Elitsa Dineva - Holistic Nutritionist

02/10/2023

How can you naturally get rid of Candida overgrowth through diet and lifestyle changes?

There are 3 main steps to follow when you want to minimize Candida overgrowth with a natural approach:

👉Do not feed the yeasts foods upon which they thrive. Follow the Candida diet.
👉Reduce yeast growth through natural agents.
👉Re-establish normal intestinal flora.

❗️I would also add one more rule that is highly important when dealing with Candida, and that is lowering stress. Remember, stress is one of the main factors that contributes to yeast overgrowth!

❗️❗️Before you start your journey towards reducing Candida, keep in mind the following:
👉You need to be physically and mentally prepared for the elimination program. 👉👉Following the program along with taking natural antifungal agents can cause you to experience die-off symptoms from killing the yeast. This detoxification process may make you feel worse before you feel better, and you may experience flu-like symptoms such as headaches, body aches, abdominal distress, or worsening of your existing symptoms.

💥The Candida diet💥

👉Practice shows that you can starve away Candida by changing your dietary habits and restricting certain foods. The main rule here is 👉eliminate all foods the yeasts thrive upon. This includes all sugars, dairy products, refined carbohydrates, gluten, yeast-containing foods (including fermented foods), corn, and alcohol.

👉The idea behind a Candida diet is to limit or completely exclude foods that may promote Candida growth. Restricting certain foods also helps limit the growth of other unhealthy bacteria, not just yeast, which may help restore the balance of whole-gut and body flora. It is recommended to follow this diet for six months to a year.

Avoid:
👉Refined sugars.
Candida thrives on sugar. When you have Candida overgrowth, your body craves sugar as a way to continue to “feed” the Candida. Sugar has no nutritional value; it drains the body and overloads the pancreas, which controls blood sugar levels, thus weakening the immune system. Refined sugar can be found as sucrose, fructose, dextrose, brown sugar, glucose, evaporated cane juice, high-fructose corn syrup, lactose, and maltose.

👉Trans fats
Trans fats can disrupt the immune system function. As Candida overgrowth is already depressing the immune system, consuming trans fats makes it even easier for the yeast to grow and thrive. Trans fats can be found in any product that lists ‘partially hydrogenated’ or ‘hydrogenated’ oil among its ingredients. This means that the oil has been heated to a high temperature for the sole purpose of preserving the food product for a longer shelf life. Trans fats are found in pastries, breads, crackers, processed foods, microwave popcorn, chips, cookies, and margarines.

👉Refined carbohydrates
Refined carbohydrates coat the lining of the GI tract and could interfere with the process of absorbing nutrients and eliminating waste. They are irritants that could contribute to leaky gut syndrome and thus lead to inflammation, allergies, Candida overgrowth, celiac disease, and malnutrition.

👉Dairy products
The simple sugar galactose found in dairy products has been identified as a promoter of Candida adhesion to human cells. Lactose-containing dairy products are the main source of galactose.
Even though dairy does not directly feed Candida, it is a highly inflammatory food. Inflammation damages your gut lining. As people with Candida overgrowth often have leaky gut syndrome, this makes them more sensitive to casein, a protein in milk. This allows the yeast to continue escaping into the bloodstream, along with toxins, microbes, and other particles. Once all of these foreign particles enter the bloodstream, they contribute to inflammation as the immune system tries to neutralize the threats.

👉Alcohol
Alcohol contains sugar, which should be excluded from your diet during the elimination process. It also suppresses your immune system, and a strong immune system is needed to fight off toxins in your body and to keep the gut yeast population under control. Wine is also fermented, meaning it is made from yeast. And beer, which is also fermented, contains gluten. All of these factors contribute to Candida.

👉Gluten and grains
Gluten can be highly inflammatory. It can cause inflammation in the gut, worsen intestinal permeability, and can also worsen your Candida symptoms. It’s found in grains, and all grains are broken down into simple sugars during the digestive process, which can feed Candida. That’s why I recommend avoiding them completely (especially if you have an autoimmune condition) or at least minimizing your intake of them.

