Meet the naturopathic doctor

Most people have good intentions when it comes to eating well, and some people even succeed at sticking to a resolution for a few months. However, at some point or another it seems that everybody succumbs to one of the greatest sabotage-artists out there in regards to food; I’m talking about cravings.

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This post comes to us courtesy of Sarah Droege, Nutritionist at Optimal Body Balance.

Counting calories doesn’t work. How many times have we said it? We like to talk about it though, because so many people still believe that if you just eat less calories or burn more calories, weight loss will happen. If it were that simple, losing weight would be much easier. And we probably wouldn’t be in business. The truth is that losing weight (and gaining weight) happens differently for everyone.

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If you’re like most people, you’re feeling the pinch right now. Many people are trying to make the most of their food dollars. Here are a couple tips that will allow you to eat well and organically with just a little effort that you can take to the bank.

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Proteins are necessary to sustain life, repair body tissues and promote cell renewal, to manufacture hormones, enzymes and blood cells as well as put on muscle and increase and maintain one’s metabolism. It is one of the most plentiful substances in the body second only to water, totaling approximately one fifth of a person’s body weight. Lack of protein in the diet will result in fatigue, weakness, poor performance, inability to lose weight and increased susceptibility to colds, flu’s and infections. Continue Reading »

We have all heard it time-and-time again – the number one reason to lose weight is not to fit into your ‘skinny’ jeans, but to protect your health. Every pound you shed can lower your risk for heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, amongst other diseases. Let’s outline exactly what you stand to gain by losing (weight).

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Childhood obesity is killing our kids and it will bankrupt our healthcare system unless drastic measures are taken to reverse it. Part 4 of this four part series will outline some strategies to get the process started.

Knowing what to do

One of the problems with the current childhood obesity epidemic is that people simply don’t know what to do. In addition, food marketers spend millions and millions of dollars trying to entice us and our children to consume foods that only add to the problem and with today’s fast-paced lifestyles, we are eating out more often than we are eating in the home. Add to this the fact that many parents feel guilty, angry and blamed for their child’s obesity, while also being frustrated that they don’t know how to help their children.1

Reversing the childhood obesity epidemic will take a lot more than a few simple changes, but a few simple changes will start the process. You can’t change how marketers sell products, where fast-food restaurants are located, or what other people think; but you can change what happens in your own house, and that’s exactly where change has to start. Here are some proven ways to start addressing some of the factors causing childhood obesity:

Change the food environment

• Out of sight, out of mind. Remove sugary snack foods and drinks from your house. If the product contains ‘high fructose corn syrup’ or ‘corn syrup’ throw it away.
• Avoid fake foods. Eliminate products that contain artificial sweeteners, including acesulfame-K, aspartame, saccharine, sucralose; research shows that they will only make you fatter in the long run because you will eat more calories and store more fat.
• Send them packing. Pack a lunch for school/work and pack a cooler if you’re going to be out for the day. Try a sandwich with meat (or meat alternative), lots of veggies (think lettuce, tomato, onions, etc.) and hummus for a spread between 100% whole wheat bread. Toss in some carrots or other finger veggies and a piece of fruit and you’re done. Salad bars are also great, but take it easy on the dressings – they pack a ton of sugar and fat per tablespoon. Check out this blog for some other great ideas.
• Eat out less. The more you eat out, the fatter you will be – it’s plain and simple. Try to avoid fast food most of the time. If you do eat out, put half of the meal in a ‘to-go’ box before you even start eating.
• Chew your food – a lot. Chew each mouthful of food at least 30 times before swallowing. It will help you digest your food and allow your body time to register that it’s had enough.
• Eliminate soda. Doing only this will help you and your kids immensely more healthy. Drink water instead – shoot for 2-4 ounces of water every 30 minutes or so.
• Don’t diet. Diets don’t work – they don’t work for adults and they certainly don’t work for kids. Adopt healthier eating habits instead. Learn to love healthy food by eating it regularly.
• Model the eating habits you want your kids (or children around you) to learn. “Do as I say, not as I do” doesn’t work. If this is a priority for your kids, it’s a priority for you too. Get healthier as a family and everybody wins.

