Is Cholesterol really that bad?

Cholesterol lowering drugs are now one of the most prescribed drugs in the world.  It seems like everyone has high cholesterol nowadays!  But, cholesterol is a type of fat that is vital for life. It is a building block for many metabolic processes in the body including making hormones such as oestrogen, testosterone and cortisol, supporting cell structure and making bile. Cholesterol can be found in certain foods such as meats, dairy products and eggs, but most people are not aware that cholesterol is also made by our liver.

Too much cholesterol can be detrimental to your health by promoting fatty plaque deposits in blood vessels, known as atherosclerosis, increasing your risk of cardiovascular disease. But, our bodies need cholesterol to function properly and remain healthy.  Lowering it too much can also be detrimental to your health.  So, managing your cholesterol at a healthy level is key to being healthy and well.

There are two main types of cholesterol: high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. HDL is essentially the ‘good’ form of cholesterol while LDL is the ‘bad’ form of cholesterol. If the ratio of HDL:LDL is out of balance (i.e. not enough HDL, too much LDL), this puts you at increased risk of heart disease. So, it is important to look at the HDL:LDL ratio. If you have unhealthy cholesterol balance, specific nutrients are needed to restore the balance between the good and bad types of cholesterol.

Most people can control their cholesterol levels without the use of any prescription drugs.  Remember that you need cholesterol to remain healthy.  So, you can’t just avoid eating foods high in fats.  Also, your liver can play a part in your cholesterol levels.  One thing for sure – you need to eliminate damaging trans fats found in fast foods, fried foods and baked goods. Trans fats increase the ‘bad’ cholesterol.  You need to increase the amount of good fats you eat from fresh fish, nuts and seeds.  Embrace a diet full of whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, olive oil and garlic. Cut down on sugar in your diet.  Soft drinks, fruit juices and processed foods frequently contain ‘hidden sugars’. When there is an over-supply of sugar the body converts this to fat, which negatively affects cholesterol balance.

If you are overweight, weight loss is an essential part of reducing your cholesterol levels. Daily physical activity is vital for stabilising cholesterol levels and for weight maintenance.  As well as the dietary and lifestyle strategies suggested, appropriate natural supplements and medicines may also help prevent and/or treat high cholesterol.

It is never too late to improve your health. Simple dietary and lifestyle modifications, along with appropriate supplementation, can add years to your life and life to your years!

Depressed? Changing what you eat may help you get out of it!

Depression is a whole body illness, affecting the body, the nervous system, moods, thoughts and behaviour. It affects the way you eat and sleep, the way you think about people around you and the way you react and think. Food greatly influence the brain’s behaviour. The level of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters which regulate our behaviour are closely related to what we eat and neurotransmitters are closely linked to mood. The neurotransmitters related to mood are dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine. Low levels of serotonin can lead to depression, anxiety and sleep disorders. The precursor to serotonin is tryptophan, an essential amino acid. Sufficient amounts of vitamins B6, C, folate and magnesium are necessary for the formation of tryptophan.

Here are some changes you can make to your diet to help you deal with depression:

·        A diet high in complex carbohydrates, whole grains, seeds, nuts, brown rice, millet, soy protein, beans and pulses will help you become more relaxed.

·        Consume salmon and turkey. Both are rich in protein and tryptophan. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons we feel good at Christmas!

·        Omit wheat and gluten from your diet. Wheat and gluten have been found to be linked to depressive disorders.

·        Take essential fatty acids like flaxseed oil, fish oil or evening primrose oil. Essential fatty acids aid in the transmission of nerve impulses, which is needed for brain function. Essential fatty acids are also rich in seeds and nuts like pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds and walnuts.

·        Some natural supplements that are recommended include 5HTP which increases the body’s production of serotonin, SAMe which works as an antidepressant, Vitamin B complex which is necessary for the normal functioning of the brain and nervous system, Kava Kava which helps to induce calm and relieve depression and St John’s Wort.  Magnesium is a mineral that helps us to relax.  Selenium has been shown to elevate mood and decrease anxiety. These effects were more noticeable in people who had lower levels of selenium in their diets. NZ soil is deficient in selenium. This may explain why so many Kiwis are depressed!  Folic acid deficiency has also been linked to depression, especially in the elderly.   A word of caution - there are contraindications between prescription drugs and natural supplements to increase serotonin production.  Please consult a qualified natural health care professional before taking any of the supplements.

Also, aromatherapy is great for relaxing ourselves and uplifting our moods. A combination of Lavender, Bergamot and Cedarwood is great for rest, relaxation and for an uplift. It can be used as a massage, in the bath, or in a burner.

