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Kiwi Nutritionist, Hayle (2026)

06/04/2022

THE PARETO PRINCIPLE

You probably don’t think you’ve heard of the Pareto Principle, but you probably will have.

What is it?

That good ole’ 80/20 principle-20 % effort for 80% of the outcome.

Where did it come from?

Well, there was this economist that lived a long time ago - Vilfredo Pareto - and he had a principle which he discovered which was that essentially 80% of economic output was generated by roughly 20% of the companies.

Similarly, within the companies about 80% of the productivity came from 20% of the workers.

This became known as the 80/20 rule, or the 80/20 principle and it applies to nearly everything and can be seen everywhere.

-20% of your customers take up 80% of your time.
-80% of a business’ income comes from 20% of a business’ products.
-80% of a country’s wealth is in the hands of 20% of the people.
-20% of your enjoyment comes from 80% of your possessions.
-You wear 20% of your clothes 80% of the time.
-20% of the customers will make 80% of your purchases
-20% of the population pays 80% of the tax

You can go on and on.

The numbers might not be exact, but the premise is sound-20% of one thing can cause 80% of the outcome.

While originally meant to be applied to business, this same principle can easily be applied to fitness and nutrition.

In fitness, regardless of whether you’re looking to increase muscle mass, strength, or power through weight training, roughly 20% of all available exercises will be responsible for 80% of your results.

For your training focus on progressive overload and compound lifts. This minimises time wasted on “fluff” programmes that don’t lead to results in the long run.

With nutrition- eating the right calorie balance as well as macronutrients accounts for 80% of diet success.
Rather than sweating the small stuff and worrying about which supplements to take, focus on your intake of calories, protein, carbohydrates, and fats for optimal health and body composition.

Look at it as “getting the most bang for your buck”.

The trick of course, lies in identifying that which will make the most impact. Most of the time, the answer can be found in the simplest of solutions.

However, simple doesn’t always mean easy, which is why some people tend to look for shortcuts that ultimately fall short of expectations.

It’s easy to get caught in the latest fitness gimmick or nutrition fad but as long as you use this simple principle to guide you on your journey, you won’t be led astray.

Ask yourself- What’s the 20% of food you eat 80% of the time?

Often, a complete nutritional overhaul can be daunting. Which can then lead you not even wanting to start.

People perceive the ‘perfect’ diet as so far detached from their current eating patterns that it’s unattainable, and they give up.

The problem is, they go after the 100%. They go after perfection and think anything less is a failure.

The solution? -the 80/20 principle of course!

If you look at what you’re eating, you’ll notice there are two problems.

There’s something missing (more healthy, nutrient dense foods), or
There’s too much of something (less healthy, often ultra-processed).

Look a bit deeper, and you’ll notice some patterns. You’ll notice things are being repeated. Maybe you don’t eat any protein with breakfast.

Maybe lunch always contains highly processed foods.

Maybe you don’t eat veggies with dinner.

These three examples may only comprise a small portion of your total nutrition, but the impact they have is huge.

They might be the 20% of your diet that causes 80% of the problems.

So, what can you do about this?

Well, for a start, identify the things you consistently and repeatedly do.

Identify the patterns in your behaviour.

These are habits. These are the examples of where making a small change will have a major effect.
Too often, people chase the one percenter – the tiny things that have a tiny effect.

Willpower is finite, so don’t waste it on low value changes. Instead, look for the lowest hanging fruit that has the greatest effect. Look for the 20% of things you can change that will impact 80% of your health. You’ll often notice them popping up over and over again.

What small change can you make in your lifestyle that leads to the biggest impact on your health and wellbeing? Or, to put it another way, what 20% of lifestyle choices will lead to 80% of the positive effects.

04/04/2022

HOW TO STOP SELF-SABOTAGING

1. Remove the good/bad food mentality

Do you wake up and immediately wonder if the day will be “good” or “bad” based on what you eat?
Maybe you pre-plan what you’ll eat to the T, but the second you hop “off-plan” you lose control with food and it’s a “bad” day?

