The Nutrition Coach Blog London Nutritionist The Nutrition Coach offers advice on healthy living, nutrition and diet issues such as IBS, bloating, gluten intolerance and more.

The most important nutrient for the body is water, and its consumption is vital for our existence. An average man weighing 75kg is 45 litres water. Two thirds of this is within the cells of the body, sustaining the chemical reactions that are essential for life. Water loss of as little as 1-2% of body weight can impair mental and physical function. Losses of 7% will disrupt physiology and result in total body collapse. Dehydration of a muscle by 3% can result in a 10% loss of contractile strength and an 8% loss of speed!

Most people operate with low-grade dehydration, with a bulk of their fluid intake being ones that are dehydrating – caffeine and alcohol. These drinks cause a greater loss of water than the amount they replace.  Unfortunately, by the time you feel thirsty you are already significantly dehydrated, Which makes it all the more important to develop a habit of drinking water regularly throughout the day.

So, how much water should we be drinking?  Adults should drink at least 1.5 – 2 litres of uncarbonated bottled or filtered water per day, and more when exercising or when the weather is hot.  Drinking enough water is also hugely important when the body is healing or when detoxing.

Find out more about our detox programmes and retreat, or contact us to make an appointment at one of our London clinics.

Be Careful What You Wish For!

The Subconscious Mind – 6 Basic Functions

The subconscious refers to that part of the brain which directs behaviour performed reflexively or without conscious awareness. There is now considerable evidence to suggest that the subconscious forms the sum total of all our past experiences and guides the majority of our daily thinking, information processing and behaviour. Taken in concert, research suggests that the subconscious performs a number of functions:

1. Recording and storing: The first function of the subconscious is to record and store our interpretation of reality, much like a computer hard drive. It has been estimated that the human brain contains 10–14 billion neuron cells and that each of these cells can store one to two million bits of information. This automatic recording process begins operating before birth and stores all our experiences, including what we think about and feel in response to those experiences. We might think of the subconscious starting life as a blank canvas, each experience then adds a brush stroke to our picture of reality, which we then call the ‘truth’. This picture or reality stored in the neuron structure of the brain may not be the absolute truth, however, it is only the truth as seen and remembered by us.

2. Habits: A second function of the subconscious is to handle automatic functions (heart-beat, breathing, circulation, digestion, blinking) and learned automatic functions (tying shoes, walking, driving, playing a guitar, multiplication tables). All of these learned functions begin on the conscious level then, through repetition, are turned over to the subconscious and become habits. Most of the time habits are helpful and assist with greater efficiency. Sometimes however, habits stored on the subconscious level can also be barriers to change, adjusting to new situations and to safety.

3. Auto-pilot personality: The third function of the subconscious is to maintain our perception of reality by making us act as the person we believe ourselves to be. This picture is based upon our current dominant image of the ‘truth’ and ‘reality’ as recorded from our subjective interpretation of the world. For example, if an individual believes that they are a poor public speaker, this will drive their approach to a public speaking engagement, creating feelings of anxiety and nervousness, which impact negatively on the individual’s performance during the speech. This effectively reinforces the original belief that they are a poor public speaker. In a similar fashion, the subconscious also drives the commonly cited ‘risk-taking’ personality. In this case, a ‘risk taker’ will approach a potentially risky situation believing that they ‘enjoy taking risks, it is a part of their personality, and that they will survive the experience’. These thoughts cause a release of chemicals that the individual interprets as heightened arousal and excitement, which in turn, confirms their belief that they enjoy taking risks.

4. Creative problem-solver: The fourth function of the subconscious is to solve problems creatively. Just like a researcher, the creative subconscious scans one’s memory banks for information in order to piece together bits of information into a possible solution. Effectively, problems can be solved without conscious effort and daily challenges and new experiences are more likely to be accepted.

5. Energy source: The fifth function of the subconscious is to provide drive and energy to resolve conflicts and accomplish goals. If an activity is not DIPI (dangerous, important, pleasurable, and interesting) the subconscious mind will release no energy to complete the activity. This is the science behind procrastination, whereby people avoid tasks and experience little drive to complete them until shortly before the due date. As the deadline approaches, the potential danger and importance of the task increases, and the subconscious releases more energy to complete the task. The challenge therefore, is to work with this function rather than against it. What this means is that instead of considering the negative, hard, or mundane aspects of important activities, emphasise the important, interesting and potentially pleasurable aspects of completing such activities.