If you are still depressed after reading this article and making the dietary changes, come in and see what we can help you with! Small steps can make a big difference!

5 Ways to Reduce Sugar Intake this Holiday Season

If you are thinking there is lots of baking, cooking and entertaining to do and you will fall victim to high sugar load this holiday, here are some tips to help you reduce your sugar intake.

1. If you are baking, substitute stevia for sugar.  Stevia is derived from a plan, stevia rebaudina and is extremely sweet.  However, with a zero glycemic load, stevia is a good substitute for sugar for this season’s baking.
2. If you are drinking, don’t just think calories, think sugar as well.  Cocktails and ciders tend to have more sugar than distilled spirits.  Keep hydrated with water.  Have a glass of water for every glass of alcohol that you consume.  For coffees and the classic café fare, a long black will have much less sugar than a peppermint mocha.
3. Freeze your baked goods.  If you are preparing some cookies and tarts for entertaining, freeze them in an airtight container.  Take them out to thaw on the day you are entertaining.  This way, snacking on them on the days leading up to the party day is unlikely as they are stored away frozen in your freezer.
4. Have a plan, especially if you are not the host.  Select savoury treats more than sweet treats and if you want to have sweet treats, take a “sampler” size, not a full portion.  This will reduce added sugar that you consume.  Eat before you go, as functions often start later than the stated time and if you are famished, it more likely that you will pick on the wrong foods.  You can have a Shape Up Protein shake or half a keto bar before leaving for the function.  If you start with the right foods that contain a good amount of fats like salmon, avocado, chicken, turkey or nuts, it satisfies you faster and it is less likely that you will need the sweet stuff.
5. Reduce carbohydrates where possible.  Spuds, rice, pasta and bread contain too much carbohydrates.  Limiting your intake of these will cut down on your sugar consumption.

Just because it is the festive season does not mean that you need to allow sugar to free flow in you and create havoc.  A little sugar here and there is fine, but without being mindful, there can be an overload.  Enjoy the spirit of the season, spend quality time with family and friends and relax and rejuvenate!

P.S.  And if you happen to drink a bit too much, make sure you hydrate yourself post party, with coconut water and have a B vitamin!

Is coconut oil good for you? What oil should I be cooking with?

The market for oils for cooking, is becoming very confusing.  Whilst many are aware that some good oils are important for normal body functions, what constitutes good is debatable, as manufacturers justify why consumers should be using their oil.

Recently, there has been a lot of debate as to the claim made by coconut oil to be a healthy oil.  The rationale for the doubt creation is that there is not enough research to prove it.  How much research is adequate is dependent on who’s looking at it and what you are looking for.  In our quest to combat heart disease and move away from saturated fats (butter and lard) to polyunsaturated fats in the last 30 or so years, the incidence of heart disease has not decreased, if at all it has increased!

I invite you to look at the biochemistry of oil, of saturated fats and unsaturated fats.  What differentiates them is the number of double bonds in the chain.  The main fat in coconut oil is lauric acid.  Coconut oil is a medium chain triglyceride, is easy to process and goes straight to your liver to produce energy, rather than stored.  It is easy to digest and supports thyroid function.  Coconut oil can withstand heating.

Olive oil is a monounsaturated fat, which means it contains a double bond, if you break it, you degrade the quality of the oil.  This is a good fat when used in low temperature cooking or in salads, not in high heat.

Rice bran oil has been a favourite, marketed for it high heat properties.  I have been asked often if rice bran oil is a good oil for cooking.  Information I have been able to access states that approximately half the oil is polyunsaturated and the half monounsaturated, so using biochemistry, is not an ideal oil for heating, because of the many double bonds that the polyunsaturated part of the oil contains.  However, rice bran oil claims a high smoking point.  Smoking point is increased in refined oils, i.e. the process of bleaching and filtering the oil from the naturally occurring ingredients like proteins, enzymes and minerals in the oil increases the smoking point.  The process of bleaching and filtering will result in an oil that is more neutral in taste, has a higher smoking point and longer shelf life. So the higher smoking point in rice bran oil will be from the refining process to allow for that to happen.

Soy, canola and corn oils are polyunsaturated fats.  They are heavily traded commodities, which makes genetic modification appealing for commercial purposes.  I do not favour these oils for cooking.  Some other fats I advise staying away from are margarines.  These products often have a Heart Foundation Tick, with very little saturated fats, but are highly processed.  How do you convert a liquid oil at room temperature into a solid form?  Solidification or hardening.  I’m not sure that the hardening of the liquid oil is not hardening our arteries as well!

