Veronica Lim – Page 2 – Behind The Food Nutrition by Veronica Lim

Author: Veronica Lim

Why Am I So Easily Irritated?

12 October 20198 November 2020
by Veronica Lim

If there’s one thing that can really get my goat up… how did that phrase come about, I wonder, “get your goat up”…. Anyway, as I was saying, one thing that I find really annoys me, is incompetence. It’s not new, it’s something I have known from way back when.

Over the last several years though, I’ve mellowed and I’m not as fiery as when I was younger, so it took me (and my husband) by total surprise when I got shirty with the lady who was checking me in at the airport last month. Because, well, she simply wasn’t with the agenda. That definitely got my goat up. Then I got annoyed at Jeff because he called me out on it! Not in front of the lady, I might add.

I did apologise later. Then this week, I caught up with a friend who’s going through peri-menopause, and she mentioned how she’s been frequently over-reacting to certain things.

Is this you? Do you find that even little things that used to be like water off a duck’s back can now trigger you in a way you’ve never known before?

In fact, “over-reacting” may even be an understatement.

You may have found yourself exploding or flying off the handle, or maybe even experiencing rage, at something that you intellectually know isn’t a big deal. One thing for sure. You know that you would never have responded that way before.

It’s as if there’s some underlying anger or irritation that’s simmering just below the surface and it comes out whenever “it” feels like it, often so quickly that it astounds you.

And then it passes, just as quickly as it came about, leaving you feeling less than in control, and sorry or guilty.

I want for you to know that you’re not alone.

Many women experience what is commonly called “irritability” – a proneness to anger, annoyance or impatience. Up to 70% of women in peri-menopause say that irritability is their primary mood complaint.

In peri-menopause, sex hormone levels are quite literally all over the place. In particular, oestrogen levels are up and down, although as a whole, its levels are falling too.

It’s these falling oestrogen levels that contribute to our being more sensitive to stress when we get into peri-menopause. You see, reduced oestrogen levels have been associated with higher levels of stress hormones (cortisol) in the body. It is thought that oestrogen helps messaging in our body’s stress axis, so when it drops, the messaging isn’t so clearly received, and stress hormones continue to be triggered.

What’s more, oestrogen plays a role in the production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps to regulate mood. So this is a bit like a second whammy.

What this translates to is, your tolerance for the same level of “stuff” that’s going on in your world as before, can be significantly reduced, especially during those times when your oestrogen has taken a dip. Which is why you don’t fly off the handle all of the time. But during those dips? Now, one more small thing, and that’s it. You’re triggered.

You might find it helpful to take some time to explain this to your loved ones, so that they know, that you’re going through a challenging time, and that it isn’t necessarily that you’re mad at them.

It’s a natural process, but stressful on the body all the same (like puberty in reverse). So help your body and reduce the overall stress load as much as you can.

1. Eat to keep your hormones in check. This means steering clear of sticky buns and sugary cereals, and consuming protein, healthy fat and fibre at every meal. Oh, and eating three main meals a day. Not grazing all day long. This helps keep your blood sugar levels stable, and your insulin (a hormone) in check. Fluctuating blood sugar levels can be a reason for irritability (ever get grumpy if you’ve missed a meal? Yep, that’s it), so it makes sense to handle this one which is totally under your control.
2. Review your exercise. Because your body is now more sensitive to stress, a challenging exercise routine may be just too much for it right now. Try a gentler exercise and give your body a break. Perhaps yoga, or moderate walking for 25-30 minutes a day.
3. Get good sleep. I know this might be a challenge if you happen to have night sweats and hot flushes too. But every little bit can add up to making a big difference. So have a sleep routine that helps you relax before bedtime so you can ease into sleep. Aim for between 7 and 8 hours of sleep. Go to bed a little earlier perhaps, and read for a few minutes, or meditate, or journal. And definitely have a digital curfew – no phones, tablets or computers beyond a set time every night – and use something like justgetflux.com to cut out the blue light from your screen.
4. Let yourself get bored. Sometimes, women can feel guilty taking time out and doing “nothing”. Other times, they say that it’s too boring. Many moons ago, I read this. “The gateway to peace is boredom.” I didn’t have a clue what it meant at the time, but I’ve found it to be true. To quieten our mind and to bring ourselves peace, we do have to sit through our mind agitating us to do something because it’s bored. Will you give it a go? You deserve some down time.
5. Take a moment to review. Is there anything hiding underneath your anger? Women are generally taught to be nice. Many of us have also been taught to be polite and to not rock the boat. So over the years, we may have buried the emotions we’d felt, or not spoken up for ourselves. We bit our lips and carried on. The things that we suppressed, can then become stuck blobs of energy – buttons that can be pressed by seemingly unrelated things later on in life. Now, in menopause, it’s a time of change that can be likened to rebirth. It’s an opportunity to review and let go of past hurts, guilt, or habits that are no longer serving you, make peace with them and to let those blobs of energy go.
6. Start doing other creative things. One of the most creative acts that any woman can go through is that of having children. Now that the children are likely grown up (or getting there), you have a great opportunity to redirect your energies into something creative once again. This could be taking up photography, or art class, or jewellery making… whatever it is that brings you joy.
7. Draw regularly on the box. Box breathing, that is. Actually, I don’t know why it isn’t called square breathing, but it isn’t. So, imagine the four sides of a box (square). The idea is to work your way around it. Breathe in and count to four for one side, then hold for a count of four for the next side. Now breathe out and count to four for the third side, and then hold your breath for the last side to the count of four. You’ll have made the four sides of a box (square). Repeat three times, or more, if you choose. I hope you got that. This allows your body to calm down, and engages the parasympathetic (relaxing) nervous system.

One last thing. Do as much as you can and as consistently as you can. It all adds up. I’m often as guilty as anyone when it comes to wishing I could do something once or twice and reap the results right away, but nature doesn’t work like that.

Do what’s right for you. You deserve it.

Balance Your Hormones

HRT – should you or shouldn’t you?

27 August 2019
by Veronica Lim

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Have you seen the spate of articles on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in the news lately?

If you’ve been suffering from menopausal symptoms and contemplating HRT and you’re just plain confused about all this talk, then read on.

Some of the most common symptoms of menopause are:

hot flushes
night sweats
sleep disturbances
joint pains
fatigue
irritability
forgetfulness
depression

You may even be hugely worried that your cognitive function will decline because of menopause.

So, it’s no wonder that many women may well be thinking about whether or not to go on HRT. Your doctor may even have suggested it.

What’s the story with HRT?

