Influencer Q&A with Alex & Anna from @thebitingtruth

In today’s Q&A we chat with Alex & Anna from The Biting Truth – two Accredited Practising Dietitians proving that there’s much more to Instagram than fad diets, detox and slimming pills!

Tell us a bit about your background and why you created @thebitingtruth.

Over the last few years we’ve witnessed bloggers, vloggers, facebookers and tweeters promote the latest diet and exercise fashions with everything from super foods to detox and slimming pills. It made us wonder – as Accredited Practising Dietitians – the experts in nutritional science, how can we take the flame of truth to all those misleading claims and sensationalised products?

Perhaps because we’re of Generation Y calibre and it’s in our blood, or perhaps because we figured, if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em, in 2013 we decided to develop our own nutrition-based Instagram account, ‘The Biting Truth’. Initially, our intention was to share healthy food and lifestyle messages and recipes with close friends in a somewhat stylish manner. We began posting regularly, each week sharing a ‘Meatless Monday’ and ‘Treat Tuesday’ recipe, a ‘Hump-day’ motivational quote and a ‘Fun Fact Friday’ based on recent nutritional research findings. We now have over 16,500 followers and have expanded into a small nutrition consulting business working with a number of small and large companies.

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Your account is full of delicious health foods! What sparked your interest in health and wellness?

Well we both grew up in large families, where food was always a focal point – particularly wholesome, fresh, REAL food (and the occasional treat of course!). We’ve both always had a very balanced approach with food – understanding it’s importance when it comes to health and wellness and it’s potential to bring joy and happiness and the people we love together.

What’s your philosophy when it comes to food?

We are apostles of the mantra that all foods form part of a balanced diet – that ‘balance’ varies from person to person, and our role is to help you get that balance right. We are not advocates of outright elimination or restriction, focusing instead on moderate and sustainable changes – and if you’ve been to dinner with either of us, you’ll know we love dessert!

We don’t spend tonnes of money on expensive health food products, and we want to make healthy eating accessible for everyone, so we promote ingredients that are simply nutritious and affordable, which you can find at your local grocery store. Everything we post is in keeping with the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating, but we try to make the science behind our messages ‘sexy’ to keep our followers engaged and interested.

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Who or what inspires your recipe creations?

What a tough question! We are surrounded by so many inspirational individuals out there in terms of fitness, food and general healthy living, it’s difficult to choose just one!

In terms of cooking or recipes – we LOVE Jamie Oliver. His recipes are absolutely delicious, they are affordable and he is also environmentally conscious, which we believe is very important! We are also HUGE fans of Ottolenghi as his recipes are so fresh and wholesome and he really knows how to make veggies fun and exciting!

Both our families have also played a huge role in inspiring our recipe creations in the way of using fresh, wholesome ingredients and keeping things simple.

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What 3 foods could you not live without?

Lentils

You may have seen our regular Meatless Monday feature on Instagram, which more often than not involves LEGUMES (lentils, chickpeas, red kidney beans and cannellini beans). Whilst we’re not vegetarian, we love incorporating legumes into our diet to help boost our fibre intake and keep us full (thanks to the protein) when we’re eating a meal that’s meat free!

Yoghurt

We’re diehard yoghurt fans for breakfast, as a snack and to satisfy sweet cravings after dinner! Yoghurt is naturally high in calcium and contains over 10 other essential nutrients including protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin B12 and Riboflavin making it an excellent and versatile ingredient for the fridge! Eating yoghurt (as well as milk and cheese) can protect us against heart disease and stroke, reduce our risk of high blood pressure and some cancers, reduce our risk of Type 2 diabetes and may contribute to stronger bones.

Avocado

Our famous last words are “can I grab a side of avo with that?” and why not! Avos are rich in healthy (monounsaturated) fats, which help to keep our cholesterol levels within a healthy range and therefore keep our heart healthy! If you’re living with diabetes, the combination of avo’s healthy fats and high fibre content has been shown to help improve insulin sensitivity and control blood sugar levels.

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We love following your journey, what exciting things can we expect from @thebitingtruth over the next year?

All we can say is watch this space! 2016 has been our biggest year yet, we’ve expanded our wings, grown the team and are consulting with a number of really amazing (large and small) businesses. We’re very excited about a recent partnership with Woolworths, which we can’t say too much about just yet, but trust us when we say exciting things are coming!


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