Nurture Dietetics

08/03/2023

I’ve been reflecting a lot lately on my work as a dietitian. The type of work I do in my private practice is so varied (which is part of the reason I love what I do). I have people struggling with weight gain and other clients who are struggling to eat. I have clients who are healthy and want to try prevent chronic diseases and others who are hoping to manage their diseases and improve their quality of life.
As my clients know, I work on a deep level, helping them unlock the source of their struggles and direct them to long term change. However, I can’t stop thinking that even this deep work at times is putting a band aid on a much deeper and in my opinion very serious issue.
The food supply in our Western World is honestly reducing our quality of life and in extreme situations our longevity as well and in case that isn’t bad enough, the fashion and entertainment industries have a lot to answer to. This ideation of the “perfect” body and the constant bombardment of what that “perfect” body should look like. Not to mention, how that “perfect” body should continue in its “perfect” shape and form throughout our adult life, with no consideration to different life stages and important body changes which go with the territory. Honestly, none of us can judge what a healthy body looks like from external appearances.
So we’re are all stuck behind a rock and a hard place. We are surrounded by energy dense, nutrient deficient foods and then have this constant little voice in our heads that our bodies don’t quite match up. How many of us spend our lives consciously or subconsciously loathing our external appearance and having a love-hate relationship with food and in some cases a hate-hate relationship with food?
Quite frankly I’ve had enough! It’s time we demand action from our governments and world leaders to make a healthy food supply top priority together with climate change action (which by the way is symbiotic). In addition, nutrition education and body image enhancement need to start at grassroot levels from the minute our children step into their first daycare/kindergarten/school whilst their education environment supports a healthy lifestyle and healthy food choices.
So who’s brave enough to stand up with me and begin petitioning our local authorities and governments for actionable change before the next generation’s physical and mental health is compromised?

15/06/2021

Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death worldwide, taking around 17.9 million lives annually.
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About 1/3 of these deaths occur in individuals aged under 70.
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What are CVDs?
They are a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels; when left untreated, CVDs lead to heart attacks or strokes.
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What if we were to tell you that early intervention dramatically reduces your risks of developing CVDs?

These conditions increases your risk of CVDs:
❗️high blood pressure
❗️raised blood sugar levels
❗️elevated lipids (aka blood fats)
❗️overweight or obesity

Imagine being able to reverse or appropriately manage these risk factors?
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Or not even develop any of these risk factors at all?
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Watch out for our on how to prevent and manage these risk factors

Who are we?
🙎🏻‍♂️ - cardiologist 🥼
🙎🏻‍♀️ - dietitian Eliya Greenfeild 🥑
🙎🏼‍♀️ - Biokineticist 💪🏻

01/02/2021

Debunking Myth #1: Eating gluten free foods is healthy

Gluten consists of 2 proteins, glutenin and gliadin and is found in wheat, rye and barley. Generally speaking our body needs protein for many important functions such as muscle growth, immune function and for loads of metabolic pathways to name but a few. Gluten is only an issue for people who have a diagnosed allergy such as Coeliac Disease. In these individuals, the body responds to gluten as an “enemy” setting off an immune response in much the same way the body would respond to a virus or bacterial infection. Whilst the immune system is trying to destroy this “enemy” it destroys the lining of the intestines causing severe harm to the body. The only way to fix this is for these individuals to stop eating gluten and thankfully the body is able to repair itself.

For the rest of us, gluten is a decent protein. What determines whether what we eat is healthy or not has to do with the quality of the carbohydrate we choose to eat. There are many gluten free products out there that are refined carbohydrates and or contain a lot of sugar and unhealthy fats, all detrimental to our overall health. So unless you have Coeliac Disease gluten is not what is going to determine whether what you put in your mouth is healthy or not. Next time I’ll expand on good quality carbs… until then have a great week!

28/01/2021

Oh no...not another health nut!

So it’s taken me a while to show up. We are bombarded on a daily basis with so much marketing, information, feeds, stories etc. We are told what we do and don’t want, told how we should or shouldn’t live our lives, fed politics both to the right and the left and if we’re lucky somewhere in the centre as well, presented with countless nutrition claims, and quite frankly it’s EXHAUSTING. And I just didn't want to be another person adding to that burden of yours and so… I’ve hesitated and hesitated and if I’m really being honest also procrastinated but here I am now. And why am I here now? Because I want to present you with a different angle.

You see, I’m a dietitian.. Yeah you heard it and I don’t blame you if you stop right here and start scrolling down to the next hopefully more exciting feed… here they go again.. eat this, not that, look at how perfectly I feed myself and my family and everyone is super healthy from the inside out.. And look at this awesome recipe I whipped up in 5 minutes with an ingredient list longer than the letters of the alphabet not to mention ¾ of ingredients you have never heard of...I mean, where do you even buy that kinda stuff??? But I don’t know about you? This is definitely NOT my reality.

And THIS is what I am showing up as. I want to be a voice of reason, knowledge, understanding and honesty in amongst the avalanche of nutrition feeds, healthy lifestyle info out there. I want to give you a balanced approach to healthy eating which is evidence based but also to be REAL with you. I too love ice cream, chocolates, croissants etc. I don’t eat h**p, never have, perhaps maybe one day I may try it or may not but I want to show you that there is a way of incorporating it all into a balanced lifestyle that regards food as a source of enjoyment and the way we nurture others.

So… to start off with, I would love to hear from you… Yes you… what would YOU like to know about nutrition? What would YOU like to see pop up on my feeds? Please comment below with your questions, thoughts, feedback and let's see where this takes us...

