Fig Nutrition

18/08/2022

Did you know that keto diets are associated with a VERY high risk of kidney stones?
These are the reasons why we think this happens. Essentially, a keto diet is lacking in all the GOOD things that prevent kidney stones 🥕🍆🍉🍅🥝and tends to have too much of the stuff that causes them 🍗🍖🥓.
I know all the promises of a keto diet are alluring, but in the vast majority of cases, a keto diet is not backed by quality research and is not a long term solution. It is nearly impossible to follow super restrictive diets like this long term - plus, who wants to live like that!?
I'm all about finding SUSTAINABLE, delicious and realistic solutions and preventing kidney stones. I promise, it is possible! I do it every day for my students in Kidney Stone Nutrition School!
🔗 Click here to learn more Kidney Stone Nutrition School. My solution to finding a customized kidney stone prevention plan for YOU! https://kidneynutritionschool.thinkific.com/courses/kidney-stone-nutrition-school

28/06/2022

Giving some input this week for The Age, on the rising cost of healthy eating 💡💸❤️

New research reveals some of the most popular diets vary widely in cost. How does yours weigh up?

04/04/2022

Lucky enough to speak to Woman's Day and provide some of my top nutrition tips for when we are feeling stressed 💡❤️

24/01/2022

Is your veggie drawer a compost waiting room? Join the club. We waste a staggering amount of food every year in Australia.

15/12/2021

🎄❤️

With lots of events on at the end of the year, it can make cooking seem like a challenge. But rather than opting for takeaway, Accredited Practising Dietitian ( ) and media spokesperson for Dietitians Australia, Milly Smith from Fig Nutrition shares her festive season food hack to always have a quick-to-make, nutritious meal on hand:

“With more events on, people visiting, and all our other daily stressors, it can be a challenge to find time to prepare everyday meals. To help keep you going, aim to stock up on foods that can be quickly made into a meal. My top picks are frozen vegetables, microwave rice, salad mixes and tins of tuna.”

are full of food hacks just like this one! Connect with a dietitian near you via our search tool: https://member.dietitiansaustralia.org.au/faapd

11/12/2021

This bag of salty deliciousness has the word ‘vege’ in the name, so they’re totally wellness, right?

Well, did you know that plain old potato chips are ALSO made of, you know, a vegetable? It’s called the potato. Phwoah.

These are also made of vegetables, which is why they’ve been oh-so-clever and popped ‘vege’ in the name. They’re made of cassava, a starchy vegetable, then deep fried in sunflower oil then salted and flavoured.

They’re natural, but so are your normal Smiths potato chips and fancy-pants Kettle Honey Soy Chicken Chips. Cos you know...potato.

They boast less than 100 calories per serve but that’s for 20 mingy, stingy grams which only just fills my hand.

They’ve used ‘snack on the LITE side’ (notice the spelling LITE not LIGHT because they aren’t actually light in fat so they drop a letter so that they’re butt doesn’t get sued. Believe it or not there are regulations around this stuff that food companies have to adhere to). They’re a smidgen lower in fat than regular chips but it’s really not that big of a deal.

Of course, you can find these in the ‘Health Food’ aisle in the supermarket, because...you know, ‘Vege’ is in the name.

I can sit and smash a bag of these in a jiffy because they bring back happy memories of being 8 yrs old and mum having to go to the specialty hippie food shop in our small town to buy this ‘hot new health item’. They also taste delicious and I like to eat them.

But if you like your plain-old-regular Smiths chicken chips (that aren’t in the ‘health food’ aisle, or course), or the Kettle sour cream and chives, or a nostalgic bag of twisties, then go for those too cos there ain’t a hell of a lot of difference between these ‘vege’ chips and those frowned upon standard non-vege chips (even though they’re made of potato).

