Disease and Chronic Conditions

Therapeutic Nutrition Part 1

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Therapeutic Nutrition Part 1

Once you have your diet right i.e you know and are eating to your metabolic type, there are 4 fundamentals to nutritional therapy that you need to optimise. Get these right along with your diet and you should not need to count calories or do anything extreme. You should get healthier, thinner, and sexier with more energy, strong hair and nails and clear skin if after following your metabolic type and maximising the list below you are not moving in the right direction it is time for you to look a bit deeper and possibly get some lab tests done, NOT cut calories!

These 4 fundamentals are;

  1. Hydration
  2. Digestion
  3. Assimilation
  4. Elimination

Hydration

Are you drinking 1.5 to 2 litres of water per day? Rain or shine the basic Metabolic processes that occur in each of your 3 trillion cells require 4oz of pure water every 30 mins to run efficiently! ‘Remember nothing does what water does in your body!’ So fruit juice, tea and coffee don’t count as they all require further metabolic process to retrieve the water or to digest and assimilate them to get the nutrients out of them.

Bottled water is generally better than tap water but if you want to go one step further then look into getting a reverse osmosis water filter here;

www.healthy-house.co.uk

At this site you can get many other health products I recommend spending some time going through it and making a shopping list so that over time you can reduce all the blocking factors to your health that reside in your environment. First steps though, the water you drink and shower/wash in!

Digestion

‘You are what you eat!’

Is this a true statement?

Personally I think it’s a great line to get people to start thinking about food and what they are placing in their mouths but is it accurate…… NO.

You are only what you can DIGEST and ASSIMILATE, in other words, you are what you can break down and absorb into your blood stream and therefore use to build and fuel your body. You can eat the healthiest organic foods and take the best supplements but if you don’t have the digestive capacity to break stuff down into small enough elements so that they can pass through the wall of your small intestine then it really does not matter and you are probably waisting your money.

With this in mind we started to talk about supplementation primarily Hydrochloric acid (HCL) and digestive enzymes.

The stomach’s ability to produce HCL and pepsin is often inadequate.  It is affected by high carbohydrate diets, medication; particularly pain relief meds and allergy medication and it also reduces with age.

You will often hear people refer to this or that as the bodies first line of defence against parasites, bacteria, viruses, yeast, mould and fungi. The first step in your defence against invaders is the acidic condition of your stomach as most can’t survive the low pH of this environment.

HCL helps in the digestion of proteins along with pepsin so that it can be ASSIMILATED by the intestines. If too larger protein molecules are absorbed by your intestines then you immune system is called into action. This can lead to allergies such as hay fever or if you have continued exposure you could end up with an autoimmune disease.

HCL also triggers the pyloric sphincter to open (exit of the stomach), so that the pre-digested contents can pass into the small intestine. The pyloric sphincter is pH (acid/alkaline) sensitive. This means that it only opens when the pH of the stomach gets low enough or acidic enough.

Inadequate HCL causes many health problems and is a very important issue that is not addressed by mainstream diets, doctors or many other health professionals. As this is a big issue, a root cause of disease, we will be talking about HCL, HCL supplementation and a condition called hydrochloride in the future.

But in a nut shell…. If you don’t have enough HCL you can’t provide the right environment to maximise digestion, if you can’t maximise the breaking down of food you CANNOT therefore maximise assimilation which means you can’t give your body the nutrition that it needs. As you can see from this, inadequate HCL can be one of the root causes of all disease.

Digestive Enzymes

Breaking down food particles into small enough pieces that they can pass through the wall of your small intestine and be assimilated into the body. We have a finite ability to produce enzymes but have many environmental factors that inhibit or use up our enzyme capacity. Taking a digestive enzyme is beneficial as it will relieve the stress on our bodies digestive capacity as well as slowing the use of our enzymic capacity.

Digestive enzymes should not be taken with your meal, unless otherwise directed they should be taken about 20 minutes after eating.

I think that that’s probably enough information for one post. We’ll cover probiotic and elimination real soon.

If you’re struggling with your diet or your health then contact me for a free consultation.

