The little bugs that live in our gut and digestive system do much more then help strengthen our immune system and regulate bowels. Researchers are now focusing on how the gut bacteria can be correlated with increased fatness.

As a holistic practitioner I value the importance of quality gut flora. The good bacteria, as we know, helps us to improve our immune system, provide vitamins and prevent other harmful bacteria from infecting us. These bacteria in our gut and digestive system also regulate how well we derive energy from our food.

Interestingly two strains of bacteria have been found to influence fat absorption almost regardless of diet: Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes. Lean people have more Bacteroidetes and fewer Firmicutes and vice versa for obese people. When obese people lose fat the ratio of bacteria in their gut increases to have more Bacteroidetes.

This finding is so influential and has significant implications for health that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched a multi-year Human Microbiome Project in late 2007.

Tips:

1. Ditch the Splenda. A study done at Duke University found that giving Splenda to rats significantly decreased the amount of helpful flora in the gut.

2. Try Fermented Foods. Kefir, unsweetened plain yoghurt, kimchi, sauerkraut and kombucha tea are the best fermented foods known to increase the amount of good bacteria.

3. Take a Prebiotic and Probiotic supplement. Prebiotics are fermentable substrates that help bacteria grow and thrive. Inulin and FOS are effective. They have also been shown to improve calcium absorption. Probiotics are bacteria. There are many kinds of supplements on the market. Take probiotics daily.

Taken from The 4 Hour Body by Timothy Ferris

Good Bacteria Quiz

If you answer YES to the following questions call me as soon as possible at 778-836-3831 to investigate the possible causes of your health disruptions and create a personalized plan in order to heal your body and overcome them.

1.     Do you experience bloating (regularly or occasionally)?

2.     Does your stomach feel as flat in evening as it did when you woke up?

3.     Do you have a daily bowel movement (EVERY DAY!)?

4.     Do you pass gas?

5.     Do you experience heartburn or indigestion?

6.     Do you get colds more then once per year?

7.     Do you have eczema, dry skin, acne, dandruff, psoriasis, yeast infections or IBS?

8.     Are you congested on a regular basis?

9.     Do you have unexplained muscle aches?

10.   Do you crave sweets, dairy or alcohol?

So if you’ve answered YES to some or most of these questions I highly recommend you schedule a health assessment right now while you are thinking about it so that we can get to bottom of why you are feeling this way and to assess how your imbalance of good to bad bacteria is affecting your weight and health.

Initial health intake assessments are 60 minutes and complimentary. If you know of someone else who would benefit from this assessment feel free to forward on this information.

You can email me at northshorenutrition@shaw.ca or call me at 778-836-3831.

Limiting calories is (unfortunately) essential to losing weight. Experiencing low blood sugar is also a nasty side effect and something most people experience on a regular basis. I used to have a lot of trouble with my own glucose levels going crazy and so did my client Michael.  

Michael would wake up in the morning, rush around while consuming his coffee with cream and sugar, fail to eat breakfast and grab a muffin and another coffee on his way to work. The muffin was low fat so he thought it to be a good choice.

He started to notice that about 2 hours after he had the muffin he didn’t feel good. He would get shaky and couldn’t concentrate. A co-worker suggested he try some juice and it worked so he kept on doing that.

Michael’s pants started get tighter and he felt really bloated. He couldn’t figure out why this was happening because he was dieting and eating healthy…or so he thought.

When I evaluated his 5 day food tracker I noticed a pattern that was contributing to his hypoglycemic reactions and his inability to lose weight despite his ‘healthy’ choices.

Michael asked me how much orange juice he could have because sometimes he got the shakes and the orange juice helped him immediately. He said he always had an endless supply of mini chocolate bars on hand just in case he ‘needed’ them.

I believe that Michael suffered from hypoglycemia.

Eating rapidly digesting carbohydrates, such as refined bread, cake, pretzels, crackers and breakfast cereals raise your blood sugar. The swift increase can set off a chain of events starting with an increased insulin release that can lead to an equally swift decline in blood sugar a couple of hours later.

When your blood sugar levels drop your body gives you a nice little nudge in the form of the shakes, light headedness, irritability, cravings or nausea to signal you to eat something that will raise your blood sugar levels.

You probably have experienced these feelings before, right?

You are craving a carb or have the shakes, you eat the carb (refined, white), you momentarily feel better and the shakes go away but within 1-4 hours later you experience the whole thing again.

Michael and I discussed the best carbohydrate choices that will help to stabilize his blood sugar, help to keep him feeling full and support his weight loss effort.