25/12/2020

❤️🎄

THIS FESTIVE SEASON ⠀
1. STICK TO REGULAR MEALS – Don’t skip meals! Just because you’re having Christmas lunch doesn’t mean you need to skip or restrict breakfast or dinner. We are less selective when hungry therefore skipping meals often leads to over consumption later! It’s counterproductive and silly! Don’t be silly 😜 ⠀
⠀ ⠀ ⠀
2. DRINK SMART – I’m personally not a fan of sugary drinks like soft drink or fruit juice. I recommend limiting the consumption of these drinks all yeah round! Where possible select no added sugar drinks or infused mineral water.
⠀
3. BE ALCOHOL AWARE – Why are people often never concerned about their alcohol consumption? People are often happy to knock back 3 to 4 (or more) alcoholic beverages without any problems. The recommendation of limiting alcohol consumption is NOT one to be frowned upon. Try selecting plain or sparkling water between alcoholic drinks to keep hydrated and to prevent drinking too much.
⠀
4. TIME FOR INDULGENCE, NOT EXCESS – First acknowledge that Christmas Day is the right time to indulge, but there is a difference between indulging and eating mindlessly to the point where you are uncomfortably full! People who do this often follow an all or nothing approach - don’t be that person 🙅🏻‍♀️. It is NORMAL to eat food over Christmas that you wouldn’t normally eat everyday, it is a celebration after all!
⠀ ⠀
5. KEEP ACTIVE – I don’t mean hit the gym or ‘walk off your food’. Most people however have extra time over the festive season, so utilise this time and make the effort to keep moving and active! Think evening walks, backyard or beach cricket or pool games. Whatever you do make it FUN!
⠀
6. REMEMBER WHAT YOU EAT EVERYDAY MATTERS MOST- Christmas only comes around once a year, so enjoy it without guilt or deprivation with your family and friends. Remember it is the DAILY choices we make rather than the small indulgences that matter. SO ENJOY 🙃!

24/12/2020

Merry Christmas 🎄

07/12/2020

Another lesson in marketing, the slight change in the wording on a product can make a difference to the quality of the product you are buying. Below is a great comparison of Greek Yoghurt vs Greek-Style Yoghurt 💡❤️

Here in Australia, you're likely to find two varieties ‘Greek’ yoghurt on the shelves – Greek yoghurt, and ‘Greek-style’ yoghurt.⁠
•
Despite the similar names (and similar branding), it's important to realise they're not the same.⁠
•
💡Short answer: Traditional Greek yoghurt is the better option.⁠
•
WHY?
✅Greek yoghurt is made by fermenting milk with live bacteria cultures. The yoghurt mixture is then strained, sometimes multiple times. This straining process is what gives the yoghurt a rich velvety texture because the liquid whey is removed.⁠
•
Greek-style yoghurt, on the other hand, has not been strained and often contains artificial thickeners such as gelatin and gum which are added to produce the same creamy texture, but with a longer shelf life.⁠
•
✅Traditional Greek yoghurt is our top pick because of its high protein content and low amount of preservatives. Traditional Greek yoghurt has no other ingredients apart from milk, sometimes cream and live cultures⁠.
•
Greek-style yoghurt can contain a number of ingredients including thickeners, stabilisers, gelatin, gum blends, preservatives and milk solids.⁠
•
Both are healthy options, but if you can choose between either, we recommend going with traditional Greek!😁

01/12/2020

Tis the season, happy December 🎄

You may have noticed it is also a time of year where people tend to comment more on appearance, may feel the need to get ‘summer ready’, or may feel stress about patterns they have fallen into during an unusual 2020.

Remember, these comments can have a big impact on the people around you. Including children. Below is a great guide to help nurture and nourish children’s body image and help them to build a positive relationship with food ❤️

A MUM's GUIDE TO TO NURTURING AND NOURISHING KIDS TO LOVE THEMSELVES AND HAVE A POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD

If you have ever been through body image distress, or seen it in others, you probably want to create an environment that encourages your children to have confidence in themselves, and eat food without the hang-ups. Here a few quick tips to help nurture and nourish you family in a positive way:-

1. Eat healthy meals together and have healthy foods and snacks available, but do not ban or make a big deal about eating less nourishing items from time to time, be it part of a birthday party or a random Wednesday afternoon snack. Eating a wide range of food, can be a part of normal balanced eating, regardless of your child’s weight.

2. Eat family meals at table together at least once a day. This can be a great time to model normal eating, and discuss the ups and downs of the day.

3. Compliment and encourage your kids for trying hard at activities, rather than just praising achievements.

4. Discourage compliments that are just about looks, e.g. Grandma says “she is so beautiful”, you add another quality, “and brave, you should have seen it when…”

5. If you hear others making weight-based judgements in front of your kids (be it positive or negative), pull them up on it, or reframe the conversation away from weight, or discuss it with your older child at a later time. E.g. overheard “That (insert name) always looks (XYZ)”, you say “I don’t really care about her weight, I love how she (insert positive non -weight related comment here).

6. Do not allow weight-based teasing or bullying in your house. This includes your own comments toward yourself mumma- be kind to yourself and avoid making negative comments about your looks or in relation to food.

7. If your child is subject to weight-based teasing or bullying, work out a strategy together to help stop the bullying, talk to them about how they feel, and remind them of the truth i.e. that a person’s weight does not matter, there are so many other qualities in them and others that are way more important. And that usually bullies are feeling insecure themselves and just want to bring others down to make themselves feel better.