6. Goal-seeker: The sixth function of the subconscious is to ensure human beings are goal oriented and achievement striving. This function operates in conjunction with that described above, in that goals ensure that an activity remains ‘DIPI’, ensuring energy is released to complete the activity and achieve the goal. With the conscious mind having such a limited processing capacity, it is the subconscious that drives almost all of our daily processes. Indeed, given that the conscious is limited to processing seven units of information at any one time, the subconscious drives more than 99.7 per cent of daily functioning. This means that we essentially are our subconscious. As the subconscious is comprised of memory and habits, and memory and habits are basically types of thinking patterns (attitudes), it is therefore also true to say that we are our thinking patterns. Hence, an understanding of thinking patterns is crucial for effective leadership and improving safety performance.

GIGO
The GIGO principle originates from the computer industry and stands for ‘Garbage In, Garbage Out’. That’s what computer experts refer to when a computer is programmed with the wrong information and hence gives the wrong result. The computer is an incredible machine that can only work with the information you give it. GIGO is true of the human mind too, with the relationship between the subconscious and conscious often likened to that between a computer and its programmer. That is, garbage thinking patterns in: garbage results out and good thinking patterns in: good results out.

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Doing in-house presentations for companies is one of the highlights of my job.  I have presented at 3 top banks this month – and we generally have a really fun but it is also really practical too.

Often the format is a presentation of about 45 minutes – I never talk with power-point – as  power-point is used enough as a business tool and I really want to engage the audience I speak to.  I am passionate about my subject but I aim to be highly practical too.  Nutrition and lifestyle changes have to be do-able in everyday life – the theory cant out weigh making real change.  Nutrition also needs a good dose of humour pumped into it, in my opinion,  or it could be quite a worthy and dry subject – so, I aim to pitch it that way and we have a lot of fun too.

I did a conference the other day – where we did a test called a zinc taste test – where we were testing to see if the delegates were short of this important mineral (important for immunity and the stress reaction)   It is a real talking point!

I rang a bank that I went to talk at a month ago – and what was stunning is that all the group had made some small changes to their diet and they were all feeling more energised, and vibrant as a result.

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Christmas and stress – the two words that seem to be linked a little too often.  While a little bit of stress can be a good thing (often helps get things done), longer term stress can have a noticeable impact on health.

Stress causes the adrenal glands to secrete the ‘fight or flight’ hormones – adrenaline, noradrenalin and cortisol. In the days when we were hunter-gathers the fight or flight reaction was vital for enabling us to flee dangerous situations whilst out hunting.

Our modern stresses are obviously very different! Fast paced lives mean that many people are now under long-term stress, which can cause the adrenals to become fatigued.  When this happens, sleep, mood, concentration and appetite are often disrupted. Long-term stress can make us more vulnerable to illness and can contribute to many health problems such as irritable bowel syndrome, psoriasis and repeated colds and infections.

Some simple dietary and lifestyle changes can help counteract the effects of stress and help you stay healthier.

Eat little and often (never skip meals), avoid refined carbohydrates such as white bread, pasta and cakes, avoid or reduce stimulants (alcohol and caffeine), and eat a little protein at each meal/snack. Dips in blood sugar trigger the adrenal glands to release adrenaline putting more pressure on your adrenal function.

Chew your food well and aim to eat in a relaxed environment. This will help your body to digest and absorb nutrients efficiently.

Sleep is vital for rest and repair.  Aim to get eight hours a night. Go to bed early and get up at the same time each day as this helps to set your body clock.  Allow yourself to wind down before going to bed – have a warm bath and read a good book or practice deep breathing.

And finally – don’t take yourself and life too seriously.  Just smiling can reduce your stress levels.

If you think you need some help with re-energising, come and talk to us!

Fertility is multi-factorial, so there are many things that can affect your ability to conceive.   What you eat, nutritional deficiencies, excess toxicity and lifestyle all have a dramatic effect on the health of your reproductive system. 

However, one substance that is definitely worth avoiding if trying to conceive is alcohol.  It is toxic to the reproductive system and can induce nutrient deficiencies, and research published last week confirmed that couples consuming alcohol whilst undergoing IVF also reduced their chances of conceiving.

Find out more about what to eat to maximise your fertility and contact us to make an appointment for a consultation at one of our London nutrition clinics.