There are no black and white answers with HRT; there are many things to consider – from the increased risks for breast cancer or cancer of the womb, which increase the longer HRT is taken, to the increased risk of blood clots, also known as thromboembolism. Plus the risk for this is higher if taking HRT orally, than if taken by using transdermal patches (transdermal, meaning through the skin). Then, there is synthetic HRT, and there’s bioidentical HRT. Bioidentical HRT is where the shape of the molecules are chemically similar to the hormones that our body makes. So, bioidentical hormones are often assumed to be safer than the conventional synthetic hormones. But the truth is, no one knows; because there have not been any randomised controlled trials to show this.

Yikes! So much to think about! But let’s take a step back.

Now, remember, when we enter the menopause, this is a natural bodily process… a time when sex hormones are naturally decreasing. If you decide to take HRT, you would be adding back hormones that your body is reducing. So you’d be working against a natural process. Plus, when would you stop taking them? Wouldn’t this simply be delaying the “issue”?

You see, HRT doesn’t address the root causes of menopausal symptoms.

In functional medicine, which is how I practice my nutritional therapy, we look at all the body systems, the whole person, and then look upstream from the symptoms, to find what is going on inside of the body that may be contributing to the symptoms in the first place.

What causes menopausal symptoms?

The short answer is, hormonal changes and imbalances, such as:

Lower levels of oestrogens
Lower levels of progesterone
Fluctuating levels of hormones
Imbalanced levels of oestrogen metabolites
Thyroid hormone levels that may be too low
Adrenal hormone levels that may be either too high or too low.

Imbalances in more than one of the above causes contributes to the severity and duration of menopausal symptoms.

Ouch.

But here’s the good news. Let’s go even more upstream to identify what can cause these hormonal imbalances…..

There’s a lot there that’s under your control and influence – you can take specific action to remove toxins, reduce stress, change your food and diet, address nutritional insufficiencies… In fact, you could address virtually all of those facotrs, other than your genetic predisposition.

This means that you can do something about it.

For example, you may be experiencing oestrogen dominance because of suboptimal liver and GI detoxification of hormones, or your adrenals which are the prime source of female sex hormone production at menopause may not be functioning optimally, due to elevated levels of stress. So liver, adrenal and gut imbalances may be contributing to your symptoms and if these are handled, you may not have a need for HRT and there wold be no need to increase your risk for cancer.

It is outside of my scope of practice to prescribe HRT, but I have helped women tackle these areas first and they have found their symptoms to go away. That’s why, in my view, HRT is not the first in line, but the last in line for consideration.

If you have examined each of these areas and addressed the underlying causes, and you are still experiencing symptoms, then HRT may be the solution. In this case, make sure to choose a reputable expert practitioner who has been properly trained in hormone health and hormone therapy, and who will take the time to understand your medical history and your condition, before prescribing your treatment.

On the other hand, if you haven’t yet looked at these factors, you might like to start with making some changes in your diet. I have just the thing for you – my free hormone balancing recipe guide. Get yours right here – http://behindthefoodnutrition.com/free-hormone-balancing-recipes/

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Case Studies

Fatigue for over 10 years to Healthy and Energetic

28 June 20198 November 2020
by Veronica Lim

Not every nutritional therapist practices in the same way. In common with nutritionists, we all care about the nutrients that one gets from food and that food can be medicine. However, as a nutritional therapist trained in the Functional Medicine approach, my approach goes much wider and much deeper. Like Sherlock Holmes, I look to understand what is happening in your body and how your diet and lifestyle may be contributing or may have contributed to your health challenges. And with the aid of laboratory testing, a detailed picture is pulled together to form the foundation of a fully personalised and powerful programme.

This is how Elizabeth overcame more than 10 years of fatigue to regain the energy she needed to have a full family and business life once again.

One caveat though. Please be aware that all the recommendations provided to Elizabeth are individualised and unique to her. It is based on a deep dive into her health history and personal biochemical make up, to establish the interactions in her body that could be contributing to her symptoms, which is the essence of Functional Medicine.

Meet Elizabeth

Elizabeth, 55, is chief executive of her own consultancy. She had always been active and full of zest and positive energy. Inspiring and charismatic, she was a dynamic business-woman, who had led an active lifestyle with her husband and two young children. She practised yoga, and loved travelling, regularly holidaying abroad.

About ten years earlier, Elizabeth had started to feel fatigued. She originally put it down to having had her children late, and running a growing business at the same time. Her fatigue worsened after she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent subsequent treatment, but four years afterwards, her tiredness wasn’t getting any better. Instead, she was feeling tired all the time. She had also started to suffer from brain fog, and was unable to think as clearly.

Food first

The first task was to review Elizabeth’s food diary in conjunction with her Health Programme Questionnaire. A few things jumped out.

Elizabeth had been mostly vegetarian since her teens, eating fish only occasionally. She had also started eating the odd serving of chicken once in a while. She wasn’t eating much by way of processed or refined foods, and was generally eating quite healthily. However, she was falling short in two key areas. Elizabeth needed more protein, and the omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA. For example, protein is required to make haemoglobin, which is a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen throughout the body. Low levels of haemoglobin could therefore contribute to lack of oxygen, and ultimately fatigue.

Also, research has shown that fatigue arising from chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment, which Elizabeth had undergone several years before, can persist for several years afterwards. It is thought that this may arise from altered immune system signalling in the body, that can increase inflammation and contribute to feelings of tiredness. The omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, have been found to play anti-inflammatory roles in the body, and as Elizabeth was not eating much by way of oily fish, this could have been contributing to a reduction in the body’s ability to reduce inflammation. Although she may have been consuming some omega-3s in plant form, such as through pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, or walnuts, the body’s ability to convert these into the active forms, EPA and DHA, is low and variable. Hence, the recommendation to eat one to two servings of oily fish a week.

I also considered whether Elizabeth might be low on vitamin B12 and iron, which are common nutrients that can be deficient in vegetarians and which can contribute to symptoms of fatigue, as shortfalls can result in anaemia. I recommended that Elizabeth increase her intake of iron-rich foods, found in foods such as beans, nuts and dark leafy greens. Poultry and eggs are also good sources of iron, and Elizabeth agreed to start eating these foods, which would provide her with increased protein too.

With Elizabeth’s consent, I wrote to her GP, requesting that she be tested for anaemia, so that we could eliminate that as a possible cause of her fatigue.

Next Steps

Although Elizabeth had identified stress as being a trigger that worsened her fatigue, she indicated that she did not have a stressful lifestyle. She felt tired in the evenings and regularly went to bed at about 9 p.m., waking up the following day at 7 a.m., but still did not feel refreshed.

Due to Elizabeth having undergone cancer treatment several years before, I wanted to gain insight into how effectively her energy production cycle might be working, her gut health and whether she might have an imbalance in her gut flora, known as dysbiosis. Research had shown that chemotherapy can lead to inflammation in the gut, and this can adversely alter the gut microflora. Think of your gut flora as being similar to a garden. If you strip it bare in many places, this leaves it open to weeds taking a hold and growing where you don’t want them to. So similarly, if the chemotherapy had reduced Elizabeth’s gut flora significantly, this could have provided unfriendly bacteria or yeast with an opportunity to fill in the gaps.

