Closed for Holidays

Hello to you all!

I just wanted to let you know that I am taking a holiday!  I will be back with a new post on Thursday 5th September.  I hope you all have a wonderful summer and remember to keep up with the good habits I hope you have acquired so far this year.

See you in September!

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

Cancer in your food

It's nothing new if I say that our diet is made up of a high amount of processed foods.  I quite often hear people say, "It seems that nowadays everything gives you cancer!"  It may seem that way, especially if you consider that "everything" refers to the processed foods in our diet.  If your diet is heavily based on processed foods then your chance of getting cancer is much higher than if your diet is based on whole foods and generally a plant based diet with a little animal protein.

Just over 10 years ago, scientists discovered that a cancer-causing and potentially neurotoxic chemical called acrylamide is created when foods that are carbohydrate-rich are cooked at high temperatures and the cooking method doesn't matter, whether they are baked, fried, roasted, toasted or grilled the result is the same.

A chemical reaction is formed between sugars and an amino acid called asparagine during high temperature cooking.  Acrylamide can form in many foods cooked or processed at temperatures above 100ºC (212ºF), but the most vulnerable are the carbohydrate-rich foods and on the whole the chemical is formed when food is cooked enough to produce a fairly dry and browned surface.  Therefore, it can be found in the following foods:

• Potatoes: chips, crisps and other roasted or fried potato foods
• Bread crusts, toast, crisp bread, roasted breakfast cereals and a variety of processed snacks
• Coffee: roasted coffee beans and ground coffee powder.  Chicory based coffee substitutes aren't free of it either and have a surprisingly 2-3 times more acrylamide than real coffee.

According to a study carried out in 1988 by the Agency for Research on Cancer considers acrylamide a "probable human carcinogen"

“The data show that acrylamide is capable of inducing genotoxic, carcinogenic,

developmental, and reproductive effects in tested organisms. Thus, acrylamide may pose more than a neurotoxic health hazard to exposed humans.

Acrylamide is a small organic molecule with very high water solubility. These properties probably facilitate its rapid absorption and distribution throughout the body. After absorption, acrylamide is rapidly metabolized, primarily by glutathione conjugation, and the majority of applied material is excreted within 24 hours... Acrylamide can bind to DNA... which has implications for its genotoxic and carcinogenic potential.”

A study published in 2007 associated a higher intake of dietary acrylamide with an increased risk of endometrial and ovarian cancer in postmenopausal women, particularly among non-smokers.  It has also been associated with nerve damage and other neurotoxic effects.

There are currently no guidelines limiting the amount of acrylamide in food itself, although the EPA regulates acrylamide in drinking water and the FDA regulates the amount of acrylamide in materials that can come into contact with food.

So, how much acrylamide is actually present in the foods we eat?  Well the federal limit for acrylamide in drinking water is 0.5 parts per billion, or 0.12 micrograms in a standard glass of water (213 ml approx).  However, a serving of chips (French Fries) about 170mg can contain 60 micrograms of acrylamide - thats roughly 500 times the permitted limit.  Crisps (Potato chips) are very high in acrylamide.  They are, in fact, so high that in 2005 the State of California actually took potato chip makers to court for failing to warn consumers about the health risks of acrylamide in their products.  A settlement was eventually reached in 2008 when Fito-Lay and several other crisp makers agreed to reduce the levels of acrylamide to 275 parts per billion by 2011, that is low enough to avoid needing a cancer warning on the package but still does not eradicate the problem.


A report published in 2005 titled "How Potato Chips Stack Up: Levels of Cancer-Causing Acrylamide in Popular Brands of Potato Chips," by the California-based Environmental Law Foundation (ELF), underlined the dangers of these foods.  The report states that ALL the potato chip products tested exceeded the legal limit of acrylamide by at least 39 times, and as much as 910 times the limit.  Surprisingly, baked chips which are considered more healthy, can contain MORE than 3 TIMES the level of acrylamide in regular chips, according to data from the US FDA.

So, as I have said many many times before, it's time to get back to basics.  Back to our ancestors way of eating... lots of fruit and vegetables, raw nuts, a little animal protein here and there and keep it all as raw as possible.  Forget anything processed and that includes bread!  The flour has been so refined before it is turned into bread that there is very little nutritional value left - if any.  

Could this be the reason you can't get up in the morning?

