Your Gut Health Affects Your Mental Health, I-F, KETO & Bad Carbs: Abbey Sharp | Ep 96 - Gent's Talk

[00:00:00] It's the same with food. When we say we can't have cheese anymore, but we really fucking love cheese, guess what happens?

[00:00:06] We're gonna binge on the cheese when we get a chance.

[00:00:08] And so this is why most diets fail for people is because our body will fight tooth and nail

[00:00:15] against this this sensation of restriction physiological restriction in the body, but also psychological restriction.

[00:00:43] I was really excited to have this conversation with you because I think nutrition

[00:00:49] dieting, which is such a taboo word these days

[00:00:53] is so important particularly I

[00:00:56] Feel like we've had enough conversations

[00:00:58] Maybe not enough is not the right word, but we've had a lot of conversations around

[00:01:03] nutrition and dieting for women, but for men

[00:01:06] We still shy away from the conversations around that right because we think unless you're some bodybuilder

[00:01:12] Who's in the gym all the time the average Joe?

[00:01:15] You know just doesn't pay attention to their nutrition right and that's a such a fallacy. Oh, yeah problem

[00:01:21] Oh, yeah, and I want to try to change the narrative on that so before we jump into that

[00:01:27] Abby welcome to the Gents Talk podcast. Thank you so much for having me. This is so exciting. I appreciate it

[00:01:32] No, of course. I'm glad you're here

[00:01:35] For those who aren't familiar with

[00:01:37] Abby and the work that you do maybe a little brief background for us. Yeah, so I'm a registered dietitian

[00:01:44] I have been a youtuber and a tick tocker and a blogger in the early days of blogging

[00:01:52] You know the og days

[00:01:55] for 15 years

[00:01:57] So early early adopter in that space

[00:02:00] But more than anything, I'm a nutrition and food and science communicator. That's really how I see myself not an influencer

[00:02:08] You know that I'm a dietitian first and foremost

[00:02:11] And so my approach to nutrition has always been kind of like a quote-unquote non diet additive approach

[00:02:18] So I don't believe in restricting yourself to the point of you feeling miserable, right? Like life is too short, right?

[00:02:25] So

[00:02:26] Nutrition shouldn't just be about

[00:02:28] Deprivation and denial it really isn't right and your diet shouldn't be the most interesting thing about you

[00:02:35] It shouldn't be your whole personality as we see it has become you know for so many people, right?

[00:02:40] Like you know nutrition and food has become as

[00:02:44] divisive as

[00:02:46] Politics and religion in a lot of cases it become has become people's religion in some ways

[00:02:51] And I think that's dangerous because you know, we are more than what we eat

[00:02:56] Contrary to that, you know popular dodge where we are more than what we eat so much more

[00:03:00] So my approach is a registered dietitian has always been that of an additive approach

[00:03:05] So rather than thinking about all the things we need to take away from our diet

[00:03:08] I'm all about what can we add to our diet and kind of think about nutrition from a place of abundance

[00:03:15] Rather than from a place of denial

[00:03:19] How do we how do we shift our mentality in that regard?

[00:03:22] Yeah, so it can be so hard especially in the age of social media where basically

[00:03:27] Everyone's telling you to cut this and you know, there's a new diet every day

[00:03:31] I always joke that back when I was studying nutrition. This is like, you know 15 was 20 years ago

[00:03:36] It's like there was basically like it was pretty black and white what good nutrition was now

[00:03:42] It's like well, you got the carnivore people who are claiming that you know

[00:03:46] You've got to go carnivore then you have like the raw fruit of war people who are saying no

[00:03:49] You should only eat raw fruit and it's like what do you believe like it's very overwhelming for the layperson to make

[00:03:57] Informed decisions about what is the quote-unquote best way to eat?

[00:04:01] And so that's really where where I come in because you know, I try to help demystify these things

[00:04:08] and to try to help people make sense of it all because

[00:04:11] Nutrition is constantly evolving but at the end of the day

[00:04:15] It's kind of simple right like it's more simple than what the influencers are trying to make it out to be and

[00:04:22] sensationalize it to be and it really comes down to

[00:04:26] You know again shifting that mentality from a place of like let's cut out all these food groups to how do we add things to our diet?

[00:04:34] And so, you know for me

[00:04:35] I developed a framework called the hunger crushing combo which is a concept that I have trademarked

[00:04:41] I utilize people know me for it and the idea is that rather than

[00:04:47] Cutting all these foods out and saying oh, you can't have that you can't have this you can't have that

[00:04:51] We're adding in a source of fiber protein and healthy fats

[00:04:55] those are the hunger crushing compounds that I talk about in my hcc as I call it my hunger crushing combo

[00:05:01] And what that does is that shifts us away from a place of thinking about

[00:05:05] Oh, what do we need to take away to a place of what are we adding to our meals and snacks?

[00:05:11] To make them more state-treating make them more satisfying

[00:05:15] And so at the end of the day we're getting better balanced blood sugars

[00:05:18] We're getting a much better chance at regulating our

[00:05:22] Our weight and managing our weight because we're feeling fuller on on potentially fewer of those what I call naked carbs

[00:05:29] So, you know the naked refined carbs

[00:05:31] You're edging some of those out by adding in protein and fiber and healthy fats

[00:05:36] And you're kind of putting food on

[00:05:38] You know an even playing field and again this comes back to that mentality shift because I always say that you know

[00:05:47] Foods may not be nutritionally equal

[00:05:49] But we can make them morally equal by essentially getting rid of that dichotomous thinking of good bad clean junk

[00:05:57] And thinking instead about this is just food and if I want white pasta like a naked carb

[00:06:03] That's an example of a naked carb half the weight pasta

[00:06:06] But dress it up with some protein and some vegetables in there

[00:06:10] Maybe some olives or cheese and suddenly you've got a way more satiating meal that actually kind of edges out

[00:06:17] Some of those refined carbs without you even getting in your head that you're depriving yourself

[00:06:21] So it is a mind a mind shift. Um, that has so many more benefits to just like, you know staying full

[00:06:30] Okay, I got a lot of questions

[00:06:33] Let's start with the naked carbs. Yeah, that's a great concept

[00:06:36] Can you give us other examples of naked carbs? Yeah, so, you know

[00:06:39] Naked carbs are all those the carbohydrates that

[00:06:42] Basically are usually more refined or fast acting carbs that give you a shot of energy and then kind of like you crash rack

[00:06:49] Right back down. So white carbs white rice white bread

[00:06:54] candy like juice

[00:06:56] Um

[00:06:57] Stuff with lots of sugar basically stuff that has more sugar or carbohydrates that don't have the fibers

[00:07:02] Slow it down. They don't have protein in there to slow it down

[00:07:05] Um, so typically it's those kinds of quote unquote junk foods that people get in their head

[00:07:11] Usually with diets that they can't have anymore and again

[00:07:15] My framework is stop thinking about all the things you can't have because as soon as you think that in your head

[00:07:21] You're gonna want it more right? It's it's human nature when you say you tell a teenager

[00:07:27] No, you can't wear that crop top to school. What do you think she's gonna do?

