To cleanse or not to cleanse

As I am in the process of doing a 28 day cleanse programme, I thought I would start writing a weekly blog about by journey and cleansing.  This cleanse is not a diet but it is a process of helping the body eliminate toxins and it also helps to return your body’s natural ability to heal itself.

Food & Drink Toxins

There are more toxins but I thought I would start with these.

Caffeine – this sends blood sugar and adrenaline levels soaring. 

Wheat - toxins from wheat can enter your blood stream and build up intolerances that will cause headaches, indigestion, fatigue, bad skin and depression.

Fizzy drinks – full of sugar that send your blood glucose levels through the ceiling. 

Pastries and Pies – full of saturated fats and sugars, putting a huge strain on the liver and causing an increase in your sugar levels.

Canned Foods – the metal in canned foods gets into your system, your liver cannot detoxify metals.

Processed Meats – these contain a lot of salt that upset your fluid balance.  There is also a high level of saturated fats and chemicals plus hormones and antibiotics in processed foods.

Cheese – these are very acidic and hard for the body to digest.

Snacks -  raw and natural unsalted nuts are great for health. But if you roast these nuts, the good fats change into unhealthy fats. Fried foods, frying destabilizes oil molecules and produces highly toxic free radicals or the damaging molecules that run around your body and attack your cells.  

Alcohol - Alcohol depletes nutrients and particularly B vitamins that are needed for metabolism and memory. Alcohol makes your blood sugar levels raise, your liver fat, and you cannot detox your system.

(Health Status)

What can a build-up of toxins do?

A toxic build up will definitely put stress on your body, causing disease’s that you don’t really want to experience, and make life seem sluggish and full of complications.

According to Henrietta Norton Co-founder and Technical Director at Wild Nutrition, many female health conditions are a result of a compromised ability to detoxify efficiently.  These range from hormonal imbalances, allergies, depression, anxiety, poor skin health, weight gain and subfertility to more long-term and degenerative diseases. 

Why Wild Nutrition?

I chose the Wild Nutrition programme as it is works well with today’s busy lifestyle, allowing time to prepare and it also includes lean protein like fish and white meat from day 8 if desired.  It eliminates key items such as caffeine, sugar, white flour products, alcohol, gluten and dairy but there are so many foods that you can eat and it really makes you think about the beautiful fresh ingredients that can be used to create some amazing dishes.  The supplements are food grown and it has been shown that the body absorbs, uses and stores key vitamins and minerals better this way.

Benefits

Typical benefits include improved skin, sleep, digestion, energy, healthy weight loss, and mental clarity with a reduction in bloating, constipation, headaches, and joint pain.

 I myself suffer from Osteoarthritis and manage this through minimising lots of Inflammatory food and taking Omega 3 supplements but this will take it to another level and eliminate foods that are known to cause inflammation like diary, gluten, sugar, caffeine and red meat. 

 My Journey

Today is day 3 and I am struggling with the no caffeine at the moment as I do like my cup of coffee in the morning after the school run.  However, I am drinking the warm lemon water and herbal teas instead and keeping myself hydrated.   I have had a slight headache for the last two days but hope that this will go away soon as the caffeine withdrawal subsides.  On the plus side, I have had two nights of great sleep and feel much more alert already in the morning.

On Sunday my husband made a lovely roast dinner and we normally have a nice glass of red wine to compliment the meal but this was turned down (by me!) not my husband who enjoyed his glass. As each day goes by it becomes easier as I acquire more knowledge about the amazing alternatives to the items that have been eliminated.  Today I made a beautiful lentil and vegetable soup that will last at least 3 days so I don’t have to worry about cooking lunch again for a while.

Next time I blog I will be on day 10 and will let you know how I feel.

If you are interested in doing this Total Cleanse myself and another qualified nutritionist will be running this programme in January in the Reigate area for a small group of people.  Part of the package will include a 2 hour workshop to explain in great detail how the cleanse works, all the information needed to complete the program and we will be on hand to help you each step of the way.  It has been studied that if you follow a cleanse programme with a group of people you are more likely to complete the task then doing it on your own. 

For more information on the cleanse or to book a consultation please click here to contact me:-

Pumpkins - Not just for Carving

Pumpkin is an extremely nutrient-dense food, meaning it is full of vitamins and minerals but low in calories.

There are many creative ways pumpkin can be incorporated into meals, including desserts, soups, salads and preserves.

Key points about pumpkins:-

1. The potassium contained within pumpkins can have a positive effect on blood pressure. The fibre, potassium, and vitamin C content in pumpkin all support heart health.

