Eating Right for your Microbes (and gut health)

Bacteria and other microbes are often thought of as sources of disease, but in fact many play an essential role in keeping you healthy. 

Your body contains trillions of microbes, most of which are beneficial. The most dense microbe population is in your gut, where they play a critical role in digestion, immune function and weight regulation. 

Studies have associated microbes with a lower incidence of cancer, heart disease, liver disease, diabetes, asthma, depression, autism, irritable bowel syndrome, colic, Parkinson's and many allergies. However, much more research is required to be certain of their role in keeping us healthy.

What you eat isn't just nutrition for you, it also feeds the trillions of bacteria that live in your gut. Every person is different, but if you want to improve your digestion, lose weight or look after your general health, there are some broad principles that apply to all.

Easy tips for gut health

1. Eat a wide range of plant-based foods. A healthy gut has a diverse community of microbes, each of which prefer different foods.

2. Vegetables from the sunflower family (artichokes, radicchio, lettuce, tarragon, chicory and salsify) and the lily family (leeks, chives, shallots, onions, garlic and asparagus) are particularly helpful to gut bacteria.

3. Eat more fibre. Most people eat less than they should. Fruit, vegetables, pulses, nuts and wholegrains feed healthy bacteria.

4. Avoid highly processed foods. They often contain ingredients that either suppress 'good' bacteria or increase 'bad' bacteria. 

5. Probiotic foods, such as yogurt and kefir, might encourage more microbes to grow.

6. Choose extra-virgin olive oil over other fats when you can. It contains the highest number of microbe-friendly polyphenols.

7. Antibiotics kill ‘good’ bacteria as well as ‘bad’. If you need antibiotics, make sure you eat lots of foods that boost your microbes afterwards.

What's your ideal weight?

Do you know what the ideal body weight is for a person of your height, frame size, and gender?

10 factors that should be used in determining your ideal (or maintenance) body weight:

1. Age

2. Weight

3. Height

4. Current Diet and Exercise Routine

5. Your BMI or Body Mass Index. (An ideal BMI is 18.5-24.9)

6. Take your Waist Circumference (WC). Women want a WC 0.9 or less

7. Physical assessment: Frame size, bone structure and muscle mass

8. The weight you were able to maintain for a number of years in the past

9. A weight you remember feeling really good at

10. Your personal weight goal

To get an idea of your ideal body weight, answer the questions below and email me dani@danihealth.com with the Subject line: Ideal body weight?

Age:

Female or Male:

Height:

Weight:

Frame (small, medium or large):

Small, medium or large frame? If you don’t have a measuring tape you can use this simple (less accurate method):

Grip your wrist using your thumb and longest finger.

• If your finger and thumb don’t touch you are a LARGE frame.

• If your finger and thumb just touch you are a MEDIUM frame.

• If your finger and thumb overlap you are a SMALL frame.

Fall Nutrition Tips

If you’re starting to feel the effects of the cooler days and longer nights, here are a few tips to help keep you happy and healthy this Fall:

Eat your B vitamins
Even marginal deficiencies of the B vitamins can cause irritability, depression, and mood changes. Be sure your diet is stacked full of foods high in vitamin B6 such as meat, fish, whole grains, bananas, and potatoes. It’s best to get these nutrients though food instead of supplement.

Take Vitamin D
Low sun levels mean it's harder to get the vitamin D you need to stay healthy. Eat foods rich in vitamin D, including oily fish, egg yolks and fortified milk and milk alternatives (like almond milk). Your Dietitian might also recommend a supplement (1000IU).

Drink warm water
It may be pouring buckets and you may be cold, but keep glugging back the water. Staying hydrated assists in flushing toxins out of your body, metabolizes fat more efficiently and allows the nervous system to work more effectively, helping you feel better all around. Warm water or a decaffeinated tea is also a good option.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Omega-3s can elevate mood and reduce depression. Fatty fish and fish oil supplements should be part of your winter diet. However, it does take time—several weeks at least—to benefit from dietary omega-3s, so get started now, be a bit patient, and look forward to feeling better and having more energy.