8. If you are a Christian family, talk to your child in an age-appropriate way about who they are to God, their inherent value and worth as a child of God, and how God see’s the heart of each individual, regardless of outward appearances. Remind yourself of this as well!

9. Try not to talk about weight, or size or dieting to lose weight in front of your children. - Discourage family and close family friends away from these discussions as well.

10. But what if you are dieting, you ask? Well, if you really must diet for one reason or another, and your children notice and comment, just say you are working with your doctor on a plan to help you with a specific health problem. Do not bring weight into the picture, and explain to them that healthy eating for kids is different than for people with this health problem.

11. Talk to your child about their feelings, and help them come up with ways to deal with overwhelming feelings without turning to food.

12. Talk to your older tween/ teen about the way media portrays (or does not portray) bodies of different sizes, colours, ages, gender, disabilities etc and discuss ways or examples that challenge any negative stereotypes.

13. Talk to your older tween/ teen about social media images, and discuss the differences between real life and staged/ edited / filtered images on social media.

14. Limit screen time in a way that works for your family.

15. Be physically active together as a family.

16. If your child has a weight problem, consider getting expert advice from your paediatric dietitian, without your child present in the first instance. That way we can assess all the behaviours and factors contributing, talk frankly about all the issues, and help you find ways to improve the food environment and daily routines, without causing them undue stress. As we progress through treatment, we may bring them into it, but often at first making some simple changes at home without too much fuss is a good starting point.

17. If you are worried your child has or is developing an eating disorder, get an assessment from your GP or paediatrician and seek a referral to a psychologist and dietitian experienced in this area

18. Give yourself a pat on the back for reading this far- you must really love your kids :)

19/07/2020

The overuse of the word processed has led to the term processed food being linked with ‘less nutritious’. Although this is true in some cases it is not a blanket rule, in fact food processing is an incredibly important function in aiding us to be able to eat the varieties of foods we are now able to 💡🍏🥑🍞

One thing we as dietitians and nutrition professionals have to get over is to stop using the word "processed" as a negative when it comes to food.
The processing of food can mean many things: making food edible, enriching and fortifying with needed vitamins and minerals, increasing food safety, and helping reduce food waste....

there are different levels and types of processing ...cooking, freezing, pasteurizing, drying...these are all ways foods are processed. Processed food are not necessarily high in sodium, fat or sugar. Choose your words carefully! https://www.eufic.org/en/food-production/article/processed-food-qa

15/06/2020

🍞🍚🥖

The short answer is very nutritious! 👌⁣
⁣
To be considered wholegrain, a food must include the entire grain seed, called the kernel, which consists of the bran, germ and endosperm. Examples of wholegrains include barley, bulgur, popcorn, oats, brown rice, buckwheat, millet, corn and quinoa. A diet high in wholegrains has been associated with a 20% reduced risk of bowel cancer and a 30% reduction in the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke. 🍿⁣
⁣
Refined grains, on the other hand, are often demonised. The difference between refined grains and whole grains is that refined grains have been milled, and are missing one or more of their three key parts (bran, germ or endosperm). This improves the shelf life, however, removes much of the fibre, iron and B-vitamins. This is why most refined grains are fortified with the vitamins and minerals that were lost in the refining process. Examples of refined grains include white rice, white flour, white potatoes and white bread. 🥔⁣
⁣
For most people, it is best to choose wholegrain options rather than refined grains most of the time due to the higher fibre and nutrient content of wholegrains. But both types of grains are nutritious and can be included within a balanced diet, so there is no need to fear or completely avoid refined grains. 🍚⁣
⁣
Thank you to Zack Wenger for his help with this post 😁⁣

19/05/2020

💡A great reminder, and a challenging concept to get our heads around at times (misleading marketing often adds to this 🤦🏼‍♀️).

The quality of the carbohydrates we are choosing does matter, and how a food is processed will impact the nutritional quality of that food. Even if it starts from the same ingredient 🍑🍊🍎

On my Instagram stories I recently asked you to tell me what you would like to me to compare next.

⠀

“Fruit vs lollies” was one request.

⠀

I get that fruit and lollies are both sources of carbohydrates but they are in no way comparable! Would you compare sweet potato with lollies? Didn’t think so! The quality of the carbohydrate matters. We cannot compare added sugar in lollies to the sugar intrinsically found in fruit, vegetables or dairy!

⠀

What are comparable in some way to lollies are ‘processed fruit snacks’ like the apricot bites shown above. Let’s start from fresh and work up the line of food processing for the options shown above.

