Ketogenic Diet & Ketosis

Ketogenic Diet & Ketosis

by Digestive System

Ketogenic Diet & Constant Ketosis

The newest buzzword to hit the nutrition world is keto, referring to the high-fat, low-carb ketogenic diet. 

A ketogenic diet is an eating plan that puts your body in ketosis.  As the body breaks fat down, acids called ketones build up in the blood. Ketones leave the body in the urine. The presence of ketones in the blood and urine indicates that a person has entered ketosis.  In ketosis the primary fuel source of the body is fat, rather than glucose.

Ketosis can help lose unwanted fat, as the body starts to break down it’s fat stores instead of relying on carbohydrates for energy. In addition, research suggests that ketosis can help suppress appetite, which can also promote weight loss.

Ways to Get into Ketosis

  • Increasing physical activity
  • Fasting for short periods
  • Significantly reducing carbohydrate intake
  • Increasing fat intake
  • Limiting protein intake

Ketogenic Diet Benefits

  • Classic therapy for epilepsy and seizures
  • Slows brain aging by increasing Beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB). BHB protects against neuronal death, preserves energy levels, and lowers reactive oxygen species
  • Improves symptoms in bipolar and Parkinson patients
  • Improves brain function especially in older adults and those with mild to moderate dementias or other cognitive impairments
  • Increases mitochondrial levels of antioxidant glutathione
  • Activates the NRF2 pathway — a set of genes that regulate the body’s detoxification, antioxidant, and stress response systems

Ketogenic Diet Shortfalls

The ketogenic diet prohibits nutrient-dense higher carbohydrate foods such as quinoa, beans, lentils and sweet potatoes which are high in fibre and promote gut health.  Many of the plant based foods that re restricted on a keto diet are good sources of prebiotic fibre. Prebiotics feed our probiotics, the beneficial bacteria in our gut. This is essential for the health of our microbiome, which has been shown to be heavily involved in supporting our immune system and reducing inflammation. 

Possible issues with a rigorous ketogenic diet include:

  • May lead to nutrient deficiencies
  • May stress kidneys
  • Causes changes in gut bacteria
  • May lead to digestive issues such as constipation and diarrhea
  • May cause dangerously low blood sugar
  • May damage bone health
  • Effects on some diseases such as cancer not fully understood

Is Constant Ketosis Ever Desirable?

Long term or permanent ketosis is not necessary or even desirable.

People with health issues that respond to ketosis, like epilepsy and seizures, should stay in ketosis long-term to quell an overexcited brain.

People with neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, should try ketogenic diets as they look very promising and effective. Similarly,   people with bipolar disorder should try ketosis as it looks beneficial. 

Most healthy people should not stay in constant, indefinite ketosis, as it implies limiting important nutritionally-dense healthy  foods.  It is preferable and more beneficial to go in and out of ketosis to get the benefits of ketones.

For most healthy people, the healthier goal is metabolic flexibility, not constant ketosis. Optimum health requires a wide range of nutritional dense foods and sound lifestyle changes and not strict, rigid dogma and unnecessary restriction of healthy foods.

Sugar Detox: How to Stop Sugar Cravings

Sugar Detox: How to Stop Sugar Cravings

by Digestive System

Sugar Detox: How to Stop Sugar Cravings

Food cravings are intense or uncontrollable desires for specific foods,.  Cravings are driven by your brain’s need for a reward, not your body’s need for food. Cravings are stronger than normal hunger. People typically crave processed junk foods high in sugar and fat.

More than 50% of people experience cravings on a regular basis. Cravings play a major role in weight gain, food addiction and binge eating.

Why Is Sugar So Addictive?

Sugar affects the brain’s reward system.  This reward system helps us survive but is also involved in addictive behaviour.  

Sugar triggers the release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens, the same area of the brain implicated in the response to addictive drugs.  Sugar releases endogenous opioids in the brain, which leads to a rush that causes future cravings. 

Furthermore, regular consumption of sugar changes your brain so that it becomes tolerant to it, causing you to require more to get the same effect.

Sugar is addictive, and reducing sugar intake can cause unpleasant symptoms.

Sugar Detox Symptoms

Sugar detoxing will likely lead to physical and mental symptoms.

Physical symptoms may include light-headedness, dizziness, fatigue and nausea. 

Mental symptoms may include anxiety, nervousness, restlessness, irritability, depression, change in sleep patterns, cognitive issues and cravings for other carbohydrates.

