Christmas Fun - without overindulging!

Are you over feeling heavy, tired and bloated on boxing day? You don’t have to stuff yourself on Christmas day to have fun. Sure, you can eat more than you usually do, it’s important to be able to celebrate and enjoy special times with your family, but eating until you need to undo the top button of your pants is not necessary. 

 

When we eat too much out body cant cope and many of us feel the effects, such as:

  

• Heartburn
• Nausea, feeling sick
• Bloating
• Gas
• Congested sinuses
• Fatigue, sleepiness
• Headaches and brain fog (can’t think clearly)
• Stiff and sore joints

 

Here are some tips to help you try and avoid feeling the effects over overindulging and help you keep the extra kgs off!

 

• Make healthy food If Christmas is at your house you have control over what you serve, if you are not catering then bring a plate or two of healthy options.
• Fill up on vegies and lean meat Make sure your plate has lots of vegetables on it. Choose less bread and take the skin off your meat.
• Stop and Enjoy
It’s thought that it takes 20 minutes until the brain receives signals from the stomach that you are full. Stop and enjoy each mouthful and chew your food properly. Enjoy the conversation and do not rush your meals.
• Have small dessert portions Ask for small serving of desserts or cut your desserts in half and share with others. 
• Drink water in between alcoholic drinks Alcohol is full of calories and stops you digesting your food properly. If you drink alcohol while you are eating you are more likely to store the extra calories (store fat) and put on weight.  
• Share the left overs If Christmas is at your house share the leftovers with the rest of your family. It’s ok to eat extra on Christmas day, you are allowed to enjoy yourself but that’s no excuse to pick at the leftovers for the following few days, especially the desserts. Get back on track ASAP.
• Appreciate and be grateful for what you have
Enjoy the time with your family and friends and be grateful for what you have and what you have achieved throughout the year. 

 

You might find that these short moments of gratitude take away your desire to eat more than you can handle during your Christmas celebrations.

 

I am wishing you all an amazing Christmas, filled with lots of love and laughter. I hope you enjoy the holidays and can spend quality time with your friends and family. I look forward to seeing you all in the New Year and if you do overindulge come and see me and I can kick your but back into action!

 

Merry Christmas and big hugs,

 

Dr D xoxox

 

Dr Denise Furness, PhD BSc RNut REP
Registered Nutritionist & Personal Trainer with Mill Park Leisure

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gluten - Everyone's Enemy?

The Gut – our second brain

Before I launch into the low down on gluten, I really need to explain a little about the gut. For most of us the gut is a mystery, food goes in one end and comes out the other, but the gut is much more than a nutrient processing station. In fact, our gut health is thought to be associated with almost every health condition including depression, autoimmune disorders, diabetes, autism and the list goes on. The gut is actually a sensitive organ that has more nerves than the rest of the peripheral nervous system. In addition, the gut is part of the immune system and makes more immunological decisions in one day than the rest of the immune system in a lifetime, hard to believe I know. A large proportion of the Australian population suffer from gut and digestive problems and many have been diagnosed with “leaky gut syndrome”.

Leaky gut – what does it really mean?

Leaky gut, is not taught in mainstream medicine and from a scientific perspective is a grey area, but more and more Australians are being diagnosed with this condition based on a number of gut symptoms. These symptoms include bloating, gas, cramps, food sensitivities, and aches and pains. In alternative medicine, the proposed medical condition is caused by substances migrating outwards through the gut wall. Our gut wall is an important barrier that protects our gut and controls what can pass through into our bloodstream. When this barrier is weakened (or “leaky”), things pass through the wall that should not such as break down products from gluten. It is thought that this promotes an immune reaction leading to mild to severe gut symptoms and potentially severe health conditions.

Why is gluten such a big problem?

Gluten is a relatively new protein for humans as it has only been part of our diet since agriculture began 10,000 years ago. This may sound like a long time, but in evolutionary terms it is not. Gluten cannot be completely digested in humans and breaks down to a product called Gliadin. Gliadin aggravates our gut, immune system and can be toxic to our cells.  So, gluten is actually not good for any of us. The difference is some people can tolerate it and others can’t. The immune system is thought to be the factor that allows for this difference in tolerance. For those who experience gut symptoms after eating gluten the answer is simple, avoid gluten. The large increase in gluten free foods in our supermarkets, cafes and health food shops clearly shows that the demand for gluten free products. However, don’t forget to read nutrition labels because many supermarket gluten free foods are packed with sugar, even the supermarket gluten free breads have sugar in them.