Lots of us wake up in the morning feeling as tired as when we went to bed the night before.  Modern life, at least as we know it, can be very stressful.  Holding down a full time job in the current economic crisis is not easy, family obligations - especially if you have small children, and the need to have fun with friends and family in the little spare time you have can take it's toll.  Or, the stress of being unemployed and trying hard to find a job or family problems all stress us far more than many would believe.  All or any one of these modern problems can lead to high stress levels and a feeling of being burnt out.

This feeling of being burnt out can be due to an illness called Adrenal Fatigue.  It is estimated that up to 80% of adults experience adrenal fatigue at some time during their lives, however it is still one of the most under-diagnosed illnesses in the United States.  Stress is the main factor in adrenal fatigue, if the stress is not treated and controlled it can, overtime, tax your adrenal glands to the point of causing other health problems such as:

• Fatigue
• Depression
• Sleep disorders
• Weight gain

So, if you are experiencing any of the above symptoms you need to read on...

Dr. Daniel Kalish has designed The Kalish Method which integrates scientific testing with natural health solutions to heal your adrenals and restore them so that they function normally again.

The Kalish Method is divided into 3 stages:

Stage 1:

Your cortisol levels are very high and you're under a lot of stress.  However, you are usually on a "high" enjoying yourself and not really aware of the toll.  Your body needs that excitement, but the key is to absorb that stress, enjoy it, reap the benefits and then dissipate it.  If you do not get enough rest to recharge your batteries, as it were, then the adrenal glands become over taxed, causing your cortisol levels to descend, which is when most people begin to notice there's a problem.

Stage 2:

This second stage means that the cortisol levels are starting to fail, which is when people begin to gain weight, stop sleeping properly and their sex drive starts to falter.  If you don't change your lifestyle, don't correct your bad eating habits, stop exercising and lack of beneficial rest you enter stage 3.

Stage 3:

Adrenal burn out and your cortisol levels are low all the time, the result is you feel chronically fatigued and are unable to recoup your energy despite resting.

Dr. Kalish illustrates the way cortisol works using units.  When you wake up in the morning you should have 20 units of energy, at the end of the day you should have around 2 units.  This would be normal, and would create the normal feeling of a day ending normally followed by restful sleep.  However many people are waking up in the morning with reduced cortisol levels, which brings on the feeling of exhaustion despite having just woken up.  Also the reverse happens, many people go to bed at night with elevated cortisol levels which makes sleep difficult as you can't shut your brain off.

The four main causes of adrenal dysfunction are:

1. Emotional stress, usually related to grief or loss
2. Poor diet, eating too many refined carbs can alter cortisol levels.
3. Chronic inflammation in the body.
4. Hypothyroidism.

Before trying any remedies on your own, if you have reason to believe that you are suffering from adrenal fatigue, you should be tested appropriately         by a specialist.

As far as dietary changes are concerned, it would be advisable to make sure you are getting the following:

• Protein, high quality animal protein is advisable, preferably lightly cooked or raw whenever possible such as: sushi, ceviche, steak tartare, eggs, legumes combined with whole grains, seeds or nuts.
• Healthy fats.  Coconut oil, palm oil, palm kernal oil, cocoa butter, butter, almond oil and olive oil.  Fats are essential especially because some fats such as butter, contain cholesterol which the adrenal glands need to produce hormones.  However, fat should not exceed  20 - 25% of total daily calories.
• Complex carbohydrates.  The body metabolizes unrefined, complex carbs in whole foods more slowly than the refined carbs in white bread, pasta or pastries - this means your energy levels last longer and the sugar crashes from refined carbs don't happen.  The best complex carbohydrates are: Spinach, chard, red peppers, yellow and butternut squash, beets, carrots, millet, brown rice, quinoa, papaya, mango, plums, pears, kiwi, apples and cherries.
• Up your intake of fermented foods to improve healthy gut bacteria.

Stay away from:

• Coffee and black tea (even decaf)
• Juice
• Sugar
• Alcohol
• Deep-fried foods
• Rancid oils, seed and nuts
• Soda - even diet soda
• Precessed meats and cheeses
• Textured vegetable protein
• Chocolate
• White flour in breads, pies, cakes, cookies and pasta
• Cow's milk
• Artificial sweeteners such as aspartame
• Fast food
• White rice

The hidden health risk

Under normal circumstances, inflammation is part of a healthy immune response, a biological automatic response to an injury sees cells and chemicals being sent to heal an infection or injury.  Which is what happens when you are, for example, bitten by a mosquito, the area around the bite becomes inflamed, red, itchy and often painful.  This swelling is actually to stop the poison from the mosquito bite circulating freely in the blood while other cells and histamines repair the area and eliminate the poison.