2. The antioxidants and vitamins contained within pumpkins could prevent degenerative damage to the eyes.

3. Pumpkin is one of the best-known sources of beta-carotene, a powerful antioxidant that gives orange vegetables and fruits their vibrant colour. Beta-carotene is converted to vitamin A in the body once it is eaten. Consuming foods rich in beta-carotene may reduce the risk of developing certain types of cancer, offer protection against asthma and heart disease, and delay aging and body degeneration.

4. Research has demonstrated a positive relationship between a diet rich in beta-carotene and a reduction in the occurrence of prostate cancer.

5. Plant foods like pumpkins that are high in both vitamin C and beta-carotene offer an immunity boost from their powerful combination of nutrients (Source:- Medical News Today)

6. Pumpkin are rich in fibre, which slows digestion and keeps you feeling fuller longer, so could help with weight loss.

7. Eating pumpkin can help you look younger (beta-carotene in pumpkin helps protect us from the sun's wrinkle-causing UV rays), but the pulp also makes a great, all-natural face mask that exfoliates and soothes. All you need is 1/4 cup pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie), an egg, a tablespoon of honey and a tablespoon of milk. Mix, then apply it, wait for 20 minutes or so and wash it off with warm water (CNN).

8. Pumpkin seeds are rich in tryptophan, the amino acid that contributes to sleepiness. Tryptophan is also responsible for helping the body make serotonin, the feel-good neurotransmitter that helps you relax and unwind.

General: Pumpkins are low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Iron, Magnesium and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Riboflavin, Potassium, Copper and Manganese (Nutrition data).

Please use the link below for a delicious recipe for pumpkin soup.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/creamy-pumpkin-lentil-soup

Mood Boosting Foods - Banish those winter blues

There are many reasons why you may be feeling low and a lot of the time we blame our hormones, the weather or even our hectic lifestyles.  But what about our diet? Low mood could be caused by something as simple as having a vitamin D deficiency. There are many other nutrients that are often deficient in people with depression including B3, B6, Folic acid, B12 and Vitamin C, Zinc, Magnesium, Copper and Chromium. Vitamin B6 in particular helps make serotonin.

According to leading nutritionist Patrick Holford, one of the areas that affects mood is your serotonin levels. It is made by an amino acid called 5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan), which triggers release of a chemical called tryptophan that boosts serotonin levels.  Deficiency of serotonin can be caused by stress, lack of sleep or a poor diet lacking in key nutrients.

At B/Nutrition, we can help establish the root cause of your low mood and test for nutrient and food deficiencies and other factors like hormonal imbalances but for now here are some ways to help you boost your mood with food.

Feel Good Menu

• Dairy foods: Think yoghurt, cheese and milk – these are all high in calcium, which causes a chain-reaction that helps increase tryptophan levels and serotonin.
• Good-quality protein: Foods such as turkey, eggs, beans and fatty fish (salmon and sardines) are high in tryptophan.
• Studies have shown people with depression have reduced levels of Omega 3 and increased ratios of Omega 6: Omega 3.  Omega 3 can be found in oily fish, flaxseed and chia seeds.
• · Increase B Vitamins - Eat B vitamin rich whole foods to support neurotransmitter production.

1. Folic acid - Green vegetables, lentils, nuts and seeds.
2. B12 - Animal foods – meat, fish, eggs and dairy produce.
3. B6 – Avocado, bananas and legumes.

• Brazil nuts: These boost your levels of selenium, also often low in people suffering the blues.
• Fruits: Serotonin occurs naturally in fruits such as plums, cherries, kiwi fruit, plantains, bananas, pineapple and tomatoes.
• Hot chocolate: Cocoa boasts high polyphenol levels, which may help reduce symptoms of depression.
• Vitamin D can be obtained through foods such as fortified cereals, meat and oily fish. But the best source is through the sun and in the winter months when the sunlight is limited you may need a boost of vitamin D through a supplement but this can be determined through a simple test to check your levels.

Lifestyle

• Practice good sleep hygiene.
• Regular exercise – stimulates endorphin production.
• Get outside as natural sunlight is a great source of Vitamin D.

Please contact us for more information and to make an appointment to come in and see how we can help improve your mood.

Fertility: The importance of pre-conception care when trying to get pregnant

After spending an amazing weekend at the Integrative Women’s Health Summit and listening to some incredible speakers including Dr Erin Stokes and Dr Aviva Romm,  I was reminded of the importance of pre-conception care and how this can help produce healthy babies and also help prevent miscarriage.  As Dr Aviva Romm said the “Mother is the Gatekeeper” and this is so true.   However, you could also say the father is the key to the gate as you need both the egg and sperm to be good quality to increase your chances of getting pregnant.