[00:07:31] She's gonna put the damn crop top on because we like to rebel against rules

[00:07:35] And so it's the same with food when we say we can't have cheese anymore, but we really fucking love cheese

[00:07:41] Guess what happens? We're gonna binge on the cheese when we get a chance

[00:07:45] And so this is why most diets fail for people is because

[00:07:48] Our body will fight tooth and nail

[00:07:51] Against this this sensation of restriction physiological restriction in the body, but also psychological restriction, right? And there's a

[00:08:00] There's a problem with the yo-yo

[00:08:03] Dieting right when you go on a diet and then you're off the diet on the diet off the diet that that can't be good for your body

[00:08:08] It's not good for the body

[00:08:10] Um, and you know typically what we see is when people lose weight in let's say a not very healthy fashion

[00:08:17] They're losing a lot of weight very quickly. They can't maintain it

[00:08:20] Obviously because again sometimes these very restrictive diets you can't maintain them. It just that's life, right? You're human

[00:08:28] And they not only will gain the weight back, but they typically will gain more weight back

[00:08:33] And there's many reasons for this a lot of different

[00:08:36] compensatory mechanisms that happen in the body physiologically

[00:08:39] slowing down metabolism

[00:08:41] slowing down neat

[00:08:43] Which is non exercise activity

[00:08:45] Thermogenesis which is basically all the unconscious movements that you do so like you might fidget less or you might want to stand less

[00:08:52] You don't even think about those things

[00:08:53] But those are things that burn calories and you'll start doing less of those when you're kind of restricting calories

[00:09:00] Um, and your hunger hormones go through the roof your satiety hormones drop

[00:09:05] And so there's all these things going on in your body to like scream at you like gain that weight back right now

[00:09:11] I'm not happy with you like being hungry

[00:09:14] And so and you do as soon as you give in because again you're human

[00:09:19] Eventually if you love cheese, you're going to eat the damn cheese and then you go hog wild

[00:09:24] And you know, I always call this like the last supper mentality. We see all the time like

[00:09:29] You you finally given you have the cheese and you go, oh shit

[00:09:33] I'm just gonna eat all the all the ice cream in the in the in the freezer

[00:09:36] I'm gonna go through all the chips in the pantry and clear the fridge because diet starts again tomorrow

[00:09:40] And when you do that enough times that just becomes this vicious binge restrict repent repeat cycle

[00:09:47] That's very hard for people to get out of without

[00:09:51] Like nipping it in the bud with this restrictive diet mentality. So are carbs evil? No

[00:09:58] Not and that's something that's really important that I want people to get away get get get get out of their head is because

[00:10:05] Yes, diet culture is painted carbs as the devil and it's just getting worse and worse with social media

[00:10:10] And a lot of the messages out there

[00:10:12] But carbs are really important like carbs are our brains

[00:10:17] Preferred source of fuel our body loves carbs. We we thrive on carbs carbs are very important

[00:10:24] But what happens when you consume let's say a piece of candy, which is a great example of

[00:10:29] You know a naked carb because it's pure sugar basically is you're gonna get a whoop

[00:10:34] A spike in energy and that was quick fast acting carbs and also a blood sugar spike

[00:10:39] And it's just gonna crash right back down and if you're doing that all day

[00:10:43] You're you're not gonna feel your bass like your energy is going to be completely out of whack

[00:10:48] Your hormones are going to be out of whack

[00:10:50] And you're hungry all time. You're gonna be thinking about food all the time

[00:10:53] And eventually you're just gonna eat more calories and your body actually needs because you're kind of constantly

[00:10:59] Pacifying this like hungry not hungry hungry hungry

[00:11:03] Um, so no carbs are absolutely not bad

[00:11:07] But when we take a naked carb like candy and we add something to it like let's say we have some candy

[00:11:13] But we also have some greek yogurt and we have you know, like a clementine or we make a little snack pack out of it

[00:11:21] Then we're slowing that blood sugar curve. We're slowing. We're increasing our satiety level for longer

[00:11:27] So we're not getting that up and down up and down

[00:11:30] And that little piece of candy in the grand scheme of your day is really no big deal

[00:11:36] It's just when we're constantly chasing this the the hunger with these tiny blips of short acting energy

[00:11:43] That's when we run into problems

[00:11:46] So then what would you say to?

[00:11:49] Folks who swear by the keto diet, for example

[00:11:52] Yeah, it's it's a great question. Um, you know nothing against folks who who have success on the keto diet

[00:11:58] There's there is evidence to support a keto diet because I've had success on it

[00:12:02] You've had success. Yeah, so this was a few years back. I was very carb heavy

[00:12:07] I come from middle eastern background all of our food is laced with like a

[00:12:11] disproportionate amount of carbs followed by a small amount of protein

[00:12:15] Um, and it's always just rice potatoes that kind of thing and uh at one point I was about 210

[00:12:22] And started the keto diet was admittedly extreme with it in the sense of I was like carbs not even close not coming close to them

[00:12:30] And I dropped to about 160. Wow

[00:12:33] Within the span of maybe four months now. I was also doing

[00:12:37] High intensity training four or five times a week

[00:12:41] So there was a lot of other factors involved in it, but I also felt great right after that

[00:12:46] So, uh, I find and I guess I'm trying to discover or understand whether

[00:12:53] You know keto is a temporary measure or whether it's a sustainable measure because it's vilified quite a bit

[00:12:59] It's either you swear by it or you hate it. Yeah, and I don't feel that I don't feel either of those things

[00:13:05] Right like at the end of the day whether uh, it's you know, I always say a diet

[00:13:09] Particularly one that you're hoping to maintain or lose weight on

[00:13:13] Um, it has to be you have to be able to do it for life

[00:13:16] If you can't do it for life don't even bother because as soon as you come off of keto

[00:13:21] Unless you have put into a place another measure to create a calorie deficit

[00:13:27] You're probably going to start to gain the weight right back. I don't know if that was your experience

[00:13:31] That did happen. Yeah, I mean the pandemic kind of messed it all up. Yeah, you and everybody else

[00:13:36] Don't go to the gym anymore and it's just cheaper to order food and yeah hard to order keto on uber

[00:13:43] So, um, yeah, I mean like the keto diet has some great benefits to it

[00:13:47] Like there is some great blood management blood sugar management benefits

[00:13:51] So for folks with insulin resistance type 2 diabetes

[00:13:55] But it is being shown in research to be very hard for people to maintain long term

[00:14:01] And they will get that immediate hit a satisfaction and gratification because they will lose weight quickly

[00:14:08] A lot of that's going to be water weight as you kind of plow through your glycogen stores

[00:14:13] But after after that, you know, yes, you're going to lose weight because fat is super satiating as we've established

[00:14:19] And it's very hard to like overeat a lot of meat for example because you just feel so full on in it as opposed to like rice and potatoes

[00:14:27] Which is much more easy. Yeah

[00:14:30] So

[00:14:31] It is uh, is it effective weight loss strategy

[00:14:34] But the problem we see in the research is people just can't sustain it because it's it doesn't really jive with most people's lifestyles

[00:14:40] That's not like you said it's very hard to to just walk into a restaurant today and be like

[00:14:44] I need to stay keto unless you're ordering the 80 dollar steak

[00:14:47] Exactly. That's it and that's it because yeah, you're not you know, everything meals are typically based around carbohydrates

[00:14:53] Especially when we eat out

[00:14:55] Um, and the other thing is like for a lot of folks they struggle with like getting enough fiber in

[00:14:59] And as you probably know as being part of the keto community

[00:15:03] There is like the dirty keto or whatever you want to call it and like the clean keto as people like call it

[00:15:08] I hate those terms terms, but that's kind of you know, that's what people say and so obviously it's

[00:15:14] more advantageous to be consuming

[00:15:16] Avocados and olives that as your fat sources then it is to be just eating like bacon and butter, right?