Elizabeth agreed to do an Organic Acids test, which is a urine test. Her results showed several bottlenecks in her energy production cycle, and elevated nervous system activity. It was as if her nerves were “on” all of the time. She also had elevated levels of chemicals known to be produced by yeasts or fungi, and indications of an imbalance in her gut flora. This prompted a stool test, which showed that she had a very high level of growth of a yeast known as Geotrichum and the presence of a parasite. Interestingly, Elizabeth had visited India just over ten years earlier, which may explain where she might have picked this up. This provided the insights we needed, as to the factors that may have been contributing to Elizabeth feeling constantly fatigued.

I recommended a supplement programme that included a four-pronged approach to helping rebalance her gut flora: anti-microbials and anti-fungals to reduce the yeast and parasite overgrowth, probiotics to support beneficial gut bacterial growth, and a small amount of an amino acid called L-glutamine to help with gut healing. In addition, I also recommended a supplement which contained calming herbs to provide support for her nervous system, and specific supplemental vitamins and minerals to break through the bottlenecks and help the energy production cycle.

Making Progress and Seeing Results

Six weeks later, Elizabeth’s energy levels were better than before but she was still “not bouncing around”. Her energy levels were more stable and she was not as tired in the evenings.

At our first consultation, she had scored herself an 8 out of 10, for how much her fatigue was bothering her, and this had now reduced to a 6.

I explained that we could have taken a harder hitting approach with her gut rebalancing programme. However, because of the very high overgrowth in both the yeast and the parasite, a rapid die off of both of them could cause a marked increase in the level of toxins being released, which could lead to her feeling sick and even more fatigued. Her programme was a gentler approach, and now that she had been on the anti-fungal programme for several weeks, I added some krill oil to her programme, as this is high in phospholipids and astaxanthin, which can help with reducing free radical activity and supporting mitochondrial repair.

One month later, I saw Elizabeth again. Her fatigue score which started at 8 out of 10 for the extent to which it was bothering her, had gone down to 6 at the previous consultation, and was now at 1! She said that she had experienced a massive difference since the last consultation. She no longer had a foggy head and her eyes now felt like “different eyes”. When out to dinner at a friend’s, she no longer had to go home by 10:30, and was happily able to stay until midnight. Elizabeth was also better able to enjoy her business life once again. She could now give client presentations for two days in a row and not feel completely worn out. She said that she was “feeling really good” and she gave herself a wellbeing score of 9 out of 10.

Follow Up & Wrap Up

I did not need to see Elizabeth again after that. However, as I was writing up this case study, I followed up with her to see how she had been getting on. It’s now been four months since our last consultation. She wrote, “Working with you on my health last year was one of the top highlights of my year. You have transformed my energy and my life and you have set me up for a healthy and energetic next phase of my life – so a huge thank you!”

Our body systems are inter-related, and simply taking a pep pill would not have worked. There’s plenty of research and detective work that goes on behind the scenes to uncover possible contributing factors, and Elizabeth was incredibly committed to the process. She was willing to radically change her dietary habits when she understood the biochemistry behind the food, and how that may have been contributing to her health concern. She was also vigilant with her supplementation programme. She even involved her children who loved the 2-ingredient breakfast pancakes recipe I shared with her. I have been honoured to witness Elizabeth’s transformation, and am so pleased to have been able to walk with her on this journey.

Lunch and Dinner

Deliciously Healing Bone Broth

11 June 20198 November 2020
by Veronica Lim

When I lived in Malaysia for a while, there were a few things I missed, like my beloved bone broth. But now that I’m back in the UK and the weather is somewhat cooler, the bone broth has been made a comeback.

I love having a mug of bone broth, and I often also use my bone broth as a base for many of my meals. It gives depth to the taste of a meal – be it a soup-based dish, a gravy to go with the roast or something like a chilli. It’s also highly nutritious, and makes a comforting winter drink. There’s a reason grandma would put on a pot of homemade chicken soup when someone got sick. And it’s also good for the soul.

What’s more, bone broth is good for healing the gut. Hippocrates, the father of medicine, said, “All health begins in the gut,” and if nothing else, this is surely the reason to indulge in bone broth – apart from that it’s tastes so dang good, that is.

Why is our gut so important?

If you think about it, although our gut is inside our body, it’s exposed to the outside. Hence, it is a barrier between the outside world and the rest of our body. It also releases enzymes that help us digest our food and absorb nutrients. If we don’t keep our gut healthy, our digestion could be impaired and so could our ability to absorb those precious nutrients, which means that even if you’re eating all the right foods, you might not be getting benefit from them, because of a damaged or less than healthy gut lining.

Step up, bone broth.

Bone broth is packed full of vitamins and minerals such as magnesium, phosphorous and calcium. Then there’s collagen, gelatine, amino acids, and other compounds such as glucosamine. These nutrients help to keep our skin and hair looking amazing and our joints healthy, while also being healing to our gut. Add to that the immunity boosting properties of a good cup of broth and it’s no wonder this has been praised for centuries.

Bone broth is cooked for 12-24 hours. It’s this lengthy cooking time that draws out all the goodness from the bones. You can use the bones from chicken, turkey, pork or beef, even fish, and it’s best to use bones from organically raised or grass-fed animals to ensure the highest quality of nutrients possible.

Bone broth is ridiculously easy to make, especially if you use a slow-cooker and you can then pretty much set it and forget it – until it’s done. Here’s how.

How to Make Bone Broth

Put the bones into a large pot that has a lid, or into your slow cooker. Make sure that your pot or slow cooker can hold enough water to fully cover the bones by about a couple of inches. Fill with plenty of cold water. The more water you add, the more broth you’ll get in the end and leave an inch of gap at the top or you risk the liquid bubbling over.

Next, add a good splash of apple cider vinegar to the pot. This step is optional. If you don’t have the vinegar in your pantry, don’t worry about it. You can add a splash of red wine or white vinegar if you’d like. The vinegar helps get all the minerals out of the bones and into the broth.

As a variation and to add a different flavour to your broth, you could also throw in some vegetables – a carrot, a stick or two of celery, an onion or a leek. I often freeze my vegetable cut offs and use them when making my broth. Or flavour it with peppercorns and a bay leaf.

Cover the pot with the lid and crank up the heat until everything comes to a full boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. If you’re using a slow cooker, set it on low. Cook your bone broth for a minimum of 12 hours.

If you’re using a pot, be sure to keep an eye on the water level and that there’s always plenty of liquid in your pot and that the bones are always covered.

