#bbpe

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQ9IiLzAsfC/

    <<< click here to follow me on instagram

This is a piece about LCHF, Paleo and Nutrition.

LCHF - Low Carb High Fat is a style of diet that promotes low carbohydrate intakes. At under 20g/carbs/day this is also known as a ketogenic diet. A moderate LCHF diet is 20-50g/carbs/day and a liberal LCHF diet is 50-100g/carbs/day. An abundance of natural fats, fish and seafood, cheese, meat, eggs is promoted. Foods to AVOID are fruit (like bananas), discretionary foods (donuts, sweets, alcohol, soft drinks etc), pasta, potato, bread and rice.

Despite being a highly restrictive diet, there are online communities who defend this diet aggressively.

PALEO - as described by it’s spokesperson Pete Evans, is meat and 3 veg and “The Paleo Way is literally the most natural dietary approach on earth, and the one most likely to support optimum physical and emotional health for the best quality of life.”

The Paleo way states: “A healthy diet incorporates well sourced, organic and whole, unprocessed foods such as fresh vegetables and leafy greens, grass-fed meat, pasture raised free-range poultry and wild-caught fish.”

What does one give up for Paleo? According to the paleoway website: “The first thing you’ll say goodbye to on the Paleo Way is refined sugars, vegetable oils, alcohol, and caffeine. You’re removing grains, legumes, and dairy (with the possible exception of butter, depending on your immune tolerance).”

There are a list of expensive “swaps” one can make - grain flours to coconut flour or almond meal/ vegetable oil to coconut oil, dairy products to nut or coconut milk/cream etc.

Despite being a highly restrictive diet, there are online communities who defend this diet and Paleo Pete aggressively (not to mention block thousands of people from Chef Pete Evan’s FB page).

I’m sure I’m doing no justice to these two diets or lifestyles, however this info is straight from two of their most popular sites - diet doctor and the paleo way.

As a nutritionist, and a nurse of 25 years with 10 years in addiction, it’s fair to say I’ve been exposed to a lot of lifestyle choices, illnesses, death, cancer, genetically predisposed conditions, poverty, malnutrition, obesity, mental health issues and eating disorders.

I’m not paid out by Big Anything (feel free to message me for bank details though as it would be awesome to generate some income from the nutrition work I do!!)

Promoting a balanced, non-restrictive, healthy approach to food and nutrition is my passion. Encouraging people to eat more veggies, and eat less discretionary foods form the cornerstones of my nutrition work. BUT WAIT!!!!!  These things seem to share a common ground with Paleo and LCHF.

The one thing I can’t understand is how Paleo and LCHF have joined forces. There, I’ve said it. It makes absolutely no sense.

The “us and them” attitude created by Paleo and LCHF to take any opportunity to undermine what they call “conventional medical advice” absolutely boggles my mind.

It would make sense if I recommended to my patients (and I say patients/clients) as they are non-paying members of the community seeking healthcare that they eat Maccas 3 times a day or live off discretionary food. But do I, and other health professionals do this? I can answer for myself and anyone else is welcome to chime in, but the answer is a resounding NO.

I work with clients to encourage vegetable intake, to reduce serving sizes of processed carbohydrates, to follow a rule of thumb that half their plate is salad or non-starchy veg, a quarter is a good source of protein and the other quarter contains a small serve of their choice of carbs. Amidst the mix of foods on this plate, there is fat, carbs and proteins. Macronutrients that make up the food we eat. But we don’t eat just macronutrients, we eat food. And eating a variety of foods contains a variety of macro and micro nutrients (think vitamins, minerals, antioxidants etc).

Having a plate that is filled with colour. Eating foods that taste good to the person eating them. Simple meals that are affordable and accessible and non-time consuming. These are the strategies I use.

I am so over the US and THEM created by the high level trolling of LCHF and Paleo.

The Australian Dietary Guidelines (NOTE: guidelines) provide GUIDELINES for healthy eating. They recommend limiting discretionary (junk foods), eating lots of veggies (5 serves a day), eating 2 serves of fruit a day, incorporating dairy, legumes, grains and your choice of protein. When food is consumed in proportion, the need for restrictive eating is eliminated and a sustainable “lifestyle” is created.

For all those who have found Paleo and LCHF to have worked for them, that’s awesome, but frankly in my opinion the need to sarcastically place opinions and endless links to journal articles without any discussion over any nutrition site is just trolling.

By the way, I had an awesome breakfast today. It actually hit 5 serves of veg and 2 serves of fruit in one go. (See the pic below). Shock horror - there were 86g of carbs there. It was loaded with fibre and seasonal ingredients sourced locally, and inexpensive to make.

LESS THAN 7% of Australians meet the recommended guidelines for 5 serves of veg and 2 of fruit per day!!!!

To quote the Australian Bureau of Statistics: “In 2014-15, 49.8% of Australians aged 18 years and over met the guidelines for recommended daily serves of fruit (2 or more serves), while 7.0% met the guidelines for serves of vegetables (5-6 or more serves for men depending on age, and 5 or more for women). Only one in twenty (5.1%) adults met both guidelines. These rates were similar to 2011-12 (48.5%, 6.1% and 4.2% respectively).”