Change your lifestyle

• Get moving. Regular exercise is essential for long term weight loss. This doesn’t mean chaining your kids to the treadmill. Let them run around and play; encourage them to do so and help them find physical activities or sports that they enjoy.
• Get more sleep. Research shows that kids needs at least 8 hours of sleep; more is better. Help them wind down at night by turning down the lights, encouraging reading before bed and/or taking a hot bath. Get as much sleep before midnight as possible.
• Turn off the TV. Next to sleep and work, most of our time is spent in front of the TV. Don’t eat in front of the TV –you’ll eat more. Watch TV less and get more active.
• Spend time with your kids. They need it; you need it. Get out and be active together.

Change your mind

• Tell your kids you love them. Many people assume that kids ‘know’ that their parents love them, but they need to hear it, and hear it a lot. Let them know you love and accept them, and their bodies, just as they are and that you want to support them in being healthy – and that you’ll do it together.
• Praise effort, not results. Talk about your day over dinner and praise any effort made towards healthier living/eating. Walking to school, participating in gym class, turning down a cup cake, anything at all. Acknowledge them for it and their more likely to do it again.
• Don’t be a zealot. Becoming militant about food isn’t going to help anybody. Follow an ‘80/20 Rule’ – do it right 80% of the time and the other 20% won’t matter. If you eat 3 meals/day, that means you have 3 meals/week to do whatever you want.
• Learn together. Whether eating healthy food is new or not, learn something new together with your kids. Take a class or a workshop and/or prepare food together. Make it part of your time together. They will only be young for a little while.

Getting the help you need

Incorporating these steps will take time and it can be a lot of change. Start slow – any positive change is a change in the right direction. For those of you that would like more support or that do better when things are laid out for you, learn more about the Family Program offered through Optimal Body Balance. The Family Program offers step-by-step assistance over the course of six weeks to help you and your family adjust to healthier lifestyle changes while providing proven advice and tricks to help ease you, and your children, through the transition. This program works especially well for busy families with little time as well as for those that feel stuck or are in a rut. Let the experts guide you through the Family Program; together, we can change the shape of things to come and help our kids live healthier, happier lives.

References

1. Pierce JW, Wardle J. Cause and effect beliefs and self-esteem of overweight children. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 1997;38:645-650.

In this extremely busy time of year, we often don’t take a moment to plan our meals causing us to eat less healthy foods.  Here are some ideas to still eat healthy during the busy season!

Pre-Packaged Foods

While you shouldn’t have a frozen TV dinner every night–even if you buy it from a natural food store–convenience foods can play a role in a healthful diet. These days, you’ll find hundreds of additive-and preservative-free packaged foods that are also organic, low in fat, and rich in fiber – keep a couple of these on hand for a quick meal when time gets away from you.

If you’re buying packaged entrees, check the label for fat and fiber content; here’s a short list of things to look for:

• Strive for as little overall fat as possible (2 or 3 g) and 1 g or less of saturated fat per serving. There should be NO trans fats listed (there is no safe amount of trans fats that can be consumed). Also avoid anything that has ‘hydrogenated’ or ‘partially-hydrogenated’ oils.
• Look for several grams of fiber per serving.
• Look for foods that are lower in sugars; less than 15 grams/serving is good, less than 10 grams/serving is better.
• Check for sodium content; less than 200 mg per serving is pretty good. You may have to be a bit more forgiving of packaged soups and look for those with less than 500 mg of sodium; be sure and not eat these higher sodium soups regularly.

Speedy Home Cookin’

Consider the following ingredients to speed up your cooking and meal preparation:

VEGETABLES: Some frozen vegetables pack more vitamin punch than their raw supermarket counterparts; others do not. It depends largely on whether or not the produce quickly loses vitamins after harvesting. (Frozen veggies are typically iced shortly after picking which slows nutrient loss.) For example, a 3.5-ounce serving of cooked frozen asparagus has more vitamin C (24 mg) than cooked raw asparagus (11 mg). Other good frozen choices include green beans, carrots, corn, peas and squash.

