Lifestyle Barometer: your guide to what's hot and what's not this week from curry to crop tops

From dumbphones to coconut oil and Jamie Oliver, this is our guide to what’s hot and what’s not

Curry is officially the most Instagrammed food (Shutterstock)

Going up:

Curry

Britons just can’t resist posting pictures of their favourite curries online

Our Instagram feeds are flooded with photographs from people who snap their dinner before raising it to their lips, but the most popular food might surprise you.

Despite the fact that millennials have become synonymous with chowing down on smashed avocado, it didn’t take the top spot.

Instead, it seems as though Britons just can’t resist posting pictures of their tikka masalas, kormas and biryanis.

Behind curry and avocado, the rest of the list of the most Instagrammed foods includes an array of British classics, including fish and chips, Yorkshire pudding, cream tea, sausage rolls and trifle.

Chip butties, Cornish pasties and beef wellington also made it into the top 10.

Gym bodies

Michelle Elman is encouraging all women to feel confident by sharing her own ‘imperfect gym body’

Addressing the stigma that only people with slender, toned bodies belong in the gym, Michelle Elman, a body confidence coach, shared a thought provoking post on Twitter.

Alongside a photo of herself wearing a sports bra and leggings after she had just completed her first run in “years”, she wrote: “To the woman who feels excluded by the fitness world, movement is not about the results.

“All body types are entitled to enjoy exercise.

“You have as much of a right to be in the gym as anyone else. If someone stares, stare back.”

Elman decided the write the tweet after experiencing fat shaming first hand when she tried to start running again after undergoing surgery. Her physiotherapist insisted that she needed to either “lose weight or stop running”.

However, Elman refused to give up on her passions and asked another doctor for advice on how best to start exercising again. Her body-positive post has since been liked more than 1,000 times.

Reusable sanitary pads

A seamstress creating sanitary pads for girls in Kenya (Asos) (ASOS)

Online retailer Asos is providing women in the Kasigau region of Kenya with reusable sanitary pads made from leftover fabric from its Made In Kenya range.

The Asos Foundation has collaborated with the Soko Community Trust in Kenya to launch The Kujuwa Initiative, to support young women from Kasigau.

Part of The Kujuwa Initiative’s mission will involve providing them with menstrual kits, which will consist of two pairs of cotton briefs, two reusable sanitary pads made from fabric scraps that can last for up to three years and have removable liners, a bar of soap and a waterproof wash bag.

The kits will also provide instructions on how to take care of their menstrual hygiene.

Dumbphones

Nokia 3310, £25, O2

From the iPhone to the Google Pixel, smartphones have become a mainstay for most of us but it seems that not everyone is buying into the tech-trend.

According to new figures, sales of “dumbphones” – handsets that are not connected to the internet and only allow the user to make calls and send texts – are on the rise.

While sales of these types of phones increased by as much as 5 per cent last year, in contrast, smartphone sales rose by just 2 per cent.

Experts suggest that dumbphones are a great way for people to switch off and be more mindful of their surroundings.

Vegan burgers

Moving Mountain’s vegan bacon and cheese burger (Maxwells) (Maxwell's)

This week many of us celebrated National Burger Day with meaty patties slathered in a variety of toppings – think bacon, mayo, pickles and even deep-fried mac and cheese.

That being said, the rise of veganism coupled with the growing number of people trying to cut down on their meat consumption, more and more restaurants are beginning to offer plant-based alternatives on their menus.

But, do they look and taste just as good as the real thing?

To find out, two of our writers – one meat-eater and one vegan – put the new breed of vegan burgers to the test. Their verdict? The best vegan burger out there is from Moving Mountains as it was the most meat-like on every level, closely followed by Wulf and Lamb.

Going down:

Crop tops for men

Asos has left shoppers confused by its latest offering for male customers (ASOS)

Asos has become well known for some of its more questionable garb – think crotchless trousers and front-less jeans – and its latest endeavour is no less confusing.

The online retailer has started selling a white cropped vest top that might not sound that outré – until you find out it belongs in the men’s section.