Stay Away Colds and Flus
To help prevent, or get rid of, cold and flus by taking garlic, vitamin C and yogurt with probiotics. Also aim to eat orange root vegetables, citrus fruits or broccoli every day. Colourful fruit and vegetables are high in immune-boosting antioxidants.

7 Ways to Stop Yourself from Eating Halloween Candy

We all say Halloween candy is for kids, but it’s hard not to reach for a piece — or seven — once it’s in your house.  Here are a few tried-and-true tips to keep your candy binge in check this Halloween.

1. Hold Off On Buying Candy

Buy candy as close to Halloween night as you can. Having treats in the house is a huge temptation, and can cost you extra money if you have to go buy more.

2. Buy Less Candy, Give Out More

Buy less than you think you will need. This will help you avoid having leftovers hanging around the house. If you find that your Halloween candy bowl is still full as the night goes on, start handing out more candy to each costumed kiddo that rings your doorbell. They’ll be thrilled, and you’ll be saved.

3. Buy the Stuff You Like the Least

One simple way to prevent yourself from eating leftover candy is to buy stuff you don’t like. Buying what you don’t like will make you less likely to indulge and reduce the urge you have to sample treats as you hand them out on Halloween.

4. Eat Well

Sugar cravings can strike when you’re hungry and haven’t consumed enough fuel to keep your blood sugar in balance. Eat protein and fiber-rich meals in the days before and after Halloween. It’ll make you feel less tempted to create a dinner out of mini candy bars.

5. Pick one

Mindless eating is a good way to eat way more than you mean to — whether that’s nuts, chips, or candy. Rather than sitting in from of your TV munching your way through a bag of chocolate, pick the one piece of candy that you most want to eat.

6. When temptation hits, brush your teeth (or chew gum)

When you get the urge to unwrap handfuls of Halloween loot, a quick brush or piece of gum can be enough to curb the craving.  

7. Chuck it

After Halloween, ask your kids to choose their favourite treats and then donate or throw away the rest. The longer treats stay in the house uneaten, the more likely you are to give in to temptation. 

Adapted from: How to Avoid Eating All That Leftover Halloween Candy October 31, 2016

Diets for Specific Conditions

When it comes to treating ailments such as IBS, Kidney Stones, Diverticulitis and High Blood Sugars small changes to your diet can have a BIG impact. 

Most likely, you don't need to change your diet drastically. Simply limiting certain foods and nutrients, and increasing others, can help get you body back in balance and feeling well again.   

Here are some examples: 

1. Following a low FODMAP diet for 4-6 weeks can treat IBS, and the stop the bloating, gas, pain, and diarrhea that come with it.   Once you're symptom-free, you can start to add most of the foods you love back to your diet. 

Some high FODMAP foods you might need to avoid include: onions, garlic, apples, pears, honey, cauliflower, mushrooms, wheat (except sourdough), beans, and milk.

Recipe: Maple Granola with orange zest (FODMAP Friendly)

2. If you have Diverticulitis and are dealing with a flare up, avoid nuts, seeds, skins and other rough fibrous foods.   Eat foods that are easy on your system like applesauce, cooked vegetables, rice and oats.  When inflammation has settled and things are feeling good, slowly start adding fibre back to your diet with pears, raw veggies and whole grains.

3. To prevent kidney stones, limit high oxalate foods such as spinach, bran and nuts, eat more yogurt, milk and cheese, and stop taking your vitamin C.  

Recipe:  Strawberry Mango Low Oxalate Smoothie

4.  Soluble fibre helps to:

• Lower blood cholesterol levels. 
• Control blood glucose (sugar) levels. This is helpful if you have diabetes or if you suffer from hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)
• Manage diarrhea and loose stools
• Reduce the risk of getting intestinal ulcers
• Have a healthier colon by increasing the amount of healthy bacteria 

Some of the best sources of soluble fibre include: psyllium, beans and legumes, oats, oat bran, broccoli, and avocado.  Aim for 10g of soluble fibre each day.  Add fibre gradually and drink more water as you do. This will help the fibre to work better and prevent gas, bloating and diarrhea. 