Maybe you eat *perfectly* all day, but when evening rolls around, the evening munchies kick in and you can’t stop eating?

Then you end the day with yet another “bad” day.
If you start the day off with ‘bad’ food like doughnuts or ice cream, you consider the day ruined and just eat whatever because you have “already messed up”.

This is an example of the all or nothing mentality.
I’ve been good all day, so I’m going to eat this “bad” food now.

It means you then struggle with cravings making you feel exhausted and feeling like a failure.

Change your mindset- there are no good and bad foods or even good and bad days, all food can be enjoyed as part of a healthy diet.

Looking at the bigger picture one ‘less than optimal day’ is not going to make a difference to your overall health or goals, unless you keep turning those days into weeks and months.

2. Set yourself an evening routine.

The evening tends to be when most people overeat.

Why? Various reasons but often simply boredom (this also works well in conjunction with other approaches for emotional eating).

Your evening routine is totally up to you but instead of just hoping that you’ll magically not overeat - plan for it.

What are you going to do after your last meal and before you go to bed? If that tends to be when you overeat don’t just hope for the best… make a plan.
It might be a walk, clean, read, watch TV, schedule a catch up with a friend, learn Spanish, practice an instrument…

Bonus points for a set bedtime too that has huge benefits to quality of sleep.

Don’t wish for it. Make it happen. Setting a more structured evening routine may be useful if you overeat in the evening.

3. Think about your future self

Put yourself now into your future self.
You are responsible for yourself. No one else is coming to save you.

This means you can stop and think about your choices day to day and their consequences. Something people don’t often do.

Something like “Oh, I have to go to that thing tomorrow which means I won’t be able to go to the gym. I should go today.

4. Change the way you talk to yourself

The way you talk to yourself matters- change that feedback loop in your head.

Tell yourself you are in control - therefore you will be. The feedback loop in your brain is a real and powerful thing.

“I am a person that exercises regularly", "I can lose weight", "I can eat more vegetables", "I can hit my calories", "I can resist that opening a bottle of wine”.
(Note these are can’s, not cant’s).

You become the person you want to be.

5. Schedule the important things in your diary.

Have your non-negotiables written down- gym, run, meal prep- whatever.

If you don’t schedule the important things into your day, you won’t do them, and physically putting something into your diary marks it as important and makes it palpable, in turn, you’re more likely to do it.

6. Do the hardest thing first

Mark Twain once said “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.”

If you know you’re not likely to go to the gym after work; go in the morning before work. Of course, it’s hard, it’s supposed to be.

Doing this means you have it out of the way but also, it’s a ‘win’ for the day and works as a positive psychological boost.

If you find yourself procrastinating or find yourself avoiding responsibility to your future self, tell yourself to “do it now.”

Keep repeating it to yourself until you do it.

Don’t expect self-control or willpower to come and save you.
Build solid habits and routines that mean you are becoming (or already are) the person you want to be.
Everything is a choice- be responsible for yourself now and your future self will thank you.

31/03/2022

DECISION FATIGUE

Why do we make unhealthy and unproductive choices - even when we know we should do better?

If you ask most people, they will say that poor choices are a result of a “lack of willpower.”

In fact, you may be surprised just how much small daily decisions impact the willpower you have for important choices.
And most importantly, it turns out there are simple choices you can make that will help you make better decisions on a more consistent basis.

Your willpower is like a muscle and like the muscles in your body, willpower can get fatigued when you use it over and over again.
Every time you make a decision, it’s like doing another rep in the gym. And similar to how your muscles get tired at the end of a workout, the strength of your willpower fades as you make more decisions.

This is what is called decision fatigue.

This makes sense. When your willpower is fading and your brain is tired of making decisions, it’s easier just to say no or not do the things you were supposed to do.

Decision fatigue happens every day in your life. If you have a particularly decision-heavy day at work, then you come home feeling drained. You might want to go to the gym and work out, but your brain would rather default to the easy decision: sit on the couch.

That’s decision fatigue.

So, while decision fatigue is something that we all deal with, you can organise your life and design your day to help you.

