As a Nutritionist, I see countless people, of all ages, who want to lose weight and feel better. They are often in pain, especially in the knees, hips and back, have low energy, poor sleep, high stress levels, and have a low self-esteem. “I just want to lose 10kg” they often say, and sometimes they even have a time limit.
In today’s modern world, most people turn to social media or Google, to help them find the answers to their health goals. Then there are TV celebrities such as Dr Michael Mosley, or Michelle Bridges, who have great amounts of followers. People try fasting, low carb, Paleo and Keto, all with some success, but often, the weight comes back on, often with a vengeance, if they stop these kinds of dietary protocols. Then there are other systems such as Weight Watchers, Lite N’Easy, Jenny Craig and various Meal Replacement programs with Shakes and specially prepared foods.
With so many options and so much research and knowledge at our fingertips, why are we, as a Nation, getting heavy and heavier, and sicker and sicker?
Please ponder this question for a moment, as it is an important one. Follow the money. Who is getting rich by you following their program, buying their books or purchasing their food? Instances of Type2 Diabetes (and cancer) continues to rise, despite all the knowledge and medical interventions available. So what are we doing wrong?
Firstly; The Western Diet is loaded with processed foods.
A processed food is something that is pre-made, generally in a factory, and is mass produced. It has a long shelf life, or is a frozen product, and the ingredients list is often more chemical based than food based. These products are often high in sodium (harmful salt), sugar, preservatives, colourings, flavourings, thickeners, sulphates, nitrates and cancer promoting vegetable oil (palm oil). Examples include jarred sauces, dressings, cakes, biscuits, ready meals, canned soups etc etc etc.
These chemicals do not belong in our body.
Any foreign substance we ingest is sent to the liver to convert into a structure that is non-toxic, and prepare it for elimination. This includes medications, coffee, alcohol, toxins in the air, toxins and heavy metals in water and anything else that is slipped into our food, even if it is deemed “for our own good”. Take for example, fortified foods that have synthetic vitamins added, to address national nutrient deficiencies. But that’s another article.
So what does this have to do with weight loss I hear you ask? Well, removal of all these toxins requires nutrients, especially B vitamins, to fuel the detoxification processes in the liver. If the liver cannot manage, or becomes overwhelmed, the toxins are placed into a fat cell, to keep them away from vital organs, and out of the blood stream. Anyone in this situation, who embarks on rapid weight loss diets, will feel very sick indeed, as these toxins are released from the fat cell, and cannot be excreted effectively.
Australian’s do not eat Vegetables.
Plain and simple, the national data on fruit and vegetable consumption in adults is appalling. The data on children is much worse, and one could say, it resembles a third world country that does not have enough food for its people. Fruit and vegetables are anti-inflammatory, do not promote weight gain, are rich in nutrients, fibre, minerals and healthy fats, promoting good brain health, healthy joints and healthy weight. The Paleo and Low Carb movement, have created a huge fear of fruits and vegetables, that are labelled as high carbohydrate and high in fructose, deeming them to be bad and weight promoting. Even doctors, who have had no nutrition training what so ever, are telling their patients to say away from potatoes, bananas and high fructose fruits like apples and pears. On top of this, Dietitians advise their Diabetes patients that it is okay to eat Weetbix and Special K, Wonder White bread, artificially sweetened Jelly and cordial. Needless to say, their diabetes becomes worse, and their medications increased to compensate. What’s worse, is that many times, the patient is shamed and told they are not following the dietary advice correctly, or not measuring their food, eating too much (portion sizes), and not exercising enough.
What’s Stress got to do with it?
Quite simply, everything. The body’s stress response is designed to get you out of danger. It moves resources to the muscles, the heart (which is a big muscle), and takes blood away from the digestive system and the brain (not important to digest food right now, or to solve complex equations). This system was designed to be switched on for short bursts when in danger, and not stay on 24/7. It takes a lot of nutrients to stay switched on, and hormones become unbalanced, as stress hormones are created over sex and feel good hormones (not safe to make a baby when we are in danger). This in turn, leads to poor mental health and poor sleep, leading to fatigue, poor food choices and lack of exercise. This creates a perpetual cycle that is difficult to get off.
How important is Sleep?
Extremely important. At night, when we go into a deep sleep, our body is hard at work healing the cell damage from the day and removing the toxins from the day, while some of the other organs, like the heart, take a bit of break. People who don’t sleep well, will often look older than their years, feel older than their years, and have high levels of inflammation and excess fat stores… remember, the body is storing those toxins away into fat cells to save your life. Simply put, poor sleep = difficulty in losing weight.
I have a hormonal imbalance, is that why I can’t lose weight?
