The Common Sense Diet

We are bombarded day in and day out by the latest food fads promising immediate weight loss - Get your bikini body!  Lose 10lbs in 10 days!... I even saw one this morning for future grooms to get fit for their wedding in 6 weeks!  The "press" is full of celebrities' "post baby bodies" and how much weight so and so hast managed to lose in the last 5 minutes (with a personal chef and personal trainer)... But let's face it, it is all far from realistic.

But I'll let you in on a secret... THERE IS ONLY ONE MIRACLE DIET.

Yup, that's right just one, and that is the one that's right for you.  The only diet right for everyone (with a few personal tweeks) is a WHOLE FOOD UNPROCESSED DIET.

If you eat fresh produce which is unprocessed and unrefined then you will thrive - on all levels.  You will be healthier, your skin will glow, your hair will shine, your nails will be strong and you will lose weight naturally.

How?  Common Sense.

1.  Don't skip meals.

Research has found that people who eat breakfast eat less during the rest of the day.  This is a highly debated point.  Lots of people are starving first thing in the morning, many others aren't.  So, think of it this way; are you a 3 meals a day person or a 5 meals a day?  Does breakfast mean eating first thing in the morning or 10am?  The exact time for breakfast is different for each person.  Also skipping breakfast or lunch can lead to unstable blood sugar levels and your concentration may suffer.  When this happens people tend to reach for something sweet and processed, gulping down coffee and worse still, energy drinks.

Try and structure your day so you can get time for at least 3 meals and you can concentrate on eating healthily.

2.  To Carb or not to Carb?

There is a lot going on at the moment about carbs being "bad" and they can be especially if they are the white processed type, or if you have gluten intolerance or celiac disease.

What you need to make sure is that you keep your carb intake low and that the TYPE of carbs are as WHOLE as possible.  Whole grains are full of B vitamins, fiber, magnesium and Iron.

Just as many are choosing to eliminate gluten, others also choose to eliminate whole food  groups such as dairy and sugar.  As with carbs I don't recommend excluding certain food groups completely unless due to allergies or intolerances, however dairy should not exceed 5% of the diet and there is NOTHING to be said for processed sugar.

3.  Health Drinks

Water is healthy.  65 - 70% of the human body is water.  You can survive without water for about 3 days (although some have made it to 8-10 days, but I wouldn't recommend trying) and you can survive without food for 3 weeks... but I wouldn't recommend trying that either.  But there is the difference, you can't survive without water for very long at all.  We are considerably under hydrated.  We simply don't drink enough water.  Also hunger pangs can actually be your body beginning to be dehydrated, so if you think you are hungry, drink a glass of water or two and then reevaluate how you are feeling.

Juice is NOT healthy.  It is basically flavored sugar water.  And if you buy juice it will probably have even more sugar added to it.  Fruit has sugar in it (fructose) and it also has lots of fiber.  If you juice fruit you are removing the fiber - which is the really healthy part.  The fiber in fruit helps the body to "slow release" the sugar in the fruit and not spike blood sugar levels.  You have to LOVE fiber!

Energy drinks and sports drinks aren't healthy either.  They are very high in sugar and caffeine (depending on the brand) and a calorie content to rival your calories burned during your workout.

Good old fashioned water which you can flavor with cucumber, mint, basil or rosemary, or on it's own is all you need really.

4.  The Super Food Hype

Too much of a good thing?

Certain foods such as broccoli, blueberries, etc., have been classed as superfoods because they have increased amounts of antioxidants such as vitamin C or phytonutrients such as flavonoids.  These are not a remedy for disease, but eating a wide variety of fresh vegetables and fruits will definitely help keep you healthy.  However, you don't have to stick solely to the "super foods" to me if it's fresh and doesn't have an ingredient label stuck to it, then it's good for you.

Also with the recent hype that fat is good for us, foods such as Greek yogurt, nuts and oils such as coconut oil or extra virgen olive oil are great foods to incorporate into your diet.  Just remember these are very high in calories and need to be eaten in moderation.