Committed to your health and success

Keith, Clare and the Absolute Training team.

 

Soya, Friend or Foe?

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Before you launch into my take on Soya and Soya products, I have to apologise…. There are no pictures in this one and there is a bit of reading to do.

I often take people off cows dairy for a period of time when I work with them due to the high levels of adverse reactions it causes. Many people are reacting to dairy and they don’t even know it and it’s therefore a stressor and a blocking factor to their weight loss efforts or their desire to be healthier.

The first thing that people often say when I get them off the dairy is whether they should go out and buy a dairy substitute such as soya.

There are substitutes that you can use such as almond milk, (remember none of the milk substitutes taste the same as milk), but soya is NOT a substitute that I would recommend.

There are many people who come to me who have already taken out dairy and they can wait to tell me how they are making good choices as they use soya instead. Yep thats right I then take them off this as well but…. Why

Why don’t I like soya products? Why can I not recommend them to you?

Lets start with dispelling a myth about soya and Asian cultures;

Myth – Asians Consume large amounts of soya based foods and have done for 1000′s of years and it’s healthy for them!

Truth – Average consumption is about 2 teaspoonfuls per day in Japan and China. It is consumed as a condiment and NOT as a replacement for animal proteins in a meal. Soya has been used in China from about 1134BC but they ONLY consumed it once it had been fermented making tempeh, natto and tamari.

Fermenting soya makes it healthful and eliminates all the problem causing elements that are found in soya.

The soya we use in this country has NOT been fermented. It is a highly processed ‘food’.

Unfermented processed soya food has the following problems;

  • When soya is digested, a by product is made called phytic acid. Phytic acid disrupts the assimilation of the minerals calcium, magnesium, copper iron and zinc. It’s worth knowing that high phytate diets have caused growth problems in children. Other foods also release phytic acid but it can be neutralised by soaking, sprouting, slow cooking or fermentation.
  • Soya releases substances that can act like hormones in our bodies called phytoestrogens. This can disrupt endocrine function (hormone function), leading to infertility and breast cancer. Phytoestrogens are also antithyroid agents which can cause hypothyroid conditions and thyroid cancer. Autoimmune conditions of the thyroid have a strong link with infants that have been fed a soya formula.
  • The Vitamin B12 analogues that are found in soya are not usable, we cannot absorb it. These forms of vitamin B12 do in fact increase the bodies need for vitamin B12. The consumption of soya also increases the bodies need for vitamin D. In a country where most people are deficient in Vitamin D we don’t want to be eating anything that causes further requirements for it.
  • Soya products often have higher levels of aluminium in them which is toxic to us effecting both the kidneys and the nervous system.
  • Many people are now aware of, and trying to avoid, a product call monosodiumglutimate (MSG). This is a substance that is formed during the processing process of soya and many soya products have extra MSG added to them.
  • Further more the processing process of soya requires the soya to be heated to high temperatures. This part of the process denatures the proteins. Your body does not recognise the proteins and they will therefore place stress on your digestive system; possibly even your immune system as your body works out what to do with them. This stress could lead to inflammation in your gut over time causing you digestive problems possibly even IBS symptoms or if your immune systems involved you may find an increase or the development of allergies over time.
  • Finally for this article the processing of soya also leads to a nasty chemicals called lysinealanine being formed. This substance is carcinogenic nitrosamine and to be avoided!.

So the question is, do you really want to eat it?

You may be a cynical sort and are thinking to yourself… It does not seem to be harming me or just plain and simply… Prove it Tucker, show me some proof.

I understand and so right here I have included studies and references for you viewing pleasure. So please once you have been convinced, for me and for you…. Stop eating soya.

Committed to your success

Keith and Clare

Sources and references;

Studies showing the adverse effects of soy 1939 – 2008

 

Studies showing the adverse effects of isoflavones 1950 – 2010

Even if none of this completely convinces you…. I have only one question to ask; If there is doubt why take the risk?

Good health to you

You getting to know…you!

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What is the best diet for you to follow, a high protein one, smoothies shakes and juices, a high carbohydrate diet or a balanced diet….

