottle, at any one of four shops within two hundred metres.

Conclusion

I don’t save a lot with my hybrid shopping at Ocado and Marks & Spencer, but I don’t throw much food away.

January 20, 2025 Posted by | Food, Shopping | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Appropriate Nutrient Supplementation In Coeliac Disease

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on PubMed.

I choose this article, as the abstract gave a good list of related problems to coeliac disease.

This is the abstract.

Reduced levels of iron, folate, vitamin B12, vitamin D, zinc, and magnesium are common in untreated celiac disease (CD) patients probably due to loss of brush border proteins and enzymes needed for the absorption of these nutrients. In the majority of patients, removal of gluten from the diet leads to histological recovery and normalization of iron, vitamin, and mineral levels. Iron deficiency anemia is the most common extra-intestinal sign of CD and usually resolves with adherence to a gluten-free diet. However, deficiencies of both folate and vitamin B12 may persist in some patients on a gluten-free diet, thus requiring vitamin supplementation to improve subjective health status. Similarly, exclusion of gluten from the diet does not always normalize bone mineral density; in these cases, supplementation of vitamin D and calcium is recommended. Resolution of mucosal inflammation may not be sufficient to abrogate magnesium deficiency. Since gluten-free cereal products have a lower magnesium content as compared with gluten-containing counterparts, a magnesium-enriched diet should be encouraged in CD patients. In this article we discuss the frequency and clinical relevance of nutrient deficiency in CD and whether and when nutrient supplementation is needed.

I am coeliac and was diagnosed at fifty, by by a mixture of the suspicions of an elderly locum, the very modern genetic test and the classic endoscopic test , in the last few years of the twentieth century.

I have to admit, that being diagnosed was a bit of a surprise.

June 28, 2024 Posted by | Health | , , , , , , | Leave a comment