5.  Oh so sweet!

There is a lot being said about sugar right now... "Sugar is the new tobacco" for example, and I totally agree.  But honey, agave syrup, maple syrup, etc., are just sugar in a more "natural" state.  Honey is perceived as more healthy as it comes from nature, it is still sugar though and nowadays to be able to find raw honey (which does have other benefits for health) is nye on impossible - most of the honey in our shops is ultra-processed and has been stripped of its beneficial properties.

You can sweeten things with cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and coconut which all have a certain sweetness to them without the high content.

6.  READ THE LABEL.

In fact... don't buy anything that has a label.  I was shocked the other day when I asked the butcher at the supermarket if he could mince some chicken for me and he said he couldn't and I had to buy it prepackaged... the ingredient list horrified me.  Unfortunately I can't put the exact image from that packet as it's in Spanish but I have translated it:

Chicken meat 75%, water, soy protein, vegetables (4%), food fiber, dextrin, salt, starches, vegetable extracts, aromas, dextrosa. antioxidants: sodium citrate, sodium ascorbate; conservador: potassium metabilsulfite; colorante: cochineal carmine.

Pretty scary, huh?

7.  Are you eating too much?

As I said in point number 1; are you a 3 or 5 a day eater.  There are people who believe that you MUST eat 5 small meals a day to stop your metabolism dropping.  Others just prefer to eat 3 meals a day.  Do what is right for you and ONLY EAT IF YOU ARE TRULY HUNGRY.

I don't suggest calorie counting as low calorie meals can become extremely boring, but make wise healthy choices.  Have 3 good meals a day, comprised of lots of vegetables and some protein (animal or vegetable), if you get peckish between meals, drink some water and see if you are still hungry.  If so, then chose something healthy, a piece of fruit, or better still some raw veggies.  Even a bit of cheese or some celery with peanut butter!  A handful of raw nuts mid afternoon give a great energy boost if you are feeling sluggish.

But don't eat mindlessly.  Focus on what you are doing, and how what you have chosen is going to nourish your body and mind and help you to continue with your day.  Also eat slowly and chew thoroughly, don't gulp it down in a rush... you will eat more than you need.

I can help you improve your health.  If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com

How to stick to a diet

How many times have you grabbed a sandwich while on the run between meetings, or eaten a chocolate bar on the way to pick the kids up from school?  Most of us are on such tight schedules nowadays that food isn't even thought about, but is left to an automatic response to what ever is put in front of us at the precise moment we have a few minutes available to eat something.  More often than not we don't even think about what we are eating when swallowing it.

If we payed as much attention to our food as we do to other things in our lives, lots of people wouldn't have weight issues or health problems.  I often hear that someone has gained weight during pregnancy and then found they put even more weight on after giving birth, because they were running around after the kids all the time, and snacking on the kids' leftovers before going on to eat an evening meal with their husbands.  Or you meet up for coffee with a friend who orders a coffee and cake, and you automatically order the same.

A lot of people with weight issues just aren't designating enough time to thinking about what they are doing to themselves.  And, this isn't just happening to people with weight issues but to most of us.  We don't stop and think and most of the time we don't even remember what we've eaten afterwards.

Mindfulness is something I have read a lot about applied in many areas to life.  According to the Wikipedia:

Mindfulness or awareness is a spiritual or psychological facility that, according to the teaching of the Buddha , is considered to be of great importance in the path to enlightenment.  It is one of the seven factors of enlightenment.

 Mindfulness when eating means that you are truly aware of what you are doing and what you are eating.  You should focus on your food and only your food and when chewing, really savor the flavors and textures and even imagine how the food's nutrition content is going to favor your mind and body.  For example, focus on the vitamins and minerals in fruits and vegetables that will benefit your immune system.

Anyone on a diet knows how difficult it is to stick to a restrictive regime, and how easy it is to be lead astray even by one's self, you need to start thinking about what you are eating and the consequences:

1. What are your triggers?  We all have moments or temptations that lead us to break a diet.  As I said before, you meet a friend for coffee and have cake just because she's ordered some.  Those tempting chocolate bars at the check out in the supermarket when you're rushing to do the shopping before picking the kids up from school and you haven't had time for lunch.  Relax time in front of the TV in the evening when the kids are in bed are a real killer.  However, it isn't just the temptations around us all day, we also eat to be polite, sociable and to keep others company and to show our appreciation.  We also eat differently depending on who we are eating with; if your companion is a fast eater, you will tend to eat quicker too.  This is a real danger as eating quickly does not give your gut the chance to send the correct messages to the brain that you are full, so you tend to eat more than you would if you were with someone who eats slowly.  Over the next week, take stock and write down every situation when you eat without thinking or aren't even hungry.
2. Be aware of your eating patterns.  There are several questions you can ask yourself and the answers will give you guiding information as to how you can change from mindless to mindful eating.