Julia Alderman

Jane had complained of being tired for over a year now.  She couldn’t lose weight with the same relative ease as in the past, and although it was only 7 pounds Jane felt uncomfortable, and her clothes felt tight.  And then there was the bloating, which Jane experienced almost every day for no known reason.  Finally, Jane’s skin was definitely looking less healthy than it had been, and she’d even had a few spots recently. Not since her teens!  Some might have put these relatively minor symptoms down to her age, but Jane felt that being in her early 40’s did not have to condemn her to these unpleasant symptoms, surely.

Jane’s diet
Jane believed her “average” diet was quite healthy.  Here’s how a typical day went: Weetabix in the morning with semi-skimmed milk and half a piece of toast with margarine and jam or marmalade. No snack in the morning but 2 or 3 coffees at her desk.  Lunch mostly consisted of a pasta salad with a yogurt afterwards or sometimes a small Cadbury’s Dairy Milk. In the afternoon, Jane grabbed a digestive biscuit with a cup of tea.  Supper was pasta with tomato sauce.

Jane needs “detox” help
Jane’s symptoms could be due to a number of different underlying causes. The spots could be related to female hormones, her fatigue could be due to adrenal fatigue (again, hormonal), her bloating due to food intolerance, and her weight could be a mixture of these and a sluggish thyroid hormone.  However, taken together, these symptoms could also be caused by Jane’s inability to carry out its detoxification processes properly.

Here are the three main reasons why her detox system was suspected as being compromised. Firstly, Jane’s predominantly carbohydrate diet would result in increased insulin levels, which directly reduces the liver’s production of vital detox enzymes (i.e. glutathione).  Secondly, Jane’s diet is lacking in vital micronutrients which are necessary for liver detox Phase One enzyme pathways (cytochrome P450).  Additionally, a variety of nutrients are required for our natural detoxification,  and Jane’s diet has little variety which would result in reduced nutrient intake and so a reduced ability to detox.  Thirdly, Jane’s diet is too low in high quality proteins which are necessary for Phase Two detox enzymes (conjugation pathways).  These key aspects of Jane’s diet could lead to fatigue, sluggish metabolism, spots, and bloating.  The bloating could also be due to the lack of energy that Jane was experiencing, since the digestive system requires much energy to function optimally.

Jane does as she is told
Jane followed the dietary recommendations pretty much to the letter. The good news is that she felt better in all regards within three weeks and said “I just can’t believe that my energy, skin and weight and bloating all improved so quickly on making such simple changes to my diet!”

Jane ate a boiled or poached egg or two at breakfast time with wholemeal toast. She drank water and herbal teas in the day, and reduced her tea and coffee to one or none.  Jane’s lunch consisted of chicken or fish with some carbs like pasta or rice and some fresh salad.  She increased her variety of food overall and consumed less wheat.  She ate fresh veg with a protein food such as lamb, chicken or fish at dinner, with a small helping of rice or pulses.   Jane cut out all refined sugar but overall she didn’t change the amount of food she ate.  On the face of it, she was eating an “average” diet, of a different kind to before. In just 21 days Jane’s year-long complaints were resolved, and she was much happier as a result.

What happened inside Jane’s body?
The change in diet had supplied Jane with a better balanced macro-nutrient intake and reduced her insulin as a result.  This has many benefits on health and on detoxification enzymes and on weight and energy and spots.  She had eaten more variety and fresh veg providing more fibre and micronutrients which are required for her liver detox enzymes.  The increased protein supplied her Phase Two enzymes with the key amino acids they need to function.  This means her body had the nutrients that could bind to everyday metabolic “toxins” and carry them out of the body more efficiently than before.  She would also have had more stable blood sugar balance and adrenal hormones as a result, as well as being better hydrated.

Summary comment about Detox
What follows is designed to dispel a myth or two about detox.  In hindsight, it is possible to say that Jane’s symptoms were not because of some mysterious toxin she had been exposed to, or as an inevitable result of aging.  Rather, the symptoms reflected her body’s inability to deal with the everyday biochemical “potential toxins” due to poor diet.  These natural chemical substances made inside the body everyday need to be bound to a nutrient complex in the liver in order to be eliminated.  The changes in Jane’s diet provided her liver with the key vitamins and minerals and amino acids that her liver needs every day to carry out her detoxification properly.  It is also likely that improved hormonal balance of insulin and cortisol (adrenal hormone) contributed to her improvements.

Jane is not tempted to go back to her old ways!

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