Seed Oils - Yay or Nay?

Seed oils are a highly contentious issue in the nutrition world right now. Some ‘experts’ tell you they’re perfectly healthy, whilst others will tell you they’re harmful and the cause of many chronic diseases. Is this a worry for you? I’m still weighing up the arguments, but here are some of my thoughts so far…

Seed oils were not part of the human diet at all until the early 1900s, when the highly toxic cottonseed oil (a byproduct of the cotton industry) was found to be edible after undergoing several industrial processes.

Industrial seed oils include canola (rapeseed), corn, cottonseed, soybean, sunflower, safflower, grapeseed, rice bran, peanut, sesame and flaxseed oil.

Unlike olives and avocados, these seeds do not easily give up their oils, hence the industrial processing required to make them. Sometimes you’ll see ‘cold-pressed’ on the labels - this means they’ve been treated a bit kinder, but it’s not a very efficient process - a lot of oil gets left behind in the seeds.

Seed oils contain high levels of omega-6 fatty acids and little, if any, omega-3 fatty acids. This affects the ratio of omega 6 to 3 in the body when significant quantities are consumed. The optimal ratio is thought to be around 1:1 (based on ancestral type diets) but currently, where seeds oils and ultra-processed foods make up large quantities of our diets, that ratio is more like 10:1 or higher (in favour of omega-6). Omega-6 is generally inflammatory, whilst omega-3 is generally anti-inflammatory.

Seeds oils become oxidised at high temperatures, meaning they produce ‘free-radicals’ that can cause harm to our cells and tissues.

Seed oils are very low in nutrients. They contain no fat soluble vitamins such as A, D and K2 which are essential for our health. In contrast, the more traditional fats - butter, lard, tallow, coconut oil - do contain these essential nutrients.

When you dig into the definition of ultra-processed foods, seed oils actually don’t meet the criteria as they are considered a standard ingredient most people would have in their kitchen cupboards. However, here is a quote from Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken on how seed oils are created…

“So, manufacturers refine the oil by heating, use phosphoric acid to remove any gums and waxes, neutralise it with caustic soda, bleach it with a bentonite clay, and finally deodorise it using high-pressure steam”

With that in mind, would you consider these oils to be ultra-processed? Or a safe and even healthy kitchen ingredient?

Bear in mind also that these seed oils are incredibly cheap to make, are hugely profitable for the food industry and make up a large portion of the ingredients in foods that are considered to be ultra-processed. The science is now overwhelmingly clear that ultra-processed foods are harmful to health. So much so, that they’re now saying UPFs are the number one cause of disease and early death, even above smoking, worldwide.

Want to dive into this subject a bit further? Understand what’s really going on with ultra-processed foods and why we can’t stop eating them? I’m running a little workshop in Belper, at Eartharmony, on Monday 31st March, 6-8pm. Tickets are just £20 each. You’ll come away feeling informed, empowered and energised! Tickets available here.

Hope to see you there! 

Lucy x 

New Year Simple Tips

New Year, New You???

I’ve been talking on my socials this month about new year resolutions and asking the question ‘do we really need to be starting the new year putting loads of pressure on ourselves to become a completely ‘New Me’? As a nutritionist, and someone in the health and wellness world, it’s tempting to jump into January with a BIG call to action - diet plans, challenges, cleanses etc. But on reflection, I don’t actually feel like January is a good time for doing big changes or pushing yourself too hard. It’s cold and dark and, let’s face it, pretty miserable out there. We might have started the month feeling a bit bloated from the overindulgence of Christmas, maybe gained a few pounds, maybe just not feeling our best. So sure, the temptation is to do something radical, to undo the damage, drop a dress size or just to feel ‘normal’ again.

However, my suggestion has been more to focus on some small things you can do to start the new year in a healthy way, without going overboard or putting loads of pressure on yourself. Yes, you want to nourish yourself well, but you also want to feel warmed and comforted by what you eat - salads and green juices aren’t going to cut it.

Instead of going all in with a new diet, why not try one, two, maybe three new things. I’m really inspired by the late Michael Mosely and his ‘just one thing’ approach. It’s great because, sure, you can do ‘just one thing’ and that’s pretty easy right? But, it’s often the case that when you do ‘just one thing’ you feel a bit better and feel more inclined to do ‘just one more thing’. There ends up being a cumulative effect from all the small things you’re doing.

We’re all different, so different approaches will resonate with different people. I’ve put together a list of some of my favourite nutrition tips that I think require minimal effort but have a big impact - in how you feel, your energy levels, in balancing your blood sugars, and if you want to lose weight then they can definitely help with that. Here they are:

Probiotics. Try adding one or two probiotic (fermented) foods or drinks into your diet, such as live yoghurt, kombucha or a nice sauerkraut. Why?

• Fermented foods can help you have better digestion

• They help to support a healthy immune system

• Fermenting foods can remove substances that inhibit the absorption of nutrients like B vitamins, iron, zinc and calcium, making them more bioavailable

• Eating fermented foods has been shown to improve mental health by reducing symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression

• They can be are really tasty and relatively easy to add to your diet

Savoury Breakfasts. Would you be willing to swap your usual sweet breakfast for something savoury? Why is this beneficial?

• In the morning, our bodies are primed for protein

• Having a nutrient-dense, protein-rich breakfast will balance your blood sugar levels

• It will help you have more steady energy levels throughout the morning and into the rest of the day

• It will help reduce cravings later on in the day

If time is tight in the morning, you can prep your breakfast the night before. A frittata or breakfast egg muffins are great and will keep in the fridge for several days.

Bone Broth. This ancient technique of boiling up the bones of an animal to extract the nutrients provides a myriad of benefits, including:

• It’s rich in collagen, amino acids (the building blocks of protein) and minerals

• Supports the gut, skin and joints

• There’s nothing else like it for repairing a damaged, inflamed and leaky gut

You can make your own really easily just by boiling up the carcass from a leftover roast chicken. Simply put the bones in a large pan, cover them fully with water, add a splash of apple cider vinegar, bring to the boil and then simmer gently for a couple of hours. Alternatively you can pop everything in a slow cooker for 12+ hours. Once it’s brewed, strain off the liquid and freeze in 500ml batches for use later in soups, stews, casseroles or just heat up and sip as a nice warming drink.

