In holistic nutrition we talk a lot about finding the root cause.  Sometimes this can be easy, sometimes difficult, other times all you need is intuition.   The case I’m going to talk about, took intuition.  

Most of the time we don’t see a direct cause and effect, it’s a little more insidious.  Let me give you an example of one where this can be seen.  Beginning at the end of the last school year, my older son started getting an ingrown toe nail on his big toe.   He’s not a complainer, so it got pretty bad before he told me his foot hurt him.  I took him to the podiatrist and she removed the nail and recommended antibiotics.  Throughout the summer, we had multiple trips to the foot doctor because it kept happening and started happening in the other foot too!  Every time we went through the same thing, we went in, she removed the nail and recommended a permanent surgery. 

At each appointment, I asked her why she thought this kept happening.  She said some people are more susceptible to it than others and it’s probably genetic (it’s not).  Most people accept this type of answer from a doctor because we collectively feel that they have gone through a lot of schooling so they must have the answer.  I too would accept this answer too if he was a toddler, but he’s 16!  He has gone 16 years without having ingrown toenails.  Something else was going on…

So, I started my research, why could this be happening?  One of the reasons that came up in my research was shoes that are too tight.  I had thought of this the first time we went and even asked but was told it’s probably genetic so I let it go.  I had also just bought new shoes for him and thought they fit him correctly.  My son does have a wide foot and since he’s older and can tell me how the shoes fit, I just check where the toe is to make sure they are long enough.  He should know if the shoe is too tight, right? 

Wrong!

After researching, I took a chance and bought him new shoes again but this time they were marked wide and just to be safe, I bought bigger socks too! I figured it couldn’t hurt!  Since this time, he has not had a single ingrown toenail!  It has been about 4 months!

My gut was telling me that it he wasn’t just susceptible to ingrown toenails and it turned out to be an easy fix.  There are other times it takes more detective work. .This is usually when an issue is chronic. Listen to your gut, ask questions and do research, don’t just assume a doctor that has seen you for about 5 minutes has the answer…it’s usually inside of you, but you may need some help pulling it out 

You go to the supermarket once a week for food.  Once inside you are bombarded with marketing claims.  I’m not talking about the seals like Certified organic, or Non Gmo verified.  These are important to look for and pay attention to.  I’m talking about the signs you see in the aisle in front of the food. They’ll say things like PALEO, VEGAN, NON GMO (even when the crop was never genetically modified in the first place).  Really anything customers are looking for; a sign will go up in front of a product.  Oh look at me, I’m LOW FAT!
 
I’m in Whole Foods a couple of weeks ago in the sauce aisle and I see two signs.  One says VEGAN, the other says PALEO.  I’m intrigued because I wouldn’t think there is a difference aside from the packaging. Although in the Paleolithic period they probably didn’t have tomatoes because that’s a modern agriculture food and they certainly would not have had cans or glass to put the tomatoes in; but tomatoes seem to be on the Paleo food list possibly because no one really knows exactly what Paleolithic people ate, it’s just one big guess.

So I have two items right next to each other both seemingly the same but they are being marketed differently.  Why are they being marketed differently?  To appeal to the different trends!  Don’t fall for it!   Although they are all tomato sauces, they are not created equal. 
 
Let’s take a look: 

Do you see the difference?

You can’t really tell much from the nutrition facts as far as what is inside, But here is a big difference you can see:  the serving size is smaller for the PALEO one but is still much higher in sodium than the other two. Everything else when adjusting for the serving size would work out about the same.  

Let’s look at the ingredients; the one marketed as PALEO has added sugar which is not allowed and citric acid which is a food additive also not allowed on the diet. 
 
So since tomato is allowed on the PALEO diet, sauce would be too so either of the two marked VEGAN would fit the PALEO bill, but not the one that was actually being marketed as PALEO!  Crazy right?  So don’t pay attention to the signs marketing what product to buy, turn the product around and look at the ingredients list, compare them to other similar products and then make your decision! 
 

One of my jobs as a nutritionist is educator, to think about things that aren’t being talked about.  When it comes to food, nothing is cut and dry. Studies can help us in making an educated decision, but they are typically biased in favor of what those who paid for it want.  So you wind up with lots of studies that contradict each other and what you hear about are the studies that are well funded. Or you will hear the contradicting studies for instance one day it seems eggs are good for you and the next they are not.  So for the above question, I don’t have a definitive answer, and I don’t think anyone else does either but I would like to talk about some concerns I have regarding this. 
 