Of course you don’t want to simmer the broth while you’re out of the house or sleeping. Start the broth in the morning on a day when you know you’ll be home. Simmer it all day until you’re ready to go to bed. Turn off the burner for the night, but keep the broth sitting on the stove. In the morning, bring the liquid back to a boil and continue simmering. After it has cooked for at least 12 hours, the broth is ready, woo hoo!

You’ll have a clear, richly coloured broth. You can either use it immediately or leave it to cool, and then strain the liquid into a mason jar or a kilner jar and store it in the fridge. After it’s been in the fridge for a few hours, you’ll notice that the broth takes on a jelly-like texture, which is exactly what you want. A layer of fat will form on the top – this is perfectly nutritious too.

Your broth will keep for several days in the fridge, or you can freeze it too and it’ll keep for a month. Enjoy and let me know how you get on with it.

Lunch and Dinner

Thai-style Pork Meatballs with Courgette Noodles

7 May 20198 November 2020
by Veronica Lim

This is a mild dish but I love the Asian flavours of lemongrass, ginger and chilli. Not in the same league as a curry by any means, but it’s light, and an easy way to get in a good chunk of vegetables.

I thought I’d talk a little about ginger. It’s used a lot in South East Asian, Indian and Chinese cooking, and is renowned for its aromatic and medicinal properties. I use it often with clients who have digestive issues, such as bloating, as ginger has what is known as “carminative properties,” helping to eliminate trapped wind. It can also be helpful for travel sickness.

In a small study, participants were given either ginger, a commonly used over-the-counter and drug prescribed for motion sickness or placebo. They were then blindfolded and led to a concealed mechanical rotating chair, spun around and asked to report their feelings of nausea every 15 seconds while they performed mental tasks. (Imagine that!) The test was stopped when the participant either asked for it to be stopped or threw up. Those who received ginger remained in the chair for an average of 5 1/2 minutes, while those on the drug withstood it for 3 1/2 minutes and the group on placebo lasted for 1 1/2 minutes. It is thought that ginger slows down the feedback mechanism between the stomach and the nausea centre in the brain. I know which group I’d have wanted to be in!

Ginger is also used to treat nausea associated with pregnancy. Simply make a ginger tea using 1-2 slices of ginger about 1/2 inch or 1 cm thick, steeped in a mug of hot water. I remember this being used as a “medicine” when I was a child, and I loved it, but perhaps it was also the brown sugar that it was steeped with that I liked. Shhh!

Finally, ginger has active compounds in to, called gingerols, which are anti-inflammatory. A number of studies have found ginger to help with reducing pain and improving mobility in osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, by inhibiting the formation of inflammatory messaging chemicals by the immune system.

What’s not to like about ginger?

Oh, yes, by the way, here is what I use for grating ginger. I like it because it’s finer than chopped ginger and you get the juices too.

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:2]

References

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2501634

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1988321

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1494322

Balance Your Hormones

7 Reasons Why It’s So Hard To Lose Weight…

7 May 20198 November 2020
by Veronica Lim

I have to confess that the last year has been more sedentary for me, with hours of full on research and report-writing, and If you’re like me, then you will most likely have noticed how much harder it is to keep weight off during the menopausal years. And if not, then you probably know someone else who has this challenge. The things that worked in our 20s or 30s and maybe even early 40s no longer have the same effect.

Why do so many women at menopausal age struggle?

It’s not just about “calories in, calories out” or “eat less, exercise more”. If it were, we would all be sorted. Here are seven reasons why it can feel so hard to lose weight at menopause.

(1) Dieting or not eating enough

This is the most common issue I see with many clients. They may not “be” on a diet and they may not think they are undereating, but they are, which ironically, is stopping them from losing weight. This is especially pertinent for those of us who have consistently been on and off diets or yo-yo dieted in the past.

Consistently undereating reduces your resting metabolic rate or RMR. Your resting metabolism is what your body does when you are doing absolutely nothing – like beating your heart, growing your nails and hair, digesting your food, replacing cells, processing your pee and so on. When you don’t eat enough over a period of time, your body lowers your RMR. Basically, it powers down, just as your mobile phone does when running low on battery, going onto low power mode. The trouble is, it isn’t so quick to bring it back up again, which means that when you return to the same intake of calories as you did before, the pounds pile back on, and more.

Quite simply, your body now needs less to function, so it stores the rest away. I know, that’s really annoying. But all is not lost, because it’s possible to work with your body, to raise its RMR again, but it’s not just about the calories.

(2) Prolonged stress

When our bodies experience stress, it releases a stress hormone, known as cortisol. Cortisol has a few functions in our body and one of them is raise blood sugar levels, to help to handle the stressor. Your body does this because it thinks that you need the energy to either fight or flee. This kicks insulin, another hormone, into action, because your body doesn’t like to have too much sugar in the blood.

So to keep it in a narrow range, insulin tells the cells in your muscles to take up the sugar and use it for the energy you need to fight or flee. But, if you’re under prolonged and chronic stress, resulting in elevated cortisol and insulin at the same time for an extended period of time, the muscle cells can’t take up any more sugar as you’re not using up that energy by fighting or running, but simply sitting at your desk… so fat cells come to the rescue.

Yes, the body makes new fat cells if it has to, so it can store all that excess energy. Worse still, cortisol breaks down muscle, so over time, you can end up with less muscle and more fat.

Now here’s the thing. It’s not just mental and emotional stress that does this. It’s also physiological stress – things that cause your body to be stressed – like skipping meals or under-eating, or not getting enough sleep. What’s more, during menopause, fluctuating hormones add to the load. That’s why it’s even more important at this time to reduce stress levels as much as possible, and reduce your cortisol levels.

(3) Eating the wrong foods

You possibly know about this one and may even have tried to address it already – high sugar foods and highly refined carbohydrates. These are converted very quickly into sugar, which can sharply spike your blood sugar levels, which cues insulin to bring the blood sugar levels back down again.

We’ve already seen that insulin tells cells in the muscles to take up the blood sugar, and any excess gets turned into fat. This is even more significant during menopause, when oestrogen levels start to drop. The process is not well understood, but it is known that oestrogen plays a role in helping to regulate blood sugar and the sensitivity of the cells to insulin messaging, known as insulin sensitivity.

So, less oestrogen means reduced insulin sensitivity, means cells not taking up the sugar, and hence, the making of fat cells to store that excess energy. In other words, once we hit the menopause, our bodies become more susceptible to the effect of eating food high in sugar and/or highly refined carbohydrates.

Instead of high-sugar and highly refined carbohydrates, eat unprocessed “smart carbs” such as sweet potato, lentils, chick peas, or butternut squash, as examples, which provide a slower and steadier conversion to blood sugar.

