Elizabeth Pattalis Nutritionist

SUSTAINABLE WEIGHT LOSS & INTUITIVE EATING NUTRITIONIST

Control Sugar Crashes for Better Mental Health and Weight Management.

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Can poor blood sugar regulation impact your mood, cause you to want to eat more and cause weight gain? Absolutely!

Let me explain a little about the brain first up. 

Consider your brain has a high brain region (the part that can make smart decisions) and a primitive brain section (the reactive limbic part). 

Sensory input goes to your high brain when no adrenaline is in the brain. You’ll likely use reason and logic to guide your behaviour and make decisions.

But, if there is adrenaline coming in, sensory input goes to the primitive area, and here you go into fight or flight or even react to past behaviours. There’s a sense of urgency and panic in this region. Your digestion system also slows down. It’s great if you’re running from a lion, but not for minor day-to-day activities. 

What can trigger a surge of adrenaline in the body? A few things, but what I’m focusing on is food, low blood sugar levels, and not eating, which can cause a rise in adrenaline. 

So you can see from what I’ve explained that your mood is going to be impacted since you begin to operate in the primitive brain mode. Your digestion has slowed, which negatively ultimately can impact your weight. 

Hypoglycemia, i.e., low blood sugar, can trigger several symptoms including:

– irritability

– shaking

– headaches

– heart palpitations 

– sweating

– moodiness

– nervousness

– cold/clammy skin

What causes hypoglycemia? 

Hypoglycemia is where the sugar (glucose) level in your blood drops too low.

The leading cause is that your body releases too much insulin after eating (reactive hypoglycaemia or postprandial hypoglycaemia) or not eating at all. Insulin’s main job is to move glucose from the bloodstream into the body’s cells to make energy.

If you have a high-carb meal, e.g. fruit loops cereal, the glucose will drop 1.5 – 2 hours later. This is because insulin is putting the glucose away. Adrenaline will be realised as the body senses glucose has fallen rapidly, and the brain needs glucose to function well. (The adrenaline stimulates the liver to get more fuel to the brain, but that’s another topic). 

What’s the solution?

For some people, it’s eating every 2 hours. But is there a better way?

Ideally, you want to eat more protein. Eating more protein keeps the brain happy and satisfied for 3-4 hours. 

I encourage you to read food labels when picking out snacks. Snacks are often the culprit to sugar crashes. 

Here’s an example of how to pick better snacks: Let’s pretend I have a muesli bar.

It contains 20 grams of carbs, 4 grams of fibre and 4 grams of protein.

Subtract the fibre from the carbs to get 16 grams. This 16 grams is the number we are interested in. 

Now look at the ratio of the revised carbs number to the protein.

It’s 16:4 or 4:1.

Under 3:1 is good. 

4:1 is okay.

5:1 is a dessert.

Anything more significant than that is trouble.

So this bar is okay. But there would be better eating options if that were your daily snack choice. 

Do you suffer from sugar crashes or constantly battle to ‘be good’ and not binge on the sweet stuff? 

Book in a 1 on 1 consultation and receive dietary, lifestyle and supplement recommendations to combat your health concerns.

Alternatively, check out the signature program A COURSE IN NORMAL EATING. Here you’ll learn the foundation principles of nutrition and break the never ending circuit of binge eating. Find food freedom today and live a better future.

Moody? Short Fuse? Can’t Tolerate Stress? Is It Pyrroles?

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pyrroles

Have you always known you can’t handle stress very well? Or maybe you tend to be a ticking time bomb, when you get mad, geez don’t people know it!

Sometimes this type of behaviour can be diagnosed as anxiety or maybe bipolar. However, it may be a condition that has been gone undiagnosed.

This condition is called pyrrole disorder. It’s usually when something stressful happens in a person’s life that symptoms start to appear.

When a person with pyrroles is stressed, the body will overproduce pyrroles or hydroxyhaemopyrrolin-2-one (HPL). HPL binds to several nutrients, making them unavailable for use by the body. These three nutrients are vitamin B6, magnesium and zinc. Copper levels tend to be high as well when suffering pyrroles.

