People would rather talk sex (and STDs!) versus poop

I look thrilled

Last week, I spent the better part of a day talking about IBS. IBS stands for Irritable Bowel Syndrome and there are two types IBS-C and IBS-D. C and D stand for constipation and diarrhea lest you think my work is glamorous. The panel I was on had a GI doctor (who developed the IBS survey yielding the info in the title), a psychologist and me. Oh, and Wendy Williams was the host and moderator.

I’m going to digress for a minute to note that Wendy Williams has lost a lot of weight, like 50 or 75 pounds so I was a little taken aback when she walked into our rehearsal. She made the discussion livelier and played video of people on the Santa Monica pier being interviewed about their bowel habits. 

My big head

Some salient suggestions for GI problems:

Keep a food journal- I know it’s almost required as a nutritionist for me to suggest this. It's imperative with GI issues in order to determine your personal food triggers.

Some common IBS triggers are fried foods, gluten, sweeteners, chocolate, carbonation and caffeine. However, this is very individual.

Eat fermented foods- not only do these foods (yogurt, fermented cottage cheese, kombucha, kimchi) contain probiotics which can reduce gas and bloating BUT fermentation makes foods more bioavailable and nutritious. Yes, nutrients are produced in the fermentation process.

You should eat fermented foods even if you take a probiotic supplement.

Take vitamin D- there are so many reasons to take vitamin D3 but 82% of people with IBS don’t get enough D.

Beware of your basics- many people come to me with questions about obscure supplements. For constipation, for example, start with getting enough fluids (warm fluids best if binded) and doing vigorous, standing exercise such as running or rebounding. Make sure you're doing the basic, easy behaviors before getting fancy.

Talk to someone on your healthcare team about GI issues especially if they are impacting your social or work life.

On a personal  "GI" note, I’m a big fan of magnesium, kiwis, cocochia and adore my squatty potty, see- it’s easy to share. Any "pressing" digestion questions?

New! Food Labels and Foodtrainers' must-have item for summer

via CNN

Have you heard? There’s a new Nutrition Facts label but this newness will not be implemented until 2018. FLOTUS announced the changes in Washington on Friday. The labels have the sugar people (how do they sleep at night?) freaking. You see, there’s a new listing for added sugar and a % of daily value. So, using Coke as an example, label would read: 65 grams of added sugar and 130% the amount of sugar you should have in a day.  The Sugar Association/ other sugar bad guys are saying added sugar is not different than naturally occurring sugar. Are they missing the point? We cannot control how much fructose is in an apple (well that’s another story) but apples aren’t this country’s problem.

Personally, I’m not thrilled with grams of sugar. Most people cannot identify with grams; teaspoons would’ve been better. Instead of 65 grams, how about listing over 16 teaspoons in that Coke? And daily values are based on 50 grams a day (12.5 teaspoons) still seems like a lot. While we know Coke is sweet, hopefully this provides incentive for companies to pull sugar from places it doesn’t have to be (salad dressing, bread, tomato sauce etc).

Aside from sugar, serving sizes on new labels will also be different. I have mixed feelings about this one. On one hand, it’s good for people to see that nutrition information for 2/3 cup of ice cream; nobody eats the ½ cup serving previously used. However, it’s a slippery slope if we designate serving sizes based on what Americans eat (a pint). Another positive change is that manufacturers will have to list amounts of Vitamin D, as most Americans do not get enough D.

In other news, we have summer on our minds. Have you seen our new tote bags?

In case you think we’re being hypocritical, 1 glass (3.5oz) of rosè comes in at a little over 1 g (1/4 teaspoon) of sugar. We like a small pour but even if you’re saying that serving size needs adjusting it’s still not high in sugar. Another fun fact, cheaper wine has more RS (residual sugar). Look, it’s not a health food but summer weekends? EAT PLAY ROSÈ.

What do you think of new food labels? Or what about our bags? Let us know.