1. Plan daily decisions the night before.

There will always be decisions that pop up each day that you can't plan for. That's fine. It's just part of life.
But for most of us, the decisions that drain us are the ones that we make over and over and over again.
Wasting precious willpower these decisions -which could be automated or planned in advance - is one reason why many people feel so drained at the end of the day.

These are where our habits help us. Without planning ahead good intentions rarely lead to actions and actions lead to motivation.

For example, what am I going to wear to work? What should I eat for breakfast? Am I going to work out tomorrow?

These can all be decided in 3 minutes or less the night before, which means you won't be wasting your willpower on those choices the next day.
Taking time to plan out, simplify, and design the repeated daily decisions will give you more mental space to make the important choices each day.

2. Do the most important thing first.

Do the thing first that you want your best energy and focus to go toward.
Even If you have to wake up 30 minutes earlier, then do that. Start your day by working on the most important thing in your life.

3. Stop making decisions. Start making commitments.

We hear all the time, “you just need to decide to do it”.

Yes, of course, you need to decide to do the things that are important to you, but more than that you need to schedule them into your life.
We all have things that we say are important to us.
“I really want to lose 10kgs.”
“I really want to get started on XYZ.”

Unfortunately, most of us simply hope that we'll have the willpower and motivation to make the right decisions each day.

Rather than hoping that you’ll make the right choice each day, schedule the things that are important to you.
E.g.: gym/workout days are Monday, Wednesday, Friday. On Mondays, you don't have to decide whether you’re going to work out. It’s already on the schedule. You're not hoping you'll “feel like” it on Monday morning (or evening…whenever you have it scheduled).

Do you need to go to the gym at the same time every day? No, but it reduces friction.  

Don’t sit back and hope that you’ll be able to make the right decisions each day

4. If you need to make good decisions later in the day, then eat something first.

Taking a break to feed your brain is a great way to boost willpower.
This is especially important because although it’s great to do the most important thing first, it’s not always possible to organise your day like that.

When you want to get better decisions from your mind, put better food into your body.

5. Simplify.

Find ways to simplify your life. If something isn't important to you, eliminate it. Making decisions about unimportant things, even if you have the time to do so, isn't a benign task. It's pulling precious energy and willpower from the things that matter.

Willpower is one area of life where you can most certainly improve your output by reducing the number of inputs.

TAKE HOME

Willpower isn't something you have or something you lack. It rises and falls. And while it's impossible to maximise your willpower for every moment of every day, it is possible to make a few changes to your day and your routine so that you can get the most out of your decisions and make consistent progress on the things that are important to you.

Habits and routines reduce decision making and make life smoother.

11/03/2022

GETTING A FULL NIGHT’S SLEEP CAN HELP YOU EAT LESS IF YOU ARE TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT.

Yes, I know... everyone talks about how important sleep is…not trying to flog a dead horse.

And I know you probably already know that sleeping more can help you eat less (if you're trying to lose weight).

But just to really hammer it home, a really recent study (Feb 2022) looked at just this.

What did they do?

The researchers randomized 80 adults with a BMI classified as "overweight" habitually sleeping less than 6.5 hours per night to one of two groups:

- Sleep extension: Participants extended their time in bed to 8.5 hours.
- Control: Participants maintained their usual sleep habits.

The authors calculated energy intake from the sum of total daily energy expenditure, calculating from doubly labelled water, and changes in body energy stores, assessed via DEXA. These are both the gold standard methods for testing.

What did they find?

Participants sleeping 8.5 hours decreased their energy intake by ~156 kcal/day, whereas the control group increased by 115 kcal/day.
Every hour increase in sleep duration was associated with a ~162 kcal reduction in daily energy intake.

This is consistent with a 2019 meta-analysis, reporting that sleep restriction increased hunger and energy intake by ~253 kcal compared to normal sleep durations.

When your sleep is impaired, your hunger hormone (ghrelin) is heightened, and your satiety hormone (leptin) is 'switched off' in a sense.

This means your adherence to stick to your calorie deficit can be pretty difficult.

So yeah...sleep is important for health and I’m sure you all knew that.

So how do we improve our sleep?