(4) Under- or over-exercising

Along with the under-eating, this is also a common issue. Exercising is important, we all know that, and the idea of under-exercising is not likely to be a surprise to you. But did you know that over-exercising could sabotage weight loss?

Exercise improves insulin sensitivity, and as we have seen, less oestrogen means reduced insulin sensitivity. That’s why exercise becomes even more important during the menopausal years. But there is a fine balance in terms of how much exercise is needed and at what levels of intensity. Exactly where this balance is, is individual.

Exercising for too long or at too high an intensity, increases cortisol, which can lead to less muscle and more fat (see Prolonged stress at 2 above). Ouch, that’s just the opposite of what one might expect. The key then, is to start off with a moderate intensity aerobic or cardio-exercise for at least half an hour, five days a week. Examples of this include brisk walking or walking uphill, or cycling, and you can gauge if you are at moderate intensity by the “talk test”, which means that you can comfortably chat while doing the exercise. If you can’t, you’re going too hard. To preserve muscle mass, you need to also include some resistance training twice a week. This doesn’t necessarily have to mean using weights, as you can do bodyweight exercises, using the weight of your body as resistance.

(5) Overloading your liver

The liver is an incredible organ which we cannot live without. It lives just under our ribcage on the right hand side, and it plays a key role in processing fat, which makes it a crucial organ in the context of weight loss. Another of its key jobs is neutralising chemicals and toxins and getting them ready for excretion.

The truth is, our livers really have their work cut out for them, because the world that we live in today, is filled with toxins – from pesticides and plastics, to chemicals in our foods, cleaning materials and personal toiletries and cosmetics. To give you an idea as to how much our liver potentially has to contend with, consider that there are over 80,000 chemicals in commerce that are registered for use with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Further, excess oestrogen is a bodily chemical that the liver is also responsible for detoxifying and getting ready for excretion. But if the liver is overloaded, it can’t do this its job as effectively, and this may result in excess oestrogen, which may contribute to oestrogen dominance and related menopausal symptoms. What’s more, oestrogen itself plays a role in supporting liver health and its ability to process fats. With reduced oestrogen levels as a result of menopause, looking after your liver health becomes even more important.

With all that to contend with, perhaps it’s no wonder that our liver may deprioritise processing fat loss! To support the liver, eat plenty of vegetables of all colours of the rainbow, including dark leafy greens, steer clear of high-sugar foods and refined carbohydrates as already mentioned, and hydrate well.

Also reduce and limit your exposure to toxins from cleaning products, plastics and personal products.Yes, alcohol too. Limit your intake or quit completely, saving it for special occasions, as it places a burden on your liver, because the body sees it as a toxin which the liver has to handle first, above all else. Some people like kombucha as a replacement.

(6) Ignoring your gut microbiome

Research in the gut microbiome and its role in health has been burgeoning over recent years. It is now known that gut bacteria play multiple roles, including supporting our immune system, and turning carbohydrates into short-chain fatty acids which are used by the intestinal cells as a source of nutrients and energy for repair and maintenance. An imbalance between friendly and unfriendly bacteria can therefore have a significant impact on our health.

While this is important, no matter what stage of our lives we are at, it can become more noticeable at menopause, because the gut microbiome can also impact oestrogen levels. These gut bacteria are referred to as the estrobolome. These bacteria produce an enzyme called β-glucuronidase, which frees up oestrogen that the liver has already bound up ready for excretion, allowing it to recirculate. This translates to increased circulating oestrogen levels which may contribute to oestrogen dominance, and… weight loss resistance.

The good news is that the food that we eat greatly influences the composition of our gut bacteria. Eat foods that are rich in fibre (such as beans and legumes), polyphenols (deeply coloured fruits and vegetables) and prebiotics (which are foods that the bacteria love, and include Jerusalem artichokes, asparagus, oats and apples. Eat fermented foods to help maintain your gut bacteria also, such as kefir, sauerkraut and kimchi. Finally, ditch any intake of artificial sweeteners which can encourage the growth of unfriendly bacteria.

(7) Inflammation

Inflammation is part of our immune or defense system, and is our body’s response to stress or injury. Inflammation can be a good thing. For example, when you sprain your ankle, you feel pain, there is swelling, redness and heat, which are signs of inflammation and your body attempting to protect and heal the area. After doing its job, inflammation should then subside, but if it doesn’t and carries on to become chronic, it can contribute to health issues, such as hormone imbalances (e.g. insulin resistance), cardiovascular disease, diabetes or obesity. While fat itself contributes to inflammation, inflammation itself can also contribute to belly fat and weight gain. It then becomes a vicious circle.

But what else can cause inflammation? In short, our modern lifestyle. We’ve already covered a number of these – such as eating the wrong things (sugar, unhealthy oils and fats, hidden food sensitivities), nutrient deficiencies, stress, poor sleep, imbalance in the gut microbiome, hidden infections and environmental toxins.

The role of oestrogen in the body is wide-reaching and complex. It has both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory roles. In menopause, oestrogen levels fall, and this may have an impact on how inflammation persists in the body at this time. Start tackling inflammation by eating an anti-inflammatory diet and anti-inflammatory foods, and implementing the other tips mentioned earlier.

If you’re suffering from fat loss resistance, there may be different reasons for it, and this can be different for different people. It isn’t just about “eat less, exercise more” or just about calories or low fat, as you may have been led to believe. Fat or weight loss resistance is multi-factorial. But it is possible to address, steadily and step by step.

You can be trimmer and healthier.

Let’s get you feeling better.

Much love.

References

Brady, C.W. (2015) Liver disease in menopause. World Journal of Gastroenterology, 21(25), pp. 7613–7620.

Morello-Frosch, R., Cushing, L.J., Jesdale, B.M., Schwartz, JM., Guo, W., Guo, T., Wang, M., Harwani, S., Petropoulou, S.-S.E., Duong, W., Park, J.-S., Petreas, M., Gajek, R., Alvaran, J., She, J., Dobraca, D., Das, R., and Woodruff, T.J. (2016) Environmental Chemicals in an Urban Population of Pregnant Women and Their Newborns from San Francisco, Environmental Science and Technology, 50 (22), pp 12464–12472

Palmisano,B.T., Zhu, L. and Stafford, J.M. (2017) Estrogens in the Regulation of Liver Lipid Metabolism, Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, 1043, pp. 227–256.

Rock, K.D. and Patisau, H.B. (2018) Environmental Mechanisms of Neurodevelopmental Toxicity. Current Environmental Health Reports.5(1), pp. 145-157

Energy, Thyroid and Adrenals

Chances Are You’re Sitting Too Much And Why You…

4 May 20198 November 2020
by Veronica Lim

If you’re reading this, it’s more than likely that you sit too much – in the car, at your desk in the office, during your commute, in the evenings after work. Even playing games these days is usually done sitting down, in front of a computer. It’s no wonder that most of us spend between 55 and 70 percent of our day sitting down, with some estimates putting this figure at closer to 90 percent when sleep is included in the equation.

