Look after your liver

I read an alarming article this week about liver disease.  For decades, liver disease was associated with heavy drinkers.  Too much alcohol means that fat becomes deposited in the liver which damages liver cells, but at this stage it's often symptomless.  However, if this process continues over years, the constant repeated damage to the liver cells can lead to scar tissue - severe scarring is known as liver cirrhosis.  This scar tissue makes the liver hard and lumpy and as a result it becomes unable to function properly.

New information has arisen that says that a fatty liver does not necessarily happen only due to heavy drinking, but also has a lot to do with over eating.  Being overweight encourages the progression of liver disease, as high levels of visceral fat becomes stored around the organs.  Visceral fat releases fatty acids and other inflammatory substances that further damage the liver cells, according to Professor Massimo Pinzani, a liver specialist and director of the Institute for Liver and Digestive Health at University College London.

One of the biggest problems is that liver disease is difficult to spot before it is at an advanced stage.  Andrew Langford, chief executive of the British Liver Trust explains;

"There are very few symptoms.  The liver doesn't have any nerve endings - so when it's damaged, you don't always feel it."

The first signs of a problem are:

• Extreme fatigue
• Dark urine
• Pale stools
• Jaundice - this is caused by a build-up of the waste product bilirubin, which the malfunctioning liver can no longer remove.

"If someone says 'Oh you look well, have you been on holiday?' and you haven't, it could be that you've got a very mild form of jaundice," says Mr. Langford.

Other complications of the advanced stages of the disease are episodes of confusion, memory loss and even hallucinations.  This has a clinical name of hepatic encephalopathy and is due to the build-up of toxins in the body that affect the brain, this can often cause a dementia type state.

Liver disease is the fifth biggest killer in the UK, and the number of deaths has soared by 25% in the last decade - in part because of heavy drinking, but also due to our expanding waistlines.  Not only is liver disease killing more of us, but it is doing so more quickly.  The average age of someone dying from liver disease is now 57, but just two years ago it was 59, and in the mid-eighties it was 63.

With two-thirds of Britons officially overweight, and 30% classed as obese, Dr Jude Oben, a liver expert at the Royal Free Hospital and St. Thomas' Hospital in London says:

"Over-eating and being overweight are by far the most significant risk factors for liver diseases now."

Dr Oben, who helped found the charity Obesity Action Campaign, thinks non-alcoholic fatty liver, as the condition is known where the patient is not a drinker, should be re-labelled as obesity-induced liver disease.  However, the truth is that you don't need to be obese to suffer from non-alcoholic fatty liver.  Professor Pinzani warns that anyone with a BMI over 25 is at risk of developing fatty liver disease.  One strong indicator of the risk is your waist circumference because this can more accurately reflect how much fat is stored around your organs.  Measuring around your belly button, anything above 80cms for a woman and 94cms for a man is a cause for concern, says Dr. Oben.

Liver disease also has a strong link to cancer;

"A significant percentage of patients with cirrhosis will develop liver cancer," says Professor Pinzani.  This could be as many as 45 out of 100 patients.

However, there is another cause of cirrhosis which is also diet related and has nothing to do with being obese or alcohol.  Lots of people have too much iron in their body, and not many people know about it - even lots of doctors don't include it in standard blood tests.

Iron is essential to good health in the human body, but too much can have the opposite effect.  Hemochromatosis is more common in men than in women.  Women, during their fertile years, use up their iron reserves every month during menstruation.  Men obviously don't.  Women can develop hemochromatosis after menopause when their menstrual cycle has stopped.  The build up of iron in the body means that the protein Ferritin, stores the iron where it can, usually around the soft organs such as the liver, for future use.  However, depending on your diet and your lifestyle, you may not use up those stores and more is being constantly added.  These iron deposits can oxidize and cause damage to the liver and other organs.  Particularly, it can cause cirrhosis of the liver, you may have heard of a young man dying from cirrhosis at the age of 35 and how people comment that he "never drank".

I say this is diet related because lots of the foods we eat contain iron: red meat, egg yolks, green leafy vegetables such as spinach, broccoli,  sea food, iron enriched cereals, turkey giblets, chicken livers, dried fruits, etc.

The good news is that the problem is easy to detect.  The next time you go for a check-up and have a blood test, ask them to check your ferritin levels too.  If they are high, then you need to watch what you are eating, cut out as much iron as possible from your diet (only if you have high levels of ferritin), for a period of time and then get another test done to see if the ferritin level as come down.  If not, the easy solution is to donate blood once a month, that will kick start your body into using up it's deposits.

