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Holiday Eating Checklist
How to have a wonderful holiday without sacrificing your health goals.
It's holiday season and I hope that you have some lovely plans. Holidays can be an opportunity to disconnect and relax but they can also be a time when your food choices are less than ideal.
Download my Free 'Summer Eating Checklist' to find out what YOUR perfect holiday needs to include (and what you can jettison); and some simple principles on healthy eating so that you have a lovely rejuvenating break and can return to 'normal' routine without regret or guilt.
Love Yourself, Nourish Yourself
I read years ago of a small trick to start the day well. Each morning look in the mirror and kiss the back of each hand and say "I love you". It sounds stupid and twee, but I find it quite powerful and the central idea of loving yourself forms the backbone of my practice as a nutritionist.
Feeding yourself well is the best form of self care.
The 94 year old clinical psychologist (and holocaust survivor), Dr Edith Eger, wrote something beautiful in her book "The Gift" (read it if you haven't already!):
"We are planted here and if we plant something, we've got to watch how we water it. How do you treat yourself? Are you eating well? Are you really loving yourself? Self love is self care and there will never be another you.” A wise woman; I couldn’t put it better myself!
Nurture Your Gut Microbiome
It sounds like a bad science fiction film but there are billions of microscopic microbes living inside your large intestine. If you are lucky you will have a whole crop of happy little bugs munching away on the remains of the food after it has been through the rest of your digestive system.
These bugs, the "microbiome" are the subject of a huge number of current scientific studies. Each study finds something more remarkable than the last.
The microbiome makes 90% of serotonin (the "happy hormone"), and 85% of our immunity is in the gut (via T cells and B cells).
Happy gut microbiome equals happy body. This is why I often work with clients on their gut health even though they may not think their gut health is related to their health issue.
Nurture your gut microbes like you would a plant. Feed them. They love fibre and fermented foods (which are
packed full of more microbial bug friends).
Yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut (fermented cabbage – much nicer than it sounds! – more like a pickle), kimchi (fermented cabbage - Japanese style), kombucha (fermented tea), miso (fermented soy, like tempe), artisan cheese – all have different species of microbes so choose a variety. Be careful not to buy ones with vinegar in them as this will have killed off the microbes.
Have a small amount every day rather than a feast once a week – as we know that these microbes die out. Keep a few fermented foods in your fridge so you can regularly add them into your daily routine.
Why You Should Eat A Variety of Plants
Polyphenols used to be called anti-oxidants and they are a group of over 1000 different chemicals found in plants – at different levels in different plants.
They are actually pretty useful to the plant as they are their defence chemicals that they use to defend themselves against sun or insect attacks.
There are particularly high levels in brightly coloured foods, bitter foods, and in complex foods – coffee, dark chocolate (the cocoa part not the sugar part!), red wine, extra virgin olive oil, nuts, berries, seeds.
We now know that these polyphenols are useful to us because they feed our gut microbiome. The microbes in our guts convert the polyphenols into other healthy chemicals. The chemicals then are absorbed into our blood stream and dampen down inflammation and keep us healthy.
This is one of the reasons why there is a huge difference between, for example, a highly refined vegetable oil than an Extra Virgin Olive Oil; between milk chocolate and dark chocolate.
Eat as much variety of plants as you can to benefit from the full range of polyphenols. Eating 30 different plants a week is the sweet point. How many do you manage?
Signs that you have a problem with Blood Sugar Regulation
Your body needs sugar. Glucose is its favourite type of energy. But too much can disrupt the carefully balanced chemical reactions that go on in your body.
Too much sugar in the blood leads the body to storing it as fat.
Too much sugar leads to symptoms such as:
💣Shakiness if meals are skipped or delayed.
💣Binging or uncontrolled eating
💣Excessive appetite
💣Needing to nap in afternoon
💣Regular headaches
💣Fatigue that is relieved by eating
💣Irritability, loss of concentration.
💣Problems with sleeping through the night.
These symptoms can progress to more severe issues such as insulin resistance and diabetes.
If you feel that you have some of these symptoms then take a careful look at what you've eaten today and see how you could replace some of the sugary/carbohydrate foods.
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