• Mercury:  We are told by the government that fish contains methylmercury, we know that this is a heavy metal and can negatively impact the body, but are still told to consume a serving of fish 2-3 times per week.  This toxin can build up in our systems until it reaches a toxic level which is when we start having health issues. 
• Radiation:  This I think is the most current threat. Radiation has been spewing into the ocean since the earthquake/tsunami hit Japan in 2011 and took out their nuclear reactors.  No one talks about this, but is a real threat to our ocean animals and to humans eating them. 
• Ocean dumping:  Prior to 1972, our water was used as a garbage dump, no one thought of the consequences this could cause.  “They” assumed that the ocean offered unlimited space and the currents would mix and dispose of the waste.  It didn’t, not only did the ocean wind up with high levels of toxins, it also caused a depletion of oxygen levels in the water which is killing the coral reefs.  Some of the toxins that were dumped were chemical, industrial and radioactive waste, trash, munitions, sewage, sludge, contaminated dredge material pharmaceuticals etc.  The EPA now limits ocean dumping by issuing dumping permits. So it’s still happening, it’s just regulated now!
• Labeling: The majority of fish sold in the United States is from commercial fish farms.  You would think that Fresh or Atlantic labeled fish were wild fish, but they are not, they are farmed.  If you are aware of animal agriculture on land, then you have an idea of commercial fisheries.  Contaminants are usually higher due to the use of fish meal and genetically modified feed which creates another issue. 

 
So let’s talk about fish oil supplementation.  For many who don’t consume fish, they turn to supplementation.  Even if they do consume fish doctors typically recommend fish oil supplements to decrease inflammation, because today everyone has inflammation!  Here’s the problem with this, to get the oil from the fish, the entire fish is minced and the oil is extracted using heat and chemical solvents.  The Omega 3 fatty acid is an extremely sensitive oil and can become rancid from exposure to heat, light and oxygen.  So the oil is more than likely rancid prior to being put into the capsule to be sold.  And low quality supplements don’t remove the toxins that were originally in fish or the chemical residue so toxins are increased.  Professional products do test for toxins and typically there is no chemical residue, but the concern about rancidity is still there. 
 
I have tested the Omega fatty acid profile on clients and most are deficient in Omega 3 even in people taking fish oil supplements and consuming fish on a daily basis They also have high inflammation markers and  Omega 6 fatty acids (inflammatory) are higher than their Omega 3 fatty acid (anti-inflammatory) numbers.  So a change of diet is typically needed. 
 
Omega 3 (and 6) fatty acids are essential fatty acids, meaning the body can’t make them.  So it’s important for you to get them, but fish is not the only source.  In fact, the fish don’t produce it; they eat algae on the ocean floors that contain it. Wouldn’t it be better to skip the fish and use the algae as your Omega source?  Algae can be grown in a lab in controlled conditions so there is no contamination issue.  You could also consume Spirulina and sea vegetables which have an added benefit of lots of micronutrients. 
 
There are other plant sources but conversion is necessary for it to become an Omega 3 and there are various reasons that would diminish capability of conversion. For example:  Deficiencies micronutrients such as zinc, magnesium, calcium, biotin, B 3, B6, Vitamin C; medications, alcohol, advancing age, high sugar consumption, genetics, high omega 6 consumption, etc.  Plant based sources have many benefits even if you don’t convert the Alpha Linoleic Acid (the parent form) easily.   Plant sources:  Flax seeds, Chia seeds, Hemp seeds, green leafy vegetables, walnuts, avocado, chlorella
 
So what do you think?
 
 
Sources:  Killer fish, Brian R. Clement, 2012
https://plenteousveg.com/vegan-sources-omega-3/
https://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-algae
https://www.epa.gov/fish-tech/2017-epa-fda-advice-about-eating-fish-and-shellfish
https://www.livescience.com/39110-japan-2011-earthquake-tsunami-facts.html
https://www.epa.gov/ocean-dumping/learn-about-ocean-dumping#Before
 
 
 

The kids have gone back to school so I have seen an uptick of people with colds in the past couple of weeks.  Both of my kids have just had colds and typically right after they get sick, I do. It’s called the common cold for a reason, right?  For the past few days, I have had a sore throat so I have been doing my best to fight it off.  I have talked about some remedies you can use here and here
 
It seems that not as many people get sick in the summer, even with all the barbeques.  Maybe there aren’t as many sweets or maybe we are protected by the vitamin D we are getting from the sun.  It may be a combination of things, but what I want to talk about today is what you can do when you start to feel like you are getting sick or if you actually do get sick how to shorten the duration.  This is not a time to slack off on your healthy eating, this is when you need to kick it up a notch.
 
