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.

There is so much in the media about food intolerance. Is it myth or reality?

What is food intolerance? Food intolerance is when it seems that the very food we are eating is not agreeing with our system. It could be that syptoms of bloating, gas, wind and pain appear when eating certain food groups. It can be that the food is almost giving the symptoms of a hangover where you feel rough for a few day. Many people get aching joints or syptoms of a foggy head.

Certainly our diets have changed to an unrecognisable degree from around the 1960’s onwards – our ancient selves would not be familiar with a lot of what we eat now-a-days, from bagels, to crisps to ice-cream to smoothies! The most stunning difference in the diet from even when I was a child is the amount of wheat products we eat. Our first meal of the day is often a sugar loaded breakfast cereal (wheat) then a snack of a biscuit (wheat) and then lunch of a sandwich (wheat) and then a dinner of pasta (wheat). If we eat the same thing over and over without variation it is possible that we set up food intolerances. The trick is to keep the diet really varied – rye, kamut (!), brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat are just a few of the hundreds of different grains that are available.

Generally I find that rather than the food intolerance being something that has caused symptoms the food intolerance is the symptom of something else that is going on in the bowel. Bacterial, yeast or parasitic activity in the bowel can make it more likely that you will react to certain foods. These types of organisms can make the gut “leaky” where larger than nomal semi-digested food molecules escape through the gut wall and directly into the system. Thus it is not just about the foods you are eating (although if you are reacting it does seem sensible not to eat it!) but about what might be exacerbating the symptoms.

I find it fascinating how the bowel can be so linked up to how you are dealing with stress for example. Being more stressed can make you seem like you are reacting to foods as the relationship between the gut and cortisol (stress hormones) can lower your inherent gut immunity.

In summary for sure, identifying what might be causing is the key – but that might be a combination of the foods you are eating and making sure your digestive tract is working optimally to digest and absorp that food.

Contact us for a free 15 minute chat on the phone about how we might help your digestive issues.

In my clinic which I run in Harley Street, I see a huge number of people with IBS (irritable bowel sydrome).  These are often at the end of thier tether having been told that they will have to live with their symptoms.  I dont belive this.  If there are symptoms, in my mind there must be a cause.

Sometimes, the diet can be contrubing to the symptoms.  One of my bete noirs is our horrible British bread.  I am on a mission to change our bread eating habits.  Our bread is generally packaged bread and full of other ingredients than you would expect to find in a loaf of bread.  This squishy, yeasty, substance often does not help people with already a lot of fermentation going on in their guts.

Often the cause can be down to parasitic/bacterial/or yeast infection (for which we conduct lab tests).  The medical profession do not recognise this more functional idea of health.  Doctors are only diagnosing pathology (ie when there is something seriously wrong with the bowel)

Stress can contribute to the lowering of gut function and inflammation in the bowel (due to the nature of stress hormones on “gut immunity”) – so often solving IBS is more down to a holistic approach, where a bunch of contributing factors are considered.

IBS should be looked at in context of  each and every person – not just assuming that everyone’s symptoms are the same or come from the same cause.  Look at the person, do the necessary tests, and then make recommendations on the basis of that person’s unique case-history.

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Most people agree that by putting calories on the menu, it will encourage people to eat healthier when they are trying to choose what to eat from their favourite restaurant. (See article page 2, The Times, 17 February, 2011) Although this seems like a stunningly good idea  some of those restaurants who were involved in a voluntary pilot group the government put together were surprised to note that people did not seem to make their choices according to calories.  It seems that the people who are already aware are aware enough to make the choices naturally, and those that don’t make choices according to calories, dont care anyway!   I really do find this very hard to believe, espcially for those  involved as  professionals looking to “educate” the public but many people are simply going out to eat to have a good time and not to be preached at.

Just putting the calories on menus can miss the point too -  for example some fats (and therefore calories) can be beneficial (eg  Omega 3 fat in Salmon) An avocado sandwhich can have a huge amount of calories but is full of good fats whereas some fat is not the kind that is benefical to humans, like huge amounts of saturated fat.

Whilst it is a good idea to watch how many calories consumed in a day of course,  the calorie story on its own does nto put the food into context.  It is important to know what the mirco nutrient content is too (vitamins and minerals).  It is possible to have a low calorie meal which has not contributed to over all health, and left the person starving and digging into a cream bun later on in the day.

