Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Happy Days to you all....

Once again, I feel the need to apologise for my less-than-punctual contributions to this blog....but suffice to say that I'm now back on track and look forward to posting a full slew of blogs in early 2010! I fly off to visit friends and family back in the UK tomorrow so this will be my last blog this year ...

As the holiday season takes full hold, I feel an urge not to persuade you to resist all treats, but just to treat them differently! December has a strong relationship with food, whatever your faith or belief, and for those of us who are conscious eaters, it is a time of decision-overload! In times like this, our most common coping mechanism very much resembles 'boom or bust'. Either we roll home from parties filled to the gills and uncomfortable with both our bodies and our minds, or we retire to bed feeling virtuous that we managed to eat little or nothing at that evening's social event, but also wondering why we feel that we slightly missed the party!

If there was a little pink pill I could give out to help us all hit the right balance of enjoying the treats our host has provided, without having to endure the mental battle that so often comes along for the ride, I would be a sought-after woman! Instead, I offer you this:

Life is for living. December is only 1 month out of the year. Don't avoid the enjoyment of savoring the party-food with friends only to gorge on the left-overs, alone. Food is a blessing and for those of us who are not in a state of famine, its presence is something for which to be thankful. Enjoy it. Savor it. Be conscious of what you choose to eat, and your own hunger. Respect your body, and your tastebuds, and trust yourself to eat in balance with your needs.

And most importantly, enjoy all that comes with the food....family, friends, warmth and humor. These things, along with the odd piece of chocolate, are vital for our souls!

Happy Holidays! Be good to yourselves.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Chaos? Just add cookies and chocolate...

Apologies for the rather long lapse since my last blog - since my previous writing, I have been thrown into a state of confusion and sadness that attacks one in such a way that no matter how many times you have pondered its possibility, when it arrives, you are none-the-wiser. During this time, I have challenged many of the principles I so avidly and enthusiastically encourage my clients to follow, and it has made me realize that when life trips you up, even the easiest of behaviors is easily disrupted.

A case in point; my initial reaction to my development, over which I have no control, was, extraordinarily, not to try and control what I could control, but to relinquish control on everything. This included food choices. I have made it no secret that I am gluten-intolerant, and I tend to do better without dairy foods too.....and sugar is something reserved for treats, but here I was, my head spinning with depressing news, and all I wanted to do was feed my poor, exhausted body cookies and chocolate. At what point was that going to make me feel better? Well, I guess that's the point.....I didn't care.

Thankfully, my 5 years as a nutrition professional kicked in after only 1/2 the bar of chocolate had been eaten (otherwise it most definitely would have been a foregone conclusion that the whole bar would have been wolfed down my throat, barely tasted!) and I managed to wrestle my rebellious mind into some sort of order, reasserting the important belief that I hold dear (or thought I did!) that eating badly just makes one feel bad.

But the lesson is there. No matter what the good intentions, the training, the belief-system or the determination, when life throws us a curve-ball, it can take all our power to try and stay on track. And that's ok. Falling off the 'wagon' is not failing. Failing is not getting back on again.

So as Thanksgiving and Christmas approach, don't count every calorie and chastise every guilty indulgence, but try and be a realist, and see your behavior for what it is. Then, when you've recognized your readiness to pounce on the last cookie or polish of the remainder of the pumpkin pie, sit with it for a few minutes, and process your new revelation. Enjoy that last mouthful and move on. We're not perfect, but that doesn't mean that we can't try to be!

Happy Turkey Day to all my US friends!

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Steaming Liquids

So the weather is cooling fast, and suddenly our bodies are dictating that a trip to the coffee shop is more comforting than to the smoothie joint.....yes, winter is here (for those of us in the desert, this is a hugely exciting time of year!). While I'm all about embracing those hot, steaming cups of deliciousness, I think it's important to know what you're ordering. While a double caramel mocha with an extra shot and whipped cream might sound delicious, it might be wise to consider the fact that not only will it push you into a high spinning orbit fueled by sugar and caffeine (!), but it's also got enough calories to replace a meal....and yet none of the nutrition.

SO......what is my point? I don't recommend denying yourself your long-named-indulgence which comes in the form of a hot steaming drink, but I do suggest acknowledging that whether you're someone who is trying to prevent the pounds from creeping on, or someone who is desperate not to drop any more dress sizes, this 'drink' is an intravenous nutritional-bypass, and really doesn't help your aim to fuel your body and keep it healthy.