👉Fermented foods
Fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchi are great sources of probiotics, but they can also feed Candida. These are all healthful foods, however, I would recommend waiting until after the die-off phase of Candida removal before adding them back in to recolonize the microbiome. Keep in mind that certain probiotic supplements that contain prebiotics can also feed overgrowth. Therefore, I recommend focusing on minimizing Candida overgrowth with the help of your diet first and then using fermented foods to help restore the good bacteria.

👉Beans and other legumes
Even though beans and legumes provide great plant protein, they are starchy foods and feed Candida. Legumes can cause or worsen inflammation in many people because they contain agglutinins. Legumes can also be difficult to digest, which means there is more partially digested food in your gut. An overabundance of partially digested food in the intestinal tract contributes to bacterial overgrowth. I recommend minimizing legumes or eliminating them altogether.

👉Fruit, dried fruit, and fruit juice
Initially, fruit should be eliminated, or minimized to up to 1 or 2 pieces a day, and preferably sweeter fruit such as melons, bananas, and grapes should be avoided.
Although fruits can have anti-inflammatory properties and are rich in antioxidants, they are also high in sugar and would still feed Candida. Dried fruit and fruit juice can be a major contributor to Candida overgrowth. In addition to natural fruit sugars (which is still sugar, even though it’s natural), dried fruit and fruit juice are often full of added sugars as well. Therefore, I would highly recommend cutting out all dried fruit and fruit juice.

To be continued.. 😄

Have a wonderful week!☀☀☺️

25/09/2023

What is candida?

👉Candida albicans is a harmless yeast, a type of fungus, that lives naturally in everyone’s body. In a healthy body, it lives symbiotically in a balanced environment in the GI tract, on the mucous membranes, and on the skin.
👉Candida is a commensal organism (one that benefits from another organism without damaging or benefiting it) and is present in almost all human beings from birth. Thus, it can easily advantage of any weakness in the host. Unfortunately, this harmless yeast can sometimes easily overgrow, and thus turn into an opportunistic pathogen.

💥💥Interesting fact: Candida grows in colder, wetter climates and cannot thrive in hot, dry climates. Hence it tends to grow more in winter.

👉Candida overgrowth has been linked to a leaky gut (increased intestinal permeability). 👉It burrows its roots into the intestinal lining and creates a leaky gut which allows the fungus and its by-products to escape into the bloodstream.
👉Candida albicans is the most common human systemic pathogen, causing both mucosal and systematic infections, particularly in immunocompromised people.
👉A systemic fungal infection is called candidiasis.

💥💥Once Candida is in an overgrowth state, the body has to deal not only with the overgrowth but also with the toxic by-products, or mycotoxins.🤯 They weaken our immune system and can attack any organ system in our body. The attack is relentless, 24 hours a day, until treated.

💥💥One of the major toxins produced by Candida albicans is acetaldehyde. Candida floods the system with the toxin, which poisons the nervous system, joints, and muscles. It acts as a mitochondrial poison.
👉Acetaldehyde can affect metabolic, endocrine, and immune system function. It may interfere with receptors for acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter associated with memory, motor and autonomic function.
👉It also stimulates histamine release and so makes existing allergies and inflammation worse.
👉Examples of damage from acetaldehyde are impaired memory, ‘brain fog’, depression, lethargy and apathy, irritability, increased anxiety, and panic, decreased sensory acuity, increased tendency to alcohol and sugar, decreased s*x drive, and increased PMS.

💥💥Interesting facts: A good sign of acetaldehyde excess is sensitivity to fragrances and smells. Alcohol can make the symptoms of candidiasis worse because it is also broken down to acetaldehyde.

👉When the Candida fungus infects the mouth, it is called thrush. White sores form on the tongue and gums and inside the cheeks.
👉Candida infection may also take the form of an athlete’s foot or jock itch.
👉Systemic candidiasis is an overgrowth of Candida everywhere, throughout the body.
👉In the most severe cases, Candida can travel through the bloodstream to invade every organ system in the body, causing a type of blood poisoning called Candida septicemia. This condition almost always occurs in persons with serious underlying conditions, such as advanced cancer or following a severe burn injury.