What is a balanced diet and who is it balanced for? Is a balance diet the same for an Eskimo as it is for a Tropical Rain Forest Indian?

There is so much information out there and so much of it conflicting. To really find the right diet for your genetics you need to do a metabolic typing test which we can run for you (£50), but you can start right away by using the information we have given you in the previous post and combine it with the  information in this one.

Below you will find a table with different types of diets in. The first day is a carbohydrate diet, the second a balanced diet and the third a higher fat diet.

Using the daily check record (DCR) sheets that we provided in the previous article and using this meal plan you should be able to determine which food plan makes you feel and perform at your best and therefore how to balance your diet for optimum results.

In the table you will find a 3 day meal plan for each diet type. Eat to a specific type for the 3 days keeping a DCR for meal so that you can determine which is the right style of eating plan for you.

Carbohydrate Meals
Breakfasts
Whole grain cereal with whole milk Whole meal toast with butter – 1 piece of fruit – 1 glass of mineral water Bowl of porridge – Whole meal toast with butter – Grapes or strawberries or raspberries – 1 glass of mineral water Smoothie – 1 banana, desert spoon of honey, 1/3 glass of coconut milk, low fat yogurt – 1 glass of mineral water
Lunches
Ham or turkey in whole meal bread with lettuce, tomato, cucumber – Cereal/fruit bar – 1 glass of mineral water Chicken soup with broccoli, cabbage, onion, potatoes, rice – 1 slice of wholemeal bread – 1 glass of mineral water Tuna, leafy salad, tomatoes, croutons – Low fat cheese, Baked potato – Piece of fruit – 1 glass of mineral water
Dinners
Baked potato, coleslaw, green salad, olive oil dressing – Low fat yogurt – 1 glass of mineral water Stir fried chicken or pork with bean sprouts, celery, tomatoes, onion, broccoli, peppers and rice – Cereal / fruit bar – 1 glass of mineral water Cod steak, boiled vegetables, boiled potatoes – Fruit salad – 1 glass of mineral water

Protein Meals
Breakfasts
3 rashers of bacon with rind cut off, scrambled eggs in butter – 1 glass of full fat milk – ½ a banana 2 kipper fillets – 1 soft boiled egg – 1 glass of milk Ham omelette, 2 tomatoes, mushrooms – 1 glass mineral water
Lunches
2/3 high quality burger patties, mushrooms, peas – 1 glass mineral water Large lean steak, salad leaves – Low fat yogurt  – 1 glass of milk Prawns/shellfish/tuna salad, low fat mayonnaise/cheese – 1 glass mineral water
Dinners
Grilled/baked salmon, spinach and broccoli – Hand full of nuts – 1 glass mineral water Mixed grill (burger, lean bacon, low fat sausage, tomato and mushrooms – Piece of fruit – 1 glass mineral water Lentil and chick pea soup – Chicken salad – Nut bar – 1 glass mineral water

Protein and Fat Meals
Breakfasts
Chicken liver pate on a thin slice of whole grain toast, 2 sausages – 1 glass mineral water Cheese omelette with 2 eggs and 4 slices of cheese – 1/2 sausage – 1 glass mineral water Smoothie – ½ banana, 1 tea spoon honey, 1 raw egg, ½ glass coconut milk – 1 glass mineral water
Lunches
Chicken and bacon salad, grated cheese, olives – Hand full of nuts and seeds – 1 glass mineral water Beef chilli, 2 table spoons of rice, melted cheese and sourer cream – 1 Glass mineral water Fried liver, potatoes fried in butter, Mushrooms – Full fat yogurt – 1 glass mineral water
Dinners
Grilled steak, buttered peas and sweet corn. Mashed avocado with olive oil and balsamic vinegar – 1 glass mineral water Thai green curry made from chicken thighs, with coconut milk, green beans, cashew nuts, 2 table spoons of rice – 1 glass mineral water Fried liver, fried potatoes in butter, mushrooms – Full fat yogurt – 1 glass mineral water

So, next step, plan your meals for the week, make a shopping list and then the best bit… EAT the FOOD and find out what the best meal plan is for you.