So, I encourage you - as always, to eat healthily, watch your weight, take regular exercise and get a yearly blood test, just to keep an eye on things.

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

The Obesity Problem

It seems to me that there is lots in the news lately about obesity and sugar, but even though there is now more information than ever available to the public, the obesity epidemic isn't getting any better.

It's a fact that the developed world has a serious obesity problem, some call it an epidemic.  Obesity causes a whole host of health issues such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, etc..  You've all heard me talk about this incessantly.

I was truly saddened to read an article this week about a survey carried out on 550 obese people by Nuffield Health in the UK.  The results say:

• One in five obese adults would rather be fat than have to watch what they eat.
• 17% admitted they have never tried to lose weight.
• 48% are resigned to remaining obese because they lack the will power to diet.
• A quarter of those surveyed said that they don't have time to exercise.
• One in seven said they would rather risk their health by being over weight than to have to exercise.

The researchers also surveyed 3,100 British adults who were of varying weights:

• 39% of people claim not to eat healthily  because it's too expensive.
• 14% think they lack time to prepare a healthy meal.
• 10% said they didn't know how to eat healthily.
• 40% said that seeing obese people in their area of residence is a common occurrence.
• 38% said childhood obesity is normal.
• 43% want stricter regulations on "unhealthy" food and drink chains sponsoring high profile events.
• 40% said school meals should be regulated.
• 55% said the blame lies in the food industry.

So, who really is to blame for obesity?

The food industry:

Our food has changed beyond recognition in just a few decades.  Our grandparents ate meat, fruit, and vegetables - healthy home cooked meals produced from scratch.

Industrially produced "food" such as hot dogs, doughnuts, biscuits, hamburgers, etc., did not exist.  The problem with the industrialization of food is that it has stopped being food.  It is highly processed, and packed full of additives to give it a longer shelf life.  Even fruit and vegetables are picked early and shipped long distances reducing their nutrient quality and they are also covered in pesticides, and don't even get me started on GMO produce!  Meat and fish are farm produced and are fed on anything other than their natural food.  Cows are shot full of steroids and antibiotics to make them grow bigger quicker - the same happens with chickens.

We are constantly assaulted with advertising from major food corporations such as McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Burger King, KFC, Coca Cola, Pepsi Co. - where you can get a quick and easy "meal" for your hectic lifestyle.  Soft drinks are packed full of sugar and High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFC).   

I could go on and on about the food industry but this post would be too long and I'd probably bore you!

Medical Staff/ Government Bodies:

This is a tough one.  Lots of GPs are over worked and don't have the time to dedicate to people with a complicated problem such as obesity.  There is next to no help subsidized by the health service and surgery seems to be the main solution.  Bariatric surgery or gastric bands have many associated risks.

From what I read in the news, lots of people have found help through slimming groups such as Weight Watchers or Slimming World, but not everyone can afford to join.

So how about the National Health starting slimming groups - providing information on how to eat healthily and exercise and support for those in need.  A major factor for success in dieting is to have the emotional and psychological support.

Could governments do more to restrict the good giants and make them reduce things like sugar and salt content and advertising?  A new group, Action on Sugar, that I talked about last week has just been put into action to challenge the food giants.  I wish them luck, it is never too late to try and change things.

The individual:

Our bodies' digestive systems have not changed in 10,000 years.  It was not designed to eat refined, processed foods high in sugar.  HFC is so anti-natural that our bodies can't cope with it.  Lots of people don't realize that our bodies are not equipped to cope with anything other than natural foods: fruits, vegetables, meat, fish and poultry.

The human body was designed to live in a harsh world where food was scarce.  Our ancestors, the hunter-gatherers, lived mostly on what they could gather (fruit and vegetables) and what they could hunt.  And hunting was not an everyday occurrence.  These was no way of keeping food, so if they were lucky enough to catch an animal they had to eat it as quickly as possible before the meat went off.  They would then live off fruit and vegetables until they could catch another.  So, the human body, in those times, stored everything it got because it didn't know when it was going to get more food.

The body literally has not changed in this aspect.  It still stores everything as it still believes that it is living in an environment of scarce food and not in a world of abundance.