Prioritise Protein. When I’m working with a client, the first thing I want to see is a food diary, and often the most glaring thing I come across is a lack of protein. Why do we need to prioritise protein on our plates?

• It’s an essential nutrient needed for muscle repair, immune function, building hormones and enzymes, carrying oxygen around the body, regulating blood pressure and supporting the function of organs like the brain, heart and liver

• Having a protein rich meal is satiating and helps balance blood sugar levels

It really is important to include protein with every meal, including snacks where possible. A typical day of eating good amounts of protein could look something like this:

• Breakfast: Greek yoghurt with almond butter and frozen berries OR scrambled eggs on sourdough

• Lunch: Chicken soup (with bone broth) OR an omelette with mushrooms, cheese and chorizo OR a salad with halloumi and avocado

• Dinner:Homemade burgers OR chicken wings with slaw OR paneer curry with peas and rice

• Snack: Homemade tiffin (with dark chocolate and lots of nuts) OR Apple with peanut butter OR crackers with cheese or pate

Fasting. Fasting can mean many different things, such as intermittent fasting (eating within a specific window of time and fasting the rest of the time in a 24 hour period) or intentionally embarking on longer periods without any food or drink (other than water or herbal tea). Why do this?

• Fasting gives the digestive system a rest, allowing it to repair itself

• It helps support blood sugar balance

• Encourages better sleep (especially if you finish your eating window a few hours before you go to bed)

• Can improve gut health

• Encourages metabolic flexibility

How to do it? You can easily experiment with your fasting and eating windows by yourself. For example, start off with a 12/12 pattern where you eat all your meals within a 12 hour window (e.g. between 8am and 8pm) and then you fast overnight for 12 hours. If that feels easy, try stretching your fasting window a bit longer to 13 or 14 hours or more. Find what works for you. This isn’t about deprivation or being harsh on yourself, it’s about reaching a comfortable place where you can happily go a period of time without food to allow your body to rest and heal. Longer fasts can be considered, but I’d always recommend working with a nutrition practitioner to help you find what works for you. If you’re female, I recommend checking out Dr Mindy Pelz (insta, YouTube and her book ‘Fast Like a Girl’), she’s an absolute authority on fasting for women.

Let me know which, if any, of these nutrition snippets you have tried, or are planning to give a go. I hope you will find them relatively easy and enjoyable. If you want to try any of these recommendations with the guidance of a nutritional therapist, or you want to explore personalised nutrition, book in with me for a FREE 15 minute discover call here.

The Gut-Skin Connection

What does the condition of your skin have to do with your gut health?

Have you heard of this term the ‘gut-skin connection’? Do you have some inkling that your skin issues and your gut issues may somehow be connected?

I wanted to write this blog post to explain and help you understand this phenomenon and also share with you the stories of a couple of lovely clients I worked with earlier this year.

The gut-skin connection

Let’s start with unpicking what this is. The gut-skin connection refers to the complex relationship between the health of the digestive system and the condition of the skin. The gut and skin are constantly communicating with each other through various pathways such as:

• The immune system

• Hormones

• The gut microbiome

When there is a problem, or an imbalance, in the gut, it can lead to systemic issues that can manifest in the skin – think eczema, acne or rosacea.

What problems in the gut might lead to poor skin condition?

• An imbalance of the microbes in your gut (known as dysbiosis). These trillions of bacteria living in your gut play an important role in maintaining immune balance and reducing inflammation. Dysbiosis, or an imbalance in these gut bacteria, can trigger systemic inflammation.

• Leaky gut syndrome. This is where the integrity of the lining of the gut becomes compromised, leading to the ‘leaking’ of toxins, undigested food particles and pathogens into the bloodstream. This, in turn, can trigger immune reactions and skin conditions.

• Chronic inflammation. When there is inflammation in the gut, there is often inflammation in the skin too. The body will try to expel toxins and deal with inflammation through its largest organ – the skin.

• Nutrient absorption. When the gut is compromised, due to any of the above problems, it may struggle to effectively absorb the nutrients needed for healthy skin such as zinc, vitamin E and omega-3 fatty acids. Of course, a lack of these nutrients in the diet could also be a cause of skin problems.

If you’ve tried varies creams, lotions and potions to address your skin issues, perhaps it’s time to take a deeper dive and address what’s going on in the gut.

Case studies

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of working with two lovely, very different people, suffering with severe eczema and skin issues. Both had very different diets, very different lives and even different experiences of their skin issues. With both clients, we delved deep and worked on repairing the gut and both saw huge improvements in their skin, and their digestive health as well.

I’d love to share a snippet of their stories with you, to show how different approaches to supporting gut health can be used to address skin issues.

Sue

Photo courtesy of Sue: taken at start of nutritional therapy journey (Feb ‘24)

Sue had struggled with eczema for a really long time, years in fact. She had tried varies creams, potions and therapies to try and resolve it, alongside conventional treatment. When I first saw her, the skin on her arms, legs, back, hands, feet, neck and even face was very red, sore and angry looking. She was fed up. She had some digestive symptoms, but nothing too severe or that would be classed as IBS (as is often the case with eczema or other skin complaints)

I did a deep dive into her medical history and did a thorough health assessment, as well as analysing her food diary. This work highlighted a lot of body systems that were under stress – the gut and the skin of course, but also the nervous system, immune system, endocrine (hormones) and liver.

What did we do?

We started out with a 3-week liver detox. I suspected that a lot of her symptoms were due to the liver being under stress. When the liver isn’t functioning optimally, the body will detoxify through the skin to compensate. The detox involved cutting out some foods and drinks for a period of 3 weeks including dairy, gluten, sugar, caffeine and alcohol. We also added in lots of liver supportive foods at the same time.

