10 Things...

I wanted to write a follow up about my nutrition "soapbox" post the other day.  Apparently it struck a cord (in some) because I got several emails asking for advice and a few people who said they felt overwhelmed because they didn't know where to start.  I definitely didn't mean for it to overwhelm or discourage in any way so I thought I might give a quick list of things to consider as a "starting point" for eating (and thinking) more intentionally.  It's not a fully inclusive list but these 10 things are what I would tell my clients to start with.  If you want the quick version, just read the bold stuff...if you want the reasons, read the rest. :-)

 

1. Take a high quality multivitamin and mineral supplement an an Omega Complex.

The American diet is heavily saturated with carbs, sugars and processed (convenient) foods - but it's also known for allowing illness and disease to thrive. These processed foods we consume don't provide us with the nutrients we need and very few diets get enough vitamins and minerals without good supplementation. And I'm not talking Flintstones here.  I'm talking a high quality, bioavailable multi + mineral. 

****Vitamin Test****: To test to see if your body is getting any nutrients from the vitamin you are taking, let me suggest a test.   Take a cup of white vinegar at room temperature and put your multivitamin in it.  Set your timer for 1 hour.  During that hour, swirl it carefully once or twice, avoiding contact of the vitamin to the side of the cup.  If after one hour it is still sitting mostly undissolved in the cup, feel confirmed that its not doing you much good.  The vinegar simulates the acidity of the stomach so a virtually whole vitamin means you are pooping your money away.  Literally.  Yup, I went there.

I'll tell you what we use just in case you need a recommendation but, again, do your own research.  I'm not telling you to take what we take.  I use Poly Vytamyns by Interplexus plus a non-acidic vitamin C supplement called Ester-C with it.  Its the combination my doctor recommended. For LC, I use Childlife Essentials Multivitamin and Mineral. Its a liquid and she loves it...she thinks its a treat! For our Omegas, I use Nordic Naturals "Ultimate Omega" and LC is on the DHA Junior by Nordic Naturals.

And no, in case you are wondering, I have not been paid or solicited to mention these brands and I have no affiliation with them in any way.. They're really what we use.

 

2. Add a probiotic to your diet.  

Probiotics are important because our bodies are supposed to have a healthy balance of good bacteria in our intestines and stomach to support immunity.  You might have heard of it referred to as good "intestinal flora".  As women, we are almost always warned to take a probiotic while on an antibiotic.  If you don't, there is a high possibility of a yeast infection occurring. 

Have you ever thought to wonder: Why? 

Well, it's because when we use antibiotics to knock out sickness, both the bad and good balance is knocked off kilter. If too many of the "good" guys are killed off, the bad ones thrive and this can cause a condition called "yeast overgrowth".  Its actually very harmful to the body if not put back into proper balance. 

 

But I eat yogurt with a probiotic...isn't that enough? 

 

I assume several of you are thinking that question in your head right now.  The answer, unfortunately, is no.  Pretty much every American should be on a probiotic.  And, by the way, don't make the mistake of thinking yeast is just a lady problem.  It affects men and children, too.        

 

One way to visually check for a yeast overgrowth is to look at your tongue in the morning first thing.  If your tongue is white, it is a possibility you have something called "Thrush" and this is evidence of a yeast overgrowth in your mouth.  Your mouth could possibly be a sign of what's going on in your entire body.  To read more about other signs and symptoms of yeast overgrowth, click here.  In the next 10 years, I personally believe yeast overgrowth is going to be as much of a buzz word as the gluten free, High Fructose Corn Syrup-free thing is now.  It's happening.

We use a probiotic by Klaire Labs "Therbiotic Complete" and LC is on Children's Theralac.  Again, not affliated or paid to mention, it's what we use...do your own research...blah, blah, blah... 

 

 

3. Cut artificial sugars of all kinds and limit general sugar intake.

If you don't cut anything else out of your diet, cut sodas and diet drinks. They are insanely high in sugar and the diet ones are full of (chemical) fake sugars that are inflammatory to the body. Not only this, but high levels of caffeine/sugar cause your body to have an energy rise and then subsequent crash which makes you want to grab another one.  And another one...and so on.