Sugar Detox Tips

  • Eat Proper Meals with Adequate Protein and Healthy Fats.
    Eat proper meals consisting of unprocessed whole foods, fibre, vegetables, lean protein and healthy fats. Eating nutritions, whole foods in adequate quantities helps you feel satisfied for longer and reduces cravings.
  • Practice Mindful Eating.
    Eating mindfully involves being present while you eat, slowing down, and chewing thoroughly, and savoring each bite. Mindful eating helps you develop awareness of your eating habits, emotions, hunger, cravings and physical sensations. A practice of mindful eating reduces cravings and binge eating.
  • Plan Your Meals.
    Plan your meals for the week. Ensure that you have well balanced meals and that you eat enough at each meal.
  • Avoid Getting Extremely Hungry.
    Hunger is one of the biggest reasons why we experience cravings. Eat enough at each meal. Have a few healthy snacks on hand in case you get hungry. Do not ignore hunger signals, as extreme hunger will lead to cravings and overeating.
  • Get Enough Sleep.
    Your appetite is largely affected by hormones that fluctuate throughout the day. Sleep deprivation disrupts the appetite hormone levels, and leads to poor appetite regulation and cravings
  • Stay Hydrated.
    Thirst is often confused with hunger or food cravings. Try drinking a large glass of water or ginger tea first. It is helpful to drink water or ginger tea before meals as this may help reduce appetite.
  • Distract or Distance Yourself From the Craving.
    When you feel a craving, try to distract or distance yourself from it. You can take a walk, phone a friend or complete a task.
  • Stop Dieting.
    Dieting and food restrictions lead to cravings and overeating. Psychologically, you will obsess and crave what is forbidden. As in life it is important to have play timeline nutrition it is important to have play foods. Follow a healthy lifestyle and diet and allow small portions of occasional play foods. Whenever possible, try a healthier portion of your cravings, for example dark chocolate, cookie made with less sugar and whole flour, etc.
  • Stop Giving Yourself Food Rules.
    Stop labeling foods as good and bad. Stop telling yourself that a a particular food or dessert is something to be earned or can only be enjoyed after a long workout. Learn to listen to your body and eat intuitively, focusing on how your body feels after you eat. Eat slowly and mindfully and stop when full.
  • Stop Giving Yourself Food Rules.
    Stop labeling foods as good and bad. Food is not something that is earned or only enjoyed after a strenuous workout or a day of strict dieting. Learn to listen to your body and eat intuitively, focusing on how your body feels after you eat. Eat slowly and mindfully and stop when full.
  • Eliminate Artificial Sweeteners.
    Artificial sweeteners stimulate appetite in the brain, and are linked to increased sugar cravings
  • DYI Herbal Tea.
    1 1/2 parts lemon verbena, 1 part schisandra berry, 1/2 part of the following herbs: hibiscus, cinnamon, ginger, licorice root and yarrow leaf and flower. Combine all herbs and mix together. Store in airtight container. For each cup of tea use 1-3 teaspoons of herb mix per cup of boiling water. Cover and steep for 10 minutes. Strain and drink.
  • Eat Something Bitter.
    Eating bitter foods may help prevent sugar cravings by acting on receptors in the brain that drive sugar intake. You can make your own bitters or choose bitter foods, such as coffee, arugula, or broccoli rabe.
  • Consider Spinach Extract.
    Spinach extract helps delay fat digestion and increases hormones that reduce appetite and hunger. A 3.5-5 g supplement taken with a meal may reduce cravings, especially sugar cravings, for several hours.
  • Make Shopping Lists and Don’t Go to the Supermarket Hungry.
    Reduce impulsive buying.

Being aware of your cravings and their triggers makes them much easier to avoid. It also makes it a lot easier to eat healthy and lose weight.   During a sugar detox it is important to be realistic and to know your body.  Some may be able to cut all sources sugar at once, others may need to go slower and cut one or a few at a time.  Stay motivated and be kind to yourself.  The ultimate goal is to implement a healthy lifestyle with a reduced sugar intake.  Focus on progress, not perfection!

Low Vitamin D Correlated to Weight Gain

Is Low Vitamin D Making You Fat?

by Digestive SystemEndocrine SystemHormonesMetabolism

Is Low Vitamin D Making You Fat?

A low vitamin D level is correlated to weight gain, increased fat storage, high blood sugar and more cravings.

About 1 billion people have low vitamin D levels and this is found in all ethnicities and age groups. In the USA, it is estimated that 42% of adults are vitamin D deficient.

Vitamin D is both a nutrient we eat and a hormone our bodies make. Virtually every cell in our body has a vitamin D receptor, which, when bound to vitamin D, can influence the expression of more than 200 genes. 

Vitamin D Functions

Vitamin D has multiple roles in the body, including:

  • promotes healthy bones and teeth
  • supports immune, brain, and nervous system health
  • influences the expression of genes involved in cancer development
  • supports lung function and cardiovascular health
  • regulates some hormones, particularly insulin and leptin

Low Levels Vitamin D and Weight Gain

Research shows that low Vitamin D levels are connected to insulin and leptin resistance.

Insulin is responsible for allowing glucose in the blood to enter cells, and is the main fat storage hormone in the body. It tells fat cells to store fat, and prevents stored fat from being broken down. 

Leptin is a hormone that is produced in fat cells and reduces appetite. Leptin signals the brain to stop eating when you’re full, and signals the brain to burn fat when there is enough fat storage.

When Vitamin D levels were low, insulin and leptin hormones become less sensitive or functional, causing the body to store more fat, burning less.  Low vitamin D also leads insulin resistance, a process where the cells become unresponsive to insulin and store glucose as fat.  Low vitamin D thus causes weight gain and weight loss resistance.  

Healthy Vitamin D Levels

The most common way to measure your levels of vitamin D is the 25-hydroxy vitamin D blood test. Results can be interpreted as follows:

  • Deficient: Less than 30ng/ml
  • Insufficient: between 30-50ng/ml
  • Optimal: 50-80 ng/ml

Ways to Increase Vitamin D

We can increase levels of vitamin D through diet, sun exposure and supplements.