👉Candidiasis may affect both men and women; however, it is rarely transmitted s*xually.
👉It is most common in babies (an infected mother may pass it to her newborn) and in persons with compromised immune systems. Because Candida grows it releases toxins that weaken the immune system even further.
👉Pregnancy and the use of corticosteroid drugs are other factors that increase the chance of developing Candida overgrowth.
👉Women develop Candida overgrowth more often when using oral contraceptives (most probably due to an increase in the amount of sugar/glycogen/ in the va**na induced by changing hormone levels).

👉Very often, people with Candida overgrowth also have food allergies.
👉Some people with candidiasis can also develop environmental sensitivities. Many cannot tolerate contact with rubber, petroleum products, to***co, exhaust fumes, or chemical odors.

Here are some factors that encourage Candida overgrowth:
☑️Antibiotics
☑️Steroids
☑️Birth control pills
☑️Estrogen replacement therapy
☑️Poor diet
☑️Chemotherapy
☑️Radiation
☑️Heavy metals
☑️Alcohol overuse
☑️Recreational drugs
☑️Stress

💥💥While candida overgrowth is far from a pleasant thing to have, there are ways you can get rid of it and prevent further growth. More on that 👉👉in my next post.

Have a great week!☺️☺️☀️

18/07/2023

Why did I choose to wear a CGM for a second time?

✨CGM stands for continuous glucose monitoring. CGMs are used by diabetics to help them manage diabetes. However, in the last couple of years, they’ve become more easily accessible to the general population thus giving people the opportunity to gain more knowledge and insight into how different factors impact their blood glucose levels.

✨I was simply curious to see how my body handles different foods - what foods (as well as meal timing and food combinations) may cause spikes in my glucose, how high is my carbohydrate tolerance, etc. 👉By knowing that, I can make modifications to my eating habits to obtain a more stable glucose curve.

✨I also wanted to gain insight into how other factors such as exercise, sleep (or lack of it), and stress affect my glucose levels in real time.

👉With that knowledge, I can also take steps to change my habits and my behavior. Behavior modifications are a powerful prevention strategy.😉

What are the things that have created a noticeable blood glucose spike on my CGM?⁣

👉Stress and poor sleep. I was surprised to notice that quite often in my sleep my blood sugar goes up and down, indicating that I am dealing with some psychological stress. 😕Stress prompts an elevation in cortisol, which in turn stimulates the liver to drip more glucose into the circulation.

👉High-intensity exercise as well as strength workouts cause glucose spikes. This knowledge was not new to me. However, I was still amazed to see the elevation of glucose after a harder workout. And I don’t worry about it because I know that it is due to the liver sending more glucose into the circulation to fuel my muscles. 🙂

👉Cherries🍒 also cause spikes, even after a meal. 😟Bananas🍌, however, do not. But everyone is different and specific foods would cause an elevation in blood glucose in some but not in others.

👉I tend to have bigger glucose spikes in the evening (after dinner). Throughout the day my blood glucose levels are pretty stable though.

✨✨Have you used a continuous glucose monitor? Would you consider trying it?😉

04/07/2023

How often do you carry heavy stuff? 😄

I implement carries into my workouts a few times each week.

✨Carrying shaped our species. Carrying stuff over long distances is one of the skills that define us as humans. Carrying is an amazing and simple way to build full-body strength and mental grit.

✨Our ancestors carried often. It gave them robust functional strength and endurance that was likely very protective.

✨Carrying helps you develop grip strength. Grip strength is important at all ages and is a great way to measure overall strength.

✨The classic farmer’s carry is one of the best ways to train grip strength. Simply walk for about a minute with a dumbbell or kettlebell in your hand. If you want to spice it up, try different positions of the weight such as overhead, front rack, etc.

👉That might shock you but...men should be able to carry half their body weight in each hand for at least one minute. 😄😉For women, the weight would be about 75 percent of that weight.

👉If you don't have weights at home, a good strategy to practice carries is to walk to the grocery store or the local market (not the closest one, of course 😉) and carry the groceries. By doing that you might as well become more conscious about your shopping list. 😜

26/06/2023

When we eat (no matter if we eat sugars, fats or protein), the food is broken down into glucose. Our blood glucose level then goes up.