[00:15:22] Right. So like you know, it's again within the keto diet. There's huge variations in you know

[00:15:29] How effective or healthy it can be

[00:15:32] Um

[00:15:33] But yeah, it works great for some for some people at least in the short term

[00:15:37] I don't know a lot of people actually don't know anyone who has been able to maintain it for like more than a year

[00:15:42] Yeah, it's certainly hard

[00:15:45] The the restaurant component is challenging when you go to other people's houses, you're the person sitting there going

[00:15:50] I'm sorry. I can't eat a bc and d type of thing

[00:15:54] Um, so I've in my own journey decided I was going to reintegrate carbs

[00:15:59] But at a very minimal level because I also noticed I don't like the feeling of getting sluggish and tired afterwards

[00:16:06] I don't enjoy that dip. Yeah

[00:16:08] And I found that that has been

[00:16:11] working for me

[00:16:13] But I've also in my own research and you're the expert so correct me if I'm wrong have

[00:16:17] Also come to understand that there are between like in the spectrum of carbs. There are, you know, good carbs that you can have like

[00:16:26] Sweet potato for example

[00:16:28] And then on the other side is kind of like the white rice that you that you mentioned the naked carbs

[00:16:32] Yeah, and so again that that really comes down to this framework of thinking about well, you know the sweet potatoes or

[00:16:39] You know the whole greens and the quinoa like those are bound up with hunger crushing compounds

[00:16:45] They've got protein in them in the case of quinoa and they've got fiber in them

[00:16:48] Obviously in sweet potatoes and in quinoa

[00:16:51] And so you're it's going to slow down the blood sugar response

[00:16:54] So you're not going to get that huge spike and dip that you would from like white rice

[00:16:59] But if you're part, you know, if you love your white rice because like I'm a dietitian

[00:17:04] I don't like quinoa. I'm just gonna say it. Oh, I know

[00:17:08] I know we're supposed to love quinoa, but I don't like quinoa and so I like white rice

[00:17:12] That's okay in my framework. It's like if that's your thing

[00:17:16] Just dress up the the white rice by throwing in, you know some ground turkey like make a little fried rice situation

[00:17:23] Some eggs throw your vegetables in there and now it's you're not getting that big spike

[00:17:29] You've added in all the hunger crushing compounds and you're going to help to stabilize those blood sugars

[00:17:33] What's the role of fiber in all of this? Yeah, like we we grow up being told fiber is important

[00:17:37] But not a lot of people understand what fiber actually does for the body totally fiber is so important and unfortunately

[00:17:45] Most north americans do not get nearly enough

[00:17:48] Not fiber. So how much do we need? We're supposed to be getting about 25 to 38 grams per day

[00:17:53] Most people are getting maybe half that

[00:17:56] um, and so what fiber does there's lots of different roles of fiber sweet different types of fiber but um,

[00:18:02] Generally, it's really good for your heart because it helps to reduce

[00:18:05] High cholesterol for example and very important for gut health because it promotes regularity

[00:18:11] Also helps with satiety which is important for weight management

[00:18:14] And you know one thing that we're really getting interested in

[00:18:18] In the world of nutrition research is gut health right gut health is huge right now for good reason in my opinion

[00:18:25] Um, and so fiber is what we call a pre biotic

[00:18:29] So we hear about pre biotics. We hear about probiotics

[00:18:32] Prebiotics is the fuel the food for the bacteria for the probiotics

[00:18:37] And that's what fiber does it feeds the good bacteria in our gut really super duper important

[00:18:44] um, and obviously we get fiber from fruits and vegetables whole grains legumes things nuts seeds

[00:18:51] Those are some of our like typical best

[00:18:54] Sources um, and that's one of my issues like with some forms of a keto diet

[00:18:58] Especially like a dirty keto diet is like where's the fiber like you gotta make you gotta really make sure you're getting in those fiber sources

[00:19:04] When you aren't having carbs

[00:19:07] Because it's very hard to meet that 30 grams of fiber without without carbs and that's per day. That's not per meal

[00:19:13] Oh, yeah, that's yeah, that's per day. Yeah 30 if you had 30 grams in fiber in one meal

[00:19:17] You'd be very bloated. You would you would be like six months pregnant bloated, right?

[00:19:23] But yeah

[00:19:24] Gut health is

[00:19:26] So important, you know the health of our gut microbiome affects the health of every other bodily system, right?

[00:19:33] Um 70 percent of our immune system is housed in our gut

[00:19:36] 50 percent of our brain's dopamine is produced in the gut

[00:19:40] So there's a huge connection between mental health and gut health

[00:19:43] Interesting. Also, this is an interesting factoid. Um, our body weight is also

[00:19:49] impacted by our gut microbiome

[00:19:51] So we have some really interesting research looking at

[00:19:55] Larger body folks and thin body folks and the difference in their microbiome composition

[00:20:01] And we see that there's a stark difference in what that microbiome looks like in in a larger body person versus a thin person

[00:20:07] And we don't know what comes first if if the chicken the egg if they

[00:20:10] They're born like this or if it's because of having these more high fiber foods in the diet that gives that more beneficial

[00:20:18] Uh bacteria

[00:20:20] composition in the gut

[00:20:21] But what's interesting is that

[00:20:24] If we have a really healthy varied gut microbiome

[00:20:28] That those bacteria actually help to gobble up some of the calories that we eat

[00:20:33] So it's like a tug of war in our body. Let's say we eat an apple

[00:20:37] if

[00:20:38] We were to eat an apple our gut microbiome is going to actually gobble up some of the available calories in that apple

[00:20:45] So if someone like me that has let's say a healthy gut microbiome were to eat an apple 100 calorie apple

[00:20:51] I might actually only utilize 80 of those calories

[00:20:54] Where somebody with a less healthy gut microbiome would have they would utilize the full hundred

[00:21:00] So this is another reason why?