  • Eat whole. Eat a clean, healthy, whole food diet, in order to maximize vitamin and mineral absorption. Avoid environmental and chemical toxins as well as pesticides and herbicides. Reduce trans and hydrogenated fats and increase healthy fats such as olive oil, coconut oil, olives, farm raised butter, nuts, seeds, avocados, etc. Avoid all processed and refined foods and sugars and ensure that morning pre-breakfast blood sugar levels stay under 100 mg/dl.
  • Get adequate sunlight. Spend at least 30 minutes a day with sunlight directly on most of your skin, without sunscreen.
  • Eat Vitamin D rich foods, including like sardines, salmon, herring, mackerel, grass fed beefs, liver, cod liver oil, egg yolks, wild mushrooms, fortified foods, etc.
  • Supplements. Vitamin D3 supplements should always be taken with fat and at the largest meal of the day.

The health of your gut microbiome  affects how well you absorb vitamin D from food or supplements.  Probiotics, prebiotics and fermented foods can improve gut microbiome.

Intermittent Fasting for Women

Intermittent Fasting for Women

by Anti-AgingDigestive SystemHormonesMetabolismReproductive System

Intermittent Fasting for Women

Intermittent fasting is a lifestyle habit that limits eating to a specific time window.  

Women can safely intermittent fast and derive significant health benefits, as long as we listen to our bodies and modify the practice accordingly.  When intermittent fasting, we need to honour our cycle and acknowledge that our needs are very different to men's.  We are not weaker or more fragile, just different.

Women who are trying to conceive, pregnant or breastfeeding should not  intermittent fast. Similarly, women with eating disorders, body image or other health issues should not intermittent fast unless working with appropriate qualified medical professionals.

Intermittent Fasting for Women and Stress

For us women, Intermittent fasting's effectiveness  depends on our specific hormone health and our stress levels.  

Stress strongly affects our hormones and thus our ability to successfully intermittent fast.  Women who mange their stress well, usually derive health benefits from intermittent fasting.  Women who are over-stressed may not be able to handle any additional stressors, and will likely not see any benefits from this practice.

Every woman is different. Some of us do great with intermittent fasting, but others are more sensitive to the stress it puts on our body.

How Women Should Intermittent Fast

Women should not aim for the longest fast that they can tolerate, but rather for the shortest fast that gives results.

For us  women, it is especially important to monitor our symptoms, such as hunger, fatigue, mood swings, headaches, lack of concentration and loss of menstrual cycle.  It is important not to be rigid about intermittent fasting, vary our fasting window, and most importantly, to listen to our body.

Women who are considering intermittent fasting should make sure that their adrenal glands are strong and working optimally.

Intermittent Fasting for Women Who Have a Cycle

There are three main phases to your menstrual cycle. The follicular phase occurs during the first 10-14 days of your cycle (with day 1 being the first day you start bleeding). The ovulation generally happens over the course of 3-5 days in the middle of your cycle. The luteal phase is the time period after ovulation and before the start of your next period. It is generally a 7-10 day window.

During perimenopause, hormones levels fluctuate as a result of fewer ovulations, and less progesterone is produced.

  • Day 1-10: Can intermittent fast. Body is trying to make estrogen. If desired, conducive to limiting carbohydrates.
  • Day 11-15: Can intermittent fast, preferably no more than 13 hours. Women typically ovulating. Estrogen and testosterone at their highest; progesterone starting. Focus on creating a strong microbiome with a varied Mediterranean diet, adequate sleep and movement.
  • Day 16+: No intermittent fasting until the day you menstruate or know you have conceived. Support body with hormone producing foods (listed below). Progesterone is at highest level, and estrogen also rises.

Intermittent Fasting for Women Who Don't Have a Cycle

After menopause, ovaries in women shut down, and sex hormones are made mainly by the adrenal glands and fat tissue. Estrogen is still produced, but in much lower quantities.  Very little progesterone is made.  

It is important to manage stress effectively, and to ensure the adrenal glands are working optimally.  It is very important to ensure adequate progesterone because research shows it may influence brain and cognitive health.

  • 5 days a week of intermittent fasting, preferably 13 hours.
  • 1 day a week of longer intermittent fasting (14-16 hours)
  • 1 day a week of healthy feasting

Symptoms of Low Progesterone

In women who have a cycle, progesterone is mainly produced in the ovaries and fluctuates around a women’s menstrual cycle.  In women who do not have a cycle, progesterone is mainly produced in the adrenal glands.

  • Irregular menstrual cycle
  • Infertility
  • Headaches or migraines
  • Mood changes, including anxiety, depression or agitation
  • Weight gain
  • Hair loss
  • Fibroids

Foods that Boost Progesterone

  • Beans
  • Peas
  • Pumpkin, squash, sweet potatoes and yams
  • Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, cabbage, etc.
  • Nuts and seeds
  • Citrus and tropical fruits, and berries
  • Wild salmon and grass-fed meats

Other Ways to Boost Progesterone

  • Manage stress effectively
  • Mild exercise. Avoid over-exercising
  • Supplements such as magnesium. B vitamins, zinc, vitamin C
  • Seed cycling. Seeds contain phytoestrogens, minerals, vitamins, and healthy fats which help balance hormone levels. Consuming certain seeds at specific times during your cycle can help regulate hormones. In seed cycling, you eat 1 tablespoon each of ground flax and pumpkin seeds during the first half of your cycle (day 1 until ovulation) and 1 tablespoon each of sunflower and sesame seeds in the second half. 