• Are you a grazer?  Do you snack or nibble without being hungry or even deciding to eat?  That sliver of left over pizza, the handful of peanuts, the children's leftover dinner all contribute to many people's weight gain or regain after a diet.  The constant stream of 50 calories here, 100 calories there over months and years will make you gain weight.  You only need an extra 100 calories a day (that's a chocolate biscuit or a sliver of cheese) to gain 10 lbs in a year.
• Do you eat until hunger disappears or until you are full and can't eat any more?  There is a huge difference between the two, however, many of us have lost the ability to distinguish between being "satisfied" and "full up".
• Do you clean your plate or leave food on it?  Lots of us were educated to eat everything on our plate even though we had already had enough.  It is quite hard to switch off something that has been taught from childhood and we may also teach our children the same way.
• Do you taste each mouthful or do you "inhale" it?  There are lots of people out there that literally inhale their food at high velocity!  If you rush food you aren't being mindful and you won't enjoy it as much, and undoubtedly you will eat more than you need.
3. Stock your kitchen according to your goals.  This is a very important one, especially if you have small children in the house.  If you are on a diet to lose weight and still need to buy some biscuits, puddings, etc because of the little ones in the house, then hide them from view.  I love chocolate and have little ones at home.  I don't need to lose weight, but I do try to eat healthily on a daily basis, I also try to teach my children the basics of healthy eating.  However, my youngest goes to a school where his mid morning snack is dictated by the school: Monday = biscuits, Tuesday = Dairy, Wednesday = sandwich, Thursday = fruit, and Friday = what ever he wants.  I keep the children's biscuits, etc as far out of reach as possible for the whole family.  In my case I leave them in the store room in the basement.  If I'm hungry at night and fancy a nibble on something, the basement is cold and two floors down from my bedroom.  The kitchen is closer, and I always make sure there are strawberries or melon in the fridge for a late night snack.
4. Downsize your portion sizes and avoid leftovers.  
• Don't leave open packets on the kitchen counter or within easy reach in the fridge.
• Use smaller packets and plates; a serving that looks lost on a large plate will fill a smaller one and mean that you will feel satisfied but eat less.
• Choose tall, thin glasses.  Research shows that people pour more into short, fat glasses than into taller, slimmer ones.
• Cook the right amount for the number of people attending the meal.  Try and not have leftovers to tempt you later on - especially if dessert is involved!
5. Learn how to eat mindfully.

• Stop and think before you eat and rate just how hungry you are on a scale of 1-10 to give you a sense of what your body really needs.
• Be aware of what is on your plate, read the ingredient list and the fat, sugar and calorie content before deciding whether or not to eat it.  Better still, make all meals from scratch using fresh produce - that way, you'll know exactly what you are eating.
• Always sit at a table to eat.  Take time to smell and savor your food.  Take small bites, chew it well and put your fork down between mouthfuls to give yourself time to appreciate what your are eating and how it makes you feel.
• If you are at a dinner party, find the slowest eater and sit next to them, their slow eating habits will make you slow down too.
• Don't read or watch TV when eating.  Distractions take your mind off the task at hand and you will inevitably eat more.
• Only eat when you are truly hungry, if you fancy eating something, stop and think if you are really hungry, if you are, then choose something healthy, a piece of fruit or a small handful of raw almonds.
• Make meals that are fresh and colorful and appetizing to the eye, brain and digestive system.

Social Nutrition:  You can make an appointment to improve your health with Social Nutrition either in person (Madrid) or online (Skype).  Just send an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com

Myth Busting... again...