The Nutrition Coach Food consultancy helps restaurants, supermarkets and the food industry

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1. Nutrition-reduce obvious & hidden sugars

If you want to lose weight it’s very important to eliminate obvious sugar from your diet. We’re not just talking about obvious forms found in desserts and processed foods, but also to reduce our consumption of hidden ones in foods most of us consider to be healthy. Hidden sugars are also found in carbohydrates such as grains which break down to simple sugars and can contribute to insulin resistance. What is insulin resistance you may ask? Well, the cells in our body need a continuous supply of glucose (or sugar) for their energy requirements. Glucose, however, cannot penetrate the outer membrane of a cell without the assistance of insulin, a hormone which acts as a gatekeeper, allowing glucose to enter cells. Insulin stimulates the body to convert excess glucose (or sugar) which our cells don’t need (i.e. think too much chocolate etc) into fat and then helps to block the breakdown of this stored fat for energy production, making weight loss difficult.

For various biochemical reasons, the body may become less sensitive to its own insulin and compensates by producing more. Higher insulin levels not only make your body store even more fat, it also makes it more difficult to lose weight by blocking the release of fat from the fat cells so it can be burned for fuel. This explains why so many people have problems losing weight.

2. Exercise- high-intensity interval training & weight lifting

High-intensity interval training done 2-3 times weekly can boost your metabolism and increase fat loss, but is also a potent “anti-aging” strategy, as it will naturally increase your body’s production of human growth hormone (HGH).HGH promotes muscle, effectively burns fat and plays an important role in promoting overall health/longevity.

Weight lifting is another essential part of a programme for kick-starting your metabolism. Having more muscle is one of the best ways of burning fat you will ever come across because it helps you burn more calories, without you having to actually “do” more.

This is because muscle is metabolically very active and requires energy just to sit on your frame – even when you sleep. For every pound of muscle that you gain, your body will burn approximately 50-70 calories more per day, and burning more calories leads to a reduction of excess fat.

3.  Are you getting enough sleep?

If you aren’t getting between 7-8 hours of sleep daily, you are disrupting your biological processes, including those regulating your metabolism. Your biological rhythm of sleeping and waking, also known as your circadian rhythm, is intricately tied to your metabolism and cannot be overlooked. In order to maintain a healthy circadian rhythm, it’s important to have consistent regular exposure to day light during the day and sleep in absolute darkness at night. This means turning off all the lights in your room, including night lights and perhaps investing in blackout blinds.

In addition, sleep deprivation has been shown to affect levels of hormones called leptin and ghrelin, which are linked with appetite and eating behavior. When you are sleep deprived, your body decreases production of leptin, the hormone that tells your brain there is no need for more food. At the same time it increases levels of ghrelin, a hormone that triggers hunger. This leads to decreased satiety and increased hunger pangs.

If you would like to know more about combatting Weight Gain & Ageing contact us for further information or check out the brilliant Courses designed to get you fighting on the right track .

Wishing you the best of health

Sylvia

Most of us realise that a “good diet” is important for our well-being and many of us think we are eating healthily. But what is a “good diet”? We are bombarded with newspaper, television, and magazine stories about the latest nutrition research or fads, which are often conflicting. When following this advice, many people then find that it does not result in improved well-being, as expected. Thus, while such sources of information are certainly useful in some ways, they often also leave us confused about what we should be eating and present a challenge to people wanting to improve their nutrition and overall health.

Confusion arises partly because the concept of a “good diet” assumes that we all have the same nutritional needs. We don’t. We all have different health profiles and life circumstances and therefore unique nutritional requirements. There is no such thing as a universal diet which suits everyone.

Nutritional Therapists have long-recognised the importance of individual lifestyles and  biochemical make-up and thus the potential flaws present in transferring dietary guidelines designed for the general population to dietary recommendations for optimising individual health.

So why not call one of our expert Nutrition Coach team members to find out if your diet  is right for you?

Wishing you the best of health

Sylvia

If you’re feeling depressed or low in motivation it may be that you don’t have enough feel-good chemicals in your brain.  We need sufficient levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin to help us feel happy and enough noradrenalin to keep us feeling motivated.  By eating a diet rich in the right nutrients you can boost levels of these neurotransmitters and therefore boost your mood naturally.  

Serotonin is produced from the amino acid tryptophan and therefore eating foods rich in tryptophan is an important first step in raising serotonin levels.  Excellent sources of tryptophan include oats, tofu, eggs, fish, beans, turkey and chicken. 

Noradrenalin is produced from the amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine, and therefore eating foods rich in these amino acids are ideal for helping to raise noradrenalin levels.  Excellent food sources include almonds, butter beans, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, oats, fish, eggs, meat, soya and poultry.

Therefore to help keep the January blues away, try to increase your protein intake with these amino acid rich foods, so that you can bounce out of January and into February!

Julia