Naturally when we feel bad, we go to our comfort foods…these foods usually consist of sweets and fried foods.  You can use natural treatments like Vitamin C and Zinc, maybe even increase vitamin A and believe me I use everything in my toolbox to combat a cold!  But I want to talk to you today about diet.  Taking one item out of your diet may boost your immune system so you either don’t get sick or you are more resilient when you do.
 
What item am I talking about?  Sugar!  When your throat hurts ice cream feels good right?  It soothes because it’s cold, but eating sugar is like taking down your defense system and not just for a few minutes, but a few hours!  There are no nutrients in sugar, in fact consuming sugar makes the body use its own stores.  You definitely don’t need this when you’re feeling under the weather. Your white blood cells are your guards, they need to be in tip top shape to go around your body and look for invaders, and sugar weakens them. So even on a daily basis, you want to limit the amount of sugar you consume, but when you feel sick it is best to avoid it. 
 
Where do we find sugar?  Pretty much EVERYWHERE! When I talk about sugar most people think of white granulated sugar, but if you buy any processed carbohydrate like bread, pasta, pizza, soda, ketchup, dips, spreads, processed meats (like lunch meats), “whole grain” cereals, yogurt. You know the comfort foods I was talking about earlier!  These are typically low in fiber and digest really quickly in your body, they also contain added sugars which increase your sugar intake. They also deplete your nutrient stores which are vital when you get sick.  I’m not as concerned about natural sugars because they contain nutrients and fiber that actually help you feel better.  
 
A good way to look at illness is as part of your body’s detoxification system.  Your body is taking out some trash and making an inhospitable environment for a virus or bacteria.   Instead of turning to comfort foods, support your body, look to your fruits and vegetables or maybe create some new comfort foods.  I like to make smoothies, but I increase the greens and the fruits that are high in vitamin C.  Leafy greens like kale or Swiss chard mixed with oranges maybe some kiwi, add some pumpkin seeds and this will increase the zinc.
 
Taking the above measures, eating right and supplementing when appropriate may not completely deter an illness, but it can make it more bearable and decrease the amount of time you are sick. 
 

Lately I have been getting a lot of calls from people who want to transition to either healthier eating or a vegan diet because they have seen a documentary or read about something they didn’t like in the industry.  I think this is great because anytime we make positive dietary changes, we are not only helping ourselves with better health, but we are also helping the planet and the animals. 

A good place to start is to evaluate what you are currently eating.  Let’s start with processed foods, personally I try to buy as little packaged food as possible, but when I do I make sure that I’m buying the best quality I can; it’s a process and I want to help you with that.  How do I do that?  I read the labels on the package. 

I am a big proponent of reading labels, not in the traditional sense of reading them but to really find out what’s in the product.  Typically we are told to use the nutrition facts label because it is government regulated, but that doesn’t mean it’s 100% true.  The nutrition facts label can be deceptive, manufacturers can play with the numbers so the product is perceived the way they want it to be…to follow the trends; gluten free, sugar free, low cholesterol.
 
If you are only looking at the nutrition facts box, you are only getting half the story.  For instance a manufacturer can put 0 g of sugar on the nutrition facts label even though sugar is listed in two or three places in the ingredients.  How is this possible?  As long as there is .5 g or less per serving, they can put 0 g.  So for each of those sugars, each one has .5 g or less per serving, this can wind up being a lot of sugar.
 
So I just mentioned per serving.  There is a difference between serving size and portion size.  This is one thing I do recommend looking at because the serving size is a set amount like ½ cup whereas a portion size is what we serve ourselves which is typically double or triple of the serving size.  So make sure to check the serving size on the top of the nutrition facts label. 
 
Use the nutrition facts label as a tool to help guide you but don’t use it by itself, consult the ingredients list too. This is where you will find out more information as to what is in the product.  Using the two together will give you a more complete picture. 
 
What you want to look for is a small list of ingredients, maybe five to six ingredients with names you can pronounce.   The ingredients are listed in descending order, so the first ingredient is usually the largest amount and the last ingredient is the smallest.
 
So how do you put this into practice?  Start at home, pull out those cereal boxes, I’m not a fan of these but let’s look at it as an example.  Look at the ingredients, how long is the list, can you name all of them?  Do you know what each ingredient is?  Are there preservatives that you’re not quite sure about?  How many sugars are there that you can recognize? Are there genetically modified ingredients?  Are there food colors? 
 
Start with this one food, assess it and next time you go shopping look for a better alternative.  Do this for all of your processed foods and each time dig a little deeper. Eventually, you will get to a place where there is less and less processed foods and more foods in their natural state in your shopping cart.  It’s a process, you can go as fast or slow as you like. 
 