The fact that food abounds in all shapes, forms and flavors is literally killing us.  Our hunter-gatherer ancestors had to move a lot to catch their food, we have progressively become extremely sedentary.  We can even go to a drive-thru and not even have to even get out of the car to pick-up food.  Or we can have it delivered.

Obviously it is up to the individual as to WHAT they put in their body.  I really can't believe that people don't know about what is healthy and what isn't.  To me, it is obvious - but then I am a Clinical Nutritionist.

There are hundreds of excuses that people use to explain away their weight problem:

• It's my genes.
• I've tried every diet that exists and nothing works.
• I lost weight and then put it all back on again.
• I can't shift my baby weight.
• I could comfort eat for England!

And so the excuses go on and on.

The simple truth is that diets don't work.  You may lose the weight initially but the minute you stop dieting it will come back - and then some.  Why?  The answer is simple, if the way you eat on a daily basis has made you fat, changing your diet and restricting certain foods will help you lose that weight.  However, the minute you go back to eating the way you did before you went on a diet, will just make you put all the weight back on again - just like it did the first time!

Any change in diet has to be a lifestyle change - forever, not just for a short period of time.

It really isn't rocket science.

So who do you think is to blame?

My opinion is that everyone is to blame.

The food industry for producing unhealthy food.

Medical staff and government bodies for allowing the food industry to do what ever it wants.

Humans... no one force feeds you.  You have a choice.  Eat healthy foods, there is loads of free information out there to tell you how.

My only worry is that healthy food seems to be too expensive for some people - that is a real problem.  When it's cheaper to buy a meal at McDonald's than it is to go to the supermarket and buy healthy food then there is a very real and worrying problem.

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

The war on sugar

Those of you who read my blog habitually will know how I feel about sugar.  It is deadly, it has been compared to heroin, cocaine and a whole host of health problems such as Diabetes.  A US-UK campaign group "Action on Sugar" has been set up to try to curb the amount of sugar hidden in our daily food choices.  They are now saying "sugar is the new tobacco" (Simon Capewell, professor of clinical epidemiology at the University of Liverpool).

It's about time, but there is still a lot of skepticism about the effects of sugar on our health.

Doctors and academics are saying that levels must be reduced by up to 30% in order to avoid "a wave of disease and death".

"Everywhere, sugary drinks and junk foods are now pressed on unsuspecting parents and children by a cynical industry focused on profit not health.  The obesity epidemic is generating a huge burden of disease and death.  Obesity and diabetes already cost the UK over 5 billion GBP a year.  Without regulation, these costs will exceed 50 billion GBP by 2050." Simon Capewell.

The average Brit consumes 12 teaspoons of sugar a day and some adults consume as many as 46 teaspoons.  The World Health Organization (WHO) stipulates that the recommended daily allowance is ten teaspoons/day, although this guideline is likely to be halved.

The UN agency says:

"There is overwhelming evidence coming out about sugar-sweetened beverages and other sugar consumption" being linked to obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Graham MacGregor, a professor at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine in London and Chairman of Action on Sugar, said:

"We must now tackle the obesity epidemic both in the UK and worldwide.

"We must start a coherent and structured plan to slowly reduce the amount of calories people consume by slowly taking out added sugar from foods and soft drinks."

Dr. Aseem Malhotra, the group's science director, said:

"Added sugar has no nutritional value whatsoever, and causes no feeling of satiety.

"Aside from being a major cause of obesity, there is increasing evidence that added sugar increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and fatty liver.

"We must particularly protect children from this public health hazard and the food industry needs to immediately reduce the amount of sugar that they are adding, particularly to children's foods, and stop targeting children with massive advertising for high calorie snacks and soft drinks."

When we think of how much sugar we consume, we tend to only think of the sugar we ADD as in added to coffee or tea.  But the truth is that sugar, along with salt, is used as a major preservative in foods to prolong shelf life, and also to make things taste better.

For years fat has been the big baddy in the food world.  Fat has been considered the culprit for the obesity epidemic.  But as you will know from my previous posts, not all fat is bad fat, and fat is essential for the body to function correctly.  There is proof that a high fat, low carb (sugar) diet reduces weight and improves health... Just remember what Sam did.

Food industry companies are allowed to market products as "healthy" if they have a reduced fat content, but more often than not, they up the sugar content to compensate for the loss of flavor resulting from the reduced fat content.  There is so much hidden sugar in our day to day living, that if you don't choose wisely you could be consuming a lot more than you think:

 

And this is just an example, yes, I do realize that these are typically British products and may not be available in your country, but similar products will have similar levels of sugar in them.