Hormones most certainly do play a part in weight management, especially for women in mid-life years, due to their changing levels of oestrogen and progesterone as they move into menopause. The thyroid gland, located in the throat, is the master hormone regulator, and is generally quite vulnerable to toxins, heavy metals and nutrient deficiencies such as iron, zinc, iodine and selenium. Low thyroid activity (hypothyroidism) is becoming more and more prevalent, and patients with this situation are given synthetic versions of thyroid hormones to compensate, rather than trying to correct the nutrient deficiencies (again, doctors do not have nutrition training, so would have no idea what nutrients are required to create a hormone molecule).
Oestrogen, when it is created by the body, helps to regulate weight, (and bones and many other things), but fat cells also secrete a type of oestrogen as well, and this version is inflammatory and not health promoting, and needs to be excreted via the liver. There are many other synthetic and organic chemicals that, from a molecule level, are similar to oestrogen, but most definitely are not. They are called xenoestrogens, and sometimes, the body cannot distinguish the difference, the liver becomes overwhelmed, and suddenly cases of breast, uterine and ovarian cancer is on the rise, due to excessive oestrogen levels, and poor liver detoxification processes. Add to that excessive consumption of vegetable oil from processed foods (palm oil), and you have the perfect cancer storm. Xenoestrogens are everywhere, as they come from agricultural sprays (herbacides & pestacides) and industrial processing (PCBs & dioxins). Foods that use genetically modified seeds such as wheat, corn, canola and soy, are very heavily sprayed, and any foods that use these grains, become pro-inflammatory, cancer-promoting, and of course, weight-promoting.
What is Candida’s role in all this?
Candida is a yeast that everyone has, and it does have a small role in the body. However, it feeds off fermented foods and refined carbohydrates and sugars. When the numbers of healthy bacteria in the digestive system are diminished, Candida will tend to proliferate and overgrow. Candida can cause all manner of havoc with glucose regulation, iron stores, and cause carbohydrate cravings that are almost impossible to ignore.
Candida is so disruptive and so prolific in the Western World, due to the overuse of anti-biotics, high consumption of refined carbohydrates, fermented foods and drinks (consider foods like cakes, biscuits, sandwiches, donuts, flavoured yoghurts, hard cheeses, and drinks like beer, wine and Kombucha), Candida has no shortage of food sources in the modern western diet.
BPA (Antinomy), Chromium and the poor health of Insulin Receptors
Plastics are made with petrochemicals, and there is one chemical in particular called Bisphenol A (BPA), that we know for sure, is harmful to the human body, but most likely, there are many more. Products that use BPA, also contain Antinomy, a chemical that majorly disrupts Chromium, a nutrient that is vital in the health of insulin receptors that reside on the outside of cells. These receptors accept a molecule of glucose when it is bound to an insulin molecule, taking it into the cell, where it can be used to create an energy molecule. Without healthy insulin receptors, glucose levels in the blood will stay high… hello Diabetes. Insulin resistance is a condition where insulin levels are really high, and they are bound to a glucose molecule, but cannot get into a cell, to take it out of the blood stream. This is often due to very low levels of Chromium, leading to low numbers of insulin receptors or the poor health of the receptors. Ready meals that come in plastic and are heated in the microwave are one source of Antinomy, as are plastic water bottles left in hot cars or bottled water that has been sitting in a hot warehouse or storeroom. The heat allows the chemicals to leech into the food/water.
Are you seeing a pattern yet?
If you are still asking the question, “what diet plan should I adopt?”, or “what should I eat or not eat?”, then let’s spell it out a little clearer.
- Eat lots and lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, mainly vegetables. Raw, cooked, whatever you like, just eat vegetables. Don’t be scared of potatoes, but obviously, DO NOT deep fry them in vegetable oil. Pre-cook them and let them cool, and you have food for your healthy bacteria in your digestive system (resistance starch is a pre-biotic), and that is a GOOD thing.
- Eat whole grains (NOT WHEAT), but grains like quinoa, barley, rye, wild rice, spelt, kamut, oats, buckwheat and millet.
- Limit your intake of sugar, white flour, white rice, anything from a Bakery, any breakfast cereal from a box (yes that includes Weetbix), all soft-drinks including the diet ones, alcohol, sugar laden fruity teas and fruit juices (unless they are a pure juice and you dilute it heavily).
- Don’t be scared of fruit like bananas and apples. One a day is great. Eat the skin (except bananas obviously), and eat the whole fruit. DO NOT juice it, because you are removing the fibre and consuming only the Fructose… not good.
- If you must buy a packet of something, READ THE LABEL. If it includes a heap of additives in the ingredients list… NOT GOOD. If it has vegetable oil, absolutely NOT GOOD. Don’t focus on the carbohydrate levels or fats. Look for wholefood ingredients, as sometimes the high fat is coming from good sources such as coconut, avocado or butter. If it’s coming from Trans fats…NOT GOOD.