However, just like in many other areas of life, there is a dark side to this normally healing process.  Chronic "hidden" inflammation, that you can't necessarily feel or see can occur throughout the body when something kick-starts the immune system and turns off the shut-off button.  What sets off the alarm and kick-starts the immune systems differs in each person: repeated or prolonged infections, smoking, gum disease, obesity, etc all of which have the same end result: an endless trickle of immune cells that interferes with the body's healthy tissues, which set off genetic mutations that can lead to cancer, diabetes, depression, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer's, and a long list of etc..

However, on the whole a person will not know they suffer from chronic inflammation until something more serious happens.  There isn't even a reliable medical test for it.  There is a test for an inflammatory marker called C-reactive protein (CRP), which is recommended for people at risk of heart disease, as high levels of CRP are associated with future heart attacks and strokes, but it is not used on a general level as researchers still don't fully understand the role CRP plays and whether it really is a sign of incremented risk of disease.  However, what has been clearly established is that people with poor health habits tend to have higher levels of inflammation.

"In recent years, we've come to accept that inflammation plays a role in many chronic diseases, but it's about an imbalance - too many pro-inflammatory chemicals and not enough anti-inflammatory ones," says Moise Desvarieux, an inflammation researcher at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

In a normal situation, hours after the alarm is set off kick-starting the immune system to fight and injury or infection, the body then sends out anti-inflammatory substances to restore equilibrium.  So in order to stay healthy, both systems have to be in good working order.

Lots of medications, such as Aspirin, can reduce inflammation.  However, there are healthier options to reduces inflammation other than popping pills, here are some tips:

While being overweight raises your risk of inflammation, what is more important is where your fat deposits are.  "It's where your body puts the fat, on your waist as opposed to your hips and thighs, that indicates a pro-inflammatory state," says Carol Shively, Professor of Pathology at Wake Forrest University School of Medicine who has studied fat distribution.  Fat stored around internal organs is far more dangerous than subcutaneous fat on the hips and thighs.  The fat surrounding internal organs leads to stress and the stress hormone cortisol, "appears to bind receptors on these fat cells, setting off a process that promotes the storage of fat and increases the number of fat cells," says Prof. Shively.  "These extra cells then produce more chemicals that increase inflammation."

Now this, as you are probably aware, takes us back to the apple or pear body shapes.  Having a large waist measurement (80cm or more in women and 94cm or more in men) means you are likely to have excess inflammation.  Other indicators are:

• high blood pressure (130/85 or above)
• raised glucose levels (100mg/dl after fasting)
• high triglyceride levels (150mg/dl)

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), these all point to an inflammatory condition called metabolic syndrome, a common precursor of diabetes and heart disease.

So what is the best way to reduce belly fat?

Now the good news is that belly fat is a lot easier to get rid of than the subcutaneous kind on hips and thighs.  So basically all you really need to do is to eat less and move more.  Adopting a mediterranean diet which is rich in fruit, vegetables, fish, nuts, seeds and olive oil has been proven to protect the heart, probably because it lowers the level of pro-inflammatory chemicals.  Another benefit of this type of diet is that it may protect against depression by raising levels of Omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants used by the body to manufacture anti-inflammatory chemicals that increase blood flow to the brain.

Don't over do the exercise to start off with.  Exercise has been proven to produce less inflammation as it protects against metabolic syndrome.  1 hour, 5 times a week is enough.  Just walking at a fast pace which makes conversation difficult is adequate.  If you want to run but never have, start slowly little by little.  Intersperse fast walking with bits of jogging and build up gradually.  There is a brilliant podcast called From Couch to 5K - free on the NHS website (Couch to 5K), is a great way to learn to run if you never have.

Surprising recent data shows that flossing and brushing your teeth twice a day reduces the risk of heart disease.  There is a well established link between gum disease and heart disease, researchers believe that the same bacteria that cause inflammation and swelling in the gums appear to be a source of inflammation and thickening of the arteries.

The top 10 ANTI-INFLAMMATORY foods you should include in your diet:

1. Wild Salmon
2. Kelp
3. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4. Cruciferous Vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and brussel sprouts
5. Blueberries
6. Turmeric
7. Ginger
8. Garlic
9. Green tea
10. Sweet potato

The top 5 INFLAMMATORY foods to avoid:

1. Sugars: sodas, fruit drinks, sweets, etc..
2. Common cooking oils: grape seed, cottonseed, sunflower, corn and safflower oils
3. Trans fats: deep fried foods, fast foods, commercially baked products, margarine, etc..
4. Dairy produce.
5. Factory farm animals.  Stick to grass fed animal produce.