 

A big reason why people, especially women, shouldn't drink soda is that it contains phosphoric acids.  These PAs have been tossed around as a cause of erosion in our bone structure and density which basically means it encourages osteoporosis.

 

So what do types of sugars do I cut? Aspartame, saccharine, high fructose corn syrup, Splenda, and even simple white sugar. These are found in things like dressings, sodas (even diet), baked goods, condiments like ketchup, etc. HFCS people will tell you that "its fine, its just sweetener made from corn" but neglect to tell you it is chemically altered in massive ways...Splenda people will tell you "its fine, its made from sugar" but its chemically altered sugar.  Both cases have key words: chemically altered.

 

What do I use instead? If you're going to have sugar, have sugar...but limit it. Use more natural sugars like unrefined cane sugar, agave, honey, or stevia (which is made from a plant leaf that has been used for a gazillion years with no side effects). Stevia typically isn't super noticeable in cold things but its a little bitter in hot stuff. I use Stevia in cold stuff, unrefined cane sugar in hot stuff, and use agave, honey or unrefined cane sugar in recipes/baking. Just whatever I have on hand. 

 

4. On a nutritional label, ingredients are listed in "order of appearance". 

I'm not sure that was a very good sentence (above) but what I'm trying to say is that if the first ingredient listed is an Oat, that is the main ingredient.  The second ingredient is the second most used ingredient...and so on.  It's listed from most to least.  So if your first ingredient listed is "high fructose corn syrup" that is what the product is mostly made of.

 

If High Fructose Corn Syrup or some variation of sugar is in the top ingredients...buyer be aware.  You're consuming a lot of sugar.  We have a "rule" that, for the most part, if "sugar" is one of the top five ingredients, we don't buy it.  But just so we are clear, we have our cheat moments...we know ice cream is going to have sugar as a top five.  It's just a "moderation" thing...we don't do it every day!

 

5. Cut the stuff with hormones, antibiotics, chemicals, and pesticides in them.

Look for things that are labelled as "raised without hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, non-GMO". Also, keep an eye out for the Certified Organic label.  It means the product is compliant with higher "organic" regulations.  The areas this is most obviously important are meats and any form of dairy (milk, yogurt, cheese).  Start there.  All these hormones and junk the animals are being fed/given, get into our bodies when we consume and digest them. It seems insignificant but its not - especially not to our children who are developing.

6.  Limit shopping the aisles of the grocery store and shop the "perimeter" of the store.

All the fresh stuff is around the outside edge of the store, all the stuff with a long shelf life (read: chemicals and preservatives) are found in the aisles. The more you choose to eat fresh foods with a shorter shelf life, the healthier you will become.

Is it more expensive to grocery shop this way? Yes. But ask yourself: "What's worse? a) an increase in your grocery bill now? or b) expensive medical bills later?" :-/

 

Good news, though, there are ways to offset that. Lots of health food stores - and even main stream grocery stores - give "case" discounts or run weekly specials on certain items.   Instead of buying one item that you eat often, ask if there is a discount if you buy 12 (or whatever the case amount is).  Don't be skeeerd to ask.  Buy foods that you can use in more than one meal during your menu planning. If I make taco salad with ground beef, then I use the leftover ground beef in some other recipe the next day. Finding ways not to waste really does help.  Obviously, use coupons.  Go to your local farmers market or find a fresh food co-op where you share the expense with other families. Click here to find organic food and events local to you.

I'm not trying to say this is the only way to eat or that I'm the smartest person when it comes to health and nutrition.  I have a lot to learn but something that has been a relatively passive interest in the past has become more of a passion for me.  Clearly, its important to acknowledge that life is about making choices and, sometimes, groceries have to be an area where people "cut".  My main message here is just to make healthy nutritional choices a priority when and where you can. 