Sue started on regular, homemade, bone broth to support the integrity of her gut lining and to soothe and nourish her gut and skin. Bone broth is an incredible food containing essential nutrients beneficial for nourishing and repairing both the lining of the gut and the skin. For example, it contains collagen which helps to strengthen and repair the gut lining as well as promoting skin elasticity and hydration. It also contains amino acids such as glutamine and glycine, both involved in skin and gut lining repair. And a whole host of other compounds beneficial for skin and gut health.

We also addressed her low protein levels. On the outside, it would look as if Sue’s diet was really healthy – full of different plant foods, mostly real whole foods and very nutrient dense. However, on closer inspection, it was clear that she wasn’t getting enough protein in her diet. Protein provides the building blocks of almost everything – including the skin and the lining of the gut. Sue was also experiencing low energy levels, which often occurs when the balance of protein and carbohydrates is out – too many carbs, not enough protein.

After the 3-week detox, Sue saw considerable improvements in her energy levels and the condition of her skin. She continued to mostly avoid gluten, dairy, sugar, caffeine and alcohol, although did allow herself a bit more flexibility. She was most surprised by how much of a difference increasing her protein intake made to how she felt and hadn’t realised just how little she was eating before.

Photo courtesy of Sue: Taken after finishing our sessions together (Aug ‘24).

Over the next few months, we continued to work together and Sue’s skin was up and down in that time. We talked it through and came to the conclusion that stress was a big factor so she put in place measures to manage her stress levels. We also worked on introducing fermented foods slowly and gradually to help balance the bacteria in the gut. Because there was also an obvious immune activation with some of the skin flare ups – a clear pattern between certain foods being eaten followed by a severe skin reaction – she also toyed with eliminating high-histamine and histamine spiking foods. This also helped a lot with the skin.

We finished our work together and Sue continues to follow the main principles of her plan, with some wriggle room. Her skin is infinitely better than when we first started, and she has kindly permitted me to show you some before and after photos. Any of you suffering with eczema or other skin conditions will understand just how life changing this has been for her.

George

When I first saw George, he was in a similar situation, but had more gut symptoms and the skin was more up and down – reactive to certain triggers, but it seemed impossible to work out what those triggers were.

In George’s case we were able to do a comprehensive gut analysis through private stool testing. Whilst it’s often evident through symptoms and health history whether there is some level of dysbiosis present, with stool testing you can be really sure what’s going on. In this case we were able to really get to the bottom of the dysbiosis by seeing which friendly bacteria were lower in numbers than is ideal, and which potentially harmful bacteria were present in higher numbers. With this information, I was able to recommend targeted probiotic supplements that would increase the levels of ‘good’ bacteria that were too low. We also used herbal antimicrobials to address the high levels of ‘bad’ bacteria in the gut.

A number of other issues were highlighted in the test, such as the presence of a particular parasite, inflammation and factors that indicated a ‘leaky gut’, immune reactivity, poor digestion and slow transit. All of this allowed us to really get to the root cause of his symptoms and be very targeted in our therapy approach.

With George, we stripped the diet right back to some very basic components, loosely following a low-carb and auto-immune paleo type approach. This included animal proteins and fats, non-starchy vegetables, a few fruits and starchy vegetables and a few nuts and seeds and herbs. I’ll be honest – this was a very basic diet. But George was willing and motivated to do whatever it took to feel better.

He did feel better, though still had a few flare ups that we discussed as they came up and made tweaks to his diet and supplements. Over time, the flare ups became less and less and his skin and digestion were much better.

He now still follows a fairly simple, but nutrient dense diet, with some flexibility as and when life demands. He knows how to manage his diet to keep his skin and gut behaving!

Conclusions

In both these cases, there were no quick fixes, and there was no solution to ‘cure’ the skin condition. Both Sue and George will need to carefully manage their diet, and indeed their stress levels, to keep the skin and the gut in check. But they both have considerably better skin health now and both understand how to reduce flare ups and how to manage any issues that arise. And in both cases, the presenting skin conditions were dealt with through addressing the root cause – the health of the gut!

Key take aways

I have reflected a lot on these cases as I found both of them fascinating and challenging in very different ways, despite presenting with similar symptoms. It has really reinforced the need for personalised nutritional therapy, and reminds me of why no two client plans I write are the same. When it comes to nutrition – no one size fits all.

If you found this article interesting, please let me know in the comments. If you have any questions, drop me a message.

If you’re considering working with me to get your gut or skin sorted out, or any other health issue, book in for a FREE 15-minute discovery call.

“Lucy at The Mind Body Tree has been fantastic in helping me improve my gut health. Her practical approach and advice have made a real difference, and my symptoms have significantly reduced. Highly recommend her services for anyone looking to take control of their gut health”

— George

Hello - I'm back!

Oh my goodness, where has the time gone? My last blog post, it appears, was over 4 years ago. How very naughty of me. When running a business, it’s very important to keep up with blog writing, for SEOs, engaging with your audience and all that jazz. What’s my excuse? Well… life I guess.

I was clearly slightly motivated during lockdown to put out some inspiring content as I did write about supporting the immune system and keeping those stuck-at-home kids fed and well. But then things went quiet. Covid was a bit of a struggle for businesses like mine relying on face-to-face contact and in-person events. I ended up neglecting my business and picking up work with some local community organisations.

Oh, and I had a baby in that time too. Babies, as we know, can be quite time consuming! So I’ve been a bit side-tracked with my bundle of joy for the last (almost) 2 years. But she’s growing up and is off to nursery and having the best time, leaving me with some time to really focus on my work. And with the help of my amazing coach, that’s exactly what I’ve been doing.

For those of you who are new to The Mind & Body Tree - hello - thanks for stopping by - here’s a bit of an introduction to who I am and what I do. For those who have been around for a while - thanks for sticking around and supporting me - here’s a bit about how things have changed and what I’m up to now.