Vitamin B6, magnesium and zinc are all required for the production of GABA, which is the calming neurotransmitter in the brain. Therefore if you have pyrroles, you possibly it hard to wind down, feel you suffer mood instability, or have anxiety or depression. It is low zinc that puts you at risk of high copper levels. Cooper overload causes the opposite of calm; it can be what makes a person appear to be having a tantrum.

What Are The Symptoms Of Pyrroles?

  • Poor stress tolerance
  • Apathy, low mood
  • Sensitivity to lights, odours and sounds
  • Highly irritable
  • Short temper
  • Mood swings
  • Inner tension
  • Poor mental focus
  • Pain in the spleen area (stitch feeling in the side)
  • White spots on fingernails
  • Morning nausea
  • Little morning appetite
  • Poor dream recall
  • Skin complaints (dry, dermatitis, keratosis pillaris)
  • IBS

Conditions Associated With Pyrroles

  • ADD
  • ADHD
  • Bipolar
  • Aggression
  • Depression
  • Schizophrenia
  • Gut Imbalances – without sufficient stomach acids or with SIBO, absorption of nutrients may be poor. You need B6 and Zinc for adequate stomach acids.
  • Adrenal Disorders – the inability to handle stress fatigues the body
  • Liver and Gallbladder Issues – bile flow is affected with low HCL

In addition, 60% of mental health patients have a methylation disorder (MTHFR & Genes – See previous post on methylation – you may want to have a DNA test)

Managing Pyrroles

Combined with a holistic nutritional approach, correct diagnosis of pyrrole disorder is critical to successful management of the condition. Long term supplementation of both B6 and zinc is likely necessary for ongoing suppression of HPL and to eliminate symptoms.

Symptoms usually improve quickly, within three months.

In assessing if you have pyrrole disorder, a thorough case history is necessary. If pyrrole condition is deemed likely, there is a urine test that tests for levels of pyrroles (1). Measurements of HPL at regular intervals help to determine maintenance dosages of nutrients.

What Can You Do Today

Food is the building blocks of your neurotransmitters, start here. Eating a diet rich in quality protein and healthy fat provides the body with the necessary building blocks. You require amino acids (broken down from protein) for synthesis of brain neurotransmitters and essential fatty acids for healthy cell membranes, which is necessary for healthy nerve function.

In addition to addressing the foundations by getting your diet in check, get in touch for a consultation. Pyrrole disorder is one part of the problem. It can be treated rather fast, however, there usually are other factors involved as explained above. Better to address each part for best results rather than a band-aid fix. Some additional test may be considered with the pyrrole urine test such as DNA testing, organic acids test, blood test and heavy metal testing.

Bookings can be made online both in in-clinic and online Australia wide.

The Body’s Natural Cycle – The Moon & Menstrual Cycle

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menstrual cycle lunar phases
 
A women’s menstrual cycle is about the same length as a lunar cycle, around 28 – 29 days. In being in sync with the moon, the light of the full moon triggers ovulation and women would bleed at a new moon.
 
However in the western world today, we have somewhat lost our connection as women to both nature and the moon. We live in a man’s world.
 
Traditionally in many cultures, the moon holds sacred significance to the goddess and the female. Going back into time people lived in the open, amongst the trees, the stars, and the ocean. Today’s culture has become detached from this natural way of living, it has become very much artificial and at a cost to our health.

 

Menstrual Cycle

A woman’s cycle can be thoughts of as two phases:
  • The follicular phase – day 1 (first day of bleeding) to day 14 (ovulation).
  • The luteal phase – day 15 to day 28 (until next bleed).
If we track a woman’s mood, it can be further broken down, into four phases. If we work with these four phases, we can move with the cycles of the moon.
 