Intermittent fasting can bring extraordinary health benefits to us, if we listen to our body and adapt accordingly.  If you need help to start an intermittent fasting program, please contact me.  I would be delighted to help you reap the health benefits.
Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent Fasting

by Digestive SystemEndocrine SystemHormonesMetabolism

Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is a timed approach to eating, and involves cycling between periods of eating and fasting.

Women who decide to intermittent fast need to do so differently. 

What is Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent fasting is a lifestyle habit that limits eating to a specific time window.  

It is not a diet and does not specify what foods a person should eat or avoid.  

Intermittent Fasting vs Calorie Restriction

Intermittent Fasting limits how often you eat and includes periods of not eating at all.  Calorie restriction reduces your average calorie intake below what is normal for a long period of time.  

Calorie restriction slows down your metabolism and puts your body into starvation and deprivation mode.

Intermittent fasting has many health benefits including weight loss, but is not suitable for everyone.

How Do You Intermittent Fast?

There are several ways to do intermittent fasting. Some of the most popular include:

  • 13:11 - 16:8 - Fasting for 13/16 hours and eating during a 11/8 hour window every 24 hours
  • 5:2 - Eating normally for five days and eating less for two days
  • Complete 24 hour fasts on certain days of the week
  • and others

Some approaches are easier than others.  The 13:11 (or 16:8) approach whereby eating is restricted to a  11 (or 8) hour window seems to work best for most of my clients, as it seems to be the easiest to implement and the most sustainable.

Intermittent Fasting Benefits

  • Improvements in thinking and memory
  • Improvements in blood pressure, resting heart rate, and other cardiovascular metrics
  • Better endurance
  • Prevention of diabetes
  • Reduced tissue damage during surgery
  • Changes the expression of certain genes, which helps the body protect itself from disease as well as promoting longevity
  • Increases human growth hormone, or HGH, which helps the body utilize body fat and grow muscle
  • Activates autophagy, a healing process whereby the body digests or recycles old and damaged cell components

Fasting: The Physician Within

Humans have been fasting for medical reasons for centuries, long before there were any studies to support its benefits. Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, believed fasting enabled the body to heal itself. Paracelsus, another great healer in the Western tradition, wrote 500 years ago that “fasting is the greatest remedy, the physician within. “ Ayurvedic medicine, has long advocated fasting as a major treatment. Today fasting is studied as a potential treatment for many diseases and dysfunctions, including asthma, chronic pain, metabolic syndrome, obesity, autoimmune diseases, heart disease and cancer.

Most religious and spiritual practices incorporate fasting.  In a religious context, fasting is a way to gain clarity, show sacrifice and help one connect to higher powers.

Ancient humans often went hours or days between meals as obtaining food was difficult. The human body adapted to this style of eating, allowing extended periods to pass between food intake times. Intermittent fasting recreates this forced-fasting.

Intermittent Fasting and Metabolic Flexibility

Intermittent fasting promotes metabolic flexibility.

Metabolic flexibility is the body’s ability to adapt and use whatever fuel is available to it.  Your body is metabolically flexible when its mitochondria can use sugar or fat as their fuel and thus maintain consistent energy levels.  Ways to increase metabolic fasting include exercise and fasting.

Metabolic flexibility is essential to good health.

For Better Health

  • Avoid sugars and refined grains.
  • Avoid hydrogenated and trans fats.
  • Avoid snacks and nighttime eating. Let your body burn fat between meals.
  • Consider a simple form of intermittent fasting. Start with 12:12 and work towards 14:10 or 16:8.
  • Consider a Mediterranean diet rich in vegetables, healthy fats, nuts, seeds and wild-caught fish.

Who Should Not Intermittent Fast?

  • Children and teens under age 18
  • Women who are trying to conceive, pregnant or breastfeeding
  • People with diabetes or blood sugar problems unless under the supervision of a nutritionist
  • People with a history of eating disorders or body image struggles
  • People undergoing treatment for a diagnosed medical condition unless under the supervision of a nutritionist
Metabolic Flexibility - How to Achieve Metabolic Flexibility

Metabolic Flexibility

by Anti-AgingDigestive SystemHormonesMetabolism

Metabolic Flexibility

Metabolic flexibility is the body’s ability to adapt and use whatever fuel is available to it (sugar or fat).  If you’ve eaten recently, that fuel is the sugar in your blood (glucose). If you have not eaten recently or if all your blood glucose has been used up, that fuel is stored fat.  Although sugar is ideal for quick energy, fat is a more efficient fuel source for your metabolism.

Metabolic flexibility is important to good health.  A lack of metabolic flexibility leads to fatigue, cravings, irritability and other chronic diseases. 

Metabolism

Metabolism is a term that is used to describe all chemical reactions involved in maintaining the living state of the cells and organism. Metabolism is closely linked to nutrition, and energy production is one of its vital components. 