Nutritional Therapy

I qualified in 2017 as a Nutritional Therapist and am registered with BANT and CNHC. What does that mean? It means I’m qualified, and experienced, in supporting you to make dietary and lifestyle changes to support your health in various ways. What I can help with…

• Postnatal nutrition

• Food intolerance support

• Weight management support

• Nutritional therapy for chronic conditions

• Stress and anxiety nutrition support

• Blood sugar management

• Nutritional supplements advice

• Personalised nutritional therapy

• Gut health

• Hormone balance

• Functional nutrition

• Digestive health support

• Immune health support

• Family nutrition

• Nutrition for fertility

I know nutrition can be a minefield. I know there’s tons of information (and misinformation) out there. I know it can be hard to get started on a new path, especially if you’re not sure you’re on the right path to begin with.

That’s where I can help. With my qualifications and experience, I can cut through all that noise and create a plan that’s personalised to you. I’m also with you every step as the way as you begin to implement the recommendations into your daily life.

What’s changed recently? Well I’ve switched my packages up a bit. I, and many other NTs like me, were taught the ‘initial consultation’ and ‘follow up’ method of working with clients. Which is all fine, but I was finding the lapse in time between initial and follow up wasn’t always optimal for getting the best out of my clients. So, I’ve switched to more of a coaching style, where I see my clients weekly, or two-weekly, for regular check-ins. This gives clients more access to me for trouble shooting, getting support, making tweaks to plans, getting regular additional ideas and inspiration and generally just allows us to work more closely together.

I have kids, I run a business, I know the challenges you face in this hectic life. I’m here to make it easy and manageable for you to make the changes you need to so that, as Dr Chatterjee would put it, you can ‘feel better and live more’.

Events & Workshops

If personalised nutritional therapy isn’t right for you, I also run a number of nutrition focused workshops and events to help you get your head around a particular topic, understand your body better and empower you with tips and tools to make a difference in how you feel. Over the next few months, my workshops are mainly based around hormone health and gut health. You can find me at:

• The elephant rooms running workshops on:

• Nutrition for perimenopause - Tuesday 8th Oct, 6-8pm

• Gut health mini retreat with kraut making - Saturday 19th Oct, 10am-3pm

• Derby’s Ethical Christmas Market running a Christmas kraut making session - Saturday 16th November, 11am-12.30pm

• Whistlewood Common, Melbourne, running a gut health masterclass and kraut making workshop - Sunday 1st December (details coming soon)

What else?

I have a few other potential events and collaborations in the pipeline - watch this space!

In the meantime, if you are involved with a community organisation or work for a business that you’d like me to come and speak at - get in touch. I’m really keen to deliver more workshops in the community and support workplaces to empower their staff to eat well and live well.

If you’ve read this far - thanks for being here! Your support and engagement is really appreciated. I’ll leave you with a nice testimonial a client I recently finished working with left for me:

“Lucy at The Mind Body Tree has been fantastic in helping me improve my gut health. Her practical approach and advice have made a real difference, and my symptoms have significantly reduced. Highly recommend her services for anyone looking to take control of their gut health.”

— George

Have a great day!

Lucy

X

Keeping Children Fed and Happy

If like me you’ve got your kids at home for the foreseeable future, you might be wondering how on earth you’re going to managing their eating habits. It can seem like a constant stream of requests for food and ‘Muuuuuummmmmmmmmm, I’m hungry!’. I’m sure this doesn’t happen at school - the kids just know when it’s time to eat and when it’s not. At home, the lines are much more blurred, everything is a bit more flexible and there’s the potential for them to get their hands on food whenever they like. So, how do we manage this? And what’s more, how can we keep them as healthy as possible and support their little immune systems without them whinging at you for not giving them what they really want - crisps, biscuits and junk!

I don’t claim to have all the answers, but here are some tips I’m implementing at home which will help give us all some clarity.

• Firstly, talk to your kids about their expectations and yours. Find out what they want from you, explain what’s important to you and find some common ground or compromise. You may want to limit any ‘treat’ foods to one a day, or have regular ‘sugar-free’ days or whatever it is that feels comfortable for you. Involving your kids in the discussion helps to limit any arguments later on.

• You may be tempted to impose a strict routine around food, including meal and snack times. Personally, I find this a bit too inflexible, but it works for some families. In particular, some kids find it helpful to know what they can expect - they like routine. Again, talk to your kids and find out what they would prefer. Make it clear that if there isn’t a routine, that doesn’t mean they can just help themselves all day and eat you out of house and home!

• Meal planning is hard enough when you only have the evening meals to worry about, but now it’s 3 meals a day. You want them to be healthy and nutritious, but you can’t face all the whinging and complaining when you place food in front of them that they don’t want or like. This is a big problem for me! Again, the solution is to talk to your kids. Make a list of all the meals that they definitely do like and ask them to be a bit more flexible and include on their list some things that are perhaps not their favourites, but that they will eat. Explain that you’ll do your best to mostly provide them with the meals you know they’ll enjoy. Also explain that the usual things they like might not be available in the shops at the moment, so you’re going to need them to be a little bit flexible anyway.

• When it comes to snacking, it’s important to only have in the house things you’re happy for them to eat. I appreciate that isn’t always that easy at the moment with panic buying and shortages in the supermarkets. But if you have a house full of crisps, biscuits, sweets and chocolates that they know is there, it’s going to be playing on their minds and they’re going to keep asking for them… a lot! Eventually you’ll get fed up of them asking and you’ll give in. You may like to set them a daily allowance for snack/treat type foods and give them the opportunity to ration themselves. If they’ve used up their daily quota, there’s nothing else. Alternatively, and my preferred option, is just not to have things in the house you don’t want them eating. So that brings me onto the main point of this blog… what snacks can I offer my children that are healthy, filling and will keep them satisfied?

Healthy snacks for children and families

This is by no means an exhaustive list. It’s a list of some of the things I keep at home for my kids that I know are nutritious and that they’ll eat.