Moving With The Moon Phases

  • Phase 1 – dark moon or no moon – menstrual phase:
    • With no moon and the shedding of the uterus, ie, the bleeding, energy is low. It is natural to want to retreat and stay indoors. It represents winter. The body wants more sleep at this time.
    • This is the time to reflect, to go within. Reflect on the last month and let go of what isn’t serving you.
    • It is about physically cleansing, bleeding, and purging emotionally.
    • To honor this time, spend time alone, don’t plan any events to fall at this time, rest. You may ask your partner to take care of some of the chores, and de-load your workload at this time.
  • Phase 2 – waxing moon – pre-ovulation phase:
    • This is after menstruation has finished and is the lead up to ovulation, spring.  Energy is building up as hormones are rising.
    • The focus now is outward, you are driven, productive and focused.
    • This time is a good period to get onto any challenging work, the ‘big tasks’.
    • With exercise, you may want to go a bit harder, aim for the personal bests at this time.
  • Phase 3 – full moon – ovulation:
    • This is when a woman is fertile. With the full moon, it is summer, energy is high, and it is bright.
    • Energy is still outward but there are more nurturing elements. The time to do any big cleans may be now.
    • This time is about connecting to others, developing relationships and nurturing current relationships. It’s a great time to make a date, or treat yourself to something indulgent like a massage.
  • Phase 4 – waning moon – premenstrual phase:
    • This is when physical and emotional energy starts to decline, the autumn. Energy starts to shift inwards again as the moonlight becomes dark and empty.
    • Creativity can be higher as well as intuition. Perhaps if you have been sitting on the fence on something, now is the time to tune into what you need to do.
    • This is the time for less logical work and more creativity. It’s a time for self-care, to relax, let emotions calm, read a book and have a long bath.
    • With exercise, you may want to opt for gentle yoga practices and leave the high-intensity training to the led up to ovulation.
If you start to become aware of the phases, you can work with it rather than against it. There are positives to every phase.
 
Being in sync with nature is healing to both the body and mind. It is hard today as we do live in a world where a woman is on the go every day. Life seems to support a man in many ways. But it isn’t to say it isn’t possible to make it work for you. Tell your partner what the phases are so then he won’t go planning his boys night on day 1 and expect you to prepare the food. If you have a personal trainer, tell them too, they can plan your harder sessions at ovulation and de-load you at menstruation or the lead-up. If you are doing a diet where you need to take a break, to break a plateau, then have that break at phase 4 when willpower is lowest.
 
If you are having difficulties with a regular cycle and not sure where to start, you may find this article useful on seed cycling. It can help restore a cycle. Alternatively please get in touch for a consultation. 
 
Trust the body’s wisdom. It knows everything you need to know.

 

Why Detox – And How To Do It

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why detox - beetroot

Research over the last several decades indicates that the pathology of almost all age-related or chronic diseases is caused by multifactorial elements such as diet, exposure to environmental agents (toxins), and genetic risks. The data suggests that nutrition, as well as lifestyle changes, can modify the pathologies of chronic diseases including those associated with toxic build-up (1).

Toxins come from everywhere – air pollution, plastic packaging, canned goods, pesticides, in our food supply such as mercury in fish, cosmetics, medications, toys, flame retardants, and the list goes on. Some people would argue that levels of individual toxins found in our food and environment are not significant enough to cause harm. Evidence is suggesting otherwise, low doses of toxicity are a concern as are compounded effects of multiple exposures which is the greatest concern.

Toxins like to be stored in fat cells. A person who is overweight potentially will carry high loads of toxins. The body in an attempt to rid of them becomes depleted in antioxidants and this is a contribution to inflammatory states (cardiovascular disease, IBS, arthritic conditions, mental health disorders, etc).

The toxins disrupt the bodies endocrine function i.e. hormone function. They can mimic naturally occurring hormones in the body like estrogen’s, androgens and thyroid hormones. The body ultimately suffers from altered metabolism and hormone imbalances (2).

It isn’t just the liver and kidneys that assist in detoxification. The gut is a major player as well. It is estimated about 25% of detoxification processes are within the gut. A lot of the toxins that enter the body comes from food and if a person has a “leaky gut”, ” these toxins aren’t being detoxified in the gut. Instead, they are entering the body’s bloodstream and potentially produce unwanted symptoms.

Furthermore, if a person has too many of the undesirable microbes in the gut, they will also produce more toxins. Healing the gut, therefore is important, maintaining the integrity of the gut lining and ensuring there is the right balance of good and bad gut bacteria.

If wastes build up in the body, a person gets sick. Toxicity is linked to almost every disease thus it is imperative detoxification is working well.

The key to detox can be summarised into three areas:

  1. Enhance the body’s capacity to detoxify.
  2. Get rid of the wastes effectively
  3. Reduce exposure to toxins.

In enhancing the body’s detox capacity, nutritional intervention has been shown to result in demonstrable improvements in health by lowering the toxicant burden of people (3).