With carbohydrates, in particular, blood glucose rises even more. As a response to the increased blood sugar, the pancreas secretes the hormone insulin.

👉Insulin has two important roles in metabolism:
➡It helps move and absorb sugar from our blood into our liver, muscle, fat, and other tissues and
➡it signals them to convert some of the sugar to body fat.

In this way, insulin helps prevent blood sugar levels from remaining too high. This process continues for up to 2 to 3 hours after we eat, every time we eat.

👉To the liver, insulin sends a signal to convert glucose into glycogen for storage. When glycogen stores reach their maximum level, increased insulin levels stimulate the conversion of glucose into triglycerides (fat) for long-term storage in fat cells.

👉Insulin also has an additional role as an adiposity signal to the brain. Circulating insulin enters the brain where it binds to receptors in the hypothalamus region of the brain. Through this interaction with the central nervous system, insulin tells the brain whether or not we should eat and informs the brain about the energy status of our bodies.

👉It is important to note that the degree of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion by the pancreas is a direct function of body fat. ➡The more body fat, the more insulin is secreted both at a basal level and in response to feeding.

👉There is also a maximum amount of insulin that can actually cross the blood-brain barrier to stimulate satiety. As the blood concentration of insulin increases beyond this level, no further signaling to the brain can occur.

👉If blood levels of insulin are always high, we may have a problem. If insulin is chronically high, glucose is then poorly stored and you may end up with both high circulating blood insulin and high circulating glucose, or simply said you may not be able to lower blood sugar levels, regardless of the amount of insulin produced. This means you become insulin resistant.

👉Insulin resistance means that your metabolism is resistant to the normal effects of insulin and that normal insulin secretion doesn’t work to stabilize blood sugars.

👉There are many factors for developing insulin resistance and the underlying process is still not completely understood. Risk factors for insulin resistance include obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, a family history of diabetes, various health conditions, and certain medications. Insulin resistance is considered a component of metabolic syndrome.

👉Here are a few key things that will help you keep insulin sensitivity high:
➡Exercising, especially resistance training, zone 2 cardio, or HIIT
➡Light physical activity before or after a meal (such as 30 min walk)
➡Regular physical activity
➡Good amount of quality sleep
➡Higher muscle mass
➡Consuming more dietary fiber
➡Nutrient-dense diet that consists of natural unprocessed foods such as vegetables, whole-grain foods, legumes, lean proteins, and nuts/seeds
➡Eating at regular times
➡Intermittent fasting
➡Supplements such as omega-3 fatty acids, alpha-lipoic acid, chromium, magnesium
➡Adequate vitamin D levels
➡Maintaining a healthy weight

👉Factors that contribute to insulin resistance:
➡High sugar intake
➡Diet high in processed foods
➡Obesity
➡Sedentary lifestyle
➡Smoking
➡Vitamin D deficiency
➡Irregular and/or bad quality sleep
➡High alcohol consumption

12/06/2023

Happy Monday!🌞😄 I hope you had a rejuvenating weekend and are ready for the new week! 😉

Here’s some food for thought:
“The conundrum we face is that our environment has changed dramatically over the last century or two, in almost every imaginable way - our food supply and eating habits, our activity levels, and the structure of our social networks - while our genes have scarcely changed at all… Long ago, when we consumed fructose mainly in the form of fruit and honey, it enabled us to store energy as fat to survive cold winters and periods of scarcity. Fructose was our friend. Now fructose is vastly overabundant in our diet, too much of it in liquid form, which disrupts our metabolism and our overall energy balance…
This new environment we have created is potentially toxic with respect to what we eat, how we move (or don’t move), how we sleep (or don’t sleep), and its overall effect on our emotional health (just spend a few hours on social media)...Our genes no longer match our environment. Thus, we must be cunning in our tactics if we are to adapt and thrive in this new and hazardous world.“

29/05/2023

One of the things I do every evening is the so-called “couch stretch”.