 

7. When meal-planning, "Eat the colors".

One of the best and most memorable pieces of advice I ever received on nutrition was from my grandmother.  She said that a good and easy rule of thumb for healthy meal planning is to divide your plate into 3-4 parts and then "eat the colors". Very likely, if your plate contains a variety of colors, you are getting the varied nutrients your body needs.   Uhhhhh hmmmmmm (clearing throat)...cheese is not a color.

 

Go heavy on the "greens" (veggies, lettuce), medium on the proteins, medium-light on the good fats, and light-light on the fruits and bread/pasta/simple carbohydrates.

 

8. Eat Smart.

 

- Watch your soy intake.  Soy has is thought by some to cause an estrogen-like response in the body and this can affect the hormones of men and women alike.  There is much debate on soy and its affects so for now I'm avoiding it.  I need more conclusive data before putting it into my body.  Its in more stuff than you probably realize.

 

- Fruits are good for you but they are still processed by the body as a sugar. Fruit can, to the surprise of a lot of people, be a diet buster. Yes, they have good things in them and should be eaten, just not in excess. They are still calories.  I try to stick to berries primarily when I eat fruits because they have a lesser glycemic (sugar) response in the body.

 

- The American diet typically plans their meals around the bread, pasta, white potatoes, white rice types of carbs.  These types of carbs shouldn't be your main thing. It should be the most limited thing on your plate.

- If you're set on eating carbs, sub out the "white" stuff in your diet for more complex or nutritious food choices.  Eat a sweet potato instead of white potato.  Eat quinoa or brown rice instead of white rice.  Hint: when cooking quinoa or brown rice, replace the water recommendation on the cooking instructions for low sodium chicken broth.  This will help to add more flavor. 

 

- Cut the fried stuff way back.  You know why. 

 

- Eat good fats, not butter/fried fats. Examples of good fats: raw nuts, avocados, olives/olive oil, seeds (sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seed), fatty fish (like salmon) and coconut oil. 

 

We use unrefined, extra virgin, organic coconut oil a lot at our house - we cook our eggs in it, saute our veggies with it, and I bake with it.  The flavor of the oil is much more subtle than the coconut flakes that people associate with coconut.  I even use a tiny bit of it on the ends of my hair pre-blow dry instead of expensive (chemical-filled) hair products, and its also my favorite facial moisturizer.  No, it doesn't clog my skin at all.  I also use it on LC in place of lotion and diaper rash cream.  It's a big deal to me that what I put on our skin is as natural as possible since we absorb it into our bodies.  Note: Put a small "test amount" on your skin before using to make sure you don't have an allergy.

 

Coconut oil is a medium chain fatty acid (plant-based fat) - which is a healthier fat - and isn't one that affects your cholesterol negatively from what I understand.  It got a bad rap several years back but its reputation has been cleared. Studies have shown that Medium Chain Fatty Acids in your diet keep you full longer and show promise in the prevention of neuro degenerative disorders like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease as well as aid in the prevention of - and recovery from - heart disease. 

 

9. Watch a few documentaries on food.  Knowledge is power.  Just a few I can think of off the top of my head  Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, Food Inc (watch the trailer!!!), and Fast Food Nation are all crazy interesting (at least according to this nerd), highly informative...and eye opening. 

 

When DW and I watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, it blew my mind how much he changed over the course of the documentary.  You could see it happening right before your very eyes! I'm not saying juicing is the way to go for weight loss - and I'm definitely not encouraging anyone to even try it without carefully doing their research and making an educated decision.  I'm just referencing this documentary because it does a great job of showing what consuming lots of nutrients can do for you and how much we mistreat our bodies.

 

10. Consider going gluten free for 1 month. Write a list of all of the things that seem "wrong" in your body...like a symptom list. Then, for just 30 days, take gluten out of your diet and substitute gluten free foods. After the 30 days, return to your "old" way of eating. See if it makes a difference in how you feel. Disclaimer: the only way to really know is not to "cheat". I'm a fan simply because it has been life changing for me.  "Shop" for recipes that sound good to you here:  Elana's Pantry and Gluten Free Girl & the Chef.    

 

Anyway, I hope this helps a little!  If all the details overwhelmed you, forget them. Just go back and write down the 10 bolded "to dos" and focus on those!