Metabolism and Your Liver

Roman scholars viewed the liver as the most important organ in the body and the Mesopotamian culture believed it to be the seat of our soul and emotions.   The liver sits at the centre of the metabolic system, which involves the production of energy and its delivery to each cell in the body.  The liver is fundamental to our well-being and improving liver function is the one of the most powerful ways to improve overall health.

Metabolism and Metabolic Flexibility

Every cell requires energy.   The food we eat is digested and broken down into its components, which will either be used immediately or stored.  Inside our bodies, carbohydrates are found as glucose or glycogen, and fats as fatty acids or ketones.   The liver converts deconstructed food into glycogen or fatty acids, and distributes them to tissues to be used for energy.  When there is excess energy, the liver will store the excess either as glycogen or as fat.  Most organs and muscles also have a limited supply of stored glycogen.

Our bodies can thus use energy as glycogen or fat.  Each has different energetic properties and appropriate for different situations. Glycogen is burned quickly for bursts of energy, while fats is more of a sustainable endurance fuel with lower peak power.  When a tissue requires energy, it will select a particular balance of glycogen and fat appropriate for that need.   The ability of our metabolic system to appropriately select fuels is at the core of metabolic health and flexibility.

Insulin Sensitive and Fat Adapted

Insulin is a hormone that is responsible for allowing glucose in the blood to enter cells, providing them with the energy to function.  Insulin sensitivity refers to how sensitive the body's cells are in response to insulin. High insulin sensitivity allows the cells of the body to use blood glucose more effectively, reducing blood sugar.   You’re insulin sensitive if your cells respond effectively to insulin.

Fat-adapted refers  to the ability of the body to burn both fat (through lipolysis) and glucose (through glycolysis).  You’re fat adapted if you engage appropriately in fat-burning lipolysis.   To become fat adapted, avoid refined carbohydrates, sugars and unhealthy fats, and increase healthy fats.

Being metabolically flexible, means you’re insulin sensitive and fat adapted.   Metabolic flexibility is thus the ability of the body to utilize the correct available fuels appropriately.

Metabolic Flexibility and Disease

Poor metabolic flexibility is implicated is many modern diseases including insulin resistance, obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome and neurodegenerative diseases. 

Insulin resistance occurs when cells don’t respond effectively to insulin, and cannot use the glucose in the blood.  To compensate, your pancreas produces more insulin, which further desensitizes cells. Over time, blood sugar goes up and the insulin producing cells in the pancreas are damaged, leading to type 2 diabetes as well as obesity, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer.

How to Achieve Metabolic Flexibility

  • Exercise
  • Intermittent Fasting
  • Fasting
  • Get Fat Adapted
  • Eliminate snacking
  • Add supplements that promote metabolic flexibility, including magnesium, polyphenols, omega 3, etc.
Intuitive Eating, Heal your Relationship with Food

Intuitive Eating 101

by Digestive SystemNervous System

Intuitive Eating 101

Intuitive Eating (IE) heals your relationship with food by teaching you to listen and trust your body cues, particularly hunger, fullness and satisfaction.

Shackled to a Failed Diet Culture

We are shackled to a culture of dieting and weight loss.  Nutrition advice and fat diets are ubiquitous.  Research indicates that women internalize the importance of restricting food as young as age 5!   75% of  women participate in chronic dieting or disordered eating behavior. 

Every day there is a new diet or fad that promises to make you healthier and smarter, improve your mood, and help you lose weight.  Yet, we know that diets and fads do not work.   Research shows that roughly 80% of people who shed a significant portion of their body fat will not maintain that degree of weight loss for 12 months; and, according to one meta-analysis of intervention studies, dieters regain, on average, more than half of what they lose within two years.

We know that while it’s hard to lose weight, it’s even harder to keep it off!

What is Intuitive Eating?

Intuitive Eating is not a diet.  There are no food restrictions, calorie counting, or portion measuring.  IE is about learning to trust to your body and identifying your hunger, fullness and satisfaction cues.  It is about breaking free of the control food has over you, and letting go of shame and guilt around eating.

Intuitive Eating is about savoring the pleasure and joy in food, while finding and maintaining a healthy weight. 

Intuitive Eating Benefits

Healing your relationship with food has many benefits, including:

  • Deriving pleasure from food, and freeing yourself from its control
  • Improved health
  • Better body image and self esteem
  • Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight
  • Improved metabolism
  • More joy and satisfaction

10 Principles of Intuitive Eating

  • Reject the set mentality.
  • Honor your hunger.
  • Make peace with food.
  • Challenge the food police.
  • Respect your fullness.
  • Discover the satisfaction factor.
  • Cope with your emotions.
  • Respect your body.
  • Move.
  • Honor your health with gentle nutrition.

Who is IE for?

Everyone.  But ...

You may not yet be psychologically ready for this change, or you may need to correct other physical imbalances.  