👉The couch stretch is a great mobility routine that can test your hips but also give you feedback about the entire body as a system. 👉Are you able to have a full hip extension and do you have control over this position by being able to squeeze your glutes and take a deep breath while stretching? 👉Full hip extension is vital not only for lower body movement but also for your entire posture.

👉The couch stretch can also be used as a tool to counteract the inevitable tightening of our hips after all the sitting we do — from work, to cars, to watching Netflix at home…

⭐⭐Note: Feeling tight doesn’t always mean that you need to stretch more.😉 Oftentimes (especially with our hip flexors) we might need to work on strengthening them rather than stretching. 👉Simply put, show your hips some love by stretching them regularly but make sure to strengthen them as well.☺️

👉When doing the couch stretch, start with a lower level - with one knee in the corner of the wall (couch) and the other knee on the ground. 👉Try squeezing your glutes in this position and carefully push your hips toward the ground. 👉See if you can breathe deeply in the position.

👉If you feel comfortable with this position, you can try the next level by bringing your front knee up. Test it again - can you squeeze, can you take deep breaths?

👉The more advanced position is with your torso upright. This position may feel very uncomfortable in the beginning. 👉Do you have control over it - can you squeeze your glutes and breathe? If it doesn’t feel OK, back off and go back to the previous level.
👉You want to be able to relax and breathe deeply as if your whole body fills up with oxygen.

👉If you are fine with the torso upright and you have control over the position, then you can even bend in the opposite direction for a deeper stretch.

👉Hold the stretch for 1-3 minutes on each leg and slowly come out of it.

⭐⭐Note: If you are stretching too forcefully, you may actually start to guard.

👉Ease into the stretch over a period of several days or even weeks.☺️

22/05/2023

Phytonutrient-rich fennel and chicken salad with strawberry🍓 dressing

Fennel was used by the ancient Romans and Greeks as food, medicine, and repellent for insects. It has some unique benefits for our health.

➡️One study of students with dysmenorrhea (menstrual pain) found that compared to ibuprofen, a combination of fennel extract and vitamin E was significantly better at reducing average peak pain intensity.

➡️Fennel contains anethole, which has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties that make it potentially useful in reducing the risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, liver damage, neurodegenerative disorders, and other diseases linked to inflammation.

➡️Fennel has also been shown to enhance the quality and flow of milk from breastfeeding mothers.

🥗🥗For 2 portions of this salad I used:

For the strawberry🍓 dressing:➡️
• 1 handful of strawberries
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 2 ½ tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp balsamico
• Salt
For the salad:➡️
• 2 chicken breasts (about 300 g in total)
• ½ fennel
• 4-5 celery stalks
• ½ cucumber
• 2 stalks of spring onion
• Greens: arugula, lettuce, fresh cilantro
• 1 avocado
• 4-6 strawberries for decoration
• optional: about ½ tsp coconut oil for sautéing

➡️Heat up a pan over medium to high. Season the chicken breasts with some salt and sauté for about 4-5 minutes on one side until the bottom is golden brown, then flip and sauté for another 4-5 minutes.
➡️Make the dressing: In a food processor, combine all ingredients and blend until smooth.

➡️For the salad: Slice the fennel bulb lengthwise, cut the celery stalks, cucumber, strawberries and spring onion into small pieces. Chop the cilantro. In a large bowl, mix all the greens with the cut veggies and strawberries. Once chicken breasts are cooked, chop them into chunks and add them to the salad. Add the avocado, cut into pieces. Pour the dressing on top of the salad.

Serve and enjoy 😊

15/05/2023

Happy new week! Do you need a mood booster? 🙃🤩

👉Then you may want to eat foods that would increase your serotonin levels. 😉

⭐️Serotonin is a neuromodulator that helps us feel calm, comfortable and happy, as well as supports our sleep.
⭐️If you want to increase your serotonin levels, you should eat foods that are high in tryptophan.
⭐️Tryptophan is an essential amino acid (EAA), which means that your body needs it but cannot synthesize it and so must get it through food. Tryptophan is the precursor of serotonin.