It's worth mentioning that not everyone has the luxury of a full night's sleep. Shift workers, busy parents, and people with clinical sleep disorders may still struggle despite doing everything "right" with their sleep hygiene.
That said, many of us can take a few small steps in the right direction.

Tips:
- Eliminate screen time and bright light an hour before bed
- Get bright light exposure in the morning (natural light is ideal, but artificial bright light lamps can help).
- Stick to a consistent sleep schedule (not possible for everyone).
- Exercise regularly.
- Control noise in your sleeping environment (not possible for everyone, but earplugs or a white noise machine can be helpful).
- Sleep in a cool room.
- Avoid alcohol and caffeine in the evening- both can impair sleep quality.
- Consider an evening relaxation routine to de-stress and unwind.

While we don't all have the luxury of a full night's sleep, many of us can take small steps to get closer to one.

If you are struggling with trying to keep all your plates spinning at the moment, just focus on one thing- maybe its sleep? As you can see it can have a big knock-on effect and is definitely something you can improve.

Here is the study:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35129580/

09/03/2022

WHAT IS THE BEST FAT BURNER?

Everyone is looking for the fastest, easiest way to lose fat and fat loss is actually one of the most searched topics online so it’s no wonder that fat burners have become a multi-million-pound selling industry.

For lots of people, losing a few pounds can have a significant improvement in quality of life, improve health markers and reduce the risk of cardiometabolic diseases like type 2 diabetes, obesity, and hypertension.

Healthy weight loss (losing fat while maintaining muscle mass) can also improve athletic performance and performance in the gym.

Ultimately, we want to burn fat efficiently while preserving muscle mass, the classic “move more, eat less” mantra- but is it the only way?

Can we cheat our way to success with thermogenic (fat burner) supplements?

Could they help you shed extra layers of body fat?

So, what is a “fat burner” anyway?

Fat burner is a term “used to describe nutrition supplements that are claimed to acutely increase fat metabolism or energy expenditure, impair fat absorption, increase weight loss, increase fat oxidation during exercise, or somehow cause long-term adaptations that promote fat metabolism”.

We could also say that a fat burner is a strategic marketing term used by supplement companies as they don’t actually make fat cells melt and disappear into thin air.

Instead, they try to drive fat loss indirectly, through other ways. Some of their ingredients (depending on formulation) can influence energy expenditure (stimulants) or help you consistently end up in a greater energy deficit for a period of time.

But if you’re in a caloric surplus, fat burners aren’t going to do a thing, other than create a deficit in your wallet. Energy balance and the law of thermodynamics doesn’t change.

This wins every. Single. Time.

However, if you are diligent with your diet and training routine, how impactful would fat burners be for you?

A recent meta-analysis (a study of lots of studies) investigated the overall effect of fat burners on body composition and cardiometabolic health.
What they found was pretty much in line with what you would expect.

There was a general trend for no effectiveness of fat burners in body composition or cardiometabolic health, and a slight reduction in fat-free mass (e.g., muscle), which is not great news (although this could be due to water losses and not loss of muscle mass).

This was in comparison with a combination of diet and exercise without the use of supplements.

So basically, diet and exercise had a considerably greater effect than dietary supplements in inducing positive changes in body composition, and cardiometabolic health, in a calorie restricted diet.

All forms of exercise had a beneficial effect, with a trend favouring resistance training.

Not surprising huh? And yet it is STILL a massive multi-pound industry.
[Not to mention the side effects of fat burners- particularly involving cardiovascular issues, sleep disturbances, anxiety, and gastrointestinal distress].

TAKE HOME

Despite anecdotal claims or the latest celebrity claiming it was the boombox skinny tea that made them lose 10kgs in one week, this research reinforces the idea that fat burners won’t do much for your fat loss goals or cardiometabolic health.

Especially if you’re not optimising your diet and training, as these are going to have the biggest impact on your body composition and overall health.

I’m sure this comes as no surprise.

Furthermore, not all weight loss is the same, particularly when trying to improve cardiometabolic health. Ideally, the goal should be to reduce fat while preserving as much muscle as possible.