After only 5 days of implementing the changes we discussed, he sent me a THANK YOU email because he felt so much better. He said his energy levels were stable and he didn’t need to drink orange juice for the past 3 days.

Go figure that the same carb choices that help to stabilize blood sugar are also great in helping support weight loss.

• Go high fiber. Fiber is a term used for indigestible carbohydrates found in plant foods like beans, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Because it is not digested, the carbohydrates in fiber don’t add to blood sugar swings, nor do they provide calories. Fiber also slows the digestion and absorption of the non-fiber carbs in that food. Try substituting beans for rice or pasta in a side dish or soup, or toss some chickpeas onto a green salad to add fiber (and filling protein). When having bread, crackers or a bagel make sure to choose ones that have at least 3-5g of fiber preserving. Berries are rich sources of fiber and packed with nutrients, and contain less sugar per weight than many other fruit choices, so they can help with contributing to blood sugar stability.
• Have some very lean protein with each meal. Some of the amino acids from dietary protein are used to generate blood glucose, so even though protein rich foods like meat and eggs don’t have any appreciable amount of carbohydrate on their own, they help contribute to blood sugar too. The conversion causes the glucose to be produced steadily over several hours, which is favorable for preventing blood sugar lows. And as you may have heard, protein satisfies appetite better than fat or carbohydrate, and helps maintain your lean mass while you trim down, so there are bonus reasons include protein as well. Lean meats, Greek yogurt or cottage cheese, seafood, eggs, or soy foods are all great options.
• Reduce overall refined carbohydrate consumption. The foods that many dieters turn to to cut calories are high in fast digesting carbohydrates: low fiber crackers and cookies, pretzels, high sugar cereal bars, etc. There are so many wonderful carbohydrates that you can choose from that will aid in the weight loss effort and keep your blood sugar levels stables. 
• Watch portions, but don’t fear the fats. Since fats are calorically dense (9 cal per gram, or 120 calories per tablespoon) limiting fat is a standard strategy to curb total energy intake and achieve weight loss. I do recommend being aware of your fat intake as a means to moderate your energy intake (no chugging olive oil from the bottle, okay?), but don’t skip it entirely, especially when cutting back dietary carbohydrates. 

This is what your plate should like at every meal:

Fill half of your plate with vegetables, include 3-5oz of very lean protein (depending on body size), add 1 tsp of healthy oil or sprinkle on a FEW nuts. Enjoy 2-3 pieces of fruit per day. Try to get in ½ cup of beans or lentils in PER day. Drink lots of water and don’t forget to move your body.

Good Morning Power Parfait

1 cup of yoghurt, plain and low fat
1 tbsp of rice bran
½ cup Fiber 1
1 cup of mixed berries, frozen or fresh
¼ tsp of cinnamon

1.    Mix in the 1 tbsp of rice bran into the yoghurt
2.    Layer the yoghurt, Fiber 1 and berries in a bowl
3.    Sprinkle with cinnamon

1 dairy, 1 starch (25g fiber), 1 fruit
 
This recipe provides you with the minimum daily amount of fiber.

Dairy alternatives: goat’s yoghurt or turn it into cereal by substituting the yoghurt for 1 cup of unsweetened almond or soy milk. 

Chia seeds. That’s right, the same ones that we grew into chia pets in the 1970’s, has made a remarkable entrance in the western health food industry.  Chia is a member of the mint family and is native to Mexico and Guatemala.  They were a staple in the ancient Aztec diet and were consumed by the warriors as an endurance-promoting Superfood.

1 ounce of chia has 4,900mg of omega 3’s (that’s 10x the amount found in salmon)!  It has a whopping 11g of fibre, 4.5g of protein (and by the way, all the essential amino acids our body needs) and is high in calcium, manganese and phosphorus.  With all these amazing nutrients, chia seeds are powerful. They reduce inflammation and blood pressure, and balance blood sugars, which helps to prevent weight gain and type II diabetes. 

Chia can be eaten whole or ground, added to yogurt, smoothies, salads, baking, jams or dressings.  My 2 favorite ways to have chia are:

Salad Dressing:

1 part apple cider vinegar (try Spectrum)
2 part cold-pressed organic olive oil
1 part chia oil

Mix all ingredients together and drizzle over salad.

Raspberry Jam:

1 TBSP chia seeds

1 cup raspberries (or blueberries, strawberries, etc)

Mash the raspberries then stir in the chia seeds.  Let sit for a minimum of 30 minutes but can be refrigerated overnight.  The longer it sits, the thicker it gets.  Use this jam on toast, pancakes, rice cakes or muffins.

As seen on Dr. Oz recently: “Chia seeds are high in fiber and prevent the absorption of fat.”