Imbalances that may need to be addressed include:

  • Gut flora. Your body contains trillions of bacteria, the majority located in your intestines. Your microbial mix is determined by age, diet, environment, genes, and medications. Your gut microbiota metabolizes nutrients from food and certain medications, serves as a protective barrier against intestinal infections, and produces vitamin K. They affect how foods are digested and produce chemicals that help make you feel full. Thus, they affect hunger - fullness signals, and may cause weight gain.
  • Liver function. Your liver filters your blood, digests fats, proteins and carbohydrates, and produces bile and other enzymes. Toxins, chemicals, preservatives, pesticides, prescription drugs, heavy metals and bad diet choices disrupt metabolic pathways and overburden the liver. An overloaded liver causes ineffective digestion and fat breakdown, and leads to weight gain or weight loss resistance, as well as fatigue and other serious health issues.
  • Hormones. Hormonal imbalance may cause weight gain, or at least weight loss resistance. Hormones affecting weight gain include excess cortisol, insulin and/or leptin blockage, estrogen dominance, a sluggish thyroid, and low testosterone.

It is important to work with a qualified nutritional professional in order to address these imbalances before, or at least in parallel to, starting your IE journey.  Otherwise, you may be sabotaging your efforts.

Are you struggling with gut, liver or hormonal issues? Contact me to learn how I can help you resolve these.

IE May Be Scary

To some, IE may be very scary.  The very idea of not being on a diet, and being free around food may be frightening.  You may not be ready to listen to your body.  In fact, you may be terrified to listen to your body cues, especially those around hunger, fullness and satisfaction.  

You may not be psychologically ready to change, and to do the work necessary to heal your relationship with food.   You may also have physical imbalances, such as liver issues, flora or hormonal imbalances, that can difficult intuitive eating.   These imbalances need to addressed first, or at least in parallel, to an intuitive eating program.

My Approach to Intuitive Eating

My approach expands on Intuitive Eating. It sets up a structural framework on which IE can rest. It also explores and corrects imbalances that may interfere with body cues.

Intuitive Eating is a journey, and its is important to have a structural compass and avoid pitfalls. It may be very helpful to work with an experienced professional to heal your relationship with food.

Contact me to learn more about my approach to heal your relationship with food.

You are worth it!

Weight Loss & Hormones

Weight Loss & Hormones

by Digestive SystemImmune System

Weight Loss and Hormones

The calorie-in/calorie-out hypothesis to diet and weight loss is inadequate.  Calories matter, but so do hormones.  You look and feel your best when your hormones are balanced.   When hormones are out of balance, you may feel irritable, miserable, fatigued, foggy, bloated, stressed and gain weight. Unbalanced hormones lead to weight loss struggles.

In people that eat healthy and exercise adequately, fat loss resistance is almost always due to hormonal imbalances.   The most common reasons that people are unable to loose weight are: excess cortisol, insulin resistance, leptin resistance, estrogen dominance, sluggish thyroid, low testosterone or HPA (hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal) control system issues. 

Many hormonal imbalances can be addressed by diet and lifestyle changes together with targeted nutrients and supplements.  Less frequent, imbalances may require biodentical hormones in the lowest doses and for the shortest time necessary under the supervision of a qualified professional.

Weight Loss and Covid

Weight loss during covid requires extra discipline and work.  Maintaining a healthy weight and lifestyle during the current coronavirus pandemic is challenging, losing weight more so. It is important not to be too judgmental or self-critical.  

The coronavirus pandemic and resulting lockdowns lead to dramatic changes in health and eating patterns, increasing stress and anxiety, and disrupting sleep. Health concerns, isolation, financial problems, job loss, and general uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic contribute to stress.  This additional stress together with the rise in unstructured time, the closure of gyms, parks and recreational centers, and movement restrictions may result in weight gain.

Being overweight and metabolism disturbances contributes to covid-19 negative outcomes.  Obesity leads to a reduction in adiponectin, a substance that protects the lungs.  People with a history of obesity, hypertension, chronic lung disease, diabetes and heart disease may have the worst prognoses from covid-19.

