Nutrition hasn’t always been my strong suit. As a teenager I experienced somewhat anorexic ideas of consumption meaning the less I ate the better. It wasn’t until I had limited myself to 137 calories a day and my weight dropped to 6 1/2 stone – a little over half the weight I am now – that I realised maybe, just maybe it was becoming an issue. Now don’t go worrying about me, I’m all good but it took a lo-ooo-ong while for me to see food as something other than a controller or to be controlled.
So when ESSE advised they were
holding a nutrition talk completely free of charge I signed up to see what more
I might have to learn. Esse is a boutique shop
and spa just off the A10. I was treated to a coffee and a wander
around the shop and couldn't help but notice all the items for sale on pretty much every single shelf,
staircase and wall space. Over hearing a
customer getting a makeover say “I don’t like red lipstick...on anyone” me and
my MAC True Red
decided it was time to find where the talk was to be given.
The Nutritionist, Claire Thornton
runs Glow Nutrition and has worked with an established celebrity well known for his stance on food and
nutrition. She's also quite the clever clogs with an MSc and BSc (Hons) as well as being registered on the UKVRN and a member of The Nutrition Society of Great Britain and SENSE
Nutritionists. All this and she’s not yet 30, but we can’t hate on her cos she’s actually quite lovely and had many interesting titbits of information on food and nutrition. Like what you say? Well seeing as you asked...
The five food groups These
are Protein, Fats, Carbohydrates, Dairy and Fruit and Veg. We need all 5 at some point in the week so eliminating
any is a no-no. Did you know that the brain
can only use glucose from carbohydrates
as energy? This means cutting out bread and potatoes makes you dumb. My assessment, not Claire’s.
There’s no such thing as a super
food It’s simply a marketing term. The foods that are often highlighted
as ‘superfoods’ are in fact just well-known healthy foods. Booooo!
Smoothies only count as 2 of
your 5 a day, no matter how
many types of fruit or veg you add to it. Okay this one was a particular annoyance to
me so I checked with another nutritionist who works at Addenbrookes Hospital GOOS study. And unfortunately got the same answer “By blitzing fruit and veg you
reduce the amount of fibre and increase the amount of non
milk extrinsic sugars in the end result. The reason we are advised to eat 5 a day is really
for the fibre content that fruit and veg supplies". She continued "most organisations have estimated that a
general smoothie will only provide the equivalent of approx. 2 a day”. What a bummer eh?
Omega-3 Fatty acids are a
particular source of awesome. These
are usually found in oily fish. You can
get some in plants and nuts but they aren’t converted as well or as
easily as the ones found in the fish. So
you’re basically on a back foot if you’re not supping our scaly friends - Sorry
Chris.
Get your 40 winks A good night’s sleep does more than just
make you less of a grouch the next morning. Chemically speaking it also aids the release
of leptin. This is the hormone produced
by our fat cells and it tells us when we’re full and when we’re hungry. If we have less leptin in our bodies we will
feel less full and vice versa (when we feel full it means we have more leptin
circulating). My Addenbrookes contact
confirmed “there are studies suggesting being sleep deprived can result in a
lower leptin level".
Think you’re hungry? Think again.
Apparently we can be mistake thirst for hunger.
As the brain is 73% water this is like filling a fountain with jelly and
then wondering why it’s not flowing properly.
Claire ended the presentation with a small sales pitch which included a
video of Adrianna Lima, a model who eats holistially (as Claire recommends). Though it's a great example of how consuming this way can work, it seems a tad unattainable – it’s not
like we all have a slow motion or wind machine following our every move you
know. That said it didn’t seem to matter
as most of the ladies confessed to not knowing who she was anyway. Due to my love of Victoria Secret underwear and their shows
I found myself in the unusual position of being ahead of the curve here, which made for a nice change.
Claire was insightful and engaging and though
I’m more than a tad annoyed about the smoothie thing, I'm choosing not to hold that
against her personally, I'm good like that. I guess this
healthy eating malarkey is at least worth a shot, especially if I could end up looking anything like
this!
Do you have any nutrition tips?
No comments
Post a Comment