[00:21:03] Taking care of your gut can actually help to lower your body weight and help to support weight loss

[00:21:09] Because we're not absorbing all the calories that we consume

[00:21:13] right

[00:21:14] That's interesting because really cool. Yeah, because I think a lot of people think about

[00:21:18] how

[00:21:19] It's um if i'm understanding this correctly if somebody has

[00:21:23] Is struggling with their weight and they eat something that may not necessarily an apple

[00:21:27] You don't think is going to be the worst thing for you

[00:21:29] But your body doesn't process it the same way somebody who is in a healthier position

[00:21:33] Yeah, exactly

[00:21:34] And it's not just with apples like if we look at something like more heavily refined foods like

[00:21:40] You know if we were to mcdonald's and like have a bunch of like fries or like these naked carbs

[00:21:44] We were talking about naked carbs don't have really any fiber

[00:21:47] So they're not there's nothing really for the for the gut microbiome to feed on

[00:21:51] So all of those calories are getting getting utilized by our body whereas an apple which has fiber or

[00:21:57] You know quinoa, which has fiber that's kind of creating a bit of a feast for our gut micro

[00:22:02] gut microbes

[00:22:03] Which then is going to reduce how many calories we're actually getting

[00:22:07] So yeah very important to take care of our gut

[00:22:10] Um, so to do that a few things, you know stress is very important stress management

[00:22:15] Getting a good sleep also really important

[00:22:19] What happens if you don't get enough sleep on a regular basis?

[00:22:21] Well, you know our cortisol levels are going to rise and also really heavily affects our hunger hormones

[00:22:28] It just kind of creates general inflammation in the body and

[00:22:31] You know sleep is so underrated and so

[00:22:34] So vital if you're not sleeping well doesn't matter what else is happening

[00:22:38] You're not going to feel your best you're going to be hungry when you shouldn't be

[00:22:42] And your blood sugars may be out of whack your hormones may be out of whack

[00:22:47] And you know generally you kind of get into this terrible cycle of not sleeping well

[00:22:52] Not feeling your best eating poorly and it kind of kind of just cycles on like that. It just it's a repeating

[00:22:59] Problem that a lot of people are struggling with especially now at being so busy

[00:23:04] I just came back from Italy. Yeah, and

[00:23:08] Had a lot of white naked carbs. Yes pasta pizza you name it

[00:23:14] But I didn't feel as bloated as full as I would if I had a quarter the portion I had here

[00:23:21] Is there something to be said about the quality of the food we have in north america versus other parts of the world?

[00:23:27] Like is there really a difference between them or is it just in our minds?

[00:23:32] We don't have the research to say for sure and this has always been you know, there's lots of hypotheses on this

[00:23:38] There's lots of speculation

[00:23:40] And I think at the end of the day like there's a few things that are at play

[00:23:44] One a lot of the pasta in italy is like homemade. So what is it? It's like flour and water

[00:23:50] Maybe eggs, but like typically that's what it is a pinch of salt

[00:23:54] Whereas like a lot of the pasta we're having here may be designed to have a longer shelf life. There may be additives

[00:24:00] And so it also might be the quality of the wheat used

[00:24:03] I can't say for sure because it really depends on where that wheat's coming from but at the

[00:24:08] The the more likely

[00:24:11] Culprit in my opinion is you're on holiday

[00:24:14] You are relaxed

[00:24:16] You are enjoying your life. You are probably walking more

[00:24:20] You are you know feeling your best versus like being stuck at home

[00:24:25] Just like wolfing down food in a rush stress plays such an important role in our gut

[00:24:32] And how we feel like I said there's a huge connection between the gut and the brain's called the brain gut access

[00:24:37] And so when you are feeling stressed your digestion will be off. You will be more bloated

[00:24:42] You'll be more constipated. You will feel just like more sluggish in general

[00:24:47] And so something could be said for going on vacation eating your face off

[00:24:53] And like living your life, you're not stressed about the carbs

[00:24:56] You're not stressed about dieting not stressed about gaining weight. You're walking more

[00:25:01] And you're relaxed and I do think that that plays an important role

[00:25:06] Um, I can't say what the relative role between that and the quality of the food is because we don't really

[00:25:11] We haven't really gotten any good like you know good data to to tease that apart

[00:25:16] But I think that for me when I travel

[00:25:19] My digestion is amazing. Doesn't matter where I am in the world

[00:25:22] Not just Italy could be anywhere even in the states where the food is arguably worse than it is here

[00:25:27] So, you know the portions are big exactly exactly

[00:25:31] So I think that does um does often play a bit of a role

[00:25:34] So the stress is the

[00:25:36] The element there stress is a really big element to to you know, everything that goes on in the body for sure

[00:25:42] So I think that's a nice reminder for people who anyone who's struggling with their digestion or noticing that they're eating

[00:25:48] Erratically or a lot more is to take stock of where they're at

[00:25:53] Mentally 100 and obviously that's easier said than done right like when people say oh just don't be stressed. You're like

[00:25:59] Oh, how do I stop that?

[00:26:01] I think we're all looking for like magic

[00:26:03] Welcome to you know being a millennial in in 2024, but like I think it's for a lot of people. That's that's uh

[00:26:11] Is a big a big challenge for a lot of people right now. Yeah, what about things like coffee? Yeah, there seems to be

[00:26:18] I'm not a coffee drinker. I've never been I just don't enjoy the taste and I've seen how people

[00:26:24] Are when they're off coffee and how they just look very

[00:26:28] anti

[00:26:29] You know angry almost

[00:26:31] um

[00:26:33] But I've also heard that coffee can be good for you. Yeah

[00:26:36] Can we just sort of better understand or at least for me better understand the

[00:26:42] Benefits of coffee and where it could also be bad for you because I've also heard sure it can be bad for you

[00:26:47] yeah, I mean

[00:26:49] The dose makes the poison is what I think is a really important takeaway for anything anytime you hear someone on the internet say

[00:26:55] Oh x y and z is bad for you

[00:26:57] It you should be asking the question at what dose the dose makes the poison

[00:27:02] So coffee actually has a lot of great benefits. It's packed with antioxidants

[00:27:07] Um not unlike, you know green green tea for example, which green tea guys has the health halo

[00:27:14] But coffee has tons of antioxidants as well very unique antioxidants

[00:27:18] Um not unlike what red wine and all of those

[00:27:21] Um, so there may be some benefits for heart health there

[00:27:24] Um, I believe there's also some research even though it can transiently kind of give you a blip a little bit of a boost in your blood sugars

[00:27:32] Over time from what I recall from the research. It may actually help to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes

[00:27:39] Um, so that's an interesting thing

[00:27:41] Um also like, you know for for a lot of people it

[00:27:45] Uh, it is what helps them kind of feel energized and help them concentrate in the morning

[00:27:50] You know a lot of folks that are neurodivergent for example may rely on a little bit of caffeine just to help with that piece

[00:27:57] Um and in terms of like when is it not good? It's like

[00:28:00] If it's affecting your anxiety and causing you to have the jitters like it's a good

[00:28:05] It's a good time to cut back. So generally I believe the recommendation is about

[00:28:10] 400 milligrams of coffee a day so about two maybe three cups of coffee max

[00:28:15] Before you can start to potentially see some of these negative impacts, but this is highly

[00:28:22] Individualized so like it depends if you're a fast or a slow caffeine metabolizer

[00:28:27] And this is just where it comes down to the person, you know

[00:28:30] Ultimately it is kind of like, you know, it's a stimulant

[00:28:34] So for folks who have just come off coffee like you've just described like yeah, they probably are going to be a little bit miserable