In addition, if time is an issue, buy fruits and vegetables that are quick and easy to use. Choose fruits you can take with you easily and that travel well, including apples, plums, pears, grapes, bananas, figs, dates and prunes. For vegetables, stock your fridge with peeled baby carrots, pre-washed/packaged salad mixes, radishes, olives, celery and cucumber. You can make a salad in minutes by washing and chopping a few vegetables and adding them to the pre-washed salad mix. Remember to change up the vegetables and salads you eat to get the variety of nutrients your body needs, and to prevent boredom.

BEANS: There are only negligible nutritional differences between dried, canned, and frozen beans. The canned beans you’ll find at natural food stores tend to be low in sodium; be sure to rinse all canned beans until the foam is gone. Keep several cans of different beans (including vegetarian refried beans) on hand for quick, nutritious meal planning. Instant bean flakes that you reconstitute with water are another good option.

GRAINS: Polenta (cooked cornmeal) in a tube can be sliced and baked, grilled, or sautéed, then topped with prepared sauce and vegetables. Whole-wheat couscous takes only five minutes to cook and can easily stand in for pasta or rice. And even brown rice comes in quick-cooking varieties that are ready in 10 to 15 minutes and offers nearly the same nutritional value as the longer cooking variety; another option is to cook an extra cup or two of brown rice to use as leftovers or freeze it for a quick meal starter.

Including something new in a food isn’t always a good idea, especially when it comes to your health. Here are 12 additives to subtract from your diet:

1. Sodium Nitrate (also called Sodium Nitrite) – This is a preservative, coloring, and flavoring commonly added to bacon, ham, hot dogs, luncheon meats, smoked fish, and corned beef. Studies have linked eating it to various types of cancer.

2. BHA and BHT – Butylated hydroxyanisole and butylated hydrozyttoluene are used to preserve common household foods. They are found in cereals, chewing gum, potato chips, and vegetable oils. They are oxidants, which form potentially cancer-causing reactive compounds in your body.

3. Propyl Gallate – Another preservative, often used in conjunction with BHA and BHT. It is sometimes found in meat products, chicken soup base, and chewing gum. Animals studies have suggested that it could be linked to cancer.

4. Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) – MSG is an amino acid used as a flavor enhancer in soups, salad dressings, chips, frozen entrees, and restaurant food. It can cause headaches and nausea, and animal studies link it to damaged nerve cells in the brains of infant mice.

5. Trans Fats – Trans fats are proven to cause heart disease. Restaurant food, especially fast food chains, often serve foods laden with trans fats.  They are also found in highly processed foods. You should also be careful with polyunsaturated fats. They are very easily damaged with heat and light, turning rancid.  The following oils are examples of polyunsaturated fats: soy, canola, sunflower, safflower, cottonseed, grapeseed, walnut and flaxseed. Only use these types of oils for cold applications; don’t cook with them. Even if the oil is sold for cooking it’s still dangerous!

6. Aspartame – Aspartame, also known by the brand names Nutrasweet and Equal, is a sweetener found in so-called diet foods such as low-calorie desserts, gelatins, drink mixes, and soft drinks. It may cause cancer or neurological problems, such as dizziness or hallucinations.

7. Acesulfame-K – This is a relatively new artificial sweetener found in baked goods, chewing gum, and gelatin desserts. There is a general concern that testing on this product has been scant, and some studies show the additive may cause cancer in rats.

8. Food Colorings: Blue 1, 2; Red 3; Green 3; Yellow 6 – Five food colorings still on the market are linked with cancer in animal testing. Blue 1 and 2, found in beverages, candy, baked goods and pet food, have been linked to cancer in mice. Red 3, used to dye cherries, fruit cocktail, candy, and baked goods, has been shown to cause thyroid tumors in rats. Green 3, added to candy and beverages, has been linked to bladder cancer. The widely used yellow 6, added to beverages, sausage, gelatin, baked goods, and candy, has been linked to tumors of the adrenal gland and kidney.