• Boiled eggs - on their own, cold, or just cooked with a soft yolk and a few dippy soldiers

• Chunks of cheese

• Raw nuts - any kind will do, but my kids prefer cashews and peanuts

• Fruit - have a big bowl of fruit in the house and whenever the usual ‘I’m hungry’ arises, direct them to the fruit bowl. They can’t be that hungry if they don’t want a fruit! You might be able to make it more tempting by offering apple slices with peanut butter spread on them. This also gives it a boost of protein which will help keep them fuller until the next meal time.

• Crackers - we tend to stick to Nairn’s oatcakes. They can be spread with butter, nut butter, hummus or served with cheese, pate, sliced meat… whatever you like.

• Vegetable sticks - you’d be surprised but if your kids are in the middle of something - a game, watching tv, or building lego - and you plonk a plate of chopped veggies next to them, the chances are they’ll dig in without even noticing that they’re eating vegetables. Do this BEFORE they get to the stage of asking for food! If they’re not keen, try dipping them in hummus or spreading with peanut butter (I find kids will eat just about anything as long as peanut butter is involved!). Try carrot and cucumber sticks, celery, small tomatoes, radish, courgette sticks (sounds weird but it’s actually nice raw) and anything else you can think of.

• Homemade popcorn, drizzled with a little honey or lightly salted.

• Homemade flapjacks or muffins. There are TONS of recipes online for healthier versions of typical kids snack foods. Often with low sugar content, or at least natural sugars, and using nutritious ingredients like oats, nuts, seeds and fruit. Even better - make these with your children and you’re spending quality time doing something together whilst also providing some healthy snacks! If you’re stuck for ideas, check out Little Cooks Co - a healthy cooking kit delivery service aimed at kids.

• Smoothies. I’m giving my kids a smoothie a day at the moment with some added powdered vitamin C to really support their immune system. It’s a sure fire way to get them to eat some fruit and veg and fill them up. Here’s our go-to recipe (feeds 2):

  • 1 banana

  • 1/2 avocado

  • Handful spinach

  • Chunk of cucumber

  • 1-2 dates (pitted)

  • Vitamin C powder (optional) - follow instructions on bottle for correct amount for children

  • 300ml milk - oat, almond or any you fancy

  • Optional - 1 tablespoon raw cacao to make it like a chocolate milkshake

  • Optional - a handful of frozen berries

  Chuck everything in a blender and add some ice if they like it cold. You can add an extra date or a drizzle of honey if it’s not quite sweet enough for them.

Don’t get me wrong, we have also baked some conventional ‘treats’ and occasionally have crisps or yo-yo bears. We’re by no means doing this all perfectly. The main thing is to be prepared, have a plan for how to handle snacking and what to have in the house. Most importantly talk to your kids about what they can expect and ask them what they want. Find some compromise and also… have fun!

Got some ideas or great tips for keeping kids happy and fed during lockdown? Leave a comment or drop me a message. I’d love to hear from you!

Lucy x

Immune Supporting Ideas

These are strange times we're going through at the moment. I've been watching the situation with Covid-19 unfold and seeing things from many different angles. How concerned should we be? How do we protect ourselves? Is the Government doing enough? These are all difficult questions to answer. However, one thing I can definitely help with, is how do we take care of ourselves and support our immune system? 

HOW TO SUPPORT YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM

Here are some ideas that you can start to implement at home. They're all super simple tips that won't break the bank either.

• Get more fresh fruit and veg into your diet. There's been a lot in the news recently about panic buying. It's understandable when people are so uncertain of what's going to happen next. But one thing that's still fairly abundant in the shops is fresh fruit and vegetables. It's these foods that will really support your immune system and help you cope with any potential assaults against it. You can find many studies that link particular compounds such as flavonoids, polyphenols, anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals to a strong, healthy immune system. 

• In particular, you can also increase your vitamin C intake. This paper details the many functions vitamin C plays in regulating the immune system and highlights the fact that a deficiency in vitamin C can lead to impaired immunity and a higher susceptibility to infections. Which foods are high in vitamin C? Citrus fruits, red and yellow peppers, broccoli, spinach, papaya, kiwi, blackcurrants, thyme, parsley, kale, Brussels sprouts, lychees and strawberries (although not quite in season yet - maybe go for frozen strawberries). You can also add a vitamin C supplement to your diet if you feel you could do with an extra boost. 

• Pay attention to your gut health. Anyone who has been to one of our gut health workshops will know that roughly 70-80% of your immune system lives in your digestive tract. The immune cells that live in the gut are heavily supported and modulated by our gut microbes, who also reside there. It therefore makes perfect sense that to support our immune system, we should also look to supporting our gut microbes. You can do this by following the first point - eat more fruit and veg - as this provides vital fibre for our microbes. They also love the fibre from whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans and pulses. You can also support your microbiome by eating probiotic rich foods. The simplest way to do this is by eating sauerkraut or fermented vegetables. Here's a great video by Sandor Katz, fermentation revivalist and expert on how to make a really simple sauerkraut. If you'd rather not wait for your veg to ferment, pop down to The Fig or Vedi Cafe in Derby, Vegan Revelation in Belper or The Natural Food Company in Nottingham to get stocked up on some delicious varieties of Praxis Probiotics fermented veg. Kefir, kombucha and live natural yoghurt are also delicious probiotic foods and drinks you can take to keep your gut bugs happy. 

• Add lots of wonderful herbs and spices to your diet. The nutrients in herbs and spices are highly concentrated, so small amounts give a huge injection of beneficial nutrients. Here's a great article that lists some herbs that contain anti-viral properties.

• Get enough sleep! In his brilliant book Why We Sleep, Matthew Walker eloquently explains that 'sleep restocks the armoury of our immune system, helping fight malignancy, preventing infection, and warding off all manner of sickness.' (pg. 7). He later goes on to describe an experiment in which participants were exposed to rhinovirus and then monitored in laboratory conditions. There was a clear relationship between how much sleep the participants had received in the week prior to the exposure and the rate of infection. In those sleeping around 5 hours, the infection rate was 50%, those getting 7 or more hours sleep experienced an infection rate of just 18%. (pg. 182). So, get more zzzzzzs! 