Following some guidelines, a person can improve their bodies detoxification capabilities to help eliminate toxins, wastes and reduce inflammation.

Fantastic foods for detoxification include:

  • Brussel sprouts: Brussel sprouts contain good fibre to promote elimination and they boost liver detoxification increasing enzyme activity (4).
  • Beetroot: Beetroot contains an array for vitamins and minerals for enhanced detoxification. It boosts the key enzyme in the liver and reduces cell damage (5)
  • Chia seeds: Chia seeds are loaded in fibre allowing wastes to be excreted from the body easier. They also are high in antioxidants helping protect the liver.
  • Nuts: Nuts are a nutritionally dense food with an array of nutrients. Particularly rich in antioxidants and fibre they help fight free radicals and keep you regular (6)
  • Green tea: Green tea has numerous demonstrated health effects, including antioxidant functions and enhancement of the detoxification liver enzymes (7)

Eating in a way that supports your body’s detoxification pathways every day is the best way to ensure optimal health. However, no one is perfect all the time. Modern-day life also makes it difficult, toxins cannot be avoided completely. Genetics is another issue. If a person has gene variations in the ones relating to detoxification, they need to be more careful than others.

If you feel you need extra detox support check out Elizabeth’s Detox 6 Week Program,

it is your health reset, the foundation to better health. 

Alternatively, if you’d like to read more on detoxification read the post here. on the signs of poor liver detoxification. 

How To Create Effortless Healthy Habits

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A lot of our daily actions are automatic. Your brain likes autopilot. It requires less energy. For better or for worse, our habits shape us.
 
The more you do an action, the more you strengthen the pathway, “neurons that fire together, wire together”.
 
What are your automatic habits? Some examples could be: taking the same route to work each day, oats for breakfast, brushing your teeth morning and night, going for a walk every day at 6 am, making your bed as soon as I get up. These things require zero debate. There is no willpower involved.You can then apply this further, for example, if I go to the supermarket, I don’t walk down the biscuit aisle. I don’t eat biscuits, I eat healthy fresh food. I don’t decide what take out to eat for lunch, I know because I always pack a lunch box.
Again, there is no decision, it is what one does.
 
Do something enough and you don’t need discipline.
 
To change a habit, a bad one to a better one, it is hard. It requires brain energy. It also requires you to stick with it long enough so that you can strengthen those pathways, your brain will want to go back to what it knows it can do easily.
 
This is why we often fail, it is too hard. But isn’t it easier to do it right now, than to give up and try again later?
 
So, I ask you, what can you do to improve your current situation? What bad habits do you need to get rid of? Then commit to it, make the decision and commit. How do you do that? Replace it with a different better habit. For example, if you drink wine every night, change it to a tea. The second thing is, you need to reward yourself. Positive reinforcement is super important. It releases dopamine in your brain, and when you release dopamine, your brain wants it again. It will start to want tea. Give yourself some guidelines, eg you’ll have wine at most one night per week, and when you achieve that for two weeks you will reward yourself by getting a massage. Don’t neglect the reward part.Have a plan made in advance. Eg, such as packing your lunch before the work day starts. Or if you must buy your lunch, know what you are buying before you get to the food court.

Accountability is also important. Tell people and write down your new goals. Both are important. Reflect on the goals every morning, feed your mind with good thoughts so set yourself up for the day. When it comes to weight loss, how many times have you tried and not gotten anywhere? How about doing it right this time and then you don’t have to keep wasting energy retrying and worrying about food and your weight?
 
Almost all of us think too much. It is tiring. We worry we worry about the fact we over worry. We can’t get out of our heads, it’s no wonder we can sometimes just give in and then binge eat at night mindlessly. Our minds are exhausted.
 
Give your mind a break, a mind vacation. Do things to calm and be present more. Exercise is probably one of the best things for that. Consider Pilates or Yoga. In Pilates, you focus on the muscles, and your breathing. It is highly therapeutic, quieting the mind.
 