Studies from Canada, Australia and the US show an association between a sedentary lifestyle and premature mortality. But before you stop reading this article thinking that this doesn’t apply to you because you work out regularly, think again. Studies have differentiated between too much sittingand too little exercise, whereby one can be an “Active Couch Potato” – someone who’s physically active (spending at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity on most days of the week), yet sits for extended periods of time.

“Sitting is more dangerous than smoking, kills more people than HIV and is more treacherous than parachuting. We are sitting ourselves to death,” says Dr. James Levine, director of the Mayo Clinic-Arizona State University Obesity Solutions Initiative.

Coined as “the new smoking”, prolonged sitting can compromise our metabolic health and here are some reasons why you should care.

Reduced Brain Function & Depression

Activity increases blood flow and releases mood-enhancing and cognitive chemicals. With inactivity comes reduced blood flow throughout our body, leading to a slowing down of brain function. The result is brain fogginess. One study also suggested that sitting for more than seven hours a day increased the risk of depression by 47% when compared to sitting for four hours or less per day.

Heart Disease

With blood pooling, blood flow tends to get sluggish allowing fatty acids to build quicker resulting in plaque, elevated cholesterol and eventually heart disease. If we are up and moving, fatty acids are better flushed from the circulatory system.

Colon cancer

Prolonged sitting for a good portion of your work day can also increase the risk for certain cancers. While not fully understood, scientists think the lack of movement could be linked to an inflammatory cascade of metabolic processes, triggering overactive cell growth, particularly in the colon and also linking to endometrial cancer.

Muscle degeneration and tightening

When we are up and moving about, standing or even sitting up straight, our abdominal muscles support our back. But when hunched over, the abdominal muscles relax and hang loose. As a result of this lack of use, the muscles weaken and extra pressure is transferred to the back muscles. This muscle imbalance can eventually lead to a condition called sway back, resulting in back pain.

In addition, sitting for extended periods can also lead to a shortening and tightening of the hip flexors. Over time, this reduces the range of motion in the hips, increasing the risk for imbalance and instability, leading to an increased risk for falls.

Herniated discs are also a common condition brought about by prolonged sitting. The psoas muscle – the muscle running from the hips to the spine that provides stability – tightens. Over time, it shortens up from non-use and pulls the lower spine forward putting excessive pressure on some of the intervertebral discs. Eventually these disks, which function as sponge-like shock absorbers in between the vertebrae, squeeze out, causing pain and sometimes surgery to correct the condition.

So, should you race out and invest in a standing desk?

Not necessarily, because standing still for prolonged periods is not without issues either. It can bring on blood pooling also, along with heart disease, varicose veins, joint pain in the knees and muscle fatigue. However, standing is more active and therefore better than sitting on its own, with a UK study finding that there is a significant increase in heart rate and energy expenditure, when comparing the two.

A sit-stand desk may therefore be of benefit, but the bottom-line is that it is neither standing nor sitting per se, but intermittent movementthat is the key.

In other words, the solution is to frequently move around and not sit or stand for too long at a time. In fact, studies have found that positive changes to metabolic biomarkers were associated with breaks in sedentary time. This included transitional movements, from sitting to standing, or from standing still to walking.

The bottom-line then is to think how you can make your day more active. The ideal would be to move between 5 and 10 minutes out of each hour. What simple changes could you make to your day?

Here are some suggestions.

Get up and get a cup of coffee or glass of water
Hand deliver a message or walk over and talk to a colleague instead of emailing it
Take a walk for 15 minutes after eating lunch
Take the stairs instead of the elevator
Park further away from your office building or get off one stop sooner than usual and walk in the rest of the way
Use the loos that are further away from your desk
Stand and stretch every now and again
Combine your movement breaks with the “pomodoro” technique – a productivity strategy that uses short, frequent breaks
Stand up during a meeting or have walking meetings when possible
Pop out to get your own lunch instead of asking a colleague to get yours when they’re out to get theirs
Set your timer at intermittent intervals to remind you to take a break, or download an app like the Dejal Time Out which dims your screen when it’s time for a break

Adopt the curiosity that comes with a youthful mind and experiment to find what works for you. It’s not always easy when you start but like any habit, it becomes easier with both time and practice. And the next time that colleague who’s been annoying you, because they seem to take such frequent breaks, goes for yet another walk? Rather than getting vexed again, take that as your cue to take a leaf out of their book and do your health a favour!

Balance Your Hormones

3 Quick Tricks To Make Drinking Water A Simple…

4 May 20198 November 2020
by Veronica Lim

Most of us know that we should drink at least 8 eight-ounce glasses of water per day as part of our good health strategy. According to the European Food Safety Authority, adequate water intake for sedentary individuals needs to be 2 liters/68 ounces per day for women and 2.5 liters/84 ounces per day for men. This amount increases, depending on the weather, level of physical activity and if pregnant or not. What’s more, as women get older, thirst sensitivity to changes in the level of fluid in the body reduces, and risk of dehydration can increase, due to drinking less fluids.

Water makes up about 60-70% of our body, and is present in our cells, tissues and organs. It is absolutely essential for life; while we can get away without eating any food for an extended period of time, we can only go for a few days without water. Maintaining the balance of water in our bodies is so important, that we have numerous amazing mechanisms to monitor and adjust the physiological functioning of various organs in our body to make sure we remain in a state of “euhydration,” defined as “the absence of absolute or relative hydration or dehydration”.

This diagram gives you a simplified indication of what actually goes on in our body to do this. No need to read all the detail unless you want to, but it’s good to glance it over to get a sense of how hard our bodies work to keep us alive through regulating our hydration.

Source: Je’quier and Constant (2010)

Reasons to Drink Plenty of Water

We get our water from what we drink, what we eat and what we produce internally. But we aren’t able to produce enough water through our metabolism nor is there enough in the foods we eat to fulfil our body’s needs, and so, we need to make sure that we consume sufficient water.

Water is needed as a building material; more is needed when the body is growing. It is also needed for the metabolism of the food that we eat (being involved in hydrolysis of proteins, carbohydrates, fats and other nutrients), as well as being a transport medium for carrying nutrients to cells and removing waste products or toxins from them. It is also the main constituent of blood and is essential for the proper functioning of our organs and our body systems. It’s no wonder that too much loss of water in our body is life-threatening.

Water also provides lubrication for our joints, mucus, saliva, gastro-intestinal secretions, and helps our cells maintain their shape and function – just think, water is taken out of our cells when we are dehydrated and this causes our cells to shrink. It also helps us regulate our body temperature, through adjusting how much we sweat or pee.