[00:28:41] Like I can't even imagine it. So I you don't want to be around me

[00:28:46] And so

[00:28:47] Yeah, for a lot of people this is just what like helps them out in the morning and I

[00:28:51] I always say

[00:28:52] I will I can help you tweak any part of your diet

[00:28:56] But I will not tell you to change your coffee order because that is sacred

[00:28:59] It's like part of a ritual for people

[00:29:02] It just is what gives them comfort in the morning. No or tea like whatever you're like, you know drink of choices

[00:29:08] Um, I think that's a sacred piece of like a little bit of a ritual

[00:29:12] And it it helps people kind of get started in the day on a good on a good note

[00:29:17] And that alone has some some really important power. Obviously if you're pregnant

[00:29:21] I would cut back the research suggests you don't need to eliminate it

[00:29:25] But I I would keep it to a cup a day

[00:29:27] That was that would be my other suggestion on like when to when to be more mindful

[00:29:31] But if it's affecting your anxiety like listen to your body, what about red wine? You you mentioned red wine

[00:29:37] There's the age old, you know a cup one cup of red wine a night is is fine

[00:29:41] I don't know if that's true. I certainly drank a lot of it. Yeah in the last couple weeks

[00:29:46] Yeah, but I'm curious is to to where wine plays a role in our diet

[00:29:50] Yeah, so I mean like if we look at like the gold standard of nutrition

[00:29:57] And diets like the Mediterranean diet, right? Like a lot of our research on nutrition

[00:30:02] Has always kind of circles back to this Mediterranean style of eating as being kind of the the gold standard for for kind of

[00:30:09] longevity for reducing the risk of chronic disease for reducing the risk of obesity

[00:30:14] And things like red wine is a part of that

[00:30:18] And so what we see with alcohol is a bit of a J shaped curve because red wine does have some benefits because it's antioxidant rich

[00:30:28] We see a bit of a J shaped curve in the research where a bit is good

[00:30:33] But a lot is bad, right? Like again, the dose makes the poison

[00:30:37] And so again, I think it comes down to everything in moderation

[00:30:43] I I generally recommend sticking to

[00:30:47] No more than a few drinks a week

[00:30:49] Our our guidelines in Canada used to be much more

[00:30:53] I think they were at like 10 drinks for women a week and now I think they're just down to a few

[00:30:58] So 10 seems a little yeah, I mean like yeah, it's more than I would recommend basically

[00:31:06] So yeah, I think that again

[00:31:09] I wouldn't make wine your sole source of antioxidants

[00:31:12] That's what I always say like don't go out of your way to get your antioxidants from wine

[00:31:16] There's lots of fruits and vegetables that will provide those same antioxidants if you like wine

[00:31:21] Enjoy in moderation. That's kind of my take home for alcohol because well, what what exactly is the impact of having

[00:31:29] a lot of alcohol on your gut

[00:31:32] And we know what it can do to your liver

[00:31:35] But from from your gut perspective and how that could potentially impact your overall diet

[00:31:39] Can we talk a little about that a little bit? I don't know. I don't know the research to be honest on

[00:31:44] Wine specifically and gut health

[00:31:47] For alcohol in general, yeah

[00:31:49] Even that like I think that generally speaking, you know

[00:31:53] Wine and alcohol is not providing any fuel for our gut microbiome and our gut microbes

[00:31:58] And at the end of the day we only have a finite amount of calories in the day to meet our nutrient needs

[00:32:04] Without getting ourselves into a calorie surplus and wine is not arguably going to provide any real nutrition

[00:32:11] Not just for our gut microbes, but really for anything

[00:32:14] So I think that you know if we're if our goal is to really support our gut microbiome

[00:32:20] Then we really want to do focus on sources of prebiotics and probiotics

[00:32:25] And actually I just launched my own supplement line a few weeks ago

[00:32:30] Called new theory and our first product is a two in one plant-based probiotic protein powder

[00:32:37] So you get five, you know five billion cfu's of those really important gut supporting probiotics

[00:32:43] Plus you get you know a full dose of complete plant-based protein because plant-based

[00:32:48] You know, I I really do think

[00:32:50] Forget the carnivores for a second and you know the keto for a moment

[00:32:53] I really do think that the the plant-based movement is not going away anytime soon

[00:32:58] Is there can you maybe so i'm

[00:33:02] Uh, I love my meat. Yeah, and I can't see myself ever moving away from them

[00:33:07] But I am genuinely curious when I see you know

[00:33:11] Superstar athletes like a tom brady say that he's strictly vegan

[00:33:16] And that he gets every single thing he needs

[00:33:19] Being that way. I'm curious to he to better understand the plant-based diet or at least the plant-based

[00:33:26] Nutrition

[00:33:27] Whatever you want to call it and what the benefits of that are yeah

[00:33:31] well again, you know, I myself am not vegan or vegetarian and um, and but I

[00:33:38] Really strongly do believe in a more plant forward diet

[00:33:42] So I we have so much evidence that suggests that eating more plant forward or plant based

[00:33:48] Even if it's not 100 vegan is associated with reduced risk of mortality, you know longer life

[00:33:54] Reduced risk of chronic disease cancer diabetes

[00:33:57] obesity etc because plants are very high in phytonutrients and antioxidants

[00:34:04] So really important for just overall vitality

[00:34:07] Also a really important source of that fiber. That's really where our fiber comes from plants, right?

[00:34:13] And so that is feeding our good gut bacteria

[00:34:16] And that is again very important for overall health

[00:34:20] And you know, the other thing is is that by eating more plants more plant-based protein

[00:34:25] We're not actually edging out the saturated fats the trans fats

[00:34:31] You know a lot of those other kinds of foods that we might find in red meat and things like that or processed meats that we

[00:34:37] Know are more associated with certain cancers or chronic disease

[00:34:42] And generally speaking like when you're incorporating a lot of these like high fiber

[00:34:47] bulk foods that are really satiating like beans and legumes and vegetables and nuts and seeds

[00:34:52] You know, you are are consuming a very kind of low calorie density diet

[00:34:57] So that's where the kind of weight management piece comes into play

[00:35:00] and I think there's like a

[00:35:02] this

[00:35:03] Very common

[00:35:04] Misconception that you can't meet your nutrients or specifically that you can't meet your protein needs

[00:35:09] Like every any vegan will tell you that they go to a family dinner and some you know

[00:35:13] Some aunt or uncle is going to be like, but where'd you get your protein?