A product typically reserved for women with a love of all things Nineties, the humble crop top is rarely considered a sartorial staple for guys but could this one from clothing label Reclaimed Vintage be about to change all that?

According to Twitter, sadly not. After noticing the divisive piece on the Asos website, a flurry of baffled customers ridiculed the garment on social media, with one user likening it to a sports bra.

Working nine-to-five

Fewer Britons are choosing to work the traditional ‘nine-to-five’ (Getty) (Getty Images)

According to new research by YouGov and McDonald’s, which was carried out to gain a greater understating of the most appealing aspects of jobs for workers in the UK, fewer of us are working the traditional “nine-to-five”.

The study of more than 4,000 adults aged 16 and over, found that the majority of people would prefer to start and finish work earlier than they usually do so that they can focus more on other commitments at the end of the day.

Some 57 per cent of people stated they’d rather start work before 9am and end before 5pm, with 48 per cent saying they’d prefer to have longer working hours in exchange for a shorter working week.

On top of that, approximately two thirds of those polled said they’d feel more inclined to remain at a job that allowed them to work more flexibly.

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil has been labelled as ‘pure poison’ by a doctor (Getty/iStock) (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

This week foodies were shocked to hear that coconut oil might not be that good for you.

During a speech titled “Coconut oil and other nutritional errors”, Dr Karin Michels, a professor at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and director of the Institute for Prevention and Tumour Epidemiology at the University of Freiburg, claimed that it’s just as bad for your wellbeing as “pure poison”.

Michels said coconut oil is “one of the worst foods you can eat” due to the damaging effect the saturated fatty acids can have on your body. Her speech has struck a chord with a number of health-conscious individuals online and garnered more than 800,000 views on YouTube.

Jamie Oliver’s “jerk rice”

Twitter users have accused Jamie Oliver of cultural appropriation after the launch of his Punchy Jerk Rice (Twitter)

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver made the headlines this week after he was accused of cultural appropriation.

The allegations were in regards to the launch of his new product, Punchy Jerk Rice, which many people claimed did not actually contain the traditional components of jerk seasoning.

Labour MP Dawn Butler said the chef’s branding was “not OK” and questioned whether he even understood the Jamaican style of cooking.

The representative for Brent Central, daughter of Jamaican immigrants, tweeted: “I’m just wondering do you know what Jamaican jerk actually is?

“It’s not just a word you put before stuff to sell products. Your jerk rice is not OK. This appropriation from Jamaica needs to stop.”

The launch was also labelled as a “mistake” by fellow chef Levi Roots, who who successfully pitched his own jerk-infused Reggae Reggae Sauce on the BBC’s Dragons’ Den.

In response to the furore, Oliver said the name of his new product intended to show where he drew his culinary inspiration from.

“I’ve worked with flavours and spices from all over the world my whole career, learning and drawing inspiration from different countries and cultures to give a fresh twist to the food we eat every day,” the TV chef and restaurateur said in a statement.

“When I named the rice, my intention was only to show where my inspiration came from.”

Public breastfeeding shaming

Virginia Blackburn has been criticised online for her comments regarding breastfeeding in public (This Morning)

Appearing on This Morning on Wednesday, author Virginia Blackburn caused outrage after comparing public breastfeeding to urinating in the street.

Her comments came during an intense debate between Blackburn and two mothers, Natalie Forester and Chloe Hattersley, who were asked to stop nursing their children in a swimming pool.

Blackburn agreed with the leisure centre’s decision to ask the women to leave the pool, saying that people “don’t want to see” mothers breastfeeding their babies.

“It’s on a level with urinating in the street,” she said.

“You have a path that leads to increasingly anti-social behaviour and I’d say it’s on that path. If I’m sitting in a cafe or a swimming pool I don’t want people to start engaging in bodily functions that have usually been kept private.

“It’s about consideration for other people. If you are in a public place it’s not something you necessarily want to see. I don’t like breastfeeding in public at all.”

Viewers were quick to criticise the author for her remarks, branding her a “snob”, “rude” and “disrespectful”.