Consistency is what will help you get better. You need to do something often enough.  It also needs to be simple which is why you need a strategy and accountability. You may fail, and you need to have that person to get you going again. With anything in life, the start is the hardest, but once you get momentum it is much easier. Once you have momentum, you can’t stop! It’s like pushing a heavy load in a will borrow, when you first push it is super hard, but once it is rolling, easier :)

31 DAYS OF WELLNESS

Little things you can do each day for better health.

For the month of August, Elizabeth has created a series of 31 daily tips to help you focus on the little things each day that contribute to better health.

The tips are created to help you live a healthier, happier and more energised life.

Each morning open up your email and you’ll find an email with your health advice for the day. It’s as easy as that.

It’s free, all you need to do is register.

https://www.elizabethpattalis.com/31daysofwellness/

Ditch The All Or Nothing Diet Approach

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Do you keep falling off the bandwagon?

Do you go from being really good to really bad?

Are you either strictly eating or are you junk food overloading?

Do you mess up so figure you may as well go all in?

If you answered yes to any of those, it is a tiring and unhealthy place to be. Eating is something we are born to do naturally without learning to survive. Yet we have turned it into an industry. This industry is killing us.

SWAP INTENSITY FOR CONSISTENCY

This is the key point here. Something done regularly even if it isn’t perfect gets you ahead.

It is far better to do one gym session a week than to do 1 every day but only make it two months before you stop going.

It is far better to eat well most the day except the chocolate bar at night post-dinner than do eat strict healthy for one month straight but follow it with a week-long binge.

Something is good enough. If you can only walk 2 lots of 15-minute sessions a day, do that! 

Give up the shoulds and food rules. There is a point to eating a healthy dinner even if you ate maccas for lunch. 

AIM FOR HEALTHY NOT PERFECTION

Healthy is knowing if you do have some cake that you’re body internally knows what to do with the extra calories. Healthy is trusting your body to know what foods it needs for nourishment. 

Healthy is going to pilates because you like the feeling it gives you. Healthy is knowing that once a week is enough if that’s all you want to do.

Quit trying to look like someone you’re not. Eating to control your weight ends up making things worse. Eat for health. You can’t eat to look like Cindy Crawford. You can eat all the calcium-rich foods you like your legs aren’t going to grow longer! Accept the shape you are and work with it. Be the best you, you’re not competing with anyone. 

THE LITTLE THINGS TO ADD UP

If you stop having sugar with your coffee this time next year that will have made a big difference to your health. And it wasn’t something that was hard. A slight tweak here or there is what you need. Swap your mocha to a flat white. Swap your Sunday afternoon wine catch up with friends with a game of tennis instead. Walk to the corner shop each day instead of driving. Yes in one day you’re not going to see a result, but how about in a year? How about in 5 years?

LIVE A LIFESTYLE YOU CAN MAINTAIN

You can do the keto diet for a month just to lose weight. There are lots of diets you can do. But can you sustain it? There are circumstances where it can be suitable to diet, but for most of us, there isn’t a need.  Eating well isn’t about discipline. It’s what you should naturally want to do without too much effort. If it is an effort and you’re going back and forth, if you can’t say no to the dessert, then you need to address this. Free your mind so you can live life fully. 

TRY A DIFFERENT APPROACH

If you want to quit the cycle that gets you nowhere but usually backward if anything, then sign up to the 5 DAY FREE INTUITIVE EATING CHALLENGE.  It starts on April 1, sign up today.

Break free from the diet mentality and learn how to listen to your own body.

  • Learn to understand why dieting doesn’t work
  • Why mindful eating is important
  • Discover how to tap into your hunger cues
  • Why nutrients matter and what foods you need to be eating

JOIN HERE

Why Am I Gaining Weight On A Diet?

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Gaining weight on a diet is not uncommon, in fact, most people will experience this despite their best effects.

Have you ever lost a few kilos while being sick? Then once you were better your weight returns back to normal?

Or maybe you over ate too much on holidays returning back a little heavier? Yet effortless once you returned back to routine your weight bounced back?

This adaption is what we call set point theory, a theory developed in 1982 by William Bennet and Joel Gurin. The theory states that every human being has a ”setpoint”. The setpoint is a predetermined amount of body weight that indirectly balances how much food is eaten with how much energy is expended through physical activity and body metabolism (1). Some people will have higher set points than others and will have more body fat. It helps explains why people who go on diets rarely have long term success in achieving weight loss results, people tend to put the weight on plus a little extra.