[00:35:16] You know, like that's just always the that's always what they get asked

[00:35:20] But there are so many plant-based sources of protein now between

[00:35:24] you know tofu and

[00:35:26] other other forms of soy and beans and legumes and

[00:35:30] hemp seeds and protein powder like I just mentioned there's there really are and you know, yes

[00:35:36] Vegan folks do need to do some supplementation like vitamin D

[00:35:40] Which honestly most omnivores need to do anyways if not all of us

[00:35:44] And b12 is the other very important one sometimes iron depends on the diet

[00:35:49] Um, but for the most part it

[00:35:52] It's been it's easier now than ever to maintain a more plant-based diet

[00:35:56] And like you, you know, I'm like I said, I'm not vegan. I don't plan to become vegan anytime soon

[00:36:03] But I think that we can reap a lot of these benefits just by

[00:36:07] Incorporating more plant-based meals into our diet. We don't need to go all out

[00:36:11] Like, you know, I again, I'm not into extreme diets that they don't feel good to you

[00:36:16] If they're not something that's not that's gonna be sustained and you don't feel passionate about it

[00:36:20] Don't even don't even bother

[00:36:22] So why because you're just gonna throw in the towel and then like, you know, it's it's all or nothing

[00:36:27] So I would rather people try to incorporate, you know, one or two more plant-based meals into the week

[00:36:33] You know have the the plant-based protein shake and and have

[00:36:37] You know have some bean chili or something for lunch one day. Just do it very slowly

[00:36:43] So that you know, you feel comfortable with it and you you're probably gonna save a lot of money too because groceries are expensive

[00:36:49] Yeah, tell me about it

[00:36:51] Expensive to eat meat. It is very expensive to eat meat

[00:36:55] So I that's that's what I'm saying like with the the price of groceries

[00:36:58] There's a lot more interest in in plant-based alternatives for sure. Is there

[00:37:05] From the for the meat component, I mean we talked about how you know, you could be on a carnivore diet

[00:37:10] Yeah, right where all you eat is meats. Yeah, what are the risks to that?

[00:37:14] Well, uh, yeah the carnivore diet freaks me out. Um, there's it's like immediately. No immediately. No for me

[00:37:21] You know if well, you're just eating

[00:37:25] First of all, it's the most environmentally unfriendly diet you could imagine to just eat raw beef and

[00:37:31] You know raw liver and eggs and a stick of butter. It's

[00:37:35] No, um, wait, sorry. It has to be raw. No, no

[00:37:39] But I I see a lot of the carnivores are promote the raw

[00:37:43] Move I've seen some of those like, you know, we'll call them

[00:37:47] Public personalities. Yes sitting there eating like a raw liver. It's jarring to say the least

[00:37:53] um, but for the most part whether it's cooked or raw

[00:37:57] um

[00:37:59] You're not getting any fiber like we just as we mentioned that is so important your gut is so important and a lot of these

[00:38:07] Influencers who are promoting these carnivore strict carnivore diets will often say, oh, you know, I had cystic apne before

[00:38:14] I had this you know, this gut problem. I was always bloated

[00:38:17] I was all these different like problems that the carnivore diet allegedly solved

[00:38:22] And it's interesting. It's a great. It's a great testimonial like it's you know, it's great sound bite

[00:38:28] But it's not because of the car like it's not because of the meat solving these problems

[00:38:32] It's because if you cut out

[00:38:35] Like hundreds of food from your diet and you're literally just eating like eggs butter cheese and and beef

[00:38:42] Then you're very likely in that whole selection of foods that you've cut out

[00:38:46] Going to you're going to have picked off one or two things that were causing you a legitimate intolerance or reaction

[00:38:52] And so that's not how we do proper elimination diets like as a dietitian

[00:38:58] You know if you're working with a professional it should be done in a stepwise

[00:39:02] Uh sequence so that you are able to identify exactly what the culprit is in exactly what amount you can tolerate

[00:39:09] So you don't have to go the rest of your life just eating five foods

[00:39:12] Which a is so boring

[00:39:15] Definitely not sustainable definitely not sustainable not for the environment and for your wallet

[00:39:20] Um, and it's going to actually deplete your gut micro your gut microbiome over time

[00:39:26] So you might feel better at first because again, you've eliminated wherever trigger was causing you an immediate problem

[00:39:32] But over time it's it's just gonna go downhill. So

[00:39:37] Yeah, I I I do not understand the carnivore diet

[00:39:41] And I I really do feel for a lot of people who've gotten kind of

[00:39:44] Sold this diet by a lot of these influencers online because it's dangerous and it's it's not good for anybody

[00:39:50] It is worrisome that anybody with enough of a social following suddenly becomes an expert in something that they have

[00:39:56] No idea what they're talking about correct and then people will go and listen to them and that can significantly

[00:40:01] Impact their their guts their their health overall

[00:40:05] And especially their emotional health, you know as I'm a dietitian that has

[00:40:10] Worked a lot in the kind of eating disorder space and and disordered eating space

[00:40:15] And I can't tell you over the years of doing what I do how many

[00:40:20] Hundreds if not thousands of messages

[00:40:23] I've gotten from young girls like 10 10 11 12 13

[00:40:28] telling me that they followed x y and z influencers diet

[00:40:32] And now they have a full-blown eating disorder

[00:40:35] And they're not they're afraid to eat anything and they're eating 500 calories and they're you know, they

[00:40:40] They can't eat out anymore with their family and they're hiding food

[00:40:43] and

[00:40:44] This is the kind of messages that I get every single day because of dangerous misinformation

[00:40:51] online from

[00:40:52] People and influencers sharing these very dangerous diets and these very dangerous

[00:40:57] beliefs about food

[00:41:00] What constitutes an eating disorder at what point do you go your eating habits?

[00:41:06] Mean there's a disorder happening there

[00:41:08] Well, there's specific diagnostic criteria for an actual eating disorder and for the different eating disorders, of course

[00:41:14] But generally speaking, um, you know, this is when it's really starting to interfere with your daily activities of living, right? Like and

[00:41:23] arguably like some dietitians

[00:41:26] Just don't even have a like they're they don't they don't they don't even have the line

[00:41:29] They're like, yeah, if you're if you're purposely

[00:41:33] Restricting yourself to the point of like, you know, you are hungry

[00:41:37] You're actively losing weight and you're miserable and you're thinking about food all the time

[00:41:41] That's an eating disorder. Like that that that's

[00:41:44] So, you know, it's very hard to classify between eating disorder and disordered eating

[00:41:49] And where does the line get crossed? It's really going to depend on the person and what

[00:41:53] A psychologist would be able to evaluate for that person

[00:41:56] But generally speaking like if you're obsessing over food and it's like this is taking up a significant part of your day

[00:42:03] And it's a huge mental burden

[00:42:05] I would say that's really getting into some dangerous territory. That's not just i'm on a diet

[00:42:09] And it can be a real slippery slope for a lot of people like some people can go on a diet and

[00:42:15] Just like live their life and if they mess up one day, it's not a big deal

[00:42:19] They don't feel like they're the worst person in the world

[00:42:23] Somebody else may slip up and they internalize that they hate themselves. They punish themselves

[00:42:28] They make them go on the on the treadmill for three hours. They don't eat the next day

[00:42:33] Like that's not normal. That's that's when you know, a weight loss diet just might not be

[00:42:40] Indicated for that person

[00:42:43] How about snacking? I have a very weird relationship with snacking

[00:42:46] I can have tell me I can have a full meal and then immediately afterwards

[00:42:51] Want to find something to snack on and I find when i'm bored. Yeah, I snack. So here's a question when you have the full meal

[00:42:59] Does the full meal is there something that's missing in that full meal that you are like?

