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This newsletter is devoted to improving your nutrition and your health one step at a time. By making small changes in your lifestyle, you can make big improvements in your health. Enjoy!
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Kathy Westover MA, MNT, CFMHC
Nationally Board Certified in Holistic Nutrition®
December 2016
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Monthly Spotlight:
Catching up with Kathy
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Happy New Year everyone,
It seems like only yesterday that I was writing to you to let you know I would be starting a yearlong program to become a
Certified Functional Medicine Health Coach
...twelve short months later, I now have my FMHC certification. Whoa...time flies when you are having fun! It was a great program; I met so many wonderful practitioners that see the world the way I do and I learned to listen differently to my clients and really hear them when they describe their healthcare goals and concerns. I loved being back in a learning environment again. Since the program was international and completely online, I learned about so many of the new online technologies that are available. I am hoping to use a few of them in the months to come. For instance, the web communication tool, "Zoom", offers a really effective way to offer classes and webinars that would come directly to your home or office. I plan on incorporating this into my services very soon.
As you might guess, I also took time this year to do some heavy research into the newest nutritional trends. Since this is the beginning of a new year, I thought I would highlight three of the most provocative trends that are at the heart of the newest research on
Anti-Aging --
a popular topic as the American population is top-heavy with us baby boomers.
These cutting-edge tips should help you start off your year with a bang! In this newsletter I will focus on one of the hottest topics that everyone is talking about: "intermittent fasting".
In health, Kathy
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New Years Tip #1: Consider Eating Less Often
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Wait a minute...what happened to the universal recommendation to eat six small meals per day?The new research is really shattering this old idea. Due to the Paleo trend, "intermittent fasting" has been in the limelight lately. It seems like every health conscious website has been touting the benefits of skipping a meal now and then. Here is what we know:
- "Eating six small meals per day" (which is still recommended by many trainers and doctors) is a cast off from the conventional diabetes protocol to help balance blood sugar. What it actually does is raise insulin, which is the real culprit in blood sugar metabolism problems, increased inflammation, and fat storage.
- The human GI tract is not built to process food quickly, so by eating every few hours we are actually taxing the system. Many of the digestive complaints that are common in our society are caused or exacerbated by the GI tract having to be constantly processing food. Intermittent fasting gives the system a break.
- Eating small meals all day encourages the need for a carbohydrate-heavy diet. Carbs break down into glucose and glucose is metabolized into fuel in about two hours. When we are "sugar-burners" we are always hungry, needing to "refuel" every two hours. The other fuel that is more sustainable and cleaner burning than glucose is healthy fat, such as nuts and seeds, avocados, and coconut oil. (See a list of healthy fats at the end of this article). Fat is a longer burning fuel, which does not create constant hunger. Becoming a fat-burner will improve your cognition, energy, and weight. Mark Hyman's book, Eat Fat, Get Thin, explains this concept in a great, easy to read way.
- Research has shown that inflammation, digestive problems, and hormone imbalance are all improved by having at least a full twelve-hour fasting period every day, i.e. "breaking your fast" at 6:00 a.m. and eating the last meal at 6:00 p.m. I suggest, as do many holistic healthcare practitioners, that you tighten up the "feasting" period to be even shorter. One easy way to improve metabolism is to eat only during an eight-hour window...say 10:00 to 6:00. Typically, I skip breakfast (I often have butter coffee, sometimes called "Bullet Proof" coffee...see recipe below) and then eat lunch between 11:00 and 1:00, then dinner around 7:00. I do not eat after dinner (that is the kiss of death for metabolic problems!)
links to research:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27899768
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27687742
So to start off your New Year by trying a few days a week of intermittent fasting and increasing healthy fats in all meals. This will give your GI tract a break, create sustained energy, balance blood sugar, and help you attain a healthy weight.
The next
To Your Health! E-newsletter will focus on fine-tuning your macronutrient (Carb/Protein/Fat) ratio. We will also take a look at a new biochemical discovery that is popping up in the all the anti-aging research,
mechanistic target of rapamycin or mTOR. mTOR is a protein storage messenger in the body. Managing mTOR levels is the newest target in the anti-aging healthcare spotlight. See you soon!
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Healthy fat is really easy...it is the fat found in "full-fat foods"...if the fat is highly processed (canola or safflower oil), in packaged foods (cookies, crackers, etc) or fried (French fries, blooming onions) it is NOT healthy.
Here are some suggestions:
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Coconut products: oil, full-fat milk, and cream
·Organic b
utter/ghee
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Olive oil (other non-processed oils like avocado, hazelnut, grapeseed, etc)
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Avocado (guacamole)
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Well-made sausage, bacon, and other fatty meats
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Wild-caught cold water fish, such as salmon, sardines, and mackerel
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Nuts, seeds and Nut butters
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Full fat dairy
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Healthy mayonnaise (avocado oil, olive oil)
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Olives
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Dark chocolate (1-2 squares)
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Bone broth, homemade
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Quick and Easy Recipe
Butter Coffee
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No need to go buy "Bullet Proof" ingredients (although the Bullet Proof brand is very good...it is also very expensive). I use organic ingredients that you can find at the grocery store.
INGREDIENTS
1
Cup Coffee 1 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter 1 Tbsp. Coconut Oil 1 Tbsp. Heavy Cream or Coconut Cream A few dashes of Seasonings of your choice
INSTRUCTIONS
1.
Brew a cup worth of coffee and put into a large container. I use a large measuring cup.
2.
Cut 1 Tbsp. of butter. Drop your butter into the coffee and watch it ooze.
3.
Measure out 1 Tbsp. of coconut oil and plunk that it into your coffee also.
4.
Last but not least, add the 1 Tbsp. of heavy cream or coconut cream. This adds a great creaminess to the coffee.
5.
You are welcome to add some ingredients of your choice to change the flavor. Try ground cinnamon, nutmeg,
cardamon
, or allspice with a drop or two of liquid stevia.
6. Blend
it all together very well using a blender or Nutribullet. Don't forget this step...this will make it like a latté.
Yields 1 total serving.
Per serving, it comes out to:
273 Calories 30g Fats, 1g Net Carbs, and 0g Protein.
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Kathy Westover, MA, MNT
Nationally Board Certified in Holistic Nutrition®
To Your Health!Nutrition | 970-224-2310
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Copyright © 2016. All Rights Reserved.
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