9. Olestra – Olestra, a synthetic fat found in some potato chip brands, can cause severe diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and gas. Olestra also inhibits healthy vitamin absorption from fat-soluble carotenoids that are found in fruits and vegetables.

10. Potassium Bromate – Potassium bromate is used as an additive to increase volume in some white flour, breads, and rolls. It is known to cause cancer in animals, and even small amounts in bread can create a risk for humans.

11. White Sugar – Watch out for foods with added sugars, such as baked goods, cereals, crackers, sauces and many other processed foods. It is unsafe for your health, and promotes bad nutrition.

12. Sodium Chloride – A dash of sodium chloride, more commonly known as salt, can bring flavor to your meal. But too much salt can be dangerous for your health, leading to high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, and kidney failure.

Resource: MSN Health Link

13. Carrageenans or carrageenins – Carrageenan is a polysaccharide extracted from seaweed.  It is used as a thickener in many products such as: cheese, ice cream, desserts and beer. Degraded carrageenan is a known carcinogen in animal models. There is evidence from studies performed on rats, guinea pigs and monkeys which indicates that both degraded and undegraded carrageenan (poligeenan) may cause ulcerations in the gastro-intestinal tract. Guar gum is found in similar foods and can have the same irritating affects to the digestive system.

Resources: Wikipedia link

Childhood Obesity and Mental Health

The societal message about being fat is clear: it is bad to be fat. But why is it bad? As we discussed in the previous post, there are serious medical consequences of childhood obesity. However, this fact often clouds the clear bias and discrimination against obese kids. In fact, few problems in childhood may have as significant an impact on childhood emotional and mental development as obesity.

Seeing through fat-colored glasses

Try as we might, there is a pervasive, underlying prejudice against obese people, including children. Much press and media coverage is given to the astounding medical costs due to obesity. However, the majority of obese people are not discriminated against because they are medically compromised. They are stigmatized because their obesity is viewed as a reflection of poor character. Studies have shown that common stereotypes associated with obese people include attitudes that they are lazy, incompetent, lacking in self-discipline, self-indulgent and emotionally unhealthy. ^1,2 Nowhere is this more prevalent than with children.

Negative attitudes towards obese children develop very early. Studies have found that kids as young as 3-years old associate overweight children with being mean, stupid, ugly, unhappy, lazy, less desirable as friends and as having fewer friends.^3,4 Interestingly, children held these negative stereotypes for both obese children and adults regardless of the child’s own weight, age or gender.⁵ This means that overweight and obese children hold these beliefs about other overweight and obese children and adults. Eventually, they turn these negative views inward and research shows that these attitudes only grow in breadth and magnitude as children age.

Blame, fault and judgment

“I hate myself for being fat.” These words came out of an obese child’s mouth in my office and reflects a pervasive underlying belief that leads to blame and judgment.  Even amongst children, it is believed that obesity is under personal control, leading to many judgments about obese children (and their parents) as well as obese adults. Because of this, as children age, they begin to internalize these negative messages and become more and more dissatisfied with their own bodies. This often results in persistent disturbances in body image and greatly reduces self-esteem as these children age.

The psychological impact of this can be huge – studies have shown that obese children have lower self-esteem; more dissatisfaction with their bodies; higher rates of loneliness, sadness and nervousness; increased risk of depression; and increased rates of suicide.^6,7,8,9 What’s worse is that children internalize these messages and assume that it is their fault that they are overweight and subsequently blame themselves for the negative social experiences that they confront because of being obese.¹⁰ This sets into motion a downward spiral that is usually incredibly difficult to break.