03/12/2020

Ok... So here's the deal with extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). As dietitians when we consider heart health we divide fats into saturated and unsaturated fats, with a diet high in saturated fats linked to high cholesterol and increased risk of heart disease. Traditionally we'd profile oils based on their saturated fat versus their unsaturated fat content. When oil is heated past its "smoke point", the unsaturated bonds break down and become saturated fats. Not a good scenario if we're trying to protect our heart. That's why canola/sunflower oil, which have higher smoke points than EVOO (in other words, they theoretically need to cook at higher temperatures than EVOO before they break down into saturated fats) were recommended as better cooking oils. However, EVOO has a higher content of antioxidants than other oils which have proven to;
a. protect the oil from breaking down during cooking and
b. the antioxidants themselves having direct protective benefits on heart health. If you're still cooking with other oils, here's a great reason why you should swap to EVOO. Note: these antioxidants are present in extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) and not regular olive oil

02/12/2020

You know when I was studying dietetics I felt there was a lot of confusion around what oil was best for cooking. No one could give me a clear cut answer. After pushing a number of my supervisors for direction the overall consensus was canola/sunflower oil were the best cooking oil options whilst extra virgin olive oil was promoted as a cold oil best reserved for dressings. To tell you the truth up until about 4 months ago I would only cook with canola oil. But then I stumbled across a strong body of evidence supporting extra virgin olive oil in all forms of cooking for health promotion. Why is it better? Look out for my simple explanation tomorrow...

06/10/2020

Wondering what to have for breakfast?? Oats are a great source of both soluble and insoluble fibre. The soluble fibre is fantastic at mopping up cholesterol and regulating blood sugar levels. Berries are packed with antioxidants and have anti-cancerous properties. For those watching their weight, they're also low in calories. And walnuts?? Well they're packed with heaps of healthy fats, particularly omega-3 which is great for heart and brain health. And the best bit... it only took a few minutes to prep and it was yummmm!

13/09/2020

EXERCISE! The dreaded word for many....
I have to be honest, I am one of the least sporty people out there. Growing up you were either good or bad at sports. I was the latter. There was no concept of doing sports for enjoyment despite being "pathetic" at a game. However hopeful I am for this next generation of kids, that perhaps they're "freer" to give sports a go no matter their skill set, there's still a few generations of adults who like myself would prefer to do a multitude of things over sports or exercise.
The thing is.... You don't have to be an Olympic sports medalist or even love exercising to have a healthy lifestyle. I had a reminder of this this morning. You see, we all need to walk at times to get to places. This morning was the perfect example. I walked to an appointment 20 minutes away instead of driving and I already feel my week is off to a good start. I am so much more focused and energised than I have been over the past week. So next time you have a choice of driving or walking some place, put on your walking shoes and off you go. Your body, mind and soul will thank you!

08/09/2020

Success or failure
Black or white
Pass or fail
When goals are rigid, results are stagnant
Success isn't black or white!

In a results-oriented society, it’s tempting to look at everything as either black or white but what if we adopted a more fluid way of looking at things? The fixation with numbers on a scale makes us feel like failures if the digits don’t head downwards, but in reality, numbers are only one part of a much bigger story. Instead of fixating on the scale, or the centimeters that comprise our waistlines, I’m suggesting we shift our focus to the gentler and more fluid measurement of “health”. When we make “health” or “wellbeing” our goal, rather than “weight”, we shift from obsessing about how we look to thinking about how we feel. Instead of blacklisting certain foods as the “enemy”, we start to notice the taste, smell, touch, texture, and mouthfeel of what we eat and we begin to want more of the foods that energize our bodies, minds, and souls. The result can be a very natural and gentle weight loss as we shift into a healthier relationship with our bodies and what we feed them.

You see, when we live our lives according to fixed goals, where do we go once we’ve achieved them? In the area of weight loss, those with fixed goals tend to start putting the weight back on once they’ve hit their target. Often, they’ll even exceed their initial weight. The result of fixed thinking around weight loss is often a relentless yo-yo (weight loss and gain) that holds the victim captive their entire life.

So what’s the solution? Shifting the focus more onto wellbeing and less onto weight itself (although improved body composition is often the result of following a healthier eating style). Start saying no to guilt, saying no to regret, saying no to preoccupation around food and saying yes to understanding food, saying yes to nutrition being more about the balance of different food groups than calories, saying yes to eating out guilt-free, saying yes to food diversity and saying yes to reshaping our attitude towards food and eating.

Real change takes time, commitment, and devotion. Real change is not a linear process of building on one success after the other but rather taking slow measured steps towards the outcome, stumbling at times or temporarily reverting to our old ways, but then having the audacity to get back on track, ploughing ahead, learning from each stumble along the way. Real change does not happen overnight. Speak to any chess champion, musician or athlete - they will tell you how many long, hard hours they invested in their "talents." Or ask any gym enthusiast how they got their six-pack. I'm prepared to put money on it they didn't wake up after one day or even one week of working out with one!! The problem with fixating on numbers on the scale is that we lose sight of the true, long-term health changes that are taking place in the background. Just because the numbers don't shift from week to week, doesn't mean you aren’t developing the skill of becoming a healthy eater for life.

16/04/2020

And here we go... my first 2 lockdown nutrition tips!

How to fill in those pre or post meal voids

16/04/2020

Mini video intro

Overwhelmed mother and APD

16/04/2020

What is an accredited practicing dietitian (APD)?