- Consume Organic if you can. Don’t go crazy, look for what is on special, in Season and Australian, and work around that. If you can’t afford it, look for Fruit and Veg that is on the “Clean 15 List”. (https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/dirty-dozen.php)
- Keep away from gimmicks and labels that promote “low-carb”, “paleo” or “high protein”. These are often targeting the body builder or Gym Junky. Read the ingredients on label… generally, NOT GOOD.
- Learn to cook. It’s really not that hard, and you can make meals quickly and effortlessly, with some basic skills. Look to places such as Sprout Cooking, who run fun, interactive and very tasty cooking classes at Mile End, or look for cooking lessons on-line. There are loads of resources out there. No time?? Make time and make it a priority. Most people chalk up at least an hour or more scrolling through social media. Instead of looking at photos of food or photo-shopped pictures of beautiful people, get back in the kitchen and make a start. Another great way to get motivated in the kitchen is with meal kits, often delivered to your door once a week. Companies like Marley Spoon, Dinnerly and Hello Fresh, are just some examples. Yes, they cost more, but for the beginner, it’s a start, and eventually you will be a master in the kitchen and the supermarket.
- Include sources of healthy fats such as avocado, coconut yoghurt, raw mixed nuts, butter, flax, hemp and olive oil. Avoid Vegetable Oils and other seeds based oils. Cook with extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil. If you need an oil for making mayonnaise or high heat cooking, you can use Rice Bran Oil.
- Include good sources of Protein in EVERY meal or snack. Nut or seed butters, hummus dips, cheese on cucumber slices or curried eggs, make great snacks. If eating salads, ensure you add some legumes or organic free-range chicken. If consuming red meat, eat small portions, around 70-100g, and get the best quality pasture raised beef you can get. Yes it’s expensive, but that is why you only have 1-2 servings per week. If most of your meals are vegetarian, and only occasionally animal based, it can be affordable. With Pork… read the label very well. Most bacon (and ham) comes from overseas, and is made with nitrates and other chemicals. If you come across a true free range Australian Pork product, great…BUY IT, because it is very hard to come by.
- Include movement into your day. Desk jobs can sometimes contribute to our biggest health problems, so try to make time every hour, to get up and move around. Smart watches such as FitBit, have settings that buzz you to move each hour, and track if you are moving enough each hour, as well as the total steps for the day. Park your car further away, take the stairs or walk the longer way. Anything you can do to increase your movement. Going to the Gym once a day and smashing out a workout, then sitting for the rest of the day, WILL NOT CUT IT!
- Manage your Stress Levels. Take a moment to assess your life. Are you happy with it, and is it balanced? Do you enjoy your work? Do your friends lift you or drag you down? Do they accept you for who you are, or do you act differently around them? Sometimes we are so busy going through the motions of life, we don’t stop to contemplate if we are heading in the direction of our dreams, or just treading water, trying not to drown. Seek help, there is so much out there. Join a meditation group or Yoga group, which will support deep belly breathing and relaxation. If you’re highly stressed, reduce consumption of any stimulants including coffee and energy drinks. In fact, if you are consuming energy drinks, please consider stopping. There is nothing in that can that is good for your body… NOTHING!
- And lastly, seek support and guidance from a professional. A Nutritionist or Naturopath has spent 5+ years studying the mechanisms of the human body, not just diets and food, but actual biochemistry on how the body needs certain nutrients for certain functions. Have your blood tested, and take those results to one of these professionals. Don’t accept the “Everything is fine”, that the doctor says. Have your heavy metal levels checked, as well as your nutrient levels, and ONLY SUPPLEMENT WHAT YOUR BODY NEEDS.
There is no pill for healthy weight loss, or to compensate for poor diet. For every symptom, there is an underlying imbalance, and that is what needs correcting. Not starving yourself, shaming yourself or hating your body, because it is not the size you want it to be. The body is a complex machine, that works very hard to keep you alive, EVERY – SINGLE – DAY, even when you don’t treat it with the respect that it deserves, and we have all been there, no judgement here.
Take a moment to assess the contents of your fridge, freezer and pantry. Is it health promoting, inflammatory or weight promoting? Look for chemicals and numbers in the ingredients list of everything you have on hand. Maintaining a healthy weight is about eating and living in a healthy and sustainable way for your lifetime. Most people service their cars regularly, use good quality fuel and oils, and make sure their brakes and gearboxes are in good condition. And yet somehow, we feel our own bodies, our amazing biochemical machines, that give us life, don’t seem to deserve the same respect. The only people who should be profiting from our good health, is the farmers who are growing food in a sustainable way, that care for the earth, and grow food that is full of nutrients. This is usually the small organic farmer, rather than the monoculture farmer that only grows one type of crop year after year, using genetically modified seeds and synthetic fertilisers and chemical sprays. But that’s another article!