Weight Loss: Hormones that Affect Weight

  • Cortisol
    Cortisol is a hormone produced by the adrenal glands in response to stress. Our modern stressed lifestyle often lead to very high levels of cortisol. Strict diets and stress, shame or guilt around food also raises cortisol. Excess cortisol depletes serotonin, causes insomnia, overeating, weight gain and increases fat deposits, especially around the abdomen. High cortisol is also linked to depression, irritability, fatigue, food addiction and sugar cravings.
  • Insulin
    Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas beta cells. It is secreted in small amounts throughout the day, and in larger amounts after a meal. Insulin is responsible for allowing glucose in the blood to enter cells, providing them with the energy to function. Insulin is also the main fat storage hormone in the body. It tells fat cells to store fat, and prevents stored fat from being broken down. Insulin resistance occurs when insulin becomes ineffective and glucose is unable to enter cells. The liver then converts the glucose into fat. Insulin resistance can cause weight gain, sugar addiction and metabolic syndrome.
  • Leptin
    Leptin is a hormone that is produced in fat cells and reduces appetite. Leptin signals the brain to stop eating when you’re full. It also tells the brain that there is enough fat stage which helps prevent overeating. Overweight people have more fat cells and very high levels of leptin. When the brain receives too many leptin signals, it shuts down; leptin levels keep rising, receptors stop functioning, leading to leptin resistance. Leptin resistance increases hunger and reduces the number of calories burnt, causing weight gain. Leptin levels are also reduced when you loose weight, making it very hard to maintain weight loss.
  • Ghrelin
    Ghrelin is a hormone produced by enteroendocrine cells of the gastrointestinal tract, especially the stomach, and is often called a "hunger hormone" because it increases food intake. Ghrelin levels are highest before eating, and lowest after a meal. In overweight people, gherkin decreases very little after meals.
  • Estrogen
    Estrogen is one of the most important female sex hormones. It is mainly produced in the ovaries, with small amounts produced by the adrenal glands and fat tissue. Both very high and low levels of estrogen can lead to weight gain. Estrogen dominance occurs when you have too much estrogen compared with its counter-hormone, progesterone. Having too much estrogen in the body causes a number of symptoms, including weight loss resistance, moodiness, PMS, and heavy periods.
  • Thyroid
    The thyroid creates hormones T4 and T3 that control metabolism, and dictate how fast or slow you burn calories. A sluggish thyroid causes weight gain, fluid retention, hair loss or thinning, depression, and constipation, among other problems.
  • Testosterone
    Testosterone belongs to a group of hormones known as androgens. Testosterone levels affect fertility, sex drive, red blood cell production, muscle mass and fat distribution. Although men have more testosterone than women, the female adrenal glands and ovaries produce small amounts of this important hormone
  • Hypothalamic-Pituatary-Adrenal Axis
    The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is responsible for helping us adapt to stress. In response to stress, cortisol is released. We need cortisol for the body to function properly, but when we are constantly stressed the HPA axis gets desensitized to the negative feedback loop, leading to chronic stress on the hypothalamus, pituitary gland and adrenal glands.

Emotional Factors and Weight

Emotions, beliefs and attitudes can derail weight loss. Unprocessed and negative emotions can lead to overeating, alcoholism and other unhealthy addictions. Shame, judgement and obsession also triggers excess cortisol and contributes to weight loss resistance.  Starvation, restricted eating and excess exercise  cause hormonal imbalances and consequent weight issues.

Weight Loss & Hormones: A Reset

  • Eat well. Eat an anti-inflammatory Mediterranean diet rich in vegetables, fruit, whole grains, healthy proteins and healthy fats. Avoid processed foods, refined carbohydrates, sugar, sugar substitutes and hydrogenated or trans fats.
  • Move. Exercise including yoga, Pilates, dance, weight training, and burst cardio (alternating brisk walks with normal pace). Burst training help stabilize cortisol and raises growth hormone.
  • Manage stress. Meditate.
  • Get adequate sunlight. Spend time in nature.
  • Get adequate sleep.
  • Supplement if necessary. Ashwagandha and phosphatidyl serine help balance cortisol. Berberine and milk thistle help balance insulin. Di-Indole Methane (DIM) helps balance estrogen.
  • Address nutrient deficiencies. For example low vitamin C lowers progesterone which makes you overwhelmed and anxious.
  • Remove toxins such as bisphenol A which interferes with estrogen, insulin, thyroid and testosterone messages in the body.

It is important to balance hormones to attain peak health, feel good, energized and focused as well as to maintain a healthy weight.

GMO Foods - Genetically Modified Foods

GMOs: Genetically Modified Organisms

by Digestive SystemImmune System

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)

GMOs: Genetically Modified Definition

GMOs, or genetically modified organisms, are defined as organisms (i.e. plants, animals or microorganisms) in which the genetic material, or DNA, has been artificially manipulated in a laboratory through genetic engineering.  This creates genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods.  Thus, GMOs refer to something living that has been artificially changed on a genetic level in order to alter one or more characteristics.

GMOs: Genetically Modified Safety

The safety of Genetically Modified Organisms s a hot debate. Consumers continue to be concerned about both the food safety and the nutritional equivalence of GMO foods. In a 2015 Pew Research Center survey of consumers, 57% of adults believe that eating GMO foods is unsafe, while 37% say they believe it is generally safe.

GMOs: Genetically Modified Rationale

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that the world will have to grow 70% more food by 2050 just to keep up with population growth. Climate change will make much of the world's arable land more difficult to farm.

Globally, about a tenth of the world's cropland includes GM plants. Four countries, namely the U.S., Canada, Brazil and Argentina, grow 90 percent of the planet's GM crops

Most GMOs have been engineered to increase crop yields and resistance to pathogens.  Genetically modified foods  are also engineered to increase tolerance to environmental variables such as temperature, water availability, etc., as well as to decrease the need for pesticides.  

GMOs: Nutritional Equivalence

The testing for substantial equivalence of GM and non-GM crops involves the quantification of selected molecules. The GM crop is assessed for agronomic, morphological and chemical characteristics, such as macro- and micro-nutrients, anti-nutrients and toxic molecules.

GMOs and their non-GMO counterpart are nutritionally equivalent, unless the nutritional content of the GM crops has been intentionally modified.

GMOs: The Genetically Modified Experiment

In 2019, up to 92% of U.S. corn, 94% of soybeans and 94% of cotton were grown from genetically modified seeds.  Knowingly or unknowingly, we are consuming genetically engineered foods without full knowledge of their side effects.

Some argue that we have consumed many GMO meals with no apparent side effects.   However, if we look closer at data, we realize that there are many more side effects than first thought, and that the benefits many not outweigh the consequences. 