• Stress is another immune disruptor. When the body is under stress, it prioritises its fight or flight response whereas other bodily functions such as digestion and the immune system are put on the back burner. This is a difficult one because the current climate is probably causing you quite a bit of stress! While you may not be able to control the situation, you may be able to reduce your body's stress response by limiting your time on social media, getting plenty of sleep, staying hydrated and employing whatever stress relieving techniques work for you - yoga (at home if you're isolating - Yoga with Adriene is my favourite home practice), meditation (Calm, Headspace), keeping up with a hobby such as drawing, knitting, crochet - whatever helps you to relax. Also, if you're worried about being isolated and need some help, reach out to the people around you. It's at times like this that being part of a community becomes essential for our physical and mental wellbeing. If you're local to Derby, there's a great Facebook group that's just cropped up where you can offer to help or request help from those in your local area.

If you're at all worried and would like some reassurance or advice on how you can support yourself nutritionally, please do get in touch. I'm happy to reply to any emails or messages you send my way. 

Stay safe, look after yourselves and each other and thanks for reading :) 

Lucy x 

HAPPY FOOD

On Monday, I hosted a THRIVE nutrition workshop entitled ‘Happy Food’. Last week was mental health awareness week, so it’s a topic on people’s minds at the moment. As a therapist, I’m keen to talk to my clients about all the elements in their lifestyle and environment that could be contributing to their symptoms - sleep, exercise (or lack of) and stress in particular. However, as a nutritionist, what I’m most passionate about is food! How can we use food to make us happy, boost our mood, give us mental clarity and make us feel the best we can?

When compiling a list of happy foods, first it’s important to understand what food does when it’s in our body, what processes it influences, what information it provides. At the workshop, we considered three key ways that food can influence our mood:

• Via our microbiome - this is the collection of microbes that live inside us, helping us to process nutrients and working with our immune cells to keep us safe. In recent years, research has begun to uncover the vast network of communication lines between our gut and brain - via nerves, our hormones, the immune system and little chemical messages these microbes give out. It’s therefore essential for our mental and emotional wellbeing that our gut is healthy and our microbiome is diverse and well balanced.

• Via inflammation. The foods we eat can either be inflammatory or anti-inflammatory by influencing different pathways in the body. In 2013, a large scale study, The Nurses Health Study, found a strong link between chronic inflammation and depression. They concluded that the following foods were driving inflammation and increasing the risk for depression:

  • Sugar

  • White flour

  • Refined fats (vegetables oils, margarine)

  • Processed red meat

• Via blood sugar regulation. A normal amount of sugar (glucose) to have in the blood at any one time is around 1 sugar lumps worth. If you were to drink a 330ml can of soft drink – it contains the equivalent of around 10 lumps of sugar! To cope with such high levels, the body produces insulin to allow the excess glucose into cells, causing a sudden drop in blood sugar levels (and if persistent may eventually lead to insulin resistance and type II diabetes). This blood sugar rollercoaster situation can have a big influence on our mood, leading to drastic ups and downs.

These are just some of the many ways that our food can influence our biology, and ultimately how we feel. With that in mind, let’s turn to some of the key ways that we can use food to make us feel good.

• Look after your gut microbes! How?

  • Fibre, fibre and more fibre! There are 300,000 edible plant species in the world. In the west, we eat around 200. A survey in 2016 found that three quarters of all foods consumed on earth comes from around 12 plant and 5 animal species. 

    As a result, we have around 800-1000 different species of bacteria in our microbiome. Sounds like a lot, however, a hunter-gather (e.g. Hadza tribe member) may have around 1600, potentially twice as many as us. Many of the bacteria found in indigenous populations are completely absent in the western population. Increasing the amount of fibre we eat can boost the diversity of bacteria in our gut. Where do we get fibre from? Vegetables, fruits, beans, pulses, nut and seeds. The key is to get as much variety as possible, so try to mix up your intake of plant based foods.

  • Probiotic foods. These are food sources of bacteria that help to create a diverse and healthy microbiome. Some examples of probiotic foods include fermented vegetables (for example sauerkraut or kimchi), kefir, live yoghurt and kombucha.

• Avoid inflammatory foods and increase your intake of anti-inflammatory foods. One of the main reasons for the growing interest in the Mediterranean diet, is that it’s thought to be highly anti-inflammatory. There are differences of opinion as to what constitutes a Mediterranean diet, but some of the key principles include:

  • Proper cold-pressed virgin olive oil. It has anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.

  • Nuts and seeds. A large public health study (the Global Burden of Disease) found that consuming too few nuts and seeds was the third cause of premature death and invalidity – in other words, millions of people on the planet die each year from eating too few nuts!

  • Plenty of vegetables, fruit, legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, wild herbs and spices. 

  • Dairy in the form of yoghurt and cheese.

  • Fish and meat, often from chicken, sheep, goats or pigs, a few times a week.

  • Oily fish, for example salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines and herring.

  It’s important to note, that when examining the Mediterranean diet, in traditional places like the blue-zone Greek Island, Icaria, the foods they eat are mostly locally and organically grown and produced. So any effort we can make to do the same, such as through supporting local producers (like Soundbites, Derby, and Trinity Farm, Awsworth), or even by growing our own vegetables, is likely to significantly increase the benefits of eating this way.

• Keep your blood sugar levels balanced. How?

  • Eat a source of protein with each meal, and even with snacks. This could be in the form of meat, fish, eggs, dairy, beans, pulses, nuts and seeds. Protein slows down the release of glucose into the blood stream, helping to keep your blood sugar levels on an even keel.

  • Stick to lower glycemic load (GL) carbohydrates over higher ones. What does that mean? Low GL carbohydrates tend to have more fibre so they take longer to break down, and the sugars are released more slowly into the blood stream. Swap white potatoes for sweet potatoes, white rice for brown and white pasta and bread for wholemeal.