So, what foods are high in tryptophan?🤔👉👉
☑️Eggs
☑️Turkey
☑️Chicken
☑️Atlantic cod
☑️Soybeans
☑️Chia, sunflower, and sesame seeds
☑️Beef
☑️Salmon

⭐️Your diet can have a great impact not only on your health but also on your mood and mental state. 🧏
⭐️Be wise with your choices. 👉Put your health first - physical and mental.☺️

08/05/2023

Do you drink your cup of coffee☕️first thing in the morning? Do you, on top of that, skip breakfast?🤔

🍀You might be very stressed out 😫and feel like you need that caffeine ☕️to wake you up and get you ready for the day. Perhaps you have certain weight loss goals, you are doing intermittent fasting and therefore skipping breakfast🥣?

🍀Are you trying to balance your hormones? 👉Then, don’t replace your breakfast with coffee. And make sure you don’t drink coffee on an empty stomach.

👉Cortisol levels naturally peak around the time we wake up, and decline over the day. Cortisol is a stress hormone that is important for our health and protects us against inflammation, infections, etc.

👉We want cortisol up early in the day. However, we don’t want our cortisol levels to be too high or elevated for too long throughout the day because this impacts our sleep and messes with our hormones. 😉

👉When we drink our coffee first thing in the morning, our cortisol production is increased and this might be problematic, especially if our hormones are out of balance.

👉Studies show that caffeine increases cortisol and adrenaline (epinephrine). They even indicate that cortisol levels after caffeine consumption are similar to those experienced during an acute stress event.😯 Also, increased adrenaline may lead to more anxiety. Drinking coffee, in other words, re-creates stress conditions for the body.

👉High cortisol and anxiety go hand in hand. When stress is chronic this might lead to adrenal fatigue and hormonal imbalance. 👉For example: When your body is stressed, it produces higher levels of cortisol which manages stress in your body. Because progesterone is the precursor to cortisol, when cortisol levels increase, progesterone levels decrease. 👉Keep in mind, progesterone is a hormone that promotes a feeling of calm. So, we are less calm. 😳

👉A simple and quick way to help balance your hormones is to have your coffee ☕️with or after breakfast🥣. Eating breakfast can help mitigate the added cortisol spike in the morning.

👉If you kick off your day with some protein🍳, healthy fats🥑, and leafy greens🥬, you will also experience fewer fluctuations in your blood sugar.👉👉 This can help you not only have more energy throughout the day and feel calm, but may also help reduce sugar cravings!😉😊

01/05/2023

It’s asparagus season!😃🍀

🥗Eating various veggies daily is great for your health and there is just no doubt about that! And choosing seasonal vegetables is one of the best things you can do because they are fresh, more nutritious and they just taste better!😋

🥗Here’s what you can get from only 1 cup, or about 134 grams of fresh asparagus:

☑️About 1.5 mg of ergothioneine.
👉Ergothioneine is a naturally occurring amino acid with powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that may reduce the harmful effects of diseases associated with aging such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, liver disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. 👉Ergothioneine is also known as the “longevity vitamin” because it’s been linked to reducing all-cause mortality and is associated with a longer lifespan.

☑️Asparagus is also an excellent source of vitamin K. One cup of it provides 46% of the vitamin K daily value.😮
👉Vitamin K is best known for its role in blood clotting, or coagulation. It also controls the concentration of calcium throughout the body and is essential for bone metabolism, cellular function, and the prevention of soft tissue calcification.

☑️Asparagus is rich in folate (vitamin B9). One cup of asparagus contains more than 50% of the RDA for folate.
👉Folate plays an important role in cell division and is especially important during pre-pregnancy and the early stages of pregnancy to ensure the healthy development of the baby.

☑️Asparagus is also an excellent source of copper. One cup contains about 28% of the daily value.
👉Copper is a trace mineral that’s essential for all living organisms. Copper serves as a component of numerous enzymes and proteins in the body, giving it diverse roles in the growth, development, and maintenance of various organs (including the heart and brain), bone, and connective tissue. Copper is also involved in glucose and cholesterol metabolism, helps regulate gene expression, can scavenge free radicals, and is needed for the production of red blood cells.