But still, even with all the evidence we now have about the effects of too much sugar on our bodies, there are people who still believe that sugar is not the culprit.  Maybe because it is in their best interest not to believe.  Most of these non believers are sugar manufacturers who obviously don't want to see their profits affected:

To quote but one, Barbara Gallani of the Food and Drink Federation denied that sugar was responsible for obesity; "Sugars, or any other nutrient for that matter, consumed as part of a varied and balanced diet are not a cause of obesity, to which there is no simple or single solution."

Professor Shrinath Reddy, a cardiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health and member of the WHO panel of experts, disputed Ms Gallani's conclusion:

"Overwhelming evidence coming out about sugar-sweetened beverages and other sugar consumption links to obesity, diabetes and even cardiovascular disease".

As I have said in previous posts, sugar is dangerous.  Sugar is a carbohydrate and as such is stored as fat in the body if not used immediately.  It causes blood sugar levels to rise which causes the body to produce insulin to reduce that level.  First you get a high from the sugar consumption and then you get a low from the insulin, this process causes you to crave more sweet foods which leads to overeating.  If overeating becomes a habit then weight gain follows and, if not controlled, can lead to obesity.  Obesity causes type 2 diabetes, and the scary thing is that you don't even need to be overweight to have type 2 diabetes.  Type 2 diabetes is known as a "lifestyle acquired disease", this means that we cause it ourselves through diet choices and lack of exercise, so surely, if we provoke it ourselves, it is in all of us to make the appropriate lifestyle changes to cure Type 2 Diabetes... because it can be cured.

Making the right choices about what you put into your body is so easy to do.  Yes, at the beginning you may find food seems boring, but believe me, your taste buds change, your body starts begging you for fresh healthy food, and the thought of poisoning yourself again become unimaginable.

I, like many, have a sweet tooth.  Years ago I quit sugar in tea and coffee and swapped it for
sweeteners, in January 2013 I went "cold turkey" on the sweeteners in tea and stopped drinking coffee because I don't like it unless it's sweet.  At the beginning, I found it hard to drink tea with no sweetener, but it only took about 5 days for me to get used to the new taste.  Four months ago I quit ALL sweeteners - I had a serious diet coke habit, but after investigating the effects of aspartame on our bodies I chose to eliminate all sweeteners, except Stevia, from my life.  The improvement has been amazing.  Yes, on day 2 of no sweeteners I had a massive headache that would not go away even with painkillers, but on day 3 the fog lifted and I started to feel better.  Gradually, the typical aches and pains in joints and muscles that I had experienced, disappeared, my mind is a lot clearer and I generally have more energy.

It is extremely important to stick to fresh whole foods; fruits, vegetables, nuts, meat, fish, etc... If you need something sweet, eat fruit - even tropical fruits that tend to be sweeter!  It may be tough at the beginning but the effort is worth it and the changes you will experience will make you realize just what you were doing to yourself before.

It is also important to remember that some, so called, "healthy options" really aren't that healthy at all.   Shop bought orange juice is packed full of sugar.  If you want juice, squeeze it yourself and drink IMMEDIATELY, and I must say, it is much better for you body if you eat the orange instead of juicing it.  Low fat yogurts have also been found to contain up to 5 teaspoons of sugar!

So, good luck to Action on Sugar, they have my full support!

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

How to boost your energy naturally.

Yes, it's after the Holiday season and most are feeling bloated and sluggish from all the Holiday food and drink.  So, what can you do to get an energy boost when you're on your post Holiday diet?  Here are some natural energy boosters that are healthy and natural and not dangerous to your health like Red Bull or other such energy boosters.

Here are 10 of my favorites... but there are many more.