  • Avoid sugary drinks, highly refined processed foods, fast food and confectionary.

You’ll notice that a lot of the key elements involved in looking after our microbes, reducing inflammation and balancing blood sugars are the same - lots of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans and pulses, whilst ensuring adequate, well sourced protein. The fats you use in your diet are important too. Our brain is made up of 60% fat, so we need to feed ourselves an adequate amount to supply the brain with the fat it needs to repair and protect itself. Think olive oil, coconut oil, avocados, nuts and seeds (again!) and oily fish. Oily fish such as salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines and herring, contain the all important omega-3 fat,: EPA and DHA. These are essential for brain health and cognitive function.

To delve further into this subject, I really recommend (and have taken inspiration for this post and the THRIVE workshop from) the book ‘Happy Food’ by Niklas Ekstedt and Henrik Ennart. There’s a lovely summary in the book of what they have devised to be ‘The anti-depression diet’ based on all of the above factors, and more. Here is their 10-step anti-depression diet:

1. Eat vegetables at every meal - ideally leafy green vegetables and tomatoes every day

2. Maximum one potato per day. Eat whole grains every day - the amount depends on how physically active you are

3. Eat legumes 3-4 times a week, including in the form of hummus, for example.

4. Choose fruit, vegetables and nuts as snacks. Eat three fruit a day and 50g of unsalted nuts or seeds. 200g of olives are another option.

5. Eat oily fish at least twice a week. Eat eggs almost every day.

6. Eat lean red meat 3-4 times a week - limit the amount to 65-100g per time.

7. Eat diary products 2-3 times per day - for example feta cheese and natural yoghurt.

8. Use olive oil as your standard dat - roughly 60ml of cold-pressed olive oil every day.

9. Only eat sweet things in special cases.

10. Water is the best drink.

Resources

Ekstedt, N. and Ennart, H. (2018). Happy food.

Nurseshealthstudy.org. (2019). Nurses' Health Study |. [online] Available at: https://www.nurseshealthstudy.org [Accessed 24 May 2019].

Butter vs Margarine: the debate rages on

I was asked the other day to appear on my local BBC breakfast show to give my ‘expert’ opinion on the butter vs. margarine debate. The context was that the final of bake off had just been aired, and an article had been published in the guardian titled ‘butter nonsense: the rise of the cholesterol deniers’. 

So I went along on Wednesday (31stOct) morning at the crack of dawn to give my view on the whole matter and hopefully put to bed this ongoing debate. I have to admit, it was my first ever live radio appearance, and I was quite shell-shocked by the experience. I left the building only 20 minutes after I had arrived with an overall sense of disappointment at all the important things I hadn’t said. Still, I hope my overall message came through – that real food is always the better option. 

I thought I’d take the opportunity to write this article based on all the notes and research I had done prior to the interview, so I can really get across some of the key points. 

First of all, when considering the matter of butter vs. margarine, we have to ask ourselves why we ever stopped eating butter in the first place. Back in 1977 in the US and 1983 in the UK, new dietary recommendations were introduced, telling us to reduce our overall intake of fat and especially saturated fat, based on the theory that it was dietary fat that was clogging up our arteries and making us sick. This was the accepted dogma, based on a handful of studies that seemed to draw that conclusion. I recently read a thorough piece of research by Dr Zoe Harcombe et al. which unpicks all the research that was available at that time, going through it with a fine tooth comb, and concluding that there was actually never really any solid evidence to support this theory or the dietary fat guidelines (Harcombe et al., 2015). Another review and meta-analysis from 2015 finds ‘no association between saturated fat intake and all cause mortality’. (de Souza, et al., 2015). 

In the last few years there has been a rise in this alternative view – that it’s not as simple as dietary fat, saturated fat, or cholesterol being the single cause of heart disease, but more a complex web of factors that include many diet and lifestyle factors. However, any scientist, researcher or medical doctor who dares to question the status quo in the public domain, such as consultant cardiologist Dr. Aseem Malhotra, risks being labeled a ‘dissident’ as in this guardian article. (Bosely, 2018). There is a debate raging, and there’s no simple answer to the question ‘is saturated fat bad for us?’ 

However, there are some key points that we can be sure of, based on the evidence available, along with a sprinkling of common sense.  

1.    Fat is absolutely essential for life. We shouldn’t demonise it entirely, particularly when it comes to naturally occurring fats. They are needed for: 

·     Healthy cell membranes

·     Making hormones

·     Regulating inflammation (some are inflammatory, some are anti-inflammatory)

·     Boosting our metabolism 

·     Optimal brain health – our brain is made up of 60% fat!  

2.    Yes, fat is higher in calories than the other macronutrients - proteins and carbohydrates - but no one is advocating eating whole slabs of butter daily (except maybe some hardcore ‘high fat-low carb’ advocates, but that’s another story!). 

3.    Fat is found in foods that contain a whole load of other important nutrients – such as meat, dairy, eggs, coconuts, avocados, nuts and seeds. It doesn’t make sense that these foods would contain loads of beneficial nutrients but be ‘bad’ for us because of the fat content. We are biologically programmed to consume the fats from these naturally occurring foods (for more on this, see a recent podcast between functional medicine doctor Chris Kresser and Dr Zoe Harcombe here). Afterall, we don’t eat nutrients, we eat food. 

4.    Dietary cholesterol doesn’t really impact overall blood levels of cholesterol. Most cholesterol is made by the body, so we can adjust our own levels according to need. Here is a great article from Healthline which talks more about this. (Healthline, 2018).

Let’s take a closer look at the butter vs. margarine argument then, as this was the main talking point of the interview I did. 

Butter

Butter is made from churned milk or cream. Ever whipped your cream a bit too far and it’s curdled? Well you’re on you’re way to making butter. It contains one ingredient and can be made quite simply at home. 