Setpoint theory does explain why dieters sometimes lose weight fast initially but then plateau. The dieter begins to feel increasingly hungrier leading and eventually caves into the cravings. Subsequently, then the dieter returns back to normal eating. Dieters not only tend to put the weight back on, but they also put on extra weight. A study published in the journal Obesity studied 14 contestants of The Biggest Loser 6 years after the end of the show. Only 1 participant managed to keep the weight off. In addition to this finding, the weight regain did not come with a rebound in Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). Therefore the contestants must eat fewer calories each day to maintain their weight than previous to the show (2). The body reacts to dieting similar to famine. It gives you extra weight as an ‘insurance’  and lowers your metabolism just in case famine strikes again.

If you think that is not bad enough, it gets worse. Neuroendocrine signaling and gut hormones adapt to changes after dieting. Leptin is a satiety signal that tells us when we are full. It may decrease when we are on a diet. Studies have shown that while leptin levels decrease there is also increased brain activity in areas of the brain involved in emotional and sensory control of food intake (3). Now the dieter has food always on the brain, it is no wonder why some dieters feel food obsessed.

So frustrating for the dieter! Losing weight is incredibly complex. You can now begin to appreciate why dieting is not simply about will power nor eating less.  Now, this is not to say it will happen to everyone. However, it is one of the factors which explains why for some people they feel like they need to eat less and less to maintain their weight.

Before starting a diet it is important to consider the set point theory. There is no test to find out what your set point weight is. You can guess your setting weight is the weight you normally maintain, give or take a kilo when you’re not thinking about it.

It is possible to get around your set point and lose weight, it requires a systematic approach to ensure your BMR stays at a reasonable rate for long term weight loss success. The best approach is to lose weight slowly, eating a balanced diet in combination with exercise (4).

Seek advice from a nutritionist who specialises in the field of fat loss. A nutritionist uses the latest scientific research and tools to develop programs specific to the individual. If you’d like to find out if Elizabeth can help you, please contact her or book online.

FREE 5 DAY – INTUITIVE EATING CHALLENGE – STARTS APRIL 1

The Challenge is a 5 Day program moving you from chronic dieting behaviour towards having a normal, carefree relationship with food.

Register HERE.

Why Restrictive Eating Is Never A Good Idea: The Minnesota Starvation Experiment.

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[Trigger Warning: This blog contains calorie counts which may be triggering for eating disorder sufferers].

 The Minnesota Starvation Experiment is a well-known study which illustrates the negative health effects caused by diets.  The study began during World War II with the purpose of understanding human starvation to in order to help the famine relief efforts after the war.

The Minnesota Experiment

36 men were chosen. During the 12 month control period, the men received 3200 calories of food. This was followed by 6 months of semi-starvation in which they received about 1570 calories per day. The last three months was a nutritional rehabilitation period in which they were gradually refed, 2000 – 3000 calories per day.

During the study, the men were expected to live as they normally would and to walk 35 km a week and burn 3000 calories per day.

In the 6 month semi-starvation period, the men lost about 25% of their body weight. By the end of this 6 months and by the end of the rehabilitation period, the men experienced dramatic physical, social and mental changes. 

Food Obsession

One participant described the eating rituals men developed. Some people diluted their food in water to make it seem like more. Others would put a little food in their mouth and hold it in their mouth for a long time to savor it. Some meals could take two hours to consume when normally it would have been over in a matter of minutes. Chewing gum, coffee and tea consumption increased dramatically in the experiment as well. Many of the men started collecting cookbooks and one reported to owning nearly 100 by the time the experiment was over.

Food became the main topic of conversation and day time dreams. Concentration on other activities non-food related became difficult as food preoccupied their thoughts instead. One man interviewed in 2003 commenting on the food obsession said, “if you went to a movie, you weren’t particularly interested in the love scenes, but you noticed every time they ate and what they ate”.

The obsession was so great that three of the men ended up changing careers becoming professional chefs after the experiment.

Binge Eating

During the refed period many men started binge eating. They could no longer control their appetites and were more or less eating continuously. 