1. Apples.  Apples provide a wide range of vitamins and minerals much needed by the body, including a great amount of natural fiber.  They are easy to take with you to work or in the car just remember to eat them on their own, not as dessert after lunch.  Much better as a mid morning snack or mid afternoon when you get those typical hunger pangs.
2. Carrots.  Carrots are quite high in sugar, so you should consider them a carb.  But, like apples they are easy to transport and you can take them in a tupperware box or a plastic bag, cut into fingers, and are great to snack on or dip in Hummus.
3. Hummus.  A Middle Eastern dish made from chickpeas that provides a nice source of energy that will keep you going for a long time.  You can make this an easy lunch or snack, and dip other healthy foods such as celery, carrots, cucumber, and pepper slices into it for a wholesome dish.
4. Peppers.  I love peppers they are full of vitamin C.  They are also a great way to curb your appetite, if you are hungry between meals, reach for a pepper instead of a cookie.
5. Pineapple.  This is a tropical fruit so very high in sugar so beware if you are a diabetic.  However, the good side to pineapples is they are high in manganese and Vitamin C.  As with all fruit, stick to it between meals or for breakfast for a tangy wake up in the morning never as a dessert .
6. Cucumbers.  Cucumbers are a personal favorite of mine.  This vegetable, that appears to be
   
   mostly water and little else provides all 20 amino acids that the body needs and can only be obtained through diet.  They also contain Vitamin B5 which specifically helps to boosts energy levels.  You can eat them as a snack or add them to your salads.
7. Strawberries.  Delicious and easy to carry into work.  They are packed full of Vitamin C, but please don't sugar them!  They are delicious as is.
8. Broccoli.  This is a superfood, packed full of fiber, a whole range of different vitamins and minerals including Vitamin C a great antioxidant.  It makes an easy side dish to accompany any protein dish and you can even juice the stems.  
9. Coconut.  Another personal favorite of mine.  You can eat them fresh and cut into chunks which will provide lots of fiber or you can drink coconut water instead of soft drinks.  Last year, coconut water was high on the celebrity lists of what to drink.  However, I do not endorse more than one a day.  Coconut water is very hydrating, so really good to keep you on the go if you've just done your daily workout and need to keep going.
   
10. Avocado.  Lots of people are wary of avocados as they are very high in fat.  But avocados provide the right kind of fat which is essential for heart health and they are also packed full of fiber and potassium.  They are a great pick me up but again, don't forget Avocados are actually fruits so best to eat them alone between meals.  I like to add a little olive oil, a drop or two of fresh lemon juice and a little salt and black pepper.  Alternatively, if you like to juice, you can blend them into your juice to make a nice meal if you're on the go.

As I said at the top, there are many more healthful energy boosters such as Goji Berries, Pumpkin Seeds, trail mix, almonds, bananas, blueberries, oatmeal, quinoa, brown rice... maybe for a future post!

So, good health to you all this 2014, and I hope that you manage to reach optimal health.

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

The diet rules you DON'T need.

It seems that everyone has an opinion on dieting and what you SHOULD do.  Well, I have seen a lot during my years as a Nutritionist.  I have read loads of books on new diet fads that claim they will change your life as well as your body.  Most of them are very restrictive, cutting out whole foods groups and eliminating the enjoyment we all get from food.

All you really need to do is keep a level head and think about what your body actually needs: lots of fruit and vegetables, a little protein, and a few whole grains.  That is what our digestive system can cope with.  If you listen to your body, it will tell you when it is hungry, when it is thirsty and when it is full.

Here are the "rules" you need not obey:

1. Eat protein in every meal.  Protein is an essential building block for everything that grows and needs repair.  However, protein is not just found in animal meat, it is also in vegetables.  So, if you want to bulk up on muscle mass, go to the gym and eat your greens!
2. Milk is good for you.  You all know my opinion on milk - we don't need it!  We are told to drink milk for strong bones, whereas in reality, milk causes the body to become acidic and therefore leeches calcium from the bones to reduce the acidity.  Calcium can be found in many natural sources which are far more bioavailable such as raw almonds and green leafy vegetables and broccoli.
3. You need to eat 5 meals a day.  Not many of us have time to sit down to 5 meals a day.  Stick to breakfast, lunch and dinner and a healthy snack of fruit or a handful of nuts.  Lots of people I know can't eat first thing in the morning, don't worry, just make sure you have something to eat a couple of hours before lunch or you will overeat at lunchtime!
4. If you are trying to lose weight eat smaller portions.  Well this could well be a good idea if
   