Why do the experts say at least 3 months of pre-conception care?

 As specified by fertility expert Dr Marilyn Glenville the reason 3 months is so often stated is that it takes that long for follicles on your ovaries to develop before one is mature enough to release an egg for ovulation.  You cannot change the number of eggs but you can change their quality, which will increase your chances of conceiving. Also, for men it takes 3 months for a new batch of sperm cells to mature.  Men produce sperm all their lives so it is possible to improve the quality and quantity through lifestyle and nutritional changes.

You will increase your chances of getting pregnant if both you and your partner are in good health. A bad diet, being overweight, smoking, drinking and a unhealthy lifestyle can affect the quality of sperm and stop you getting pregnant.

Smoking should be stopped as it damages sperm and smokers are only half as fertile as non-smokers.  Alcohol as mentioned in a previous blog should be lowered as 40% of infertility is linked to just a moderate intake of alcohol. You should both try to make your lifestyle as healthy as possible before you try to conceive.

The figures about women, weight and fertility:-

·         A woman who is overweight or obese has less chance of getting pregnant overall, she is also more likely than a woman of healthy weight to take more than a year to   get pregnant.

·         The risk of pre-eclampsia doubles in overweight women and triples in obese women.  Overweight women have twice the risk of gestational diabetes and obese women eight times the risk, compared with women of healthy weight.

·         A woman who is obese is more than twice as likely to have a miscarriage than a women of healthy weight.

·         Being underweight can also reduce a women’s fertility.  It can cause hormone imbalances that affect ovulation and therefore a woman’s chance of getting pregnant.  Compared to healthy women, underweight women are more than twice as likely to take more than a year to get pregnant.  Having a BMI under 18.5 is considered ‘underweight’

Nutrients

General advice for women

A healthy varied diet is crucial for the health of both mother and child. A woman’s diet prior to conception can also affect a baby’s health. Women trying for a baby are advised to eat a healthy, varied and balanced diet. In practice this means adopting a dietary pattern that includes plenty of fruit and vegetables, moderate amounts of meat, fish and/or other protein sources (such as eggs and pulses), and moderate amounts of dairy products. Foods and drinks high in fat and sugar should only be consumed in limited amounts.

To ensure optimal development of the foetus, some changes to diet and lifestyle may be required even before conception. During preconception, women are advised to take a folic acid supplement (400 µg), which should be continued with until the 12th week of pregnancy. This will reduce the risk of the baby being born with a neural tube defect.

General advice for men

It is also important for men to eat a healthy, varied diet. Specific nutrients which are found in a healthy, varied diet are known to be important for male fertility. For example, selenium is needed to make healthy sperm, zinc is needed to ensure healthy testosterone levels and long-chain omega-3 fatty acids found in oily fish help produce prostaglandins, which are important for making sperm.

You can now see why it is significant to be a healthy weight, eat a balanced diet and ensure that you make sensible lifestyle choices in order to increase your chances of getting pregnant.   For more information contact B/Nutrition for a personalised plan to help you increase your chances of conceiving. 

Fertility: Can drinking alcohol reduce your chances of conceiving?

Alcohol consumption in women has been associated with decreased fertility and decreased chance of conception. In a study taken from the Reproductive Biology & Endocrinology Journal (Dec, 2015), involving 7393 women over an 18 year period, the women who were high consumers of alcohol were shown to have given birth significantly fewer times compared to women who were moderate alcohol consumers.  In 1998, another study observed that, women who consume more than seven alcoholic drinks per week were shown to take a significantly longer time to become pregnant compared with those who consume less alcohol per week.

Male fertility is also affected by consumption of alcohol and a recent study demonstrated that infertile men classified as daily drinkers, have significantly inferior semen quality compared to occasional drinkers.  

Overall, drinking alcohol affects both female and male partner.  In fact, according to leading women’s health nutritional therapist Dr Marilyn Glenville PhD drinking any alcohol at all can reduce your fertility by half and the more you drink, the less likely you are to conceive. 

It might not be easy at first but if you really want to conceive and make your body baby friendly, it is recommended to eliminate alcohol and give yourself the best chance you can.

Delicious drinks for the those warm days

Try water with blueberries and mint, lemon and cherries, blackcurrants and kiwi or raspberries and lime.