So the key is to:

• Eat less
• Get Active
• Floss and brush twice a day.

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

Just what is your body trying to tell you?

Not enough of us actually listen to our bodies.  Sometimes we experiment cravings for certain foods such as cheese or red meat.  Our bodies are far wiser than we are.  We, after all, are conditioned from the amount of advertising we see on a daily basis to crave sugar, fast food, etc..  But sometimes we suddenly get a craving for a specific food like cheese.  Cheese is high in an essential amino acid called tryptophan which is a precursor to Serotonin, also known as the happy hormone.  If you aren't getting enough tryptophan you may have a problem producing enough Serotonin.

However, there are other little "everyday" minor health problems that annoy us which could simply be our bodies trying to make us aware that there is a nutritional deficit which is not being met and could be easily remedied.

For example:

Swollen ankles.  This could be a sign that you are not getting enough potassium in your diet.  Potassium helps regulate the body's water balance and a low potassium count can contribute to water retention that, in turn, causes blood pressure to rise - this happens especially when combined with too much dietary salt.

The Dallas Heart Study in the U.S. examined data from 3,300 people which showed that the amount of potassium in urine samples, and therefore reflecting dietary intake, was strongly related to blood pressure readings.  Almost a quarter of all women and teenagers and 16% of people over 65 years of age have low intakes of potassium as a result of their diet, as found by the National Diet and Nutrition Survey data.

The recommended daily allowance of Potassium is 3,500mg.  Bananas are naturally high in potassium, and if you are getting your 5 a day of fruit and vegetables should stop you being deficient.

Those annoying and painful cracks at the side of the mouth could be attributed to a lack of vitamin B2, this also goes for fissures and sores around the mouth.  Vitamin B2 is essential for cell production and growth, without it, the body cannot renew skin and mucosal cells around the lips.  Vitamin B2 is also necessary for converting food into energy, so if you also suffer from fatigue and migraines it may well be a B2 deficiency that is provoking them.

The recommended daily allowance of Vitamin B2 is 1.3mg for men and 1.1mg for women.  Although I am not an advocate for milk and/ or milk produce, a daily glass of 250ml of milk should solve a deficiency.  I, personally, would take a supplement.

Are you constantly in a bad mood?  Grumpy all the time?  Then you could have an iron deficiency.  The usual symptoms of iron deficiency are pale skin, spoon-shaped nails and light-headedness, however, feeling grumpy together with tiredness and poor concentration, is an early warning sign for lack of iron due to reduced levels of oxygen reaching the brain - as stated by the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Iron is an important component of red blood cells which allows them to collect oxygen and transport it around the body.  As much as 30% of teenage girls and 17% of women suffer from low iron counts, and the risk is even higher in women who have heavy periods.

The recommended daily allowance for iron is 8.7mg in men and 14.8mg in women.  Red meat, nuts and greens are packed with iron, the easiest to absorb come from animal sources such as beef, eggs and sardines.  However nuts, pulses, green leafy vegetables are also a good source, however you must accompany them with a source of Vitamin C such as fresh tomato with the skin left on or natural orange.  For a more severe deficiency supplements will be needed but you should see your doctor before taking supplements.

Has food become bland and unappetizing?  It might not just be your cooking (or your Mum's!).
Inadequate levels of zinc in the body can affect our sense of taste.  The University of Ulster  conducted a study on 387 participants and found that those participants with lower levels of zinc in their blood cells were less able to detect salty tastes.

Zinc is required for the production of salivary enzymes and development and maintenance of tastebuds which may point to the relationship between the lack of zinc and debilitated taste - although this is still unclear.

But a low zinc level does not just affect your tastebuds, other signs of zinc deficiency include more frequent infections such as colds and flu, wounds that take a long time to heal - this is due to the zinc's vital role in immune system function and the repair and renewal of cells.

Teenagers are most at risk, nearly one fifth of girls and a tenth of boys have been found to have unacceptable levels of zinc due to their diets.

The recommended daily allowance of zinc is 5.5 - 9.5 mg for men and 4-7mg for women.  Red meat - beef and lamb are among the best sources of zinc, so try to eat at least one to two portions a week.  Other sources include nuts, especially Cashews and Peanuts and other whole grains.