For years (and I mean years) most of the studies done on Nutrition were funded by the big corporations. For example... studies on the benefits of milk produce funded by Danone, or the importance of breakfast cereals funded by Kelloggs (I made these up so you get the gist!).  However, luckily for us, more and more money is being injected into nutritional studies by governments and universities.  This is great as we are finally getting an unbiased opinion as opposed to a bought one!  But, this can be very confusing for many as all the new information seems to contradict the old:

"A calorie is not a calorie." for example.

So here I am going to try and dispel some of those confusing statements based on evidence from new studies and I hope to clear up some of those myths:

Exercise does not burn off kilos:

This it TRUE.  Yes, I know, you are all going to start screaming and pulling your hair out wondering why you are paying for that expensive gym membership or "wasting" your time running every day.  Let's just clear one thing up, the fact that it doesn't burn off the kilos does not mean it isn't good for you so keep going to the gym or running as much as you like and you will still reap the benefits - they even say it makes you more intelligent!  But first, here are the facts:

A study with 411 female participants who worked out for over one, two or three hours a week for six months showed that these participants did not lose significantly more weight than those who devoted their time to sedentary pursuits such as video games or watching TV or crossword puzzles.  A review of another 15 similar studies came to the same conclusion: moderate workouts don't lead to weight loss, possibly because they tend to make us hungrier.  But there is also a more scientific explanation.  As with weight loss, one of the ways in which your body adapts to an increase in exercise is to lower your resting metabolic rate by roughly 7%, so you actually end up burning fewer calories - anywhere from 50 to 75 fewer per day, or so the scientists said.

So what are the benefits?  Well while exercise won't actually burn off that spare tyre it does help to reduce your waist circumference and generally tones up the body to make it firmer and leaner, not to mention the other benefits of having an active lifestyle.

Is it better to eat several small meals a day or just the regular 3 - Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner?

The reasoning behind the myth of eating several smaller meals during the day - about 5 is that your blood sugar level won't drop so much between meals, you will feel less hungry and you won't suffer from cravings when your blood sugar level drops.  

The facts are that in a study by the University of Missouri has found that people who eat 3 square meals a day are often no hungrier than those who eat smaller, more frequent meals. "Often people misinterpret the size of a mini meal and end up taking in far more calories than they realize, "says lead author Heather J Leidy. "Also, more meals means more exposure to food, which creates more opportunities for overeating."

It is my opinion that this is a very personal question.  There are people who feel better eating varias smaller meals per day rather than just 3 bigger ones.  As long as you are aware of what you are eating and you don't go overboard on quantity then go ahead and eat several times if that works for you. 

 Is it best to set more attainable goals or to be more ambitious and set a very challenging goal?

For years, weight loss specialists have said that setting an unrealistic goal for your weight loss means you will become easily discouraged and give up quickly.  In a recent Dutch study of 447 overweight adults, researchers found that the more weight loss the participants strived for, the more effort they made, and the more weight they reported losing after two months.  The theory is that being ambitious about your weight loss has a psychologically energizing effect, fueling your commitment and drive.  If you are over weight and need to shed the kilos set yourself a high goal of losing up to 14% of your current weight, this is the target that, on average, motivated the higher-reaching dieters in the Dutch study.

To lose half a kilo you have to cut back on 3,500 calories!

This is so FALSE!  This is a commonly quoted equation that doesn't account for the slowdown in your metabolism as you drop the kilos, say researchers at the National Institute of Health.  "It drastically overestimates how quickly people will lose weight," says senior investigator Kevin D. Hall.  His team has created a more accurate computerized model.   As an example a 46 year-old woman weighing 77kg by the traditional method she should drop half a kilo a week by cutting back on 500 calories a day and therefore lose 11.8 kg in six months.  The new model shows that the loss is more likely to be approximately 9 kg in the same time frame.  The truth is that where you get your calories from is very important.  The body does not metabolize the calories from protein in the same way it does the calories from carbs and if you add that to the fact that when you have been on a diet for a length of time the body slows down metabolism because it thinks it's going to starve!

If you know what to expect, you will not become so easily discouraged when the weight loss seems to slow down.

If you have been a yo-yo dieter for years your chances of weight loss success are ruined.