Remember we are always at the end of the Phone or email to help

Committed to your success

Keith

Article 1 – How Does Food Make You Feel

Article 2 – What do my food reactions mean

 

 

 

What do my food reactions mean?

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If you are using a daily check record sheet (DCR), as mentioned in the previous post to track how your meals are reacting in your body and whether they are good for you or not it is very important for you to understand what different reactions may mean.

Some reactions mean that there is too much protein in your meal other reactions mean there is to much carbohydrate (or sugar) in your meal.

To keep this article short and simple, proteins are animal products such as meat, fish and dairy and carbohydrates are vegetables, fruit, rice, pasta, bread, cake and sweets. Fats are Cheese, full fat milk and oils such as olive oil or coconut oil and butter.

Below are specific food reactions and what they mean.  The DCR can be used to gauge the effectiveness of any meal in providing your body with energy and the nutrients it needs to keep you feeling full and happy.

Too much protein

  • Lethargy, sleepy, Depressed
  • Mentally sluggish / slow
  • Heavy feelings in your gut
  • Full but still hungry
  • Sweet cravings
  • Cravings for caffeinated beverages or foods

 

Too Much Carbohydrate

  • Tired but wired
  • Nervous energy
  • Energy highs and lows
  • Jumpy mind / ADHD type behaviour
  • Headaches, anxiety
  • Not satisfied / Get hungry quickly
  • Fat / Protein cravings
  • Sweet cravings

If you missed the first post on using the DCRs Click Here. Remember to fill in the daily check record sheet (DCR) 1.5 hours to 2 hours after every meal and with in a week you will have a good idea of which meals gave you energy and made you healthier and which meals tanked you out!

Committed to your success

Keith and Clare

How does food make you feel and what does this mean?

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Your body IS communicating with you… Every minute of every hour of every day it is telling you whether what you have eaten is right or what you have eaten is wrong for your health, fitness or weight loss goals. I’m not just talking about the common sense stuff and that little voice inside your head saying, ‘don’t eat the doughnut it’s bad for you’.

I’m talking about the important stuff, headaches lethargy, weight gain and illness. If you know how to listen you can start formulating a better diet - one more suited to your body; one that is more suited to your genetic makeup. This is a tool that we use with our nutrition clients to help them become experts in what foods are good for them and moving them towards their goal and what foods are bad for
them. People are often surprised by which foods make them feel great, full for hours and full of energy.

This simple tool will also allow you to cut through all the rubbish that the press pushes on us calling it health and nutrition advice and enabling you to make an informed decision as to whether a food, or diet is actually good for you.

The tool that we use is called a daily check record sheet (DCR). It is a way of keeping a food diary but is more comprehensive than just writing your foods down. Here is a an example of a section of a daily check record sheet;

REACTIONS TO YOUR METABOLIC TYPE DIET

FOOD INTAKE - List all foods & drinks consumed
TODAY’S DATE:

Place a check to the left of all descriptions that describe your experience 1 – 2 hours after each meal
Time Breakfast

APPETITE SATIETY CRAVINGS

   Feel full, satisfied   Feel physically full, but still hungry
  Do NOT have sweet cravings   Have desire for something sweet
  Do NOT desire more food   Not satisfied, feel like something was missing
  Do NOT feel hungry   Already hungry
  Do NOT need to snack before next meal   Feel the need for a snack

ENERGY

LEVELS

   Energy feels renewed   Meal gave too much or too little energy
  Have good, lasting, “normal” sense of energy   Became hyper, jittery, shaky, nervous or speedy
    Felt hyper, but exhausted “underneath”
  Energy tanked from meal – exhaustion, sleepiness, drowsiness, listlessness or lethargy

MIND

EMOTIONS

WELL-BEING

   Improved well-being   Mentally slow, sluggish, or spacy
  Sense of feeling refueled, renewed and restored   Inability to think quickly or clearly
  Some emotional upliftment   Hyper, overly rapid thoughts
  Improved mental clarity and sharpness   Inability to focus or concentrate
  Normalization of thought processes   Apathy, depression, withdrawal or sadness
    Anxious, obsessive, fearful, angry or irritable

How to use the DCR?

