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Nutrition for Mind and Body

4 Ways Diet Affects Your Mind

Article Written by Paige Johnson from Learnfit.org; Edited by Kelly Gibson.

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4 Ways Diet Affects our Mind and tips to control our food choices. #mentalhealth #mindset

You’re probably already aware that the food you eat affects your weight. Healthy, low-calorie foods may help you lose excess pounds or maintain a fit figure, while processed foods high in sodium and sugar might make you pack on the pounds. It’s wise to enjoy unhealthy food and beverages in moderation, but not just because they impact your weight. Here are four surprising areas of your life that can benefit or suffer from your dietary choices.

 

Emotions

Mental illness is common in the United States. Approximately 44 million adults have a mental health condition, and many children also battle at least one form of mental illness. Some mental health conditions are triggered by genetic or environmental factors, but did you know that food also affects your mood? Even if you don’t have an existing mental health condition, your dietary habits may make you cranky, depressed, or anxious. So what’s safe, and what should you avoid? It’s generally best for people to consume fresh vegetables and fruits, as well as whole, sprouted grains, legumes, natural oils, and nutrient-dense seeds. Grains and high-glycemic fruits should be balanced with protein-packed foods (think nuts, nut butters, beans, hemp seeds) to avoid a blood sugar crash from excess carbohydrate consumption.

Here are some foods to limit or avoid completely if you want to protect your emotional health:

  • Dairy
  • Refined sugar
  • High-fructose corn syrup
  • Hydrogenated oils
  • Artificial colors and flavors
  • High-sodium foods

It takes discipline to avoid eating these common and addicting ingredients.  Having discipline means choosing your emotional health over your cravings. Some people may also need to avoid common foods associated with internal inflammation, such as gluten. Your doctor or a licensed nutritionist can review your current diet and let you know if it’s a good idea to change anything. Remember to choose health first!

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Discipline is choosing what you want MOST over what you want NOW. It takes discipline to avoid eating these common and addicting ingredients/foods. #discipline #healthylife

Sleep Schedule

Do you struggle to fall asleep at night? Or perhaps you have no trouble falling asleep, but you find it difficult to wake up, even after a full night of rest? These are common complaints from people who do not consume nutritious foods on a regular basis. That’s because there is a potential link between sleep issues and poor dietary habits. Even if you eat well, you may notice you feel more tired than usual after you consume certain foods. L-tryptophan is an amino acid that raises serotonin levels in your brain. When this occurs, you feel sleepy or relaxed, which can disrupt your sleep cycle. Here are some foods that contain this amino acid (thus you should avoid):

  • Turkey
  • Cheese
  • Red meat
  • Chicken

Animal based foods like turkey, cheese, red meat, and chicken also lack glucose which is the primary energy source for the brain - I recommend avoiding these foods. You may also experience fatigue if you eat too much of a specific food, even if it’s a healthy plant-based food like tofu, nuts and seeds. This is because your body has to work hard to digest the food and distribute the nutrients throughout your body. Limit these.

 

Mental Clarity

Do you ever find it difficult to focus on work, school, or household chores? Your diet might be the culprit. One recent study found that poor dietary habits may impact cognitive health. Some researchers believe that eating fried food can increase your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

On a positive note, it may be possible to prevent or even reverse the effects of a bad diet. Here are some brain-friendly foods to incorporate into your diet:

  • Avocado
  • Broccoli
  • Dark Chocolate (look for vegan options)
  • Acai berries
  • Coconut oil

Pay attention to how your body feels after you consume different foods. You may notice other foods help or hurt your memory.

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Find out the #1 Food that Causes Brain Fog by clicking the image above for my related post.

 

Social Life

The foods you eat or avoid can have a major impact on your social life. Depending on your lifestyle, this can be a positive or negative experience. A poor social life can result in poor emotional health and a negative mindset. For example, if you avoid foods with refined sugar and wheat, you may find it difficult to dine out with friends. If you live a vegan lifestyle, you may notice friends no longer extend invitations to barbecues or birthday parties.

Luckily, there’s an easy solution for this issue. If you don’t want to change your diet, just make sure you arrive prepared for social functions. Let friends know that you don’t mind bringing a gluten-free dessert or vegan appetizer to their party. You can also host potluck parties at your home so that everyone can eat something they enjoy. Your dietary choices can tilt the scale in either direction, but they also impact other areas of your life. Think carefully about the foods you consume so that you can protect your mind. Diet affects your emotional health, mental clarity, sleep schedule, and social life.