   you are the "super size me" type.  But it all boils down to WHAT you are eating.  If you are eating fruit for breakfast - eat as much as you want!  Bulk up your meals with lots of healthy salads and vegetables - raw is better.  Vegetables provide large amounts of fibre which will fill you up for longer.  Also, eat mindfully and slowly, it takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to send a message to your brain that you are full, so eat slowly and give your body time to send the correct messages otherwise you will overeat.
5. Watch your calories.  Well as I have said in a previous post NOT all calories are the same and this is so true.  It all depends on what your calories are made up of - refined carbs and sugar are the biggest weight gainers by far just because of the way the body reacts to them, if not used immediately they are stored as fat.  Animal protein and animal fat are actually not as dangerous as assumed.  Healthy fats do not make you put on weight when included in a balanced diet and are also essential for the body.  So, animal protein a few times a week and healthy fats in nuts and butter actually do you good!
6. Healthy = vegan.  This depends on the vegan... good vegans that eat fresh foods such as fruit and vegetables, nuts and legumes are on to a good thing.  A plant based diet is beneficial to everyone and should be the base of everyone's diet.  However, there is no harm in adding in a little animal protein if you like it - personally, I love a steak every now and again.  Also, things like Oreos are vegan - yes - you hadn't thought of that one had you?  But they are packed full of sugar and additives and according to a recent report, are as addictive as cocaine!  So, if you want to be vegan go ahead... but do it properly.
7. Avocados and coconuts are fattening.  There is nothing fattening about these foods when eaten
   
   correctly.  They are packed full of healthy fats and fibre and make your skin and hair glow.  As you may have read in my post a couple of weeks back "Coconut Oil is good for EVERYTHING", and it really is, it is much better for cooking as it does not go rancid at high temperatures and you can even use it as moisturizer for skin and hair, deodorant and a whole host of other things - it's cheap too!
8. You must drink 8 glasses of water a day.  Water is essential for the body, it's also great for your skin, but really?  8 glasses a day?  Not 7 or 9?  Drink small amounts of water throughout the day and more if your body is telling you you are thirsty.  If you drink too much in one go the body can not take full advantage of it so sip continuously.
9. Cholesterol free labels must mean it's good for you.  Cholesterol - that problem number on your annual check-up.  Actually our bodies make cholesterol so I can't believe that something our own bodies produce is out to kill us!  Of course you have to differentiate between good and bad cholesterol.  Cholesterol is also obtained from animal fats - so if a packet of bread or a bottle of juice has "cholesterol free" stamped on it, it's pretty much a marketing ploy, these products shouldn't have animal fat in them to start of with.

The one golden rule to follow:

Eat fresh and natural and steer clear of processed and refined foods.

I wish you all happy holidays and an amazing and healthful New Year.  I will be back on the 9th of January with a new post.

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

How to survive the holiday season, be healthy and still have fun...

Lots of people both love and hate the holiday season.  It's that time of year when invitations to parties are rife, alcohol flows, your mother spends all the time in the kitchen cooking decadent dishes and exercise is limited due to all the social obligations.  Lots of my patients look upon this time of year with terror, after several months or even a year of making dietary changes and losing weight or getting their digestive systems in tip top working order I get comments like:

"You have no idea how much food my mother produces!"

"I have loads of business functions to attend and it's all buffets and canapés - there's no way I am going to be able to resist!"

"I can't not drink!  My mates won't understand!"

These are just three of the many I get, but you understand.  So here are a few tips for surviving the buffet table, over eating, alcohol and the dreaded hang over!  I'm afraid that I don't have much of an answer for your mother's cooking!

1. Don't shop too far in advance.  Lots of shops have special offers on at this time of year, especially, it seems on chocolate and biscuits.  Don't think your being clever buying them in advance, if they're in the cupboard, you will eat them and then you'll have to buy them all over again for when your family and/or guests arrive.  Leave that to the last minute, in the meantime fill your kitchen with healthy snacks.  If you look after yourself in the run up to the holidays, any "damage" you do will be less.
2. Change your mind set.  Think positively and remember that at any other time of year, if you had a party to attend you would cut back and be strict with your diet for a day or two before the party and then a day or two afterwards.  Do the same here, be good to yourself in the run up, eat lots of fruit and raw vegetables, a little bit of fish or meat and hold the dessert.  Then remember that lunch on the 25th is basically turkey with vegetables.  If you really want to look after yourself
   