Fill in the left hand column with what you have eaten; just like a regular diet diary.  Then, 1.5 hours after consuming the food, use the tick sheet to determine whether the meal was good for you or bad for you; whether it had a positive effect on your mood, concentration and energy levels or a negative effect.

Why 1.5 hours?

It does not have to be exactly 1.5 hours, you can do anywhere between 1.5 and 2 hours. This time gap between eating the meal and filling in the tick sheet allows your meal time to be digested and absorbed. It should therefore be affecting you on a cellular level. How you now feel is a direct relation to how the cells of your body are feeling and operating.

Keith Tucker

Adrenal Fatigue – A 21st century weight loss problem

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Hi everyone,

I hope your feeling on top form and not suffering from any of the problems below, but if you are these symptoms could point to a more sinister problem called adrenal fatigue, which could be scuppering your weight loss, motivation or even causing you depression.

Put a mental circle around any of the below that you are suffering from;

  • Difficulty getting up in the morning don’t really get going until 10am
  • Continuing fatigue that’s not relieved by sleep
  • Craving for salt or salty foods
  • Lethargy
  • Feeling that everyday tasks required an increasing amount of energy to complete
  • Decreased sex drive
  • Decreasing ability to handle stress
  • Increased time to recover from injury or illness
  • Light headed when standing up quickly
  • Mild depression
  • Decreased enjoyment or happiness with life
  • Increased PMS
  • Symptoms increase if meals are skipped or inadequate
  • Thoughts are more fuzzy and less focussed
  • Memory less accurate
  • Decreased intolerance
  • Afternoon low between 3 and 4pm
  • Feel great after your evening meal
  • Decreased productivity

If you have circled several there is a chance that you may have an adrenal problem getting in the way of your health, getting the most out of your life and your weight loss.

One more question;

Are you putting on weight round your middle giving you a spare tire or the, I swallowed a beach ball look?

Your adrenal glands produce hormones that enable you to handle the stresses of everyday life, from handling inflammation to keeping your blood sugar in check.

Adrenal fatigue often = Weight Gain

Adrenal glands produce cortisol in response to stress demands on the body. If the stress demands are too high for too long the adrenal glands can become fatigued. When they become fatigued you may start to suffer some of the above symptoms, many of them are due to low blood sugar, hypoglycaemia caused by low cortisol levels due to the fatigue. Low blood sugar in its self is a stressful situation for the body further draining your adrenals.

If you are in this situation you are probably reaching for high calorie foods and drinks to pick you up, coffee, cola, sugary foods. These foods all drive the adrenals leading to further exhaustion. These foods are also highly fattening leading to weight gain. To much cortisol can also lead to weight gain, when eating and drinking stimulants you give your adrenals a good kick causing the to produce to much cortisol for a short while, this leads to further fat stores around your middle!!!!

The road to recovery

Recovery is simple but not easy!

Step one is to seek dietary advice, NOT calorific intake advice! You need to be eating to your metabolic type or keeping a balance of fat protein and carbohydrates in every meal. This will be a good start in bringing your body back into balance.

Step 2 would be to get some coaching to make sure that you get balance into your life or to help you look at the causes of your stress, Emotional stress, Physical stress or Mental stress and find ways to reduce or cope in a healthy way with these stresses.

Small steps you can take right now

  1. Slowly reduce and eliminate stimulants from your diet
  2. Take out process and junk foods (bread and pasta ARE processed foods)
  3. Base your food decisions around meat and vegetables
  4. Eat little and often
  5. Eat Protein and EVERY meal
  6. Think about what’s stressing you. Once you have a list of your stressors start working on a plan to eliminate them or reduce the stress load.
Step 3 is to test your adrenal function through lab tests and then tweak your diet and maybe take some supplements to readdress balance and to give your glands the nutrients that then need to rebuild.
If you are suffering there is no need, we can help.

Committed to your success

Keith and the Team