[00:43:04] I'm craving something still

[00:43:08] I don't think so because I could I could literally order something

[00:43:12] That satiating. Yeah, like I could go I could literally order a burger some fries and a drink

[00:43:19] And then immediately following that go

[00:43:22] I need to snack on something and then I'll go to the cupboards and I'll look for something to snack on whether it's popcorn or

[00:43:27] And it's not always junk that I'm snacking on right like it could be nuts

[00:43:31] It could be almonds. It could be whatever but I just need to be doing like I need to snack

[00:43:34] Yeah, I don't know how to stop that we call that mouth hunger

[00:43:38] And so you know, there's different types of hunger. So there's like stomach hunger

[00:43:41] You're like physically hungry your stomach's growling etc. There's um, you know

[00:43:46] And there's heart hunger, which is more like an emotional craving and then there's mouth hunger

[00:43:50] Like you just want to crunch you just want to bite something you just want to like chew on something right like it's very common

[00:43:56] You know people love crunchy snacks for a reason

[00:43:59] Um, and I don't think there's anything wrong with snacking

[00:44:01] I think that the word snack has again become this dirty word affiliated with junk food junk food again

[00:44:08] um

[00:44:09] But at the end of the day like I see a snack is just a mini meal

[00:44:12] And if you need a snack to fill the void between

[00:44:16] Like, you know a and b then you should honor that and you know

[00:44:21] Choose a snack that you feel is fulfilling emotionally and physically

[00:44:25] And so when I build out snacks again, I like to think about my hunger crush and combo

[00:44:29] So like if it's popcorn, I mean popcorn's a great snack because it's packed with fiber

[00:44:35] Um, so but like if you really want a really satiating snack

[00:44:38] Like let's pair the popcorn with some almonds or pistachios or something like that

[00:44:43] Suddenly you've got a much more satiating snack that's going to hold you longer

[00:44:47] So you don't have that incessant nagging coming back being like

[00:44:51] I think i'm just going to go back to the pantry for round three, you know like

[00:44:55] so

[00:44:56] I think that we we need to stop demonizing snacks because they can be a really important tool in the toolbox and a lot of people

[00:45:03] Need snacks. There's nothing wrong with snacking

[00:45:06] Um, I for one, you know

[00:45:08] Diculture 101 will say don't eat after 7 p.m. Or something like everything will go to fat like

[00:45:14] I need a snack before bed if I don't know it's not true. Okay

[00:45:19] I can explain where that comes from in a moment, but uh, so so just don't let me forget to but

[00:45:26] Generally speaking some people just need a a snack before bed or a snack between

[00:45:31] Lunch and dinner in order to prevent them from like getting to dinner and then like plowing through the bread before they even serve the meal

[00:45:39] um as for the

[00:45:41] nighttime snacking at questions

[00:45:43] so

[00:45:44] You know, it's really interesting because we could talk about intermittent fasting for a second, right?

[00:45:49] I was going to ask you about that. Yeah, so this ties into intermittent fasting because

[00:45:54] you know intermittent fasting is

[00:45:57] Is is because it's had its moment again the past five years

[00:46:01] And the hardcore intermittent fasters will insist that i f is magic basically because

[00:46:07] It allegedly helps suppress our insulin levels

[00:46:11] and as they point out they love to point out the insulin is the big bad fat storage hormone

[00:46:16] and

[00:46:17] In some cases like it's not untrue because if your insulin levels are high anytime you eat anything with calories

[00:46:24] Your insulin levels rise so if you're costly eating all day long you're just grazing grazing grazing

[00:46:29] Your insulin levels are going to stay high and when your insulin level is high it says to your body

[00:46:34] Oh, there's fuel here. So you don't need to you don't need to burn anything for fat like we got fuel on board

[00:46:39] We're good. Yeah, so in that sense

[00:46:42] Some might say oh well, it's preventing you from burning into your fat stores

[00:46:46] Except or you're gonna, you know store it as fat

[00:46:50] You won't store anything as fat if you are not in a calorie surplus

[00:46:53] And if you are in a calorie deficit, you will you will you will burn into that fat

[00:46:59] So it at the end of the day intermittent fasting if it works

[00:47:03] It comes down to a calorie deficit and if you skip breakfast

[00:47:06] You're creating a calorie deficit, right?

[00:47:09] We're just if we skip a meal. We're not great at making up for it

[00:47:13] We may we might make up a little bit for it and eat a bigger lunch

[00:47:16] But the data and the research shows us that we still do end up with a net calorie deficit

[00:47:21] Just kind of naturally by skipping breakfast, right?

[00:47:24] But the thing about the night eating which is interesting

[00:47:28] Is that most intermittent fasters? What do they do? They they have breakfast or they start their meal at 12

[00:47:34] And they maybe eat till six to eight. Yeah, that's not actually the way to

[00:47:38] Properly intermittent fast if you actually want to get the benefits out of fasting

[00:47:42] Okay

[00:47:42] If that's the case you would actually want to flip it and eat your calories earlier on in the day

[00:47:49] Because based on our circadian alignment and circadian rhythm

[00:47:53] We are more insulin sensitive earlier on in the morning when we wake up

[00:47:58] Meaning we're able to metabolize and utilize

[00:48:01] Carbohydrates and fuel much more efficiently

[00:48:03] So if you really wanted to get that extra like boost out of the intermittent fasting regimen

[00:48:08] You would actually want to eat an early breakfast and then stop eating at like noon

[00:48:13] But nobody wants to do that. Why would you want to do that?

[00:48:16] Because then you're not going to see any friends ever

[00:48:18] Yeah, you're not going like you go in a restaurant. Just sit there and drink water like pretty miserable

[00:48:23] so

[00:48:24] That's why I'm always like, okay

[00:48:28] Intermittent fasting is just creating a calorie deficit

[00:48:30] If it works for you and you are not like overdoing it by the time you get to lunch

[00:48:35] Great, but when we look at the research, it's interesting because yes

[00:48:38] Most people lose weight

[00:48:39] Some people lose no weight because they just make up those calories at lunch and dinner

[00:48:43] And some people gain weight because they get so hungry in the morning. They get they're like, okay

[00:48:49] It's a okay 12 o'clock and then they just binge right? So it really depends on the person

[00:48:56] So don't blame the the tool. Yeah, actually don't blame the tool. It's it's all that didn't fail

[00:49:01] It's just that like it's going to work for some people because some people just don't really like eating breakfast

[00:49:06] They're okay to do that and some people wake up ravenous and is not a good day for them

[00:49:11] Yeah, and the research shows there's no difference really at the end of the day

[00:49:15] Between continuous calorie counting and intermittent fasting when it comes to weight loss. So they are the same

[00:49:19] That's interesting because for me, I don't eat breakfast in general

[00:49:24] Um, my first meal is usually around 12 maybe one depending on the day

[00:49:29] And then I try to have dinner around seven

[00:49:33] Where possible just because I don't want to go to sleep feeling like full and totally so by just natural lifestyle

[00:49:40] I've started intermittent fasting, right?