More reasons to skip skim (in case grey coffee isn't reason enough)

We’ve said it before…if you do dairy (and we do), you have to skip the skim. It’s better for your weight, your skin, your bones and your fertility. Recent research adds further evidence to our skim-stance. A study published in Circulation analyzed the blood of 3,333 adults for 15 years. It’s difficult to “skim” over (had to) their findings.  People who consumed more full-fat dairy had a 46% decreased risk of getting diabetes. Another study published in the American Journal of Nutrition looked at obesity risk with full fat versus low fat dairy among 18,438 female participants. Those who consumed the most full-fat dairy products lowered their risk of being overweight or obese by 8%.

At Foodtrainers, we believe fat makes you thin. Fat keeps you full. It’s crucial for your skin, hair, nails and Vitamin D absorption. Cutting back on calories by cutting out fat typically results in eating more sugar/carb calories. And when your sugar and carbs increase your body stores more fat (remember the “fat free” 90s?).

Aside from skipping skim, fermented dairy is your best bet.  Fermented dairy contains probiotics that help your weight, cravings and mood.  These good bacteria break down some of the lactose. If you find dairy difficult to digest, fermented dairy may be easier. We adore four percent Siggi’s yogurt, Maple Hill Creamery plain kefir and Nancy’s (probiotic) cottage cheese. And it’s not fermented but Ronnybrook’s half and half and their glass bottles make life better.

Hate to say we told you so (well before fat was where it's at), but PLEASE skip the skim and grey coffee… you’re welcome. 

Speaking of dairy, Lauren and I are checking out a new cheese headquarters this week… details to follow!

My must-haves for healthy travel

Monday we sent out our Spring break newsletter. If you placed an order, be patient. Many people did (thank you) and my partner in food crime, Carolyn, is conveniently Spring Breaking in Cartagena.

I’m going away late next week (thank fucking god). This week I’ve been readying clients for their trips (I love hearing where people are going).  So what do I bring?

Green juice/airplane meal- I am obsessive about both starting a trip on track healthfully and avoiding plane food. Chugging a green juice while I wait on the security line and bringing a kale salad or and avocado sandwich on Paleo or gluten free bakery bread are my staples. Who knows what lies ahead, control what you can.

In flight- I’m very ritualistic which is the best euphemism for compulsive. I bring my Wakaya for when the drink cart comes around. Generally I’ll get hot water. If it’s an overnight flight this may be Wakaya/vodka (feel free to judge). 

Vitamins- many people leave these at home and I feel they’re even more important away. Chances are, you probably will not have many probiotic foods (I take cocochia and Sunbiotic almonds for this reason) or may wear sunscreen thus blocking vitamin D potential- use the sunscreen, pack D drops if that was unclear.

Vacation Constipation (VC) maybe it's because my diet is pretty consistent at home or my body’s regulated or I was told once my colon was sluggish (so I have colon insecurity now, I hate anything sluggish) but VC sucks. My family jokes about my digestion away. So I take preemptive action. Natural calm, triphala, probiotics, chia are in my Food First Aid Kit.

For more ideas and newness check out the newsletter. And if you’d like to place an order here’s our store link. 

 **NYC orders can be filled within 24 hours on weekdays.

What do you pack in your Food First Aid Kit? What are your biggest food challenges away? 

Feeling frazzled or fat? Try this.

I didn't mean try this (photo)

Last week, I was the guest on Sarah Stanley’s Wellness Chat; the topic was Breaking Old Holiday Habits. I know some of you were busy (this time of year I can’t imagine why) and others do not tweet (many of my friends it seems are twittersaurs) so I thought I’d give you the gist of what we discussed.

You don’t need me to tell you holidays are hard. There’s spending and anxiety about dept. Then the cold and darkness can cause mood to take a serious dip. Some of us are too busy with parties and travel and others are lonely. It’s really the perfect storm for emotional eating, so what do?

Watch ProcrastinEATing. Procrastineating = “when I get home from this trip I’ll exercise" or,“on Monday I’ll get bag on the wagon” or this time of year January 1^st resolutions beckon. When you feel yourself postponing your wellness ask yourself what you can do now, some ideas:

Fill a water bottle, loving these new bigger Bars

Wear your Fitbit; I have the flex dying for the force model.

Drop and do push ups; try for 10 real ones.