Those general aches and pains may not just be down to getting older!  Vitamin D is such an important part of a healthy body.  Weak bones are known symptoms of a long term Vitamin D deficiency but general aches, weakness and tiredness can also indicate a lesser deficiency.

Low Vitamin D levels occur across all age groups, this vitamin helps regulate calcium and phosphorous, minerales that are vital for developing and maintaining bone and muscle.  It is also thought that Vitamin D is important to the immune system and may boost cancer protection.

The recommended daily allowance is 5mcg (micro grams)  However it can be easier than that, 20 minutes of sunshine a day with no sunscreen on will keep your Vitamin D levels topped up, also you can eat two portions of oily fish such as salmon or sardines per week to prevent deficiency.

So, take a good look at your body, what is it trying to tell you?  Do you have any of the symptoms I've described?

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

Why you shouldn't trust Food Pyramids

Food pyramids have been around for decades.  The first pyramid was published in Sweden in 1974.  However, the most widely known food pyramid was introduced by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1992 (pictured on the left), was updated in 2005 and then replaced in 2011 by "my plate", which is only a slightly bettered version of the food pyramid.

Many nutritional experts, such as Harvard nutritionist Dr. Walter Willett, believe the 1992 pyramid does not reflect the latest research in dietetics.  Technically the pyramid allowed dietary choices that have been linked to heart disease:  three cups of whole milk and one 230g hamburger daily - for example.

The fats group as a whole have been put at the tip of the pyramid with a warning to eat as little as possible, which is problematic in itself.  If you take the pyramid at face value you would believe that you should avoid the fats group as much as possible - this could lead to the health problems.  Fat is essential to maintain optimum health.  Research has found that unsaturated fats aid in weight loss, reduce heart disease risk, lower blood sugar and even lower cholesterol.  This type of fat can be found in olive oil, nuts, seafood, and avocados.  Also, they keep you feeling satisfied for longer, and help keep blood sugar at steady levels and help brain function.

However, one of the most worrying parts of the food pyramid released by the USDA is the widest section at the bottom suggests that what we should eat the most of is grains, pasta and breads despite the evidence showing that grains break down into sugar in your body and therefore promote fat accumulation and drives insulin resistance and related diseases including diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

So why grains?  They are cheap and easy to grow and they are also cheap and easy to buy, you can feed more people cheaply with grains than growing vegetables or raising cattle.

Saturated fat has always had a bad name too, but there is also mounting evidence that saturated fat is actually an incredibly healthy, nourishing, and all-natural fat that we humans have been thriving on for generations.  Saturated fats when included in the diet, give lots of energy and leave you feeling satisfied for longer therefore preventing you from eating too much.  They are also necessary for the absorption of fat soluble vitamins such as vitamins A, D, E and K and are also needed for mineral absorption and many biological precesses.  (For more information on this type of fats you can see my post The Truth About Saturated Fats).

Dr. Mercola has designed a food pyramid based on Nutritional Science - which would promote optimal

health.  He believes, and I am inclined to agree with him, that the USDA pyramid is based on agricultural subsidies and industry lobbying efforts.  His pyramid is almost like turning the USDA pyramid upside down.  He features healthful fats and vegetables on the bottom - the base for what we should all be eating.  50% of our daily calorie intake should come from healthful fats and vegetables such as, avocados, coconut oil, nuts and raw butter.  Vegetables should represent the main bulk of your daily intake, they are low in calories but high in a huge number of critical nutrients.

He then goes on to suggest high quality proteins, followed by a moderate amount of fruits.  Why so few fruits?  Well according to Mercola, lots of fruits are very high in fructose, the natural sugar found in fruit, and Mercola would really prefer we stay as far away from fructose as possible.  Here I am in two minds... yes, if you eat lots of fruits with a high fructose content it is possible that you will have to deal with health problems, however, Mercola's main problem seems to be with High Fructose Corn Syrup which has been highly processed and is completely different from the natural Fructose found in fruits.  The human body has ways of digesting the natural fruit fructose, as with everything - just don't over do it!  There are plenty of tables on the Internet which show the content of fructose in different fruits.  My advice would be to keep the high fructose fruits to a minimun and in the mornings to give you an energy boost through the day, and lower fructose fruits in the afternoon evening when you don't need so much energy.

Finally at the very top of Mercola's pyramid you'll find grains and sugars.  This top part could be eliminated entirely from your diet and he assures your health will benefit greatly is you chose to do so.

Apart from the fructose question, I totally agree with Mercola's pyramid.  I highly recommend you read his article in full, you can follow this link to read it: Dr Mercola's article.

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