In short, I would recommend using coconut oil for high heat cooking and olive oil for salads and stir frying or steam frying.  

Strategies to deal with Stress

As we are moving to the end of the year, stress levels increase. What should we be giving to the different people in our lives, what to wear to Christmas functions, when we don’t fit into our best party dress, what to do for the holidays, and the list goes on.  Here are some interesting facts regarding stress:

• Caffeine increases stress (and how often we resort to coffee when we are stressed)
• Stress shrinks the memory centre of your brain
• Stress makes you fat in the abdomen

Being stressed, fat and forgetful certainly do not seem to be a pleasant combination. 

Stress can affect each of us differently. Perhaps you are suffering from anxiety, feeling worried, depressed or irritable; even feeling exhausted and overwhelmed can indicate you are under stress. As well as affecting your ability to cope, stress may also be causing a disruption to your health. When under stress for a length of time, you may be more susceptible to tension headaches, high blood pressure, frequent colds and flus, digestive disorders or a worsening of an existing condition. So you can see, there are many reasons why it is so important to manage your stress now, before it starts impacting your health and wellbeing.

For most people, the dietary intake during periods of stress are also not the best.  It is often takeaway food on the go, or no food, or snacks all the time.  This does not help as the body is needing more nourishment but instead it is deprived of it.

Dietary and Lifestyle recommendations to distress include

1. Deep, slow, breathing, making sure that on inhalation, the abdomen extends.
2. Engage in some meditation, prayer or yoga daily to distress, unwind and refocus.
3. Have some ‘me’ time, be it an aromatherapy bath, listening to music, knitting, reading or cooking, whatever you enjoy that makes you feel relaxed.
4. Eat seasonally, organic where possible or fresh produce.  Make sure you include greens every day.  It does not have to be just eaten raw, it can be lightly cooked, stirfried, put into soups or juiced or blended in a smoothie.
5. Have adequate good fats – fish, seeds, nuts, olive and coconut oil.
6. Avoid excessive alcohol, caffeine, processed foods, additives and preservatives.

When you can differentiate between the different types of stress disorders, whether it is anxiety, worry, depression or irritability, the appropriate herbs can be selected to support the body’s response to stress. We offer a Natural Stress Less Program, if you have trouble destressing, talk to us about what we can help you with.

Simple Healthy Cooking - Cauliflower Fried “Rice”

½ of a large head of cauliflower, blended

250g chicken thigh sliced, marinated with salt

½ red capsicum

½ yellow capsicum

2 teaspoons coconut oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 teaspoons of Braggs liquid aminos to taste

3 tablespoons dehydrated sprouted buckwheat

A handful roasted cashews

A dollop of butter

Pepper to taste

Cut cauliflower in smaller pieces, put into blender and blend into fine bits. 

In a heated pan, put 2 teaspoons of coconut oil and add chopped garlic.  Once garlic is fragrant, add in chicken thigh slices and stir fry till chicken cooked.  Add in blended cauliflower and stir fry for 5-8 minutes.  Blend in chopped capsicum, stir fry for another 2-3 minutes and add liquid aminos in. 

Scoop into serving bowl, stir in a dollop of butter.  Add cashews and dehydrated buckwheat and some pepper.

Dehydrated Sprouted Buckwheat

1 cup buckwheat

Glass sprouter

Dehydrator

Soak buckwheat for 1-2 hours and drain.  Let buckwheat spout in glass sprouter. Rinse in cold running water 2-3 times a day and let the seeds continue to sprout.  Put sprouted buckwheat into dehydrator at medium to allow seeds to dehydrate for 5-6 hours.  When done, buckwheat sprouts are dry and tastes crunchy.  Store in airtight container and use in dishes and desserts.

Note:  Buckwheat is wheat free seed and is suitable for people on wheat and gluten free diets.  It helps to improve insulin sensitivity and makes a great snack.  Ground up, buckwheat flour can be added to pancakes.

Simple Healthy Cooking - Baked Garlic and Orange Chicken Nibbles

1kg chicken nibbles

Marinate:

4 cloves garlic

2 bird’s eye chillies (optional)

Rind of 1 orange, grated

Juice of half an orange

1 teaspoon Himalayan salt

Blend grated orange rind, orange juice, salt, garlic and chillies.  Spread marinate into chicken nibbles and let it marinate for at least 20 minutes.  It tastes best if marinated for some time in the fridge.

Oil a baking pan and spread chicken nibbles onto the pan.  Bake at 170C for 30 minutes.