Water also helps keep you mentally alert. Studies have shown that even mild dehydration (1-2% of body water) can affect alertness, the ability to concentrate and short-term memory function, and can also affect mood and feelings of anxiety and irritability.

Further, dehydration can lead to the development of headache, as a result of reduced total blood volume and dehydration in the brain tissues. Some observational studies further note that this can also trigger migraines and prolong them. For those with water deprivation-induced headache, relief from consuming water was experienced within 30 minutes to 3 hours.

Water can also help you maximise your physical performance. Athletes commonly lose about 6-10% of body weight in water during high intensity exercise, but it was found that even with mild dehydration as low as 2%, physical performance was reduced. Intense exercise or high heat can lead to experiencing more fatigue, reduced motivation, an altered ability to regulate body temperature and reduced endurance. It can also affect the perception of difficulty, making exercise feel more challenging, both mentally and physically. Thankfully, replenishing our level of hydration can reverse this and also reduce oxidative stress that results from high intensity exercise.

What’s more, water can also boost your metabolism and assist with weight loss. In two studies, consuming just half a liter (17 ounces) of water increased metabolic rate by 24-30% for up to an hour and a half. Some of this effect was a result of the body heating the temperature of the water to body temperature, and hence, it is more helpful to drink the water cold. Remember though, that drinking water alone will not increase your metabolism enough to show any appreciable weight loss by itself, but when added to your other weight loss efforts it will help, plus it will keep you from being dehydrated – a major nemesis to weight loss.

Sadly though, the majority of us do not drink nearly as much as our body needs to function at optimal efficiency.

3 Tricks to Make Drinking Water a Simple Healthy Habit

“Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.” – H. Auden (1907-1973)

Due to the way in which our thirst mechanism works, the feeling of thirst disappears before water balance is reached. So, how can you tell whether or not you’re dehydrated? Here’s a list of signs and symptoms:

Signs of mild to moderate dehydration	Signs of severe dehydration
Dry, sticky mouth	Extreme thirst
Sleepiness or tiredness	Extreme fussiness or sleepiness in infants and children; irritability and confusion in adults
Thirst	Very dry mouth, skin and mucous membranes
Decreased urine output	Lack of sweating
Few or no tears when crying	Little or no urination – any urine that is produced will be dark yellow or amber
Muscle weakness	Sunken eyes
Headache	Shrivelled and dry skin that lacks elasticity and does not “bounce back” when pinched into a fold
Dizziness or light-headedness	Low blood pressure
	Rapid heartbeat
	Fever
	Delirium or unconsciousness

Source: Mayo Clinic (2008) cited by Je’quier and Constant (2010)

Here are 3 tricks you can use to help get your daily water quota:

1) Eat water-enriched foods

About 80% of our daily water intake comes from drinking; the other 20% comes from the food we eat. Vegetables, such as lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes are 95% water. Fresh fruits like blueberries, apples and oranges are 85% water and are loaded with good nutrients and minerals; watermelon is 95% water. Supplementing your daily water intake with the recommend daily amount of fresh fruits and vegetables is a good way to ensure you are getting enough water.

2) Add flavour to your water

Adding flavour to your water does a couple of things. Firstly, it’s a simple way to make it taste better, which is not only great for a change, but also makes you more likely to drink it. And secondly, it can help provide some of your daily amount of vitamin C and replace electrolytes lost through sweating. You can add lemon to your water, for example. The juice of one large lemon has over 30% of your daily requirement of vitamin C and provides potassium, magnesium, sodium and calcium. You could also try lime, cucumber, strawberries, kiwi fruit, ginger, mint – let your imagination run wild and try different combinations, like strawberry, basil and cucumber.

3) Put a day’s worth of water in a bottle

If you don’t track what you’re drinking, you’ll most likely not drink enough. A really easy way to keep track of how much water you’re drinking is to fill up a 2 liter (68 ounces) bottle with water and keep that in the refrigerator. You could also keep it on your desk, and getting up every now and again to grab your bottle from the fridge gets you moving which is another simple healthy habit (read why here). Keep drinking and refilling your glass throughout the day until the entire bottle is empty. This way, you’ll know you’ll soon get into the habit of drinking at least 2 liters a day, and you can gradually increase it to your own optimal level after that. Once you get used to drinking this amount of water each day, you’ll really notice how much better you feel.

OK! All set? Drink up more water for the week and let me know how you go!

References

Boschmann, M., Steiniger, J., Franke, G., Birkenfeld, A.L., Luft, F.C. and Jordan, J. (2006) Water Drinking Induces Thermogenesis through Osmosensitive Mechanisms. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 92(8): pp. 3334–3337

Boschmann, M., Steiniger, J., Hille, U., Tank, J., Adams, F., Sharma, A.M., Klaus, S., Luft, F.C. and Jordan, J. (2003) Water-Induced Thermogenesis. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 88(12): pp. 6015–6019

EFSA NDA Panel (EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies) (2010) Scientific Opinion on Dietary Reference Values for water. EFSA Journal 8(3): pp. 1459-1507.

Ganio. M.S., Armstrong, L.E., Casa, D.J., McDermott, B.P., Lee, E.C., Yamamoto, L.M., Marzano, S., Lopez, R.M., Jimenez, L., Le Bellego, L., Chevillotte, E. and Lieberman, H.R. (2011) Mild dehydration impairs cognitive performance and mood of men. British Journal of NutritionVol. 106(10), pp. 1535–1543Je’quier, E. and Constant, F. (2010) Water as an essential nutrient: the physiological basis of hydration. European Journal of Clinical NutritionVol. 64(2), pp. 115–123.

Paik, I.Y., Jeong, M.H., Jin, H.E., Kim, Y.I., Suh, A.R., Cho, S.Y., Roh, H.T., Jin, C.H. and Suh, S.H. (2009) Fluid replacement following dehydration reduces oxidative stress during recovery. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 383(1): pp. 103-107.

Popkin, B.M., D’Anci, K.E. and Rosenberg, I.H. (2010) Water, Hydration and Health. Nutrition Review 68(8): pp. 439-458.

Stachenfeld, N.S. (2014) Hormonal Changes During Menopause and the Impact on Fluid Regulation. Reproductive Science 21(5): pp. 555-561.

Breakfast

Two-ingredient Banana Pancakes

4 March 20198 November 2020
by Veronica Lim

It’s Pancake Day tomorrow. Here’s the display in the supermarket with ingredients to help make pancakes.

I picked up a bottle of the biscuit spread to look at the label. Biscuit spread? Either way, ouch. It’s filled with unhealthy vegetable oils and sugar. Take a look.

What to do?