Enjoy every sip, but don't let it take the place of nourishing foods, and remember that hot teas are a delicious way of embracing the warm comfort of a hot drink without the calorie-impact of most coffee-creations.

In short, keep the feel-good-factor high, and the drink-size low!

Monday, November 9, 2009

More sugary advice...

Yes, I will let this topic go.... I just have one last word to say!

As we approach a sugar-filled season of treats and indulgences, I wanted to remind you of a wonderful alternative to sugar which you can easily use at home: Agave Nectar.

This is a natural sweetener produced in Mexico from blue agave, salmiana, green, gray, throrny or rainbow variety cactus. Agave has a low glycemic index so it is slowly absorbed into the body preventing spikes in the blood sugar. In contrast, regular sugar is a high glycimic index food and so is absorbed quickly into the bloodstream producing the all-too-familiar 'sugar rush' effect.

Agave is 25% sweeter than sugar, so you need less of it, and it is perfect for anything to which you would add regular sugar ....hot drinks, cereals, oatmeal, plain yogurt, baking, salad dressing, in place of maple syrup, honey etc. It is a staple in our house, and I can tell the difference if my toddler eats plain yogurt flavored with agave or comercially flavored yogurts which have added sugars - it sounds rediculous, I know, but seriously, if ever the sugar-rush is evident, it is plain to see in these little bodies which have no filters between feelings and actions!!

If you're interested in learning more about this guilt-free sugar(!), go to www.allaboutagave.com. For those of you who just want a quick introduction on how to use it in place of regular sugar, here's some information on subsitutions which I've taken from that website:

Substituting Agave Nectar for Liquid Sweeteners

Honey: Replace each cup of honey with one cup of agave syrup.

Maple Syrup: Replace each cup of maple syrup with one cup of agave syrup.

Brown Rice Syrup: When replacing a cup of brown rice syrup, use 1/2 to 1/3 as much agave, and increase other liquids in the recipe by up to 1/2 a cup.

Corn Syrup: When replacing a cup of light corn syrup, use 1/2 as much agave, and increase other liquids in the recipe by up to 1/3 of a cup. Like corn syrup, agave nectar will not crystallize.

Substituting Agave Nectar for Granulated Sugar

White Sugar: For each cup of white sugar replaced, use 2/3 of a cup of agave and reduce other liquids by 1/4 to 1/3 cup. This substitution will also work for Demerara Sugar, Turbinado Sugar, Evaporated Cane Juice, or Sucanat.

Brown Sugar: For each cup of white sugar replaced, use 2/3 of a cup of agave and reduce other liquids by 1/4 cup. Because the moisture content of Brown Sugar is higher than that of white sugar, liquids may not have to be reduced as much when substituting agave nectar.

Other Considerations
Agave syrup may cause baked items to brown more quickly, so reduce oven temperatures by 25°F is and increase baking time slightly.

Experiment & enjoy!!!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Swapping out the SUGAR!

To follow on from my last blog; I hope you had a fabulous Halloween!

While I was trick-or-treating with my 2 year old, I met another mother who has instrumented a 'replacement-candy' activity for her children for the last 10 years.....and I think it's genius.

To explain: she takes them to Whole Foods before Halloween and together they choose a vast array of 'replacement-candy' - no, this isn't some 'trick-to-replace-the-treats', this really is just a healthier version of the candy her kids will collect on Halloween. By 'healthier', I mean that it is free from artificial colorings and flavorings, and is often less processed and more pure....yes, pure sugar maybe, but at least it doesn't have glitter and glue in it too, not to mention the ingredients one needs a pHD in Chemistry to translate.....

Her children (now 10 yrs and 5 yrs old), dress up like everyone else and have a fabulous evening trick-or-treating with their friends, fully motivated to collect as much candy as possible because they know that later they will swap it out for their cherished replacement candy. On their return home, they choose a piece of replacement candy for each piece of regular candy that they have collected, and both parents and children feel satisfied. I love it.

If some of you feel that this is a great idea but a 1-for-1 swap for replacement candy still leaves a lot of sugar floating around the house, then choose another ratio....10-for-1, whatever, but at least you know that your children will be on a real-sugar-high rather than a fake-foods-overload?!

And as a final word - I have seen a multitude of facebook posts about how to deal with this holiday....do you let your children gorge as much candy as they want during the WE, ending up with stomach aches and soaring blood-sugar levels (not to mention mood swings!), or do you ration the candy and end up eating it from now until Christmas? Well my last blog focuses on this and to reiterate, my advice is to enjoy the holiday or WE and then GET RID OF THE REGULAR CANDY. I recommended throwing it out in my last blog, but I know that this does not sit well with a vast majority..... instead, in our house, we bag it all up and send it to work with my husband....alternatively, I saw that my son's school had a huge donation box for left-over candy which they were sending out to the soldiers. So if you don't like the idea of waste, think about who would enjoy receiving some candy, but for goodness sake, don't leave it in YOUR kitchen unless you have a willpower of steel and don't feel haunted by its presence!

Friday, October 30, 2009

Happy Halloween!

This blog is directed to my American audience; I have never experienced such an amazing celebration of the ghost and the ghoolies as I have since living in this country! And as much as I feel the urge to inspire us all to offer dried fruit and home-baked cookies as alternatives to candy tomorrow, I am old and ugly enough to know that this would be nothing short of a waste of time!!

Instead, I encourage you to enjoy this fun-filled holiday, and embrace the wonderful tradition of the costumes and candy with an open mind and a generous spirit. For those of us with little children in the house, it is often the art of trick or treating which is as much anticipated as the sweet treats themselves....sweet treats which DO NOT need to last from now until Christmas! My advice to you all is to throw yourselves into your activities tomorrow, chocolates and candies to boot, and then get rid of all the left over candy after the week-end. That's right, I'm advising that you THROW IT AWAY. Wasteful? Well, that depends on your definition....if having sugar/artificial coloring/artificial flavoring - filled children for the next 2 months is your idea of heaven, then stop reading this right now, but if not, and if you value your health and your waistline(!), then throwing candy in the trash is not wasteful, but healthful.

As a side-note - it seems like some conspiracy theory that the beginning of the flu-season coincides with this sugar-filled celebration .... at the best of times, sugar is not exactly firm friends with our immune system, so the sugar-binging effect of Halloween definitely leaves us immune-compromised. As I said at the beginning of this blog, I don't want to kill this holiday, but I urge you to limit the candy-overload to just this week end .... and with it, give yourselves a fighting chance of staying healthy this winter!

Happy Halloween!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Cooking up some goodness!

As the weather cools, we naturally migrate towards warmer, carbohydrate-based dishes. But don't think this means only freshly baked cakes and cookies! A lovely friend of mine just reminded me that not everyone knows about the grain I consider my favorite....Quinoa (pronounced: Keen-Wa).

Quinoa is nutritious whole grain which is high in fiber and a great source of protein (containing all eight essential amino-acids) - its protein content being what sets it apart from other whole grains. I particularly love it because it is gluten-free, so helps me on my path of trying to find filling and satisfying foods which agree with me! As you might suspect, Quinoa is as old as the hills, and was a primary staple of the ancient Incas. It has a slightly nutty flavour, (but don't worry my nut-sensitive audience, it's a grain, not a nut).

Not only is it a nutrition-powerhouse, but it is really versatile which makes it a good household staple ... I eat it as a warm porridge in the mornings when it's cold outside, and also as a substitute for pasta for lunch or dinner. I often have a big batch of cooked quinoa in my fridge, and in the mornings I just warm some up with soy or rice milk, add fresh or dried fruit depending on the time of year, a few nuts and/or seeds, and blue agave to sweeten - easy! I also have a handful of much-loved dinner recipes and here I give you my favorite to help inspire you to try it! Yum....


Quinoa with Roasted or Grilled Vegetables

I love this recipe – it’s a great, easy and can be served at room temperature in the summer or warm in the winter. Due to the high protein content of quinoa compared to other grains, it is a meal in itself, but feel free to add grilled chicken, goats or feta cheese, and nuts and seeds to make it more filling!

Serves 4

· 255g/9 oz quinoa
· 1 red or orange pepper
· 1 green pepper
· 1 yellow pepper
· 2-3 small courgettes (zucchini)
· 1 red onion
· 3 carrots, peeled
· 10 mushrooms
· 1/2 a butternut squash
· Olive Oil
· Salt and freshly ground pepper
· 3 good handfuls of mixed fresh herbs (basil, coriander, mint, flat-leafed parsley)

Preheat the oven to 425°F

Chop all the vegetables into similar sized ‘large-bite-size’ pieces. Cut the mushrooms in half or leave whole if they are small. Toss in a bowl so that they are covered with olive oil, salt & pepper.
Either:
Place on a roasting tray, as spread out as possible. If the roasting tray is too small for them to be only 1 layer, use 2 trays.
Place them in the oven to roast – 40-50 minutes. Shake them around in the tray once or twice during this time.
Or:
Put them on the grill / BBQ, turning occasionally, until they are cooked through.