[00:49:43] And that's you're the kind of person who would this would be advantageous for or would be natural for right?

[00:49:49] You know a diet has to feel like something that you can incorporate into your life for life

[00:49:54] Life forever. Well, what about the the shift workers the people who are working like nurses cops firefighters the people that are working

[00:50:02] Spirat random hours and it's not consistent and they're constantly eating at different times

[00:50:07] I can't imagine that could be good for your it's not unfortunately

[00:50:11] And and that's why we do have lots of evidence that shift workers have higher rates of chronic disease and higher rates of obesity

[00:50:18] Because again the circadian rhythm. It's not normal in our body's

[00:50:23] Mind to be eating a full all of our meals in the middle of the night when our body actually wants to be sleeping

[00:50:30] and

[00:50:31] You can only dupe your body so much right like we live in a place where the sun is up in the day

[00:50:36] And this and the and the um the it's dark at night and that is to help regulate our hormones

[00:50:42] Our melatonin our cortisol like all these are hunger hormones

[00:50:47] All of these become out of whack and like jumbled up basically when we try to flip the the script

[00:50:53] So unfortunately, this is just it's people's reality

[00:50:57] And they have to work with what they've got and do the best that they can but it it

[00:51:01] Unfortunately it makes in that scenario

[00:51:04] It may make it harder for them to maintain a healthy diet and weight

[00:51:08] Also when you're tired and you're doing shift work, are you always the most motivated to eat your meal prepped meal?

[00:51:14] No, no

[00:51:15] You can't want that mcdonald's you want whatever like whatever donuts are at you know at the hospital that some patient brought in

[00:51:22] And and so that that's another piece that I think people yeah

[00:51:26] You you mentioned

[00:51:29] Fiber protein healthy fats. Yeah, what's an example of healthy fats?

[00:51:33] Yeah, so healthy fats are those typically the more unsaturated fats

[00:51:38] So like avocados a great example

[00:51:41] nuts seeds

[00:51:42] flax

[00:51:43] hemp hearts

[00:51:45] um omega three rich foods like

[00:51:47] Salmon has some have some great healthy fats olive oil

[00:51:51] Um, so typically those are your kind of healthy fats

[00:51:55] Those are the ones that I typically like to recommend people integrate more often

[00:52:00] As opposed to let's say like the saturated fats you can find in like red meat, which you know

[00:52:05] The research on that is shoddy at best

[00:52:07] But with red meat specifically we know that

[00:52:10] It were better served with like unsaturated fats for sure

[00:52:14] So that's typically what I recommend because they're very sage-hating

[00:52:17] And they're packed with lots of other really important antioxidants that again are really key for overall health

[00:52:23] So if someone comes to you and says I need help regulating my my diet or putting together a plan

[00:52:29] What does that process look like? Well personally, I don't work in

[00:52:34] clinically with with uh one-on-one anymore

[00:52:36] I I solely work in in nutrition at in nutrition media and also now I've owned this new supplement supplement company new theory

[00:52:44] but

[00:52:45] For a lot of my colleagues who do it's interesting because people will always come forward and say I want a meal plan

[00:52:51] Everyone wants the meal plan

[00:52:53] But what all my colleagues and rd colleagues will say is I don't like giving meal plans because it

[00:52:59] It doesn't teach, you know, it doesn't teach them how to actually eat well

[00:53:03] It just says follow these three meals and come back to me in a week and we'll tweak them

[00:53:08] Like that's not real life, especially when you have a family to feed has their own

[00:53:13] You know their own preferences their own sticks their own, you know, you know dietary restrictions

[00:53:19] Um and so and that's just not the way life is. Yeah food and life is messy. It's spontaneous

[00:53:24] It's it's unpredictable sometimes and so I think what's much

[00:53:30] Better for a lot of folks is to just kind of try to help them learn

[00:53:34] The building blocks and that's really why I teach it as the hunger crushing combo

[00:53:38] Combo because these are the building blocks to help people piece together

[00:53:42] Healthy meals with the things that they already love like the things that they are already used to eating

[00:53:47] You know, for example, like

[00:53:49] Your your cultural foods may be different than mine. So oftentimes it doesn't make sense for

[00:53:55] You know a dietitian like me to be like telling you

[00:53:57] Oh, I don't want you to eat any of your cultural foods anymore

[00:53:59] I want you to just eat avocado toast and you know great yogurt and chicken breasts because that's what i'm eating

[00:54:05] You know, so I think that it's much better to work with the individual

[00:54:09] Find out what they're what they love what their, you know, typical meals look like and work with them to see

[00:54:15] Okay, how do we tweak this to actually make it more nutritious to kind of shift the proportions to edge out some of those

[00:54:21] Naked carbs by adding in the hunger crushing con combo

[00:54:26] Wow

[00:54:27] I feel like I learned a lot. I'm glad

[00:54:29] Uh, we blew past this uh or through this rather

[00:54:34] So I feel like a part two will be needed at some point

[00:54:37] Sure any time um, but before I let you go, I gotta know one more thing

[00:54:42] If someone listening to this watching this

[00:54:45] Goes okay. I need to pay more attention to my nutrition intake

[00:54:51] What's step one?

[00:54:52] Yeah, so I mean

[00:54:54] If you have access and availability, I always recommend working one-on-one with a red shirt dietitian

[00:55:00] This is the best way for you to get individualized advice that works for you

[00:55:04] Not what works for an influencer on tiktok or you know

[00:55:08] What works for your brother sister or someone else who swears by a program that they did

[00:55:12] Everybody's going to be unique and everyone's you know outcomes and and their preferences and desires and and

[00:55:19] Restrictions should be

[00:55:21] Integrated into a plan. So if you have the access I recommend seeing a professional dietitian

[00:55:26] Um, if not, you can follow me at abby's kitchen. It's always a great, uh, we've got tons of evidence-based information

[00:55:33] That I really do direct at the masses

[00:55:36] Um, and my other advice is to you know unfollow all the kind of unregulated

[00:55:43] Gouverneuse out there that you feel may be giving triggering or restrictive advice out there

[00:55:48] There's a lot of that going around and it's it's best if if it doesn't feel right if it feels restrictive

[00:55:54] It feels like it might trigger you um to make poor choices for your health

[00:55:58] mental health or physical health

[00:56:00] Scroll by unfollow

[00:56:02] I think that's the best case of the kind of uh course of action

[00:56:06] Amazing abby. Thank you so much for coming through. Oh my pleasure. Thank you. Uh, I hope this was super insightful for everyone

[00:56:11] The way it was for me. I was just i'm glad I was just sitting here listening

[00:56:14] I was like, oh, okay. Okay, and I know that food in general is something that we

[00:56:19] Have a habit of shoveling down in abundance

[00:56:22] but we don't

[00:56:24] We don't really put enough thought into what we're eating

[00:56:27] And I think that's something that as a society we need to do better at but individually speaking

[00:56:32] I know that it's something that i'm i've been consciously trying to focus more and more on

[00:56:36] Um, so with that, thank you so much for coming

[00:56:40] And uh, let's do this again. Let's do it. Yeah amazing. Thank you so much for listening everybody