Rather than spending all your energy at treat avoidance how about a Green Day?

Goal: for one day have something (naturally) green at each meal. For example a green juice or omega 3 eggs with kale or spinach for breakfast.

I loved this juice.

Pre-tox- are you in NYC on 12/30? Spin, Sweat and Prep for New Year’s Eve with a special ride hosted by Foodtrainers. Get a sneak preview of, The Little Book of Thin and insider tips of how to enjoy the biggest party of the year without wreaking havoc on your body.  6:30 pm, Swerve Fitness be there or be square (or maybe rounder)

From pre-exercising to the Pre-Eat. When I tell clients to Pre Eat I get the same look from clients my kids give me when I tell them to wear a hat.  “Do I really have to?” They do if they don’t want to freeze or get sick (is that a myth?) and you do if you don’t want to overeat or gain weight. Fill a nutcase with seeds or nuts and have it 30 to 60 minutes before the party or. Holiday dinner.

Ah Gingersnap Organics, how I love the Go Chili seeds

If the winter blues are setting in, double your D. Especially in Northern latitudes, we’re not getting any D from the sun. Try 2,000 IUs or International Units. Vitamin D is important for appetite control, mood and immunity. These little Blue Bonnet bottles can go in your desk drawer or makeup case.

And some promising holiday news, the “Holiday 5” or tendency to pile on the pounds this time of year is a myth. Average weight people tend to gain less than a kilogram (2.2 pounds) despite feeling like we gained more. If you’re overweight the statistics are a little less cheerful. Come January 1^st if you’re looking to make changes or did procrastinEat you know what to do, sorry tis the season for me and my “Little Book”.

What do you find most stressful this time of year? Are you a procrastinEATer or pre eater? Do you take Vitamin D, which brand?

Happy (and healthy) Holidays

Dairy: decrease or desist?

From Refinery29 article, link below

I was recently consulted for a Refinery29 article “No Whey: What Milk Really Does To Your Bod”. Dairy baffles many people that I thought I would review the dairy details.

Dairy Hierarchy

Not all dairy is the same. In any food category whether it’s carbs or soy sometimes you can tolerate or benefit from certain types versus others.  You probably know I’m anti skim milk; non-skim, fermented, organic dairy is very different from conventional, skimmed, subpar stuff. It’s important to be discriminatory with your dairy.

Fermented dairy is easier to digest and fermented foods can benefit you well beyond your immune system. Unlike Vegas, what happens in your gut doesn’t stay in your gut and probiotic foods have far reaching effects from your weight to your mood.

Additionally, goat and sheep dairy is often better tolerated. Anti dairy folks often point out that it’s unnatural for us to drink another animal’s milk.  In the case of goat and sheep’s milk it’s actually most similar to human breast milk in its makeup (I can’t decide if knowing this makes it more or less appealing). While lactose slightly lower in goat or sheep versus cow it’s really the casein content that makes the difference. Furthermore there are higher levels of MCTs (same type of fats in coconut milk) in goat and sheep versus cow milk. There’s a great sheep’s milk company called Old Chatham. Their ginger yogurt is amazing.

And unless you find antibiotics, added hormones and inferior nutrition appealing…if nothing else all dairy you purchase should be organic. You can make the argument that you can wash (not that this makes it pesticide free) an apple; you can’t wash your yogurt. A study on 3^rd graders in another country showed their hormone levels soared after a month on US, conventional milk, enough said.

Pro Dairy

A case can be made that dairy helps with PMS symptoms (do you recall the California Milk Board’s ad geared toward men “living with PMS”? oy those caused a little bit of a backlash). Full fat dairy is associated with less fat around the waist or midsection, decreased likelihood of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. This is due to a fatty acid called palmitoleic. I expect we’ll be hearing more about this. And men who strength train may be able to get more muscular with dairy in their diets.

Dairy Drawbacks

If you look up the important research from Dr Davaasambu (what a name), you will see studies linking milk consumption to a host of cancers. The proposed reasoning is that cows are being milked more days per year, often when pregnant when levels of certain hormones are higher.