Boil the quinoa according to packet instructions. Drain.
When they are soft and crisp, remove the vegetables from the oven and toss them into a bowl with the quinoa. Throw in the fresh herbs, loosen with a little more olive oil, toss and season to taste!

Notes:
1. Quinoa is similar in taste and texture to couscous but it is wheat-free and has a higher protein content. It’s a great grain to keep in your cupboards! I love it.
2. Remember that you can substitute different vegetables, depending on what you feel like and what is in season.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

A word on Probiotics.

If you are often on antibiotics, or have a digestive system which is frequently upset (bloating, constipation, diarrhea etc.), then you might be interested in learning more about these oft-talked about 'friendly' bacteria which are available as a supplement.....

The general term 'probiotics' is described by wikipedia as 'microorganisms thought to be healthy for the host organism'. To be more specific, when you take a probiotic supplement, you are replenishing the 'good' bacteria in your body (these are wiped out by courses of antibiotics and recurring diarrhea). Having a healthy community of 'good' bacteria in turn offers a whole spectrum of gastrointestinal health benefits ranging from promoting gut and intestinal functions to developing a healthy immune system.

So, can you get these from food? Yes; most yogurts contain 'Live Active Cultures of Probiotics', but the reality is that you really do have to eat a huge amount of yogurt to receive the benefits of its probiotic content if your existing bacterial ratios are challenged. If you feel that you have had gastrointestinal upsets or would benefit from re-balancing your body's bacteria, I really recommend seeking out a supplement. If you need more guidance, feel free to email me!

Here's to a healthy digestion for the holiday season!

(Oh, and as a side-note - there are probiotics specially for toddlers and infants....they can work wonders on upset little systems!)

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

I'm soooooo full......

As a follow-on from last week's blog, and as we approach a food-heavy time of year(!), I wanted to touch on the all too common behaviour of over-eating. We've all done it, and we'll all do it in the future, but if this is something which is more normal than abnormal for you, then it might help to understand why you might be falling into this uncomfortable trap.

My July/August '09 publication of Nutrition Action discussed the reasons behind the over-eating phenomena which seems to have so many in its grip, and apparently, the fault lies not in us, but in the intelligent manipulation of the sensory circuits of our brain by 3 simple ingredients: sugar, fat and salt.

Each of these (alone or together), make food compelling and indulgent in ways we cannot control, and together with some clever marketing, deem certain foods very difficult to resist. So, if you've ever been staring at a packet of chocolate chip cookies, wondering how on earth you are ever going to stop yourself from eating the ENTIRE packet, then you can rest assured that it is the sugar and fat-heavy ingredients at work, not your lack of willpower! Afterall, I challenge you to have the same thought when looking at a bag of zucchini/courgettes?!

So, how does one navigate this in everyday life? I have three succinct pieces of advice:
  1. Avoid the center aisles of the grocery stores/supermarkets. These are the aisles loaded with fat, sugar and salt!
  2. Control your environment when possible. Don't EVER think that you will be able to outsmart a bag of chips or a plate of cookies! If you know they're your weakness, take them OUT OF YOUR HOUSE. Fill your kitchen with all the fruit, nuts and vegetables your heart desires, but remove all traces of foods which make you want to over eat.
  3. When out at restaraunts, try and pick foods which satisfy rather than stimulate your apetite ... (hint: these tend to be foods which are close to their natural forms: fruit, vegetables, lean meats and whole grains).

And as a final note, Eastern Medicine states that if you eat something which is high in salt, it stimulates the body to crave sugar, and visa versa, so be aware of the difference between using salt as a 'seasoning' and a 'flavoring'!!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

What do you feel like....?

I am reading 'Intuitive Eating' by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD and Elyse Resch, MS, RD, FADA and it's inspired me to really consider how infrequently we, as members of a western society in the year 2009, actually check in with our bodies to determine if or when we are hungry. Let me explain.....

It makes sense that we would let our internal cues guide us on when we want to eat, what we want to eat, and when we've had enough of that food, right? I mean that's the idea behind having the highly sophisticated bundle of biology, chemistry and physics that we name our 'body'. However, we are so often pressurized and influenced by clever marketing, social expectations, past associations and even the time of day, that I have found that we rarely tap into these cues. Instead, we continually override them in order to conform to something either predetermined by our mind or externally influenced.