⠀

Fresh apricots make an awesome nutrient dense, sweet fibre filled snack! If you have a larger appetite or prefer larger portions, fresh fruit will work best for you!
⠀ ⠀
Dried apricots like fresh apricots are nutrient dense but are a more energy (calorie) dense option when compared to fresh apricots.

⠀

Dried fruit works great for individuals :
✔️ looking for more calories in a smaller volume. The smaller volume makes it is easier to consume a larger amount of fruit serves in a comparatively small volume to fresh fruit.
✔️Who have higher energy needs
✔️With smaller appetites struggling to consume adequate amounts to meet their daily energy requirements.
✔️Looking for a source of non-haem Iron (plant based iron). A great option for people following a vegan/vegetarian diet.

⠀

Did you know - Unlike fresh apricots, dry apricots are a great source of non haem iron. An advantage thanks to food processing!

⠀

Apricot bites usually provide approximately 50% (or less) apricot, various forms of sugar (usually within the first 3 ingredients - I counted 2 sources of added sugar using the ingredients list for this option), vegetable oil and other add ins. They are extremely energy dense and provide very little nutritionally. For the general population I would pick them if you are having them as a lollie 🍬.

⠀

I’ll show you how they compare to lollies tomorrow 🙂

14/05/2020

💡 A great reminder. You cannot 'boost' your immune system with foods and supplements. Watch out for any product trying to sell itself this way and trying to tell you otherwise.

Forget kombucha and trendy vitamin supplements – they are nothing more than magic potions for the modern age.

15/04/2020

Are you isolating with children at home? 😴💪🏼

It can be challenging providing a calm environment for food intake, and incredibly tempting to bribe or reward children with certain foods. None of us are perfect, but remember that bribing or rewarding foods can lead to kids becoming more obsessive about them or seeking them out more frequently even if they don’t necessarily feel like them.

Offering them in a calm environment without the precedence of them being a reward/treat enables children to enjoy them how they feel like. Please see below 👇🏼 for a great example of this!

Nobody is perfect though, number one rule is to be proud that you are doing the best you can ❤️

Avoid creating a dessert obsessed child:

If you choose to, provide sweet or dessert items with the main meal. Yes, with the main meal! ...

Sure they'll probably eat the sweet food first, but that's ok they're no longer obsessed by the thought of it. If they ask for more, say "we're not having any more sweet foods now, you can eat your dinner".

Making dessert a glorified item after the meal further increases the desire for it. Eventually they will see all food as just food.

14/04/2020

If your routine has changed with the current isolation requirements, don’t forget to check in with your bowels ❤️💩💡

Some people may be experiencing sluggish bowels or constipation at the moment due to changes in activity levels related to social distancing, stress due to the current situation or a reduction on fibre intake depending on what food you have available and how long you are trying to make this last for.
If this is an issue for you think about the 3 Fs plus stress relief & relaxation activities - are there any realistic ways you can increase these in your life at the moment?

13/04/2020

Sorry for the absense, Fig is still here!! 👋

Fig Nutrition has been a bit absent on your feed recently as I try and adapt to the new social climate.

To help support your health and nutrition needs in this time I have been up-skilling in the world of Telehealth. Although I am still available in both clinics for face-to-face consultations, I am encouraging patients to book in for a Telehealth (via Zoom) or telephone consultation. With the changes in medicare item numbers, I am now able to bulk bill any Telehealth (Zoom or phone) consultation for a patient with a current GP enhanced primary care plan or eating disorder management plan. Private health rebates may also be available (please check with your provider).

If you have any questions regarding this please get in touch! 📧☎️

Take care and stay safe,

Milly x

30/03/2020

💡💡

If you think that dietitians are the ones who are recommending kale smoothies for immunity or alkaline diets to eliminate viruses you couldn’t be more wrong.
🧑🏼‍⚕️
We’re the ones you’ll be seeing if you get really sick and end up in hospital. We’re the ones prescribing tube feeds in intensive care. We’re the ones finding solutions to meet people’s nutritional requirements when they’re suffering the most.
👨🏽‍⚕️
The role of nutrition professionals has been massively blurred over the last few years and I am SO PROUD to be part of the profession that is on the front line and can make a difference during this crisis.
👩🏻‍⚕️
Dietitians are the only nutrition professionals who are licensed to work in the NHS because we’re the only ones who are trained to work with sick people.
🧑🏾‍⚕️
Thank you to all dietitians working in hospitals at the moment, we’re so lucky to have you and I am sorry that we’re still so poorly recognised. 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

Build Up Dietitians

**this post is in no way intended to devalue the work of registered nutritionists who are also not kale pushers. This is purely about the work of dietitians at this difficult time.**