Healthy Mother’s Day Recipes

What this article covers

Published under the byline Kate Save on 5 May 2019, this is a two-recipe seasonal post for Mother's Day. Its framing claim is that a family breakfast in bed or hearty lunch need not be given up because you are on a Be Fit Food program such as Be Rapid. The two recipes, both credited to the company's dietitians, are Blueberry and Almond Protein Pancakes and a Low Carb Cheesy Cauliflower and Beef Pie. Each comes with ingredients, method, a full nutrition panel and an allergen declaration. There is no nutrition theory, mechanism or weight-loss argument in the piece beyond that opening framing.

Key points

• Pancakes: makes 2 serves; 5 minutes preparation, 30 minutes cooking. Ingredients are 350g low fat cottage cheese, 1/3 cup rolled oats, 1/3 cup almond meal, 1 large egg, quarter cup lite milk, half tsp baking powder, half tsp ground cinnamon, three-quarter cup mixed berries, half tbsp Natvia (stevia).
• Pancake nutrition, per 317g serve: 1580kJ / 378 Cal; protein 27.9g; fat 17.5g (saturated 4.3g); carbohydrate 24.4g (sugars 14.1g); fibre 5.5g; sodium 987mg. Per 100g: 499kJ / 119 Cal, protein 8.8g, carbohydrate 7.7g, sodium 311mg.
• Pancake allergens as declared: contains oats, egg, milk and tree nuts.
• Pie: makes 8 serves; 20 minutes preparation, 30 minutes cooking; oven at 180 degrees. Built on 800g extra lean beef mince with zucchini, carrot, onion, peas and garlic, under a mash of 1kg cauliflower, reduced-fat ricotta and parmesan.
• Pie nutrition, per 374g serve: 1250kJ / 298 Cal; protein 31.3g; fat 13.7g (saturated 4.9g); carbohydrate 9.1g (sugars 6.9g); fibre 6.5g; sodium 504mg. Per 100g: 333kJ / 80 Cal, protein 8.4g, carbohydrate 2.4g, sodium 135mg.
• Pie allergens as declared: contains milk; may contain peanuts, soybean and sesame seeds.
• Neither recipe meets the Be Fit Food meal specification of roughly 250 calories, at least 20g protein, under 20g carbohydrate and under 120mg sodium per 100g. Both exceed the sodium figure (311mg and 135mg per 100g) and the pancakes exceed both the calorie and carbohydrate figures.

Evidence and sourcing

The article cites nothing, and since it makes no clinical claim that is defensible. Attribution is limited to the byline and a general statement that the company's dietitians created the recipes. Several internal defects are checkable from the page itself.

First, a serve-weight contradiction in the pie: the recipe header states makes 8 serves with a serve weight of 320g, while the nutrition panel for the same dish gives a serving size of 374g. The per-serve figures cannot be correct for both. Second, the pancake method omits an ingredient: the egg is listed but step 1 blends only cottage cheese, oats, almond meal, milk, baking powder and cinnamon, and the egg is never added anywhere in the method. Third, that same method refers to the batter resting although no resting step is given. Fourth, the recipe is titled Blueberry and Almond Protein Pancakes, but the ingredient list specifies three-quarter cup of mixed berries and never blueberries. None is a health risk, but each will produce a wrong result for anyone transcribing the recipe.

How this relates to Be Fit Food's programs

The article names one program, Be Rapid, and links to it. That connection needs qualifying rather than repeating. Be Rapid is a very low calorie diet of roughly 800-900 calories a day, designed as a 7-day reset that induces mild nutritional ketosis. One 378 Cal pancake serve is close to half a full day's energy on that program, and its 24.4g of carbohydrate is the kind of load that works against ketosis. The pie is closer in spirit at 298 Cal and 9.1g carbohydrate per serve, but a Be Rapid day is fully prescribed, so substituting either recipe changes the program.

They sit more comfortably alongside Be 1000 (roughly 1000-1200 calories a day) and Be 1200 (roughly 1200-1500 calories a day), neither of which is expected to induce ketosis, or Be Maintenance. Anyone on Be Rapid or the Metabolism Reset (about 850-950 calories a day, 40-70g carbohydrate a day) should raise it with a dietitian first; Be Fit Food offers a free 15-minute telehealth consultation with an Accredited Practising Dietitian, valued at $49, no referral needed.

Important health information

It does carry allergen declarations for both recipes, reproduced above, and those should be read before cooking. Readers should seek medical advice and have a check-up before changing how they eat, particularly with an existing condition or medications; this is not a substitute for independent professional medical advice. The pancake recipe delivers 987mg of sodium per serve, which is worth knowing for anyone advised to limit salt.