The Road to Recovery

Obese children need help. They need help from their parents, educators, health care providers and society at large. It’s unlikely that food advertisers and fast food marketers are likely to change their bombardment of our kids with messages about consuming nutritionally devastating foods, so we need to do everything we can to help our kids not only understand what they need to do, but do it. Part 4 of this series will outline several ways this can be done, as well as outline a program that can be used to help both children and adults get on the road to recovery.

References

1. Puhl R, Brownell KD. Bias, discrimination and obesity. Obesity Res 2001; 9:788-805.
2. Paul RJ, Towsend JB. Shape up or ship out? Employment discrimination against the overweight: Employees Responsibilities and Rights Journal 1995;8:133-145.
3. Cramer P, Steinwert T. Thin is good, fat is bad: How early does it begin? J Appl Dev Psych 1998;19:429-451.
4. Brylinskey JA, Moore JC. The identification of body build stereotypes in young children. J Res Pers 1994;28:170-181.
5. Tiggermann M, Anesbury T. Negative stereotyping of obesity in children: The role of controllability beliefs. J Appl Soc Psych 2000;30:1977-1993.
6. Strauss RS. Childhood Obesity and Self-Esteem. Pediatrics 2000; 105;1:1-5.
7. Eisenberg ME, Neumark-Sztainer D, Story M. Assoications of weight-based teasing and emotional well-being among adolescents. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2003; 157: 733-38.
8. Sheslow D, Hassink W, Wallace W, DeLancey E. The relationship between self-esteem and depression in obese children. Ann NY Acad Sci 1993;699:289-291.
9. Wallace W, Sheslow D, Hassink W. Obesity in children: a risk for depression. Ann NY Acad Sci 1993;699:301-303.
10. Pierce JW, Wardle J. Cause and effect beliefs and self-esteem of overweight children. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 1997;38:645-650.

You are only as healthy as your body’s ability to digest and absorb the food you eat.  Except for typical cold symptoms, digestive issues are the most common reason people seek medical advice.  Every year, Americans spend 87 billion dollars on direct medical cost due to digestive issues. (Lipski xv)  These numbers demonstrate what an extreme issue our lack of digestive wellness is costing not only our pocket books but also our health and well being.

With that said, the following are a few simple steps we all can take to improve one of the most important keys to having health this year…..our digestion:

• Eat in a relaxed environment – Turn off the TV and sit down! Allow your body to focus on eating. Eating in a relaxed environment activates the parasympathetic nervous system and facilitates digestion.
• Chew your food!! – Carbohydrate digestion begins in the mouth and chewing your food completely before swallowing puts less stress on your digestive system. Hint: Put your fork down between bites and pick it back up after you have completely chewed and swallowed the previous one.
• Drink less fluid with your meals – drinking water throughout the day is a must, but with meals consider limiting intake because it dilutes important digestive juices and stomach acid that facilitates digestion.
• Choose whole organic foods – Whole foods are in the state nature intended. Whole foods are not processed and are nutrient dense. Also, avoid toxins and eat organically. This includes not only produce but also meat and dairy too.
• Eat a wide variety of nutrient dense whole foods – It is estimated that the average American consumes 75% of their foods from the same 10 foods. (Hass 29) It is important to mix it up because when we over eat one food, we start to limit our body’s ability to digest it.
• Eliminate refined fake foods – Heavily processed foods and fake foods like artificial sweeteners and trans-fat are void of nutrients and contain chemicals that the body can not properly metabolize.
• Identify problem areas – if you are having current digestive issues, such as low stomach acid or constipation do some research, and take appropriate steps to solve the problem. Visit the GI Disorders: Improper Digestion section of our website for more information. Digestive Wellness by Elizabeth Lipski is another wonderful resource.

Incorporating these simple tips can help you achieve digestive wellness and optimal health!

Resources:

The False Fat Diet: The Revolutionary 21-Day Program for Losing the Weight You Think Is Fat Hass, Elson. The False Fat Diet. New York, NY: Ballantine Books, 2000.

Digestive Wellness Lipski, Elizabeth. Digestive Wellness. 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005.