Now, I'm not suggesting a movement to disrupt the conventional rhythm of the breakfast-lunch-dinner-day, nor do I recommend walking through life with a permanent nose-bag on our hips, but surely there's a happy medium somewhere, which allows us to channel what we feel into driving what we want, rather than determining what we want intellectually and ignoring what we feel??

We all know that it only takes an involuntary shiver to convince us a hot cup of coffee is a good idea, or a whiff of freshly baked bread to suggest that we are hungry.....there are a million external cues out there, and 'Intuitive Eating' states that the more we use them to determine our eating behaviours, the more our internal cues are supressed and silenced. Maybe that's why we've all come such a long way from only eating when we are hungry?

Just for a day, an hour, a minute, try and strengthen your internal cues. Take a second to think about what your body is telling you, and act accordingly.

It's amazingly satisfying.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Not all fats are equal - have a look at Coconut Oil.

Coconut oil (or butter) often gets a bad rap due to it's relatively high levels of saturated fat in comparisson to other vegetable oils. However, I have recently been asked about it more than once, so I started experimenting with it again and my initial flirtations with this lesser-used fat are proving to be both delicious and healthy!

While coconut oil does have its fair share of saturated fats, its predominant fat is made up of medium chain fatty acids which the body processes quite differently to most other types of fat....specifically, they are used mainly for energy production and are less likely than other fats to add to our 'fat deposits' (yay!). Due to this unique feature of coconut oil, it has a pluthora of health benefits which make it a food worth concentrating on:
  • It is a great moisturizer - I'm presently using it on my long-suffering hands which are plagued with cracking, bleeding excema due to the harsh environment of Vegas. I'll let you know how I go with it - so far, I'm loving it. It is also reportedly healing for cases of dandruff, psoriasis and acne.
  • One of my best friends in Sydney, Australia, uses it on her face and swears by it. There's a movement which suggests one shouldn't put anything on ones skin that one wouldn't eat...it makes sense if you think about your skin being your body's largest organ?!
  • It's a proven immune-strengthening food, having anti-bacterial and anti-viral activities.
  • It's beneficial to a healthy heart.
  • It has been shown to decrease LDL cholesterol levels.

So, I hear you ask: 'How the hell do I use it?'....including this functional food in your diet is easier than you might think. For starters, the 'Babycakes' recipe book I blogged about last week uses it as its main fat-source, as do many other vegan recipes, but more immediately, you can use it in place of your existing fat-of-choice for your sauteing, frying and baking. While you might (correctly) imagine that coconut flavor doesn't infuse particularly well with your italian sauce, when drumming up some Thai or Indian food, it will enhance the flavors of the spices to no end.

In addition, you can add it to smoothies (1 tablespoon/serving) and even use it in place of butter on muffins/bagels/toast etc, if the mood takes you. If you're like me and you pretty much eyeball the amount of fat you use to cook with (baking aside), then you can just continue to do this with coconut oil.

When buying coconut oil, Gabriela Rosa, a leading clinical naturopath in Australia, stresses that you must try and find the raw, unrefined, organic version. I particularly recommend the extra virgin, raw, unrefined, organic variety.

And a final note on allergies; in 2006, the FDA classified the coconut as a nut. However, it has not been shown to elicit the same allergic reactions as other tree-nuts, and the small subset of the population who have shown an allergic response to coconut do not appear to be the same individuals as those who are allergic to other nuts. However, to be safe, check with your intended food-samplers before using it as some doctors recommend nut-sensitive patients to avoid it.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Allergy-free baking with 'Babycakes'....

As a sad member of the 'gluten-free' subset of the population (which seems to be growing at an alarming rate), and someone who does better without dairy too (sob), I had resigned myself to a life scarcely populated with the baked deliciousness' that we all know and love for being bad for the waistline, but damn good for the soul!......until my gorgeous friend Lizzie from Jackson Hole, had me over for brunch and introduced me to a plate overloaded with muffins which looked and smelt so good they would rival any bakery. On hearing that they were gluten free, sugar free AND vegan (aka dairy free and egg free), I tucked in with a gusto reserved only for Christmas dinner, and I've never looked back.

The secret to Lizzie's success is partly her unfair advantage as an amazing baker, but it can also be traced back to 'babycakes', a book filled with vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free recipes from it's namesake's bakery in NYC, owned and authored by Erin McKenna. The book itself is beautiful, inspiring even the most hesitant in the kitchen to get involved (yes, ummm, that would be me...), and I can firmly say that the products really are testament to the glossy photos.