   follow this basic rule:
• Don't mix your carbs and proteins.  By all means eat the turkey and the vegetables but don't have the potatoes or bread sauce!  After a protein meal, let at least 2 hours go by before you eat carbs - so you can always have your dessert a couple of hours later.  Believe me, with all the friends and family around and present opening, those two hours will fly by!  
3. Be intelligent about left overs and gifts of food.  Quite often people will bring you food as presents when you invite them to your house.  More chocolate biscuits, mince pies, stollen, etc.. This means that you will have even more food left over.  So what to do with the leftovers?  Keep the meat and vegetable leftovers, give away the rest.  You are sure to be invited to someone else's house so take things with you too!  Or you can donate them to charity to help cheer up someone else's holiday season.
4. Buffet strategy.  A buffet table is everyone who is trying to look after themselves' nightmare.  All that delicious looking food begging to be eaten!  So, how to get through the buffet and not eat too much?  Use a dessert plate, not a large dinner plate, fill it once and then sit away from the buffet table so you aren't tempted to go back for more!  Also avoid beige food.  Beige food tends to be fried, covered in breadcrumbs or pastry and therefore a very unhealthy choice.  Go for the more colorful foods which are more likely to be fruit or vegetable based.
5. Are you going to a party where there will be lots of alcohol?  There is nothing wrong with a few drinks every now and again and obviously the holiday season is rife with alcohol; eggnog, hot wine, champagne, wine with every meal, party cocktails... so here is what you can do to make sure you navigate the party circuit in the best possible way:

• Never drink on an empty stomach - plain yogurt with a banana is an excellent stomach liner prior to going out partying.
• Limit fizzy alcoholic drinks - it's true they really do go straight to your head.  The bubbles speed up your absorption of alcohol, so limit the number of glasses of sparkling wine, fizzy cocktails and champagne.
• Avoid a nightcap - darker drinks, especially spirits like brandy or whisky have higher levels of compounds called congeners, these are formed during the fermentation and distilling process.  It is thought that these compounds make your hangover worse - so if you really can't avoid that nightcap, try a white spirit instead.
• Drink plenty of water - hangovers are mainly a hydration problem, so drink lots of water before going to bed.
6. The next day... if you are hungover, the best way to recover is:
• DO NOT succumb to the old belief of "hair of the dog", more alcohol is really not the answer!
• Drink coconut water; it's great hydrating properties will work wonders - or you can make your own hydrating drink; just mix a tablespoon of sugar and a teaspoon of salt in a pint of water and sip throughout the morning.
• Limit your caffeine intake.  Too much caffeine will only aggravate your already flagging hydration levels - so just have one cup of coffee until your are feeling normal again.
• Eat!  Have a nice simple breakfast; brown toast with a poached egg, grilled tomatoes and
  
  mushrooms and a glass of orange juice will have you back on track in no time!
• Avoid painkillers such as aspirin and ibuprofen.  They may take your headache away but they will irritate your upset stomach.
• Resist your cravings - quite often your body cries out for fast food, doughnuts and sugar, sugar, sugar!  Don't give in!  Sugary drinks and foods will only add to your already unbalanced blood sugar levels.  Eat fresh fruit instead or have a smoothie made from fruit and yogurt.
7. Exercise.  Go for a brisk walk after lunch, it will help with digestion.

I wish you all a happy and healthy holiday season!

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

Going nuts could save your life!

Nuts have had a slightly negative press for years as they are considered fattening.  They are fairly high in calories but have so many other benefits to offer that they should be an important part of your diet.

A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine highlights the health benefits of nuts.  The good thing about this investigation into the benefits to nuts is that it followed 100.000 men and women over several decades, so not just a quick look on a small scale.  It concluded that eating nuts helped the participants to lead healthier lives, pushing back the inevitable conclusion we all face eventually in life... death.  Seven or more servings of nuts per week cut the risk of dying by A THIRD (one serving was defined as one ounce, which is about a handful of almonds).

Specifically it was found that the participants who ate nuts five or more times a week had a 29% reduction in death from heart disease; an 11% reduction in death from stroke; a 23% reduction in death from infection; a 24% reduction in death from respiratory diseases; a 29% reduction in death from kidney disease; and an 11% reduction in death from cancer.

Need I say more?

A famous study of Seventh-Day Adventists ( a religious movement in the United States) who consume a low-fat, plant-based diet, compared nut eaters with non nut eaters, anticipating that the nuts which are high in calories and fat, might just raise their risk of heart disease.  However, even though this group is on a heart healthy diet which is mostly vegetarian, those Adventists that ate nuts at least five times a week had a 48% lower risk of death from coronary heart disease and a 51% lower risk of non fatal heart attack compared to those who consumed nuts less than once a week.