GMOs: Observations & Side Effects

  • Food Allergies … The incidence and severity of food allergies has risen dramatically in the past 35 years. This coincides with the introduction of GM foods. Since plant proteins are changed in GM crops, it is very likely that there allergies are due to the genetic changes in the foods we eat.
  • Obesity Epidemic … Obesity continues to rise at an alarming pace worldwide. Studies have shown a correlation between the obesity epidemic and increased corn consumption, specifically genetically modified Bt corn. It is very possible that genetically modified foods are the culprit for our obesity epidemic.
  • Increased Use of Toxic Herbicides and Pesticides … The pesticide Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is inserted into the DNA of certain vegetables so that they can secrete their own pesticide. The argument for this modification is that we can then reduce the use of toxic pesticides and herbicides. However, the use of pesticides has continued to increase significantly. Toxic pesticides are used to control the Bt resistant insects. These strong pesticides also affects the bees and other pollinating insects.
  • Increased Toxins … Genetic modification is intended to improve crop performance. One of these methods is to increase a plant’s resistance to insecticides. However, this increased resistance to pesticides promotes increased use of agrochemicals. This causes more toxic runoff in our waters and toxins in the foods that we eat.
  • Local Farming and Ecology … GM and big corporate farming have devastated local farming and ecology.

Most studies that purport to show the safety and GMOs are performed by the organizations promote them.  Long-term health effects can be subtle and nearly impossible to link to specific changes in the environment. Scientists have long believed that Alzheimer's disease and many cancers have environmental components, but few would argue we have identified all of them.

The fact that we do not see immediate, clear and obvious side effects is not he same as being proven safe.

Bloating and Excess Gas

Bloating and Excess Gas

by Digestive System

Bloating and Excess Gas

Bloating and excess gas is one of the most common reported gastrointestinal (GI) complaints.  Although common, it should not be constant.  

What is bloating?

Bloating is a condition caused by excess gas trapped in the digestive tract.  A possible cause is an overgrowth of bacteria that ferments digested food, releasing gases.  The body eases the bloating by releasing the excess gas either by belching or flatulence.

How much bloating is normal?

People who have digestive issues, or experience bloating, excess gas and discomfort for longer than a year should work with a qualified nutritionist or health professional to look for root causes.

Bloating and Excess Gas: Causes and Treatments

  • Stress ... Eating while stressed, or on the run, prohibits digestion, leading to an uncomfortable bloated feeling. When stressed the body activates the sympathetic nervous system which enables the flight-or-fight mode to handle the perceived threat, and shuts off the digestive process.
    Treatment Plan: If stress is the cause for bloating, take a few slow, deep breaths before each meal. Place your hands over your belly and take a deep breath in through your nostrils. Inhale slowly and feel your belly push against your hands. Exhale slowly and pull your belly in toward your spine. Repeat three to five times. Avoid phone, computer or watching tv during meals.
  • Food sensitivities and intolerances … Some people have difficulty digesting certain foods. Common culprits include dairy, gluten, eggs, peanuts, corn, beans and even raw vegetables.
    Treatment Plan: To determine if food sensitivities or intolerances are the root cause for bloating, implement an elimination diet with the help of a nutritionist. Although food sensitivity tests are available, they are expensive and somewhat inaccurate. A well designed elimination diet is the best way to find the food intolerance. Food intolerances may be exacerbated by small intestinal bacteria overgrowth and other intestinal imbalances.
  • Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) … SIBO is defined as excessive bacteria in the small intestine. Excess bacteria eat digested food, creating a surplus of hydrogen and methane gases. These gases eventually build up in the intestines, leading to bloat. SIBO is diagnosed by a breath test.
    Treatment Plan: Possible treatments include diet and lifestyle changes, gut healing supplements, motility agents, as well as herbal antimicrobials such as grapefruit seed extract, oregano oil, garlic, berberine, olive leaf extract, myrrh, pau d’arco. Antibiotics may be required if the problem is severe.
  • Dysbiosis … Bloating is a common symptom of dysbiosis, or an imbalanced gut microbiome. Dysbiosis is caused by frequent antibiotic intake, high sugar, alcohol and/or processed food diets, some medications, some diseases, etc. Lack of sleep and exercise exacerbate digestive distress and dysbiosis.
    Treatment Plan: With dysbiosis, it is important to implement an anti-inflammatory diet, supplement with supplements that eliminate bad bacteria and promote good bacteria, as well as nutrients that heal the gut, and manage stress.
  • Gastroparesis … Gastroparesis is a condition in which the stomach can’t empty food at a normal pace causing bloating. Possible causes include autoimmune diseases, eating disorders, diabetes as well as other conditions.
    Treatment Plan: It is important to work with a nutritionist to create an anti-inflmmatory, easy to digest diet plan together with lifestyle changes to minimize the amount of time food stays in the stomach.
  • Constipation … Constipation causes the stool to sit in the colon longer than usual, giving bacteria more time to ferment what’s in there which leads to excess gas and bloating.
    Treatment Plan: If you’re frequently constipated and bloated, it is important to work with a nutritionist to determine the causes. Increasing fibre, drinking more fluids and increasing exercise are also important.