So - whether your particular physiology dictates that you must look to the 'alternative' aisle for your carbohydrate fix, or you are keen to decrease the otherwise-overwhelming levels of gluten and sugar found in the average Westerner's diet, look no further, this book should be on your shelf. And for the parents out there, I just made a batch of her 'Pumpkin-spice Muffins' yesterday and they are nearly all gone....thanks mainly to individuals under the age of 3!

(And as a post-script that I can't resist adding ... even for those of you who are quite happy with your traditional baked goods, know that alleviating the load of sugar and gluten inflicted on developing and young digetive systems is a really positive step for everyone. There are many theories on why gluten-intolerance is increasing in our society, and while there are no clear-cut answers yet, there is no harm in reducing its role in our diets. And sugar....well don't get me started!)

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Soy and Breast Cancer

The combination of news-bites with hearsay makes for a fabulous game of 'chinese whispers', and in my opinion, this is exactly why the population is afflicted with a love-hate relationship with soy.

To try and help set the record straight with regards to breast cancer, I am referencing my August '09 issue of 'Environmental Nutrition'. This clearly states that amongst the ever-expanding research on this topic, there is no evidence that traditional soy foods increase the chances of women at high risk for developing breast cancer or worsen the prognosis of existing breast cancer patients. To the contrary, evidence shows that 2 servings daily of soyfoods can actually help breast cancer patients (if you are a breast-cancer patient and have some questions, please do contact me and I can help you further....).

I stress the word 'traditional' when talking about soy foods because it's the WHOLE soy foods, such as those in the Asian diet, that seem to have the beneficial effects. These are soybeans, tofu, miso, tempeh and soymilk, and NOT the typical form of soy ingested by Westeners; isolated components of soy in the form of fillers and extenders in foods like protein bars, shakes, veggie burgers, soy sausages and meat-substitutes.

So that's the good news, sadly, the research also shows that in order to reduce our risk of breast cancer, we really need to eat soyfood consistently during adolesence and young adulthood....so take note, those of you out there who have young daughters....and remember, not all soy is equal, and I recommend finding non-GMO (genetically modified) whole-food sources.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The 'dirty dozen'

Since no nutritionist's blog is complete without a reference to the most contaminated fresh produce, I thought I'd get this in early!

The present economy is forcing us to make the most out of each dollar (or pound!), and so 'buying organic' has, in many families, had to take a back-seat. In this context, I find the list of the 12 most contaminated produce maintained by The Environmental Working group to be an essential prop to any grocery store round ... in fact, the truth be known, I live by it. Wherever possible, my organic purchases are determined by whether my product of choice is cited on the 'dirty dozen' list ... if it is, I fork out the extra pennies, and if it isn't, I buy the cheaper, conventional counterpart (with a clean conscience!). For the record, the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables (from worst to less-worse!) are:
Peach, Apple, Sweet Bell Pepper, Celery, Nectarine, Strawberries, Cherries, Kale, Lettuce, Grapes (imported), Carrot and Pear.

If you have an iphone, there is an app provided by the Environmental Working Group which provides both the 'dirty dozen' and the 'Clean 15' on (www.foodnews.org) so you will never again be in a grocery store without these lists ... too easy?!!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

September 12th

Going to bed ‘working’.

I have recently had the opportunity to study some traditional eastern nutrition and medical practices and one piece of advice has stayed in my mind. A prominent eastern doctor in California, Dr. Daoshing Ni, recommends one does not eat after 7pm, to ensure that your body doesn’t spend the night ‘working’. I can vouch first hand that allowing some proper time for digestion before hitting your bed makes for a more restful sleep and often a more energetic morning….this is worth trying in particular for individuals who find it difficult not to overeat in the evenings.

September 1st

I have just started reading Monique Ryan’s new 2nd Edition of ‘Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes’ and her very first chapter focuses on hydration. It’s a good reminder during these summer months, that water is one of our most essential nutrients. By the time we are thirsty, we have already experienced a decrease in fluids or an increase in sodium concentration, so she recommends that an active individual must try and stay on top of their fluid needs by drinking a minimum of 11-16 cups of fluid daily when not training (approx. 8 ounces/hour).

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Welcome!

Hi there, this is Camilla's new blog site for new information regarding nutrition and health. Located in Las Vegas NV, Camilla Beevor Nutrition