3 months post refeed period some men were consuming 6000 calories on most days and on the weekends close to 10000 calories per day. 5 months later some still reported to no longer being able to feel satisfied eating despite eating abnormally large amounts of food.

One man reported that after the starvation period it was “no better”, “partially because there was not a noticeable relief from feelings of hunger”. Another man described the next year as a “year-long cavity” that needed to be filled. Another after the experiment had to be taken to hospital due to get his stomach pumped because “he overdid it”. 

Not all men completed the study.  Two volunteers broke diet; one stopped at various shops for sundaes and malted later stole food and another admitted to chewing excessive amounts of food and eating food scraps from garbage cans.  Both also suffered severe psychological distress during the semistarvation period, resulting in brief stays in a psychiatric ward.

Psychological and Neurological Changes

During the experiment, the men reported anger outbursts, depression, anxiety and mood swings, and. They experienced fatigue, dizziness and lack of coordination, They lost interest in sex and their relationships began suffering. They also withdrew from social interaction preferring to be alone.

Physically the men looked gaunt, lost strength and lost stamina. They lost hair and experienced muscle soreness. Internal physiological changes were also apparent with lower body temperature, decreased heart rate, decreased respiration rate and the metabolic rate dropped 40% than prior to the experiment. 

The Lessons

Food restriction can be incredibly damaging. Eating disorders often stem from having been on restrictive diets. When a person deprives themselves of food, they become fixated on food, the drive for food and survival goes into full swing. Binge eating can be the consequence of being undernourished for too long, it is not due to lack of will power. Other effects from prolonged dieting include digestive issues, hormonal imbalances and mood disturbances.

If you want to lose weight there is a right and wrong way to do it. As you can see from the experiment, the participants consumed 1570 calories. Many people are following diet online plans which contain less calories than this.

I help people eat intuitively, healthily without the restrictions, consistently. Lifestyle recommendations are part of the plan. Working with a nutritionist gives you the support to keep going and make adjustments so that you keep losing weight (assuming you need too). To book please use the contact page.

You may also download your free guide to help you find food freedom and break from binge eating.

References:

Baker, D., Keramidas, N. (2013). The psychology of hunger. Monitor on Psychology, 44(9), 66-66.

Kalm, L. M., & Semba, R. D. (2005). They starved so that others could be fed: Remembering Ancel Keys and the Minnesota Experiment. Journal of Nutrition, 135, 1347-1352.

Food for Mental Wellness

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The Australian Health and Welfare 2018 Report released recently highlighted that 45% of Australians will experience a mental illness at some point in their lives (1). The need to address mental health is increasingly becoming evident.

A recent study (2) by the Food and Mood Centre at Deakin University in Melbourne, the Smiles Trial, sought to explicitly seek to answer the question, “If I improve my diet, will my mental health improve?” The results indeed were promising emphasising the need to eat a healthy diet to support mental health including managing depression. When it comes to mental health nutrition can be a powerful influencer.

The dietary composition of the diet in the study was as follows: protein 18% of total energy (E); fat 40% of E; carbohydrates 37% of E; alcohol 2% of E; fibre/other 3% of E.

food and mental health

The 40% of daily food coming from fat is not surprising when you consider the ‘dry weight’ of the brain is composed of about 60% fat. The fats we eat directly affect the structure and substance of the brain cell membranes. Saturated unhealthy fats are those that are hard at room temperature, like lard. They make the cell membranes in our brain and body tissue less flexible. Whereas we need a healthy balance of essential fatty acids omega-3 and omega-6 as these provide vital functions in the structuring of brain cells, ensuring that smooth communication is possible within the brain. Both are found in equal amounts in the brain, and it is believed they should be eaten in a ratio of 1 to 1. Unequal intakes of omega-3 and omega-6 fats are implicated in a number of mental health problems, including depression, and concentration and memory problems (6).

Omega 3 fatty acids are found in walnuts, flaxseeds, chia and fatty fish (3). Omega 6 fats can be found in foods such as soybean oil, corn oil, beef, poultry, eggs, and nuts. Omega 6 fats can be found in a lot of unhealthy food such as chips, pizza, desserts, dressings and processed meats (4)

In addition to eating the right ratio of fats in our diet for mental health, the Smiles Trial diet can teach us that a more traditional style of eating is effective for our mood.