This is also FALSE.  This comes from way back in the '80s when studies on rats found
that those forced to yo-yo with their diets became more efficient at gaining weight.  Humans, however, are much better off.  The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, has found that a history of losing, then gaining, then losing weight wasn't linked to any negative effects on metabolism.  Even serial yo-yo dieters who reported losing 9 kg or more on three or more occasions, were able to follow a new diet and exercise programme as successfully as non yo-yo dieters.

Women are more prone to yo-yoing by trying crash diets one after another.  The way to go is to make healthy lifestyle changes that lead to slow and steady weight loss, and stick to them.  Become more active it will help tone up as the kilos come off.

Milk drinkers lose more weight!

Those of you who have followed this blog know that I am dead against milk and milk produce, which makes it so great for me to be able to say that this myth is FALSE!!!!  Harvard researchers analyzed 29 studies on this subject.  They found that while dairy MAY help dieters lose weight in the short term, ultimately it's not a successful strategy.  In most of the studies that had lasted a year or longer and that didn't restrict calories, found that adults who drank extra glasses of milk or ate more dairy actually gained more weight than those participants who didn't.

Another thing I will add to this from my own findings with patients I have treated and conversations I have had is that people that don't diet specifically to lose weight but do suddenly cut out dairy from their diets for other reasons, find that they lose weight suddenly for apparently no explanation.  I was talking to the mother of an adolescent with severe dermatitis last week, she had taken her daughter to loads of different doctors to try and find a solution to the child's terrible dermatitis.  She had finally given up on the traditional doctors and taken her daughter to a Naturopath who instantly cut out milk produce and provided a specific plan.  Within a week the dermatitis was notably better and the mother commented on how her daughter, although not over weight at all, had slimmed down.

You have to watch what you eat forever.

I'm sorry to say that this is TRUE.  Once you have lost weight and reached your goal, you'll want to stay there - I hope.  So many people make the mistake of thinking that now they have lost the weight they can come off the diet and go back to eating the way they did before, many don't stop to think that the way they ate before got them over weight in the first place.  However, I hope that whatever regime you choose to follow that works for you, your journey to your ideal weight will TEACH you how to eat healthily and you will therefore maintain your weight loss forever more.  This does not mean that every now and again your can't enjoy a piece of birthday cake or a yummy ice cream on your summer holiday, but it does mean controlling what you eat on a daily basis so that piece of cake or ice cream doesn't stay with you forever.

Controlling your carb intake is the best way to keep the pounds off.

Lots of you will be pleased to know that this is FALSE.  At the beginning of a weight loss regime it is better to limit your intake of REFINED carbs and go for a high protein diet BUT with lots of fresh vegetables and some fruit, water and exercise.  But once you are at the maintenance part of the diet a proper healthy balanced diet with all the food groups is essential.

Now, most people when they hear the word carbs think of bread, pasta and rice.  But carbohydrates are found in fresh vegetables, legumes, fruits, and nuts too.  The most damaging carbs are the white refined type - bread, pasta and rice.  

A balanced diet plan was found to be better than the usual technique of counting carbs or fat grams in a study of adults who had recently lost a significant amount of weight.  The least successful method was the one that counted fat grams.  Healthy fat is essential for a healthy body, eliminating it from your diet is not going to do you any good at all.  Fat counting caused the biggest slowdown in metabolism, leading dieters to burn an average of 423 fewer calories a day.

The carb-counting plan was problematic because it caused and increase in cortisol and C-reactive protein levels - factors that may elevate your risk of cardiovascular disease.

However, the balanced plan caused a less extreme drop in metabolism (under 300 calories a day) and didn't trigger any heart harming consequences.  The plan included lots of whole grains, fresh vegetables, legumes, fruits, nuts, healthy fats like olive oil and lean fish and meats.  It excluded heavily processed foods like white bread and instant rice.  This is a low-glycemic diet and is based on regulating blood sugar and hormone levels and does not restrict entire food groups so it is easier to stick to.

I hope I have managed to dispel some of those nagging doubts you may have about dieting and healthy eating.  See you next week!

Social Nutrition:
You can make an appointment to improve your health with Social Nutrition either in person (Madrid) or online (Skype).  Just send an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com