What I’m about to talk about is a topic that comes up a lot during my one on one sessions.  So much that I thought I should write about it and share with all of you.  This is something that has always come naturally to me and I guess all of the jobs I’ve had have enhanced my abilities to be more efficient at it. 
 
What am I talking about?  I’m talking about planning!  I have talked about this before and either people think they are too busy to eat healthy or it's just not something they think about.  But if you start planning, you will see a difference in your day to day life may even feel like you have more time. 

I work with many women and they are all doing the same thing, putting everyone else before themselves.  So I’m going to give you some tips so that you can start putting yourself in that number 1 spot!  I for one would be lost without planning!
 
Here are a few tips to get you started: 

• Take time to prep: Take 1-2 hours one day a week to prep; wash, chop and store food.  Each weekend I take a couple of hours to prepare; I bake or make raw treats so we have healthy snacks. I plan what will be for dinner each night with what ingredients I have in the house.  I check my calendar to see when I’m going to have a late night and plan easy meals or take something I’ve already made and thaw it.   
  
• Use containers!  There are so many things you can put into containers.  Salads, Chia seed pudding, smoothies. Put food into grab and go containers so that all you need to do in the morning is grab a few containers to put into your lunch bag.  I even have stainless steel lunchboxes for my kids that we prep and fill the night before school. 
  
• Batch prepare – Make extra at dinner time and freeze for another meal.  This for me has been life changing!  Remember those late nights I have?  I will pull out something frozen so that I can quickly prepare in between clients.  You can freeze just about anything…soups, veggie burgers, chili, beans, even those healthy treats from above.  You can also make bigger salads like cabbage salad or chickpea salad and have extras for lunch. I love having leftovers for lunch, in fact if I don’t have leftovers in the refrigerator, I’m at a loss…so I usually plan to have something leftover.
• Bring your lunch to work – This goes hand in hand with the containers above.  You can get tripped up pretty easy at an office.  The birthday celebrations, candy at the reception desk, vending machines.  If you bring your lunch (and snacks) to work you can pretty much ensure that you won’t get those sweet cravings or eat something you really didn’t want to eat.   
• Carry snacks with you – Typically I recommend fruit or nuts because it’s portable, but some healthy bars (with few ingredients) can also do the trick to keep you satisfied and they stash easily in your purse so they can always be available.  

 
There are so many different things you can do to plan and by taking a small amount of time to think ahead, you are making a huge investment in you and your health.  With this one strategy, you can stop cravings, head off hunger and you won’t need to stop at fast food restaurants because you are prepared.   So start planning today and if you need to enlist a little one…they love to help!
 

Its summertime and many are going on vacation, we know how to eat healthy at home, but we need help when it comes to transferring our knowledge into vacation mode.  Eating healthy can be difficult to maneuver, but if you think about your “diet” as a lifestyle it makes eating out that much easier. 

When I work with clients, I talk a lot about planning.  Planning for the day or the week until it becomes a habit.  This task is a lot easier if you are just going out to dinner because you are just planning for one meal, vacations take a little more work but can be done.  My last vacation, I took the kids to Disney.  While Disney is magical and a great experience for the kids, it is extremely hard to eat healthy, especially inside the parks. 

I thought I would offer some tips to keep up the healthy eating even while dining out. 

1. Planning is key – before we left I made sure that I brought snacks for the airplane.  Some fruit, cut up veggies, a bag of raw nuts and some snack bars.  Having these ensured that we weren’t going to just grab anything because we were hungry.  I also made sure I had these same items for the trip home.   
2. Scout out the area ahead of time – check out the restaurants ahead of time, call them to see how they can accommodate you. See how far the local health food store is from where you are staying.   I rented a car in Disney so that I could make a run to Whole foods and buy some healthy snacks when my supply ran out.  Keeping this supply minimizes the junk when you are out and about. 
3. Ask your servers questions and let them know exactly what you want.  Being vegan I do this ALL the time and it got worse when I was following a food sensitivity diet.  I have never had an issue at any restaurant we’ve been to with my “special diet” requests.  
4. Portion out your food  - When I go out to dinner, as soon as the food arrives I portion out more than half and put it in a to go container.  I usually bring my own container because I don’t like the possibility of the restaurant putting my food into a plastic or Styrofoam container.  When we are on vacation, I order a smaller portion or share with my kids.  
5.  Salads are great options – Salad for lunch or dinner is light and filling, just make sure to go easy on the dressing and stick with a vinaigrette dressing.  

Just because you are on vacation doesn’t mean that you can’t eat healthy and have fun so keep these tips in mind next time you go out to eat or on vacation!