 

The good news is that if you have been diagnosed with leaky gut avoiding gluten can help restore your gut health. If you do eliminate gluten from your diet and still experience gut problems you may have other food sensitivities such as dairy or sugar, which I will explain in the next blog.

Dr D J

Dr Denise Furness, PhD BSc RNut REP
Registered Nutritionist & Personal Trainer with Mill Park Leisure

 

Acknowledgment: Much of the gut health information in this blog was obtained during the “Clinical advances in the treatment of digestive disorders” Seminar October-November 2013, Metagenics, Melbourne.

Paleo - The New Craze in Weight Loss

The “Paleo” diet is a buzz word right now. The cross fitters are doing it, mums who want to lose weight are doing it and even those diagnosed with mental illness are recommended to do it (not by Dr’s or Nutritionists, usually via internet websites).

So what is the Paleo diet and why is everyone jumping on board?

The Paleo, short for paleolithic, diet is meant to represent what our paleolithic ancestors ate. Paleo fans believe this diet will help everyone lose weight, function better and reduce disease risk. Basically it recommends that we more fat, more meat, no dairy, no grains, no starchy carbs (potato, sweet potato, pumpkin, lentils, peas, beans, bananas etc) and little or no fruit. There are a few different versions of the Paleo diet being advertised, but in short it’s a high fat, moderate to high protein, low carb diet.

If you read my last blog post you will know why healthy carbs are essential. Carbs not only supply glucose for energy but a multitude of vitamins and minerals, not to mention fibre, which are all essential for our bodies to function effectively. Fat is also an essential nutrient, it has many important roles in the body, but what some people don’t realise is that fat has double the calories compared to protein and carbs. Fat contain 9 calories (37 kj) per gram compared to carbs 4 calories (16 kj) or protein 4 calories (17 kg) per gram. Those who follow a Paleo diet generally consume good fats such as coconut oil and olive oil, but some have really high intakes of butter, ghee and other saturated fats from animal. I’m not necessarily calling these fats bad, they are not in the same category as trans fats which are truly bad, but not everyone benefits from high fat diets because unused fat is stored as fat in the body, it’s a simple process.

The reason I feel the need to write about this is because I currently have a patient who has been on the Paleo diet for close to a year and has put on 20kgs. She tried the diet for weight loss and for the promised health benefits as she had a number of medical conditions. Adding 20kgs definitely did not help her mental state or her health. When I asked her to complete a food diary it was completely obvious she was having way too much fat. Her overall calorie intake was much higher than what she was burning and as a result she had put on a significant amount of weight.

On the other hand one of my best friends, Seth, is an avid cross fitter and was advised to go Paleo by his training buddies and is benefiting greatly. Seth is stronger, leaner and most likely healthier than he has ever been. The biggest difference between Seth and my patient who as put on all this weight is the amount and intensity of exercise they are each doing. In addition, I also believe that a lot of Seth’s benefits have come from him reducing his alcohol intake and increasing his physical activity levels. My patient was not a drinker and had a relatively healthy diet before starting to follow the Paleo diet, but she does little physical activity.

What I do like about the Paleo diet is that it encourages people not to eat processed and packaged food. I’m all for dropping foods full of refined carbs, preservatives, colours, flavours and additives that are not good for us, but I’m not subscribing to a notion that this is the miracle diet that will benefit everyone. At the end of the day people need to be smart about their food choices, we can all make some simple changes that will have massive long term health benefits such as reducing sugar, processed food and/or alcohol.

Finally, if you want more info click on the link below to hear an interview with Marlene Zuk from University of California, author of the Paleofantasy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nkQhSMnRwpI

Dr Denise Furness, PhD BSc RNut REP
Registered Nutritionist & Personal Trainer with Mill Park Leisure