The FDA isn't happy about nut manufacturers toting the health benefits of nuts to consumers.
 Recently, the FDA sent a letter to Diamond Food Inc., a producer of walnuts, ordering them to "cease and desist" from making medical claims about their products.  The FDA even threatened to confiscate the "misbranded" nuts as illegal contraband.

So why are nuts so good for us?

1. Nuts are a perfect VEGAN food.  The current fashion for plan based diets means that nuts provide essential protein and oils that balance a vegetarian diet that might otherwise be too carb-rich and lacking in beneficial fats and certain vitamins and minerals.
2. Nuts are PALEO.  This means that with the exception of peanuts, which are actually legumes.  Tree nuts and seeds are ancient staples of the human diet to which millions of years of evolution have made suitable for our human bodies.
3. Nuts are LOW-CARB and therefore low GI.  The Glycemic Index or GI, tells us how quickly the sugars in foods are digested, absorbed, and released into the blood stream.  High GI foods tend to overwhelm the body's sugar handling capacity, which leads to metabolic syndrome and diabetes.  Nuts are relatively low-carb to begin with, and the carbs they contain are released slowly after a meal so they don't cause a spike in blood glucose which causes the body to release insulin to normalize the blood glucose level.  They are also a great way of quashing a sugar-craving or hypoglycemia.
4. Nuts make you feel full.  Eating nuts promotes a feeling of being full, even though they are high in calories.  They actually stop your cravings for sugar laden, high-fat foods.  Some studies suggest that incorporating nuts into your diet will actually help you to lose weight - not put it on.
5. Nuts are high fiber.  Nuts are high in soluble fiber, the best kind of fiber for slashing your risk of cancer and heart disease.
6. Nuts are a great source of PHYTOSTEROLS.  These are plant sterols which are thought to bind to cholesterol and help to eliminate it from the body; the American Heart Association recognizes phytosterols as a natural form of reducing the risk of heart disease.
7. Nuts contain healthy fats and oils.  Nuts are rich in essential fatty acids such as linoleic acid and alpha linolenic acids.  Essential means that we need to get these from our foods as our bodies can not make it by themselves.  A lack of essential fatty acids can cause dry skin, inflammation, infertility, mood and memory problems and promote heart disease.
8. Nuts, as I have said before, are a great source of Vitamin E.  Vitamin E is a vital anti-aging vitamin and nuts are the best natural source of this critical antioxidant.
9. Nuts are high in B vitamins.  B vitamins are essential for a healthy mind and body, they ease stress, treat anxiety and depression, aid memory, relieve PMS and reduce heart disease risk, they can even help with migraines.  Nuts provide many vital B vitamins such as riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6 and folates.
10. Nuts are a great source of POLYPHENOLS.  These great antioxidants derived from plants protect the body against free radicals.  Nuts contain a wide range of polyphenols, including resveratrol (anti-aging), lutein, cryptoxanthin and many others.  Flaxseeds and sesame seeds are high in lignans, a specific subtype of polyphenols that may protect against reproductive cancers.
11. Nuts are rich in ZINC.  I love zinc, it is a great immune system booster and aids in reproductive function.  Some very strict vegetarians don't get enough of this mineral.  Zinc also helps in its immune capacity to ward of colds and flu.
12. Nuts are high in MAGNESIUM.  Magnesium is another critical mineral which aids in over 300 enzyme systems that regulate diverse biochemical reactions in the body including; protein synthesis, muscle and nerve function, blood glucose control, and blood pressure regulation.  Lack of Magnesium often manifests itself as fatigue or irritability and can cause and increase in risk of heart problems, diabetes and high blood pressure.
13. Nuts deliver COPPER.  This mineral is essential for brain development and maintenance, efficient communication between nerve cells, healthy skin and connective tissue, healing, structural integrity and function of heart and blood vessels, growth of new blood vessels, proper structure and function of circulating blood cells, formation of white blood cells (immune system), maintenance of a healthy and effective immune response, generation and storage of energy in cells and mitochondria.
14. Nuts deliver SELENIUM.  Selenium is a major immune booster and just three Brazil Nuts per day can provide all the selenium you need, especially if you are a vegan or vegetarian.
15. Nuts are user friendly.  If you spend a lot of time out of the house, and need to take food with you, a small packet of nuts is easy to carry, won't spill or make a mess.  It's much better to eat a handful of nuts than to snack on doughnuts or other sweets at work.

So, got nuts for nuts... they really will save your life!

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