Some studies included in this analysis reported a decrease in muscle which again reinforces the importance of exercise, particularly resistance training to maintain as much muscle as possible during a fat loss phase (aka calorie deficit).

Most people should be cautious not to see fat burners as an excuse to not move as much or train hard.

Additionally, some fat burners may have a detrimental health effect. This will depend on the dosage, but other adverse effects related to the use of fat burners may include stroke, cardiac arrest, and even death.

Psychiatric, cognitive, and sleep disturbances have also been associated with the use of thermogenic and fat-burner substances, which is a risk you should be aware of.

Obviously, not everyone will experience these side effects, but these factors should be taken into consideration when deciding whether to include fat burners in your diet.
So, what is the best fat burner?
A calorie deficit through diet and exercise. Or more specifically, a healthy, sustainable diet that supports your goals while contributing to your overall health and meeting your individual dietary requirements.

This, combined with some form of exercise (resistance and/or aerobic exercise) and an active lifestyle is the best fat burner everyone should be looking at, above anything else.

Fat burners are not worth your money and may even have adverse health effects (especially if you overdo them).

They could potentially be used as a stimulant, which may help during the later stages of a fat loss phase when energy levels are lower, but you definitely don’t need them to get great results.

Focus on lifestyle modifications that allow you to have a sustainable diet and exercise regimen to improve long term body composition and overall health.

Reference study:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33427571/

04/03/2022

IS APPLE CIDER VINEGAR GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH?

Apple cider vinegar is one of those widely beloved and yet widely scoffed-at word-of-mouth .

It’s great for salad, but what about weight loss and cleaning your teeth? Is it the cure-all that some people want you to believe?

If you Google search ‘apple cider vinegar benefits’ it gives you a range of (mostly total crap) benefits. From ‘cancer prevention’ (seriously?) to a ‘candida cleanse’ to a ‘body detox’.

ACV has SO many health claims, but what is it exactly?

Apple cider vinegar is made by crushing apples and using bacteria and yeast to ferment the resulting liquid.
The acetic acid in ACV (and in all vinegars) is supposedly the ingredient that is the magic woo-woo cure for everything that ails you - and for thousands of years, ACV and other vinegars have been used as homeopathic remedies for pretty much anything you can imagine.
Luckily though, science has evolved...

What are the claims that are made about apple cider vinegar?

1. IT REDUCES BLOOD SUGAR.

Well, this one is actually TRUE!

In a review of studies, it was found that ACV can help improve insulin response and decrease post-prandial (after meal) blood glucose. The way it does that is by the acetic acid blocking some of the starch that’s in the meal (bread and pasta). When you take it with a meal that contains no starch, the ACV has no effect on blood sugar.

Recommendations range, but one that’s frequently given is to consume 1-2 tablespoons of diluted ACV a few minutes before every meal (not too long before).

It’s also important to note that this benefit is not actually exclusive to apple cider vinegar. Improving blood sugar with a proper diet is probably a better option.
And please don’t use ACV to control your blood sugar if you’re diabetic and on medication it may affect your blood sugar too much.

2. IT HELPS WITH WEIGHT LOSS.

‘Maybe’

Oooh now you’re paying attention!

But don’t get too excited, drinking vinegar has only been shown to cause MILD weight loss. And by mild, I mean like 1/3 lb a week - maybe from slightly improved fat oxidation, and maybe from some of the above starch-blocking activity, which can cut calories.
However, the research on this is really sketchy.

That’s not all, either. Have you ever taken a shot of pure vinegar? Yeah, probably not worth it IMO.

And if you STILL think it’s worth trying- you can burn your oesophagus from pure ACV. Even ACV tablets can injure your tissues, so isn’t any safer.

3. IT DECREASES BLOATING AND MAKES YOUR SKIN CLEAR.

Are you changing anything else about your diet while you’re taking the ACV? Because there’s no reasons why vinegar would cause either of these things to happen.