☑️Asparagus is also rich in polyphenols.
👉Polyphenols are plant compounds with antioxidant properties that play an important role in protecting against cancer, heart disease, diabetes, asthma, osteoporosis, neurodegenerative diseases, and other conditions associated with oxidative stress.

🥗🥗I personally like preparing big batches of roasted asparagus mixed with other veggies such as zucchini, onions, broccoli, mushrooms, bell peppers, carrots, and fennel. That way, I can enjoy the variety throughout the week and save some time in the kitchen. 😄😄How about you?

I am Eli, a Certified Holistic Nutritionist and an AIP Coach. I am here to support you throughout yo

24/04/2023

Nutrient density identifies the amount of nutrients (vitamins and minerals, phytochemicals, essential fatty acids and essential amino acids) per calorie of food.

👉High nutrient density foods are rich in a wide range of vitamins and minerals (or alternatively, high levels of a specific, important vitamin or mineral) relative to the calories they contain. On the contrary, foods with low nutrient density tend to have higher caloric content in relation to their nutrient content.

👉We need nutrients to live and remain healthy. We are made of nutrients. Every cell, tissue, organ, and system in our body needs specific amounts of particular nutrients in order to function optimally. And deficiencies of any of these nutrients can contribute to the development of chronic disease.

👉Unfortunately, due to the high consumption of refined and processed foods, most of us don’t get enough of the required macro- and micronutrients. 👉Even foods that many people think are healthy, like whole grains and low-fat dairy, are low in essential nutrients. Also, following certain types of diets with the only goal of weight loss and thus avoidance of particular foods such as animal products or fruits may lower the overall nutrient density of the diet and thus compromise our health.

👉One of the easiest ways to have a nutrient dense diet is to fill our plates with the foods that offer the most nutrients for the least amount of calories, and these are vegetables (especially cruciferous vegetables, leafy vegetables, fresh herbs and mushrooms). But.. what else can you do to get as much of these nutrients as possible?

👉Here are a few more suggestions on how you can maximize nutrient density in your diet:

➡Use fresh herbs such as parsley or cilantro to garnish your meals.
➡Add leafy greens or fresh herbs to your salad base.
➡Indulge in veggies.🙂 The more veggies, the better! Make sure you eat a variety of vegetables EVERY DAY. If you are not a veggie lover, try ‘hiding’ them in your meal by chopping them into small pieces or blending them. Try challenging yourself to increase how many different veggies you eat for dinner.
➡If you consume meat, follow the “nose to tail” principle - consume also the parts of the animal we typically avoid such as organs, feet, snout, and skin. Liver, for example, is one of the most nutrient-dense foods we can consume and is basically considered a superfood.
➡The quality and origin of animal products is crucial. Prioritize products from grass-fed and pasture-raised animals.
➡Eat more seafood, at least 2-3 times a week.
➡Use high-quality extra virgin olive oil as your primary choice of oil for cooking and making dressings.
➡When using sugars, choose the more nutrient-dense options like molasses, maple syrup and honey.
➡Replace grains or white potatoes with root veggies or winter squash.
➡Eat fermented foods daily.
➡Be intentional with added fats and sugars when you’re cooking or dressing your food since those add calories but not many nutrients.
➡Try consuming cruciferous vegetables, leafy greens and mushrooms daily.
➡Don’t be afraid to eat fruit! Fruits are packed with nutrients, and 2 to 3 servings of most fruits may be a great addition to your diet for optimal health.
➡Incorporate bone broth into your diet. You can use it as a base for a soup packed with veggies and thus easily create a great nutrient-rich meal.
➡Think of easy swaps to increase variety. Swapp broccoli for cauliflower in a recipe, apples for pears, coffee for matcha tea.. Be creative and don’t be afraid to experiment.
➡Drink green and herbal teas.
➡Use veggies as a substitute for noodles. You can slice them with a spiralizer to make it easier and more fun.
➡Experiment with different non-grain substitutes for pizza dough or bread, such as cauliflower or zucchini pizza dough, lettuce wraps, sweet potato sandwich, etc.