And the winners are - Coca Cola, Gatorade and Milo for their shameful marketing to children. (Click on the link at the bottom for the winners and losers).

There is no question that marketing of foods high in saturated fat, trans-fatty acids, sugars and salt impacts on everyone’s health. The World Health Organisation has concluded that the marketing of unhealthy foods to children is a probable cause of weight gain. Those who oppose regulating marketing messages use the “nanny state” argument, however, this doesn’t hold as no one is telling people NOT to purchase products, and availability is not an issue!

Being overweight in childhood will likely continue into adulthood, which is why it’s so important to look at strategies to reduce marketing. 1 in 4 Aussie kids are overweight or obese and this jumps to almost 2 in 3 adults. Overweight and obesity is the second highest contributor to burden of disease, ahead of smoking! If we enlist some conspiracy theory action, it seems like Big Food is trying to keep us unhealthy, rather than the medical establishment, as many self-appointed experts seem to think. 

On average over 35% of total daily energy consumed by those 2-18 years old comes from “discretionary” foods, and in 14-18 year olds the total is 41%! As a community, do we have the right to not be exposed to clever marketing tactics? Every day, persuasive advertising bombards young people and adults through TV, the internet, promotions and so on. Whilst a parent’s important role is providing a healthy diet for their kids, not all parents have the knowledge to do this.

WHO has developed 12 recommendations aimed at reducing the impact of marketing these foods. Here are a few: 

* Reduce impact of marketing of foods high in saturated fats, trans-fatty acids, free sugars or salt

* Reduce exposure of children to the power of these marketing campaigns

* Governments should provide leadership 

* Settings where children gather, should be free from all forms of marketing of unhealthy foods, including sports and cultural activities, schools etc

News of a potential dementia vaccination may be just years away. A collaboration of researchers from South Australia’s Flinders Uni, The University of California and The Institute of Molecular Medicine are aiming to develop a vaccine that targets proteins in the brain that block neurons. This is a great read and could be an amazing science breakthrough in a disease which affects 50% of those aged between 65 and 85. It’s thought that the vaccination may even slow the disease once it’s begun! Early days yet, however the US Government have allocated $1 billion dollars to this research. Wonder what the anti-vaxxers will do with this one if it’s a success?!

Dementia is a collection of symptoms caused by disorders affecting the brain that affect one's thinking, behaviour and ability to perform every tasks. Dementia is most common after age 65 however can occur earlier.

There are many different forms of dementia, each with it's own causes. Alzheimer's disease is one of the most common types of dementia, affecting up to 70% of those with dementia.

Symptoms may include: * Persistent and frequent memory difficulties, especially of recent events * Vagueness in everyday conversation * Forgetting well known people or places * Emotional unpredictability *Deterioration of social skills * Confusion * Personality change * Apathy and withdrawal * Loss of ability to perform everyday tasks

There is presently no cure, but some medications have been found to reduce symptoms, along with strong support symptoms.

More info available at Alzheimer's Australia: https://fightdementia.org.au/about-dementia/types-of-dementia/alzheimers-disease

Question: What do "Big Food", "Big Pharma", Christine and Pete ‪#‎BigPaleo‬ all have in common?

Answer: They all use Public Relations companies to promote their brand.

Brand promotion is at the forefront of self-appointed nutrition experts who try to bury the agenda of their "opposition" by silencing them, distracting them, or creating skirmishes and arguments elsewhere. Now more than ever University qualified Nutritionists and Dietitians need to band together and do damage control on the confusing messages that public figures have spread widely on social media.

A guest piece written by BBPE regular Liz Nelson with excellent timing considering the mess in disseminating results from the UK Obesity Forum.

http://fitterliz.com.au/evidence-based-and-under-attack/

The National Obesity Forum (NOF) has been undermined by three main members issuing a press release with a Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) agenda without consulting the real experts in the forum.

The reputable scientists involved in the forum are understandably angry and embarrassed by the release of incorrect "science" linked to them. Some are considering leaving the group. Here’s the scoop:

Can a detox product cleanse your liver? Do the most marketed liver cleansing products containing dandelion or milk thistle do the trick? Do I even need to answer this question?! To “detox", is to be hospitalised for dangerous levels of toxins such as alcohol, chemicals (eg. lead, mercury or BPA in plastics), or drugs and poisons. I worked in "detox" for 10 years. Real detox, where people were dependant on drugs and/or alcohol and were unwell. Really really unwell.

The best cleanse, is a healthy well-balanced diet. Not expensive over the counter remedies that make unsubstantiated claims. Disappointingly there are no magic pills or potions, just plain old healthy eating.

The liver is one of the largest organs in the body, stores stuff like vitamins, minerals and carbohydrates (glycogen) for when they’re needed. Glycogen converts to glucose - which our brain requires as fuel. The liver also metabolises (breaks down) toxins, and eliminates them from the body. For example, excess consumption of any particular food, such as protein, can be dangerous to the liver.

This great new series is called “science or snake oil”. Thanks to The Conversation!