Butter contains about 80% fat – made up of a mixture of saturated fats, polyunsaturated fats and short chain fatty acids. All these different fats have different functions in the body. Short chain fatty acids, for example, are thought to promote a healthy gut flora (Deanna Minich, 2018). Butter also contains vitamins A, D, E, B12 and K2. These nutrients are vital for our immunity, skin, neurological functioning and our bone, eye and heart health. 

Butter does contain whey, a milk protein, which some people may be allergic to, so if you have a true milk allergy it’s best avoided. For people who are lactose intolerant, it only contains trace amounts so should be OK. 

Butter from grass-fed animals is far better than from grain-fed animals. Butter from grass-fed or pasture-raised animals has more of the anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats, and is higher in the fat-soluble vitamins and anti-oxidants.  

Margarine

There are many different types of margarine and butter-like spreads out there, all with varying ingredients that have undergone slightly different processes. One that I looked up prior to my interview was Bertoli original olive oil spread, which I thought people might consider one of the better ones as it’s made from heart-healthy olive oil. It listed these ingredients:

Vegetable oils (rapeseed, palm, sunflower), water, olive oil (21%), sweet whey powder, buttermilk, salt, emulsifier (mono and diglycerides of fatty acids), preservative (potassium sorbate), thickener (sodium alginate), citric acid, natural flavoring, vitamins A and D, colour (carotenes). (Bertoli.co.uk, 2018)

Ask yourself, could you make this at home? Even if you could get your hands on all of the ingredients, could you figure out how to put them all together and come out with a decent spread? 

The process of making these spreads is highly industrialised. It’s made via a process called ‘hydrogenation’, which means adding hydrogen atoms at high speed and temperature to a liquid fat (such as vegetable oil), which turns it into a solid. These solid fats are known as ‘hydrogenated’ or ‘trans-fats’. (Madehow.com, 2018).

Trans-fats are highly implicated in chronic disease risk. The FDA announced in 2015 that it was taking tans-fats out of the ‘generally recognized as safe’ category and encouraged the food industry to phase them out of use in their products. (FDA.gov, 2018)

So to answer the question, what’s better – butter or margarine, my answer will always be butter, especially from grass-fed animals. However, some people want to avoid butter for ethical reasons, may be allergic to milk or just don’t feel comfortable with the high fat content of butter. My answer to those people is to do what they do in the Mediterranean – just use olive oil! No need to put through a lot of chemical and heat processes to make it solid, just do what they do in Italy, Spain and Greece and use it for pouring and drizzling over your food. Let’s get away from this idea that we ‘need’ something to spread on our bread. 

When I was a kid, my grandmother took me to Greece. Before being served our meal in restaurants, they would always bring us bread, baked fresh in a local bakery, along side some olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. I’d pour the oil and vinegar onto my plate, sprinkle in some salt and pepper and dip the bread in. Delicious. Years later, I would go to Greece with friends in my late teens and early twenties, to some of the more touristy areas, and we’d be served butter or spread with our bread. I remember asking the waiter for oil and vinegar, and asking why we were given butter instead and the reply was that they thought that’s what us Brits wanted! 

Olive oil is one of the reasons why the Mediterranean is held up as an optimal, healthful diet. So if you’d rather avoid butter, and don’t want to replace it with margarine, then go for straight up, good quality, virgin olive oil.

The bottom line? Eat real food! There’s no need for anyone to be eating large quantities of butter, but added to steamed vegetables makes them taste great and helps us to absorb the fat-soluble nutrients found in the veg. Whilst I don’t advocate eating lots of processed bread products, if you want to enjoy some good quality wholegrain or sourdough bread from time to time, don’t be afraid to spread it with butter. And lastly, it’s great for low-heat cooking, as it’s a solid, so it’s more stable when heated than most vegetable oils. Use it to lightly sauté some greens or for making your scrambled eggs. 

Let me know your thoughts and comments. Happy buttering!

Oh and here’s a link to my radio interview if you want to have a listen. Listen from 1 hour 15 minutes in. Enjoy.

References

Bertolli.co.uk. (2018). Check out Bertolli Original from Bertolli UK. [online]. Available at: https://www.bertolli.co.uk/product/bertolli-original1[Accessed 31 Oct 2018]. 

Boseley, S. (2018). Butter nonsense: the rise of the cholesterol deniers. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/oct/30/butter-nonsense-the-rise-of-the-cholesterol-deniers [Accessed 2 Nov 2018].

Deanna Minich. (2018). The Benefits of Butter: A Rich Source of Butyrate, Deanna Minich. [online]. Available at: http://deannaminich.com/the-benefits-of-butter-a-rich-source-of-butyrate/[Accessed 7 Nov 2018].

de Souza, R., Mente, A., Maroleanu, A., et al. (2015). Intake of saturated and trans unsaturated fatty acids and risk of all cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes: systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. [online]. Available at: https://www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h3978?ijkey=b637896898df032521f5911a509e1f0bd6b920db&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha[Accessed 7 Nov 2018]. 

Fda.gov. (2018).Final Determination Regarding Partially Hydrogenated Oils (Removing Trans Fats). [Online]. Available at: https://www.fda.gov/food/ingredientspackaginglabeling/foodadditivesingredients/ucm449162.htm [Accessed 2 Nov. 2018].

Harcombe, Z., Baker, J. S., Cooper, S. M. et al.Evidence from randomised controlled trials did not support the introduction of dietary fat guidelines in 1977 and 1983: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Open Heart,2 (1)[Online]. Available at: https://openheart.bmj.com/content/2/1/e000196[Accessed 31 Oct 2018]. 

Healthline. (2018). Why Dietary Cholesterol Does Not Matter (for most people). [online] Available at: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/dietary-cholesterol-does-not-matter [Accessed 7 Nov. 2018].

Madehow.com. (2018). How butter and margarine is made – manufacturing, making, history, used, processing, components, product, industry.[online]. Available at:http://www.madehow.com/Volume-2/Butter-and-Margarine.html[Accessed 7 Nov 2018].