This includes eating more whole grains, vegetables, fruit, legumes, raw nuts, fish, chicken, lean red meat, eggs, and olive oil. It is just as important to reduce the intake of ‘extra foods’ including sweets, fast food, sugary drinks, refined cereals, and fried foods.

The take-home message simply put, what you eat affects the structure and function of your brain. For optimal well-being including mental health, eat foods in their most natural forms and avoid processed foods

If you’d like to understand better how food can be used as a tool to improve your mental wellbeing book in for a consultation with Elizabeth. Mental health is an area she is passionate about. By helping one person at a time each of us can make a difference in improving the wellbeing of others too.

Effects Of Chemicals On Human Health

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Chemicals and toxins in our environment, also known as endocrine disruptors, contribute to poor health. 

Too often people dismiss it and I can understand why. I’m guilty of it too, you don’t see the immediate impact it has on your health, therefore, you don’t worry about. That and you may think, why is it a problem now whereas years ago not so?

I’ll tell you why. We live in a much more toxic world than we did before. We are also more nutrient deficient and stressed which impacts the way we detoxify chemicals. By reducing your toxic load you can improve your weight loss efforts, liver function, aches, digestion, mood and more. On top of that you’re helping minimise lifestyle related diseases.

Where are these endocrine disruptors found? 

  • plastic bottles
  • plastic storage containers
  • tinned food (the lining is BPA)
  • receipts 
  • plastic wrap
  • plastic toys
  • cosmetics and skin care
  • nonstick cookware
  • coatings on furniture and carpet
  • and more 

They include:

  • bisphenol A/F/BPA
  • dioxins
  • pesticides and herbicides (glyphosates)
  • phylates
  • heavy metals (lead, mercury, arsenic)

The impact these chemicals can have on our health varies. It can contribute to obesity, diabetes, infertility issues (PCOS, endometriosis, early puberty, poor both outcomes, reduced sperm quality), hormone-sensitive cancers in females, thyroid conditions, neurodevelopment, anxiety, depression chronic fatigue, and epigenetic changes. 

Certain groups that are more susceptible to these chemicals are children and women. Children have undeveloped detox pathways and also an underdeveloped blood-brain barrier. Women can be more susceptible depending on their stage in life, eg pregnancy.  Women are also the highest consumers of personal care products. Plus women have a higher fat to muscle ratio. Toxins love fat and get stored here. On a side note to my weight loss clients, if you are losing lots of fat, you’re body will need help to detoxify all the chemicals being released by the excess fat being burnt. This is why you may feel lousy if you lose fat quickly, all your toxins are being released into your bloodstream!

Now I know we can’t all avoid endocrine disruptors completely. But we can reduce our exposure. Reducing it by a little still makes a difference! I’ll also add here, I often see clients with health conditions not getting the results that are really hoping for even though they feel they are doing things right. But, they don’t make changes in this area. If you are spending lots of money trying to improve your health, whatever the condition, don’t underestimate what chemicals may be doing to your health. We need to get down to basics sometimes before we spend endless money and time on other approaches such as medication, supplements, other natural therapies, and surgery. 

So what can you do to reduce your toxic load?

  • invest in quality cookware (avoid non-stick, aluminum, copper)
  • buy organic where possible. Eating an organic diet for just one week has been shown to reduce pesticide exposure in adults by 90% (1). 
  • avoid plastic as much as you can. BPA free is no better (avoid codes 3, 6 and 7)
  • avoid heating food in plastic in the microwave
  • reduce the number of personal care products you use or choose organic and chemical free cosmetics. Go make up free :)
  • drink filtered water. Tap water contains lead, copper, and fluoride. When buying water in plastic bottles, don’t reuse the bottle and don’t let the bottle sit in a warm place such as the car. It leaches chemicals when warm. 

Lastly, support your body’s detoxification pathways. There are certain supplements that may help such as vitamin C, curcumin, NAC and also certain foods particularly useful including globe artichoke, brussel sprouts, and broccoli. 

If you are feeling ‘toxic’ and this is one area of your health you know you could do better with, please contact me for a consultation. Tests can be done to pinpoint if you’re liver is functioning at optimal and the level of toxicity that may be present. Or please check out my online detox foundation program.