Recipe: The Good F.A.T

7 Energy Boosters

January can be a time when people feel “down”. The weather, work, school and holiday hangover can have us feeling a bit blue. 

Check out these 7 Easy and Natural Tips to boost your energy and your feeling of well being:

1. Get some Vitamin B - Even marginal deficiencies of the B vitamins have been associated with irritability, depression, and mood changes. If this sounds like you, be sure your diet is stacked full of foods high in vitamin B6 such as meat, fish, poultry, whole grains, bananas, and potatoes.
    
2. Eat a Banana - As well as boosting physical energy levels, bananas have a beneficial effect on mental and sexual energy. Bananas are stuffed full of serotonin, a feel good, mood lifting substance that peps you up, and dopamine, which is important for emotional balance.
    
3. Get some Vitamin D - Low sun levels mean it's harder to get the vitamin D your bones need to stay healthy. Eat food rich in vitamin D, including oily fish, egg yolks and margarine. A daily supplement (1000IU) might also be recommended.
    
4. Drink a Smoothie or Green Juice – Besides being great for your body, I always find I’m “happy” drinking a green juice knowing it’s chalked full of nutrients. Grab a fresh squeezed green juice and feel happy knowing you are taking care of your body. 
    
5. Deep Breathes – We can walk around stressed out and holding our breath. Even 1 minute of deep breaths and a shoulder stretch in the hallway can reset us, giving us a calmer feeling.
    
6. Cut your portion size – If you deliver a big meal to your stomach, your body will centre it's energy on digesting all that food. Without a doubt this will make you more tired and drain some of your energy. Instead of 3 big meals, spread it out into 5 or 6 small meals and snacks.
    
7. Omega-3s - Omega-3s can elevate mood and reduce depression. Fatty fish and fish oil supplements should be part of your winter diet. However, it does take time—several weeks—to benefit from dietary omega- 3s, so get started now, be a bit patient, and look forward to feeling better and having more energy!

Holiday Cheer

The “FOOD TABLE”

Don’t hang around the Holiday party food table. Look for people to talk to who are sitting on the other side of the room. Grab a small plate and go. 

Mixing up some Cheer?

Maybe skip the egg nog. Add some spirits to club soda with a bit of pomegranate seeds or juice ;). Club Soda 12 oz (355 ml) 0 calories, Tonic Water 12 oz (355 ml) 124 calories, Ginger Ale 12 oz (355 ml) 120 calories, Coca Cola 12 oz (355 ml) 140 calories, Egg Nog 1 cup 343 calories

Twas the Night After

1. Drink LOTS of water - before, during, and (especially) after drinking.

2. Get out for a walk. Fresh air will help you out.

Don’t bank your calories

Eat a healthy breakfast and lunch the day of the party, and grab a healthy snack (eg. a piece of fruit) to eat on your way.  The strategy of ‘saving up calories’ often backfires, as you end up overeating and consuming more calories than expected. 

Netflix and Chill

Planning on hibernating over the holidays. Binging on a series? Ok. Set some ground rules. Every show break do some simple stretching, deep breathes or a short 5 minute walk. Snack on some air-popped popcorn and mineral water.

"The Feast" Leftover Plan

The leftover plan starts before you shop or cook anything. 24lb turkey, 3 litres of gravy and a massive pot of mashed potatoes for 6 people isn't the right plan. Let’s rethink it. Aim for 1 day of leftovers. Tip: Make turkey veg soup and freeze. Tip: Have friends and family bring tupperware. Send people home with doggy bags. 

Goodies are Taunting

People love to give food gifts. Goodies. Chocolate, cookies,  nuts, fruit cake etc. And this is where so many people pack on the pounds. You keep these "gifts" around and they taunt you. Even that dry fruit cake can become a good idea on December 29th at 11:30pm. Tip: Pick your favourite goodie and keep it (mine is dark chocolate almonds). The rest of the chocolate, cookies, nuts get re-gifted right away, donated, or taken to work for your co-workers. Get it out of the house. 

Tuesday Motivation

Monday Motivation

Tuesday Motivation