In terms of digestion, while many point to lactose as a source of tummy troubles, there’s another potential covert culprit and that’s casein. Casein is a protein in milk (I mentioned it earlier with sheep/goat dairy) that many people, especially those who have problems with gluten, do not do well with.

If a client presents with sinus symptoms and allergies or certain skin conditions, I consider advising them to experiment with ditching dairy.

Bones When it comes to bone health, if you’re only keyed in on calcium you’re missing the “bone” boat. We need calcium but it doesn’t have to come from dairy think about sardines, greens and beans. Having enough Vitamin D seems to be way more important than supplementing calcium. Additionally there’s magnesium sort of a sly player in the osteoporosis game.

Alternatives

There are a host of “alternative” milks from almond to cashew to coconut and nut milk is very easy to make (and delicious).If you choose to purchase nut milk make sure there’s no carrageenan in the ingredient list. In NYC, OMilk makes fantastic small-batch nut milks in fun flavors.

I think it’s important to think about your diet, your goals and consider whether you need dairy and how much; there’s certainly no need to overload on it.  It’s no coincidence that as I googled dairy MyPlate and Dairy Counsels etc. came up. There’s this conventional “wisdom” or belief that we need lots of dairy to be a healthy and further that we should look for fat free and low fat sources. I would challenge both of those ideas. And our ability to digest dairy decreases with age so what worked at 20 may not at 50, reassess.

Do you eat dairy? How much and which types? Have you considered decreasing or desisting?

Screw the Flu (Before it Screws You)

I was cocky. Last weekend, my friend emailed to inform me she was a member of a flu family. Her son, came home from school Friday with the pukes, the shakes…the whole compendium of flu nastiness. She was emailing me because her son and my little guy “are attached”. I appreciated the heads up, asked my son how he was feeling but totally tempted flu fate thinking “we’ve never had the flu, never do flu shots, we’re hardly ever sick.” So you know what happened next.  I spent the night Sunday with a boy with such a high fever my washcloth-compresses were coming of his body burning hot. As Stephen King said, “there is no bitch on earth like a mother frightened for her kids.”

As determined as I was not to let the mean nasty virus near the rest of my family, I didn’t want to “fight” the flu as many articles suggest. As a germ-coward I am not interested in a “bug” brawl. Instead, I was seeking flu elusion. Below you'll find my strategy.

Astragalus- start day with a dropper of astragalus tincture in shot glass of water. Perhaps shot glasses are inappropriate for 8 and 10 year olds. I envision their first bar experience where they see shots poured and think “I wonder if that’s astragalus or E3Live? " Ah nutri-damage. Astragalus boosts your immune system to fight the flu.

Matcha is to green tea what spinning is to the stationary bike. Matcha is a powdered green tea, with a delicious sweet taste and nutrient profile. It’s contains both Vitamin C and zinc and a host of immune boosting phytochemicals. You can add it to smoothies or make it traditionally whisked into hot water. This is a great tutorial video to get you started. I love David’s tea but use an organic matcha called Do Matcha.

Vitamin D- Vitamin D3 decreases incidence of the flu in both adults and children. Carlson and Blue Bonnet are great brands; their liquid Vitamin D is very easy to take and tolerate.

looks like a smaller ginger with this beautiful orange color when sliced

Turmeric- if you haven’t used fresh turmeric, now may be the time. It has potent antibacterial and antiviral properties. Try blending it with fruit, protein powder such as Sun Warrior, almond milk and honey or stevia for a delicious breakfast. It’s also delicious with vegetables: this week I heated some Jungle Products coconut oil  (also an immune booster) added garlic (garlic can destroy the flu virus toss in your juicer or add to salad dressings), ginger an turmeric (grated with microplane) and allowed this to heat for a couple of minutes. I then tossed in some sliced bok choy, a dash of fish sauce and a sprinkle coconut flower sugar.

Other flu eluders include cinnamon, miso, papaya, leafy greens and mushrooms. And though I’m not a Purell fan, we’re loyal Clean Well customers. I don't want to say anything but there's only been one flu victim in our family so far...

How are you faring this flu season? What are your go-to flu eluders? Have you had a flu shot?