4. IT CLEANS YOUR TEETH.

What you’re doing when you brush with an acid, is eroding your tooth enamel. You’re grinding acid into your enamel.
Use toothpaste.
(Also makes your breath stink)

5. IT HELPS WITH LOW STOMACH ACID.

This is true! Vinegar is acid, so if you don’t have enough acid in your stomach, ACV (and any vinegar) may help with digestion. But if you have too much stomach acid, vinegar can aggravate that and make your symptoms, like reflux, worse. You don’t need to take tablespoonfuls of vinegar to help with digestion; using some on your salad can work, too.

6. IT STOPS CANDIDA.

Systemic candida is actually a really serious infection that you need a hospital stay and antibiotics for, not something you buy in a supermarket.

Candida normally and very happily lives in our bodies and usually doesn’t bother us at all; if you get a yeast infection or oral thrush, that’s candida overgrowth in those areas, but please don’t use ACV there! OUCH!!

Drinking vinegar will not help candida. Acetic acid may be a sort of disinfectant but it’s not going to disinfect your blood or your body parts that are itchy.
See a doctor.

7. IT DETOXIFIES YOUR BLOOD/BODY AND NEUTRALIZES YOUR PH.

We all know this by now:
-Your body doesn’t need a detox
-Your liver and kidneys detox your body perfectly well
-There is nothing in ACV that would detox you, even if your liver and kidneys didn’t work (actually, drinking ACV would probably kill you in that case)
-Nothing you eat affects the pH of your blood.

SUMMARY

-Using any type of vinegar in your food can make it taste good, (it can be great as a salad dressing) but there’s no magic in apple cider vinegar.

-If you want to cure your yeast infection, go to the doctor.

-It seems to have a modest ability to reduce the glycaemic index of foods, making it a possible tool for helping to manage blood sugar. But to get these benefits you don’t need to chug down tablespoons of it burning your oesophagus- adding it as a salad dressing works as well.

- More research is needed, and it’s unclear how its effects differ from any other type of vinegar, but the benefits are unlikely to differ a great deal since acetic acid may be the main driver of its benefits.

- It is NOT a game changer

- It’s not without side effects. It’s not good for your teeth and may damage the gastrointestinal tract.

I wouldn’t recommend it myself as a supplement apart from using as a dressing etc, but if you like it and want to consume it, go for it, be careful though! And never drink it straight without diluting it first.

02/03/2022

FAT

Fats (or Fatty acids as they are called in the science world) can be categorised into three types based on their molecular structure:

Saturated (SFAs): butter, coconut oil, chocolate, whole milk, cheese, full fat yoghurt.

Monounsaturated (MFAs): almonds, avocado, brazil nuts, cashews, egg yolk, olive oil nuts, canola oil, olive oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil and peanut butter, sesame oil.

Polyunsaturated (PUFAs) (omega 3): chia seed, nuts & seeds, flaxseed, flaxseed oil, soybean, soybean oil, canola oil, walnuts, and fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, herring, trout).

We also have:
Trans fats: these are harmful to our health and included in packaged/processed foods.
However, trans fats higher than trace amounts are no longer used in foods produced in the UK but may be present in imported foods.

Check labels on processed foods and minimise your intake.

Nutrition labels can be deceiving as it's not mandatory by law to list trans-fat if it's less than 1g per serving of a food product. This can result in a '0g trans-fat' label but the ingredient still being listed (look for partially hydrogenated oil).

Trans fats can be found in foods such as baked goods, cakes, cookies and pies, fried foods and margarines.

Mono and Polyunsaturated Fats are the best sources for us and ideally you want a balanced mix of fats.

Certain fatty acids like EPA, DHA and oleic acid have been shown to improve blood lipid profiles.

Low fat diets are associated with worsened blood lipid profiles in some cases (decreased HDL cholesterol and increased triglycerides), so it’s important to not be afraid of including fats in your diet. Increasing fat intake may also help with satiety for some people.

WHAT ABOUT FAT AND CHOLESTEROL?

Cholesterol is not bad; It’s just had some bad press. Overall, the body makes cholesterol on its own and the amount being obtained through the diet is usually minimal in comparison.

Only about half of the cholesterol from food is absorbed; the remainder is excreted, and dietary cholesterol is usually not a big deal.

The ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol (or ‘good’ cholesterol) is a better indicator of potential cardiovascular issues than just total cholesterol.

Studies show that swapping saturated fatty acids (SFA) for polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in the diet tends to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.

The risk of CHD seems to be more complicated than just cholesterol. Genetics, diet, obesity, inactivity, and other lifestyle factors all play roles.

The best thing you can do to reduce cholesterol if it is high is:
-Maintain a healthy weight
-Reduce stress
-Exercise regularly
-Reduce the amount of butter in your diet and replace with avocado, olive oils and nuts.
-Eat Less fatty meats e.g., substitute duck or pork with leaner cuts like chicken breast, fillet steak, fish, and seafood.
-Substitute whole milk for plant milk in some things (i.e., smoothies).
-Avoid coconut oil- this increases LDL cholesterol (the ‘bad’ cholesterol)
-Include more soluble fibre from e.g., oats, bran, barley, legumes (beans, peas lentils), nuts, flaxseed, fruit.
-Eat more wholegrains e.g., wholemeal bread, brown rice and pasta.
-Eat more Chai seeds, flaxseed oil and fatty fish (salmon, sardines and mackerel).
-Include eggs, olive oils and nuts.
-Have 2-3 alcohol free days a week

OMEGA 3s

Omega-3 fats are something we talk about a lot and recommend supplementing with if you are not eating oily fish 1-2x week.

They are what we call ‘essential fats:’ they can’t be made by the body, so we need to eat them or supplement with them.

They’re used by the body for many important processes, and they’re only available in food.
Omega-3s include ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid).

ALA is present in plant foods like flax and vegetable oils, and it needs to be converted by the body into DHA and EPA before it can be utilized. This conversion process is extremely inefficient though, so although you may be consuming plenty of ALA, only a very small amount (1-10%) ends up being turned into DHA and EPA.
The rest is used for energy just like any other fat.

EPA is used to produce eicosanoids, which reduce inflammation, which is very important for health.
DHA helps form your skin and the retinas in your eyes. DHA is crucial during pregnancy and infancy to ensure the normal development of baby’s brain, eyes and nerves. It’s also important for adult brains, too.

Good sources of EPA and DHA include fatty fish, enriched eggs, and algae.

Omega-3s can help decrease triglycerides and may be associated with a lower risk for coronary heart disease.

There are also links between adequate omega-3 fat intake and high blood pressure, dementia, age-related macular degeneration, and some cancers. Their effect on mood has also been studied and may benefit.

What about omega-6s and omega-9s?
Omega-6s are present in large quantities in the western diet so it’s rare to be deficient in omega-6 fats, but it’s important to get your omega-6’s from nutritious sources such as nuts and seeds.

A lot of the omega-6 fats that we consume are in ultra-processed foods, which in large quantities, may cause an increased risk for diseases.

The ratio of omega-3s to omega-6s is important. A balanced (low) ratio may be associated with lower cardiovascular risk and lower levels of inflammation.

Omega-9s are produced by our body, and are plentiful in our food as well, so no need to worry about them. Omega-9s are in olive oil, avocado oil, and nuts.

HOW MUCH OMEGA-3 FATS DO YOU NEED?

If you eat oily fish (salmon, mackerel, herring, sardines) 1-2x week then you probably don’t need to supplement.

If you don’t like fish or perhaps don’t eat it often then supplementing with fish oil can help you achieve the effective dose.

Some enriched eggs can be helpful to include as they can contain 100mg omega 3 (Sainsburys woodland free-range eggs)

500-1000mg EPA + DHA combined*
*Depending on fish intake

TAKE HOME

-Simply put, when it comes to fat, variety is key. Don’t get all your fats from one source.

-Eat a mixture of the dietary fats with a focus on consuming the majority from PUFAs and MUFAs as these seem to be less abundant in western diets and emphasize omega 3s.

-Aim for 25-30% of your daily calorie intake to come from fat sources.

-Focus on whole foods and limit baked goods like cakes, pastries, and biscuits.

Kiwi Nutritionist

06/04/2022

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