There is a solution! If you love pancakes and would like to have some, on Pancake Day, or any other day of the week, here’s a version that I thoroughly recommend.

It’s quick to make (no need to let the batter sit before using), it’s nutritious and, just as importantly, it’s yummy. It’s also free from wheat and gluten, as well as dairy, if you happen to be sensitive to those.

The bananas give the pancakes that little bit of sweet, without having to add any other sweeteners like honey or golden syrup or sugar, you can squeeze a little lemon over it if you choose, and it gives you potassium, vitamin C and manganese.

Bananas can contain quite a high level of carbohydrate, which can easily raise blood sugar levels quickly in sensitive individuals, particularly when eaten on its own. However, when eaten together with some protein and fat, its effect on blood sugar levels may be tempered.

Enter the other ingredient – eggs. Eggs are super versatile. You can hard-boil, poach, fry or scramble them, and you can use them in your baking or other cooking… like these pancakes!

Each egg has about 6g of protein and minerals such as iron and folate, as well as vitamins B12, A, D and E. The egg yolk also contains choline, which plays a vital role in our brain health. It’s essential for the making of acetylcholine (an important messaging chemical or neurotransmitter) which helps with cognition and memory. Choline is also a key component of our cell membranes, and it’s also needed for proper metabolism of fats. Did you know, without choline, fats can become trapped in the liver and compromise its ability to help our bodies detoxify.

So let’s get to it already!

Here’s the recipe.

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Voila! One of my clients loves it and so do her children. You can read how she went from feeling fatigued for over ten years to regaining her energy and zest here.

Do give these a go and let me know how you liked it.

Supplements

Other Supplements That May Be Beneficial

26 February 20198 November 2020
by Veronica Lim

In my last article on whether or not to take supplements, I said that I would talk about any other supplementation beyond a multivitamin. The more accurate term is really “multi-vitamin and mineral” or MVM for short, because it contains both the vitamins and the minerals (like calcium, boron, iodine, etc).

Remember I mentioned that beyond a good quality multivitamin, supplementation should be targeted and for a specific purpose, and you should know why you’re taking it and for how long. Over-dosing on supplements can be just as problematic as not getting enough nutrients.

Before I embarked on my nutritional therapy studies, I wouldn’t have thought twice about this, but now that I know what I know, I recognise that there are essentially two groups of supplements – those that are safe to self-supplement on a daily basis, and those which should only be taken with professional guidance.

The supplements that are safe for supplementing every day are the MVM we already talked about, and possibly, an omega-3. Please always check with your doctor beforehand. What I’m sharing with you here is educational, and in no way, is it personal advice for you.

What are omega-3s?

Omega-3s are essential fatty acids that have been found to support the nervous system, skin health, brain development, cardiovascular function and much more.

They are called “essential” fatty acids, because we cannot make them in the body and must consume them through our diet. They are polyunsaturated fats, found naturally in oily fish, like sardines, mackerel, tuna and salmon, and these omega-3s are called eicosapentanoic acid and docosahexanioc acid – much easier to say EPA and DHA.

Omega-3s may also be obtained through plant foods, such as flaxseeds, chia seeds or walnuts. These omega-3s are called alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), and although they can be converted by the body into EPA and DHA, the conversion rate is both variable and low, ranging from 0.2% to 20%. This means that it can be potluck whether you’ll get the healthful benefits of EPA and DHA if you are relying solely on plant omega-3s. Hence, oily fish is the best way of getting omega-3s.

But wait, there is another omega fatty acid that is also an essential fatty acid, and must be consumed through your diet. It is omega-6, which is found, for example, in nuts and seeds, poultry and eggs and vegetable oils. It can therefore also be found in many foods cooked or made with unhealthy vegetable oils.

Hence, omega-6s are far more widely and easily found in our average foods than omega-3s, and thus, most people eat proportionally more omega-6 than omega-3. It is thought that with our modern diet, we likely consume a ratio of between 15:1 or 20:1 of omega6:omega-3. However, an ideal ratio would be in the region of 4:1.

Why are omega-3s important?

Dietary fat is used by the body as a building block within your cell membranes. To put it another way, when you eat fat, your body builds your cell membranes from that fat. So, the more saturated fat that you eat, the higher the proportion of saturated fat that is incorporated into your cell membranes, which make them stiffer. On the other hand, the more unsaturated fats (such as omega-3 and omega-6) you eat, the higher the proportion of unsaturated fats that get built into the membranes and the more flexible your membranes become.

We don’t want our cell membranes to be too fluid or too stiff, because this can affect the ability of molecules to pass in and out of our cells, and hence impact on our body’s ability to work effectively.

Further, omega-3 has a primarily anti-inflammatory effect in our bodies, while omega-6 has a mostly pro-inflammatory effect in our bodies, as they influence chemical messaging. We need both. We need the omega-6 to help promote inflammation when it is needed, for example, when we incur an injury. However, we do also need a balance of omega-3 in order to help counter inflammation, and here’s the crux; both omega-3 and omega-6 are converted by the same enzymes, so they compete for it in our body. Too much omega-6 and omega-3s lose out.

A certain amount of omega-6 is important for our health, but as most people already get enough omega-6 in their average diet, and may not be eating enough oily fish (two to three times a week), then taking a fish oil omega-3 supplement may be beneficial, as it can further help them to get EPA and DHA directly.

It is interesting to note that our brain is made up of some 60% fat, and fatty acids (DHA, in particular) are crucial for our brain’s integrity and ability to perform. They are involved in the production of brain neurotransmitters (chemical messengers) and have been found to help protect brain nerve cells. Indeed, observational studies have linked imbalanced intake of fatty acids to reduced brain performance. Perhaps this is why, as a child, my mother always said that fish was good for the brains, and why some people consider fish to be a “brain food”.

That’s a good reminder that it’s always, “food first,” and supplements are not a substitute for a good diet. So consider whether you may already be getting enough omega-3 in your diet, and whether you are taking any medications that omega-3 supplements could interact with (for example, antihypertensive or anticoagulant drugs), and always check with your doctor first.

Then, if you are going to supplement, make sure that it is a high quality omega-3 (fish oil) supplement. Check the expiry date and use it before that date. Oils can easily go rancid (technical term – they become oxidised), so keep it in the fridge. Getting a smaller bottle also helps you finish it sooner and allows less time for it to oxidise. If it tastes or smells bad (not “fishy” but off), then ditch the bottle.

References

Simopoulos, A.P. (2016). An Increase in the Omega-6/Omega-3 Fatty Acid Ratio Increases the Risk for Obesity, Nutrients Vol. 8(128).

Chang, C.Y., Ke, D.S. and Chen, J.Y. (2009). Essential fatty acids and human brain. Acta Neurologica Taiwan. Vol. 18(4): pp.231-41.