I hope you enjoyed learning about the 4 ways diet affects your mindset, so please subscribe and share!

 

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Top 7 Reasons to Ditch Meat

Top 7 Reasons to Ditch Meat

 

You might ask yourself "should I eat meat to be healthy?" Well, technically yes, you need meat on your bones to be healthy and to sustain life. ;) But do you need to EAT meat from animals to have meat on your own bones? Not so much. I get it, I get it. You're thinking... "great, another vegan trying to tell me that I don't need meat." It might drive you crazy to think that! Well, to clarify I'm not speaking about ethics today, regardless of what my personal beliefs are there have been numerous scientific studies to show the effects of eating meat on the human body, and it's not pretty. I'm just going to touch on the surface in this article about what nutrients are in meat and what that can mean for our weight loss goals and overall health. When people hear the word "meat" they instantly think of the words PROTEIN or HEALTHY because our entire lives that is what we have been taught to believe about meat. Sure you can obtain a heavy dose of protein and essential vitamins from meat, and you can even lose weight by restricting sugar, calories, and other processed foods while on a meat-based diet. Yes, I am actually a vegan who can think outside the box!  I have seen plenty of fit meat-eaters and it would be wrong of me to say that meat makes everyone fat.

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Discover the Top 7 Reasons to Ditch Meat by Kelly Gibson, PN Level 1 Coach in Pittsburgh 

Take a look at the top 7 reasons to ditch meat and you may reconsider your meat-eating habits...

Time to answer your question about whether or not you should eat meat.  Here's what I have discovered about that 4-letter word:

  1. Cholesterol: Meat is high in cholesterol, and not the good kind. One steak (308g) constitutes 278mg of cholesterol.  High LDL cholesterol can cause increase blood pressure and cause atherosclerosis which leads to heart disease. The truth is, cholesterol is not an essential dietary nutrient because our bodies produce healthy levels of cholesterol without food. Has your doctor ever told you to raise their cholesterol? Doubtful, so don’t worry about it being too low.  Vegans average an overall cholesterol level of 133, while omnivores have levels of 200+.
  2. Fats: Meat is extremely high in saturated fats, which are different than plant fats (or oils) because animal fat becomes solid at room temperature. These types of fat can increase cholesterol in the blood and increase risk of stroke and heart disease.  Studies show that vegans are 33% less likely than omnivores to have a heart attack.
  3. Calories: Meat is very dense in calories, meaning there is a smaller volume of food per 100 grams (~3.5oz).  So one serving of meat is roughly 142 calories, but  which makes it quite easy to overeat.  Typically it takes the brain 20 minutes to send signals to your body that indicate you are full and satiated.  If it takes 5 minutes to eat a 250 calorie beef dog or burger, you might be in trouble and have enough time to eat up to 4X as many calories as your body needs before you start to “feel” full. If this isn't enough reason to ditch meat, keep reading.
  4. Carbohydrates: Meat contains minimal carbs, and that’s a bummer because carbs fuel our brains!  Ever feel groggy or tired after a meaty meal?  You could benefit from plant-based carbs for energy.
  5. Proteins: The amount of protein in meat is much higher than our bodies can handle in the longrun.  Extra protein builds up and causes kidney stones.  If left untreated then it can result in kidney failure. 
  6. Fiber: Meat contains no fiber, I mean a whopping ZERO grams per million calories, which means you’ll probably get constipated if you don’t eat loads of fibrous vegetables or take psyllium husk supplements to make up for it. Eating a high-fiber diet of at least 25g for women and 38g for men is recommended for proper digestion and overall health.  Too little fiber can cause constipation and chronic diseases.
  7. Digestion: Meat grows bacteria, which can cause e. coli infections and awful digestive issues. When is the last time you got excited about diarrhea? Right. Just say NO to meat.  

What you could ask yourself is, "is it worth it to put your health at risk in order to keep eating meat?" Despite what the Paleo or Keto diet trends have been saying, there is plenty of evidence that has debunked the myth that eating meat is healthy and essential for our survival.  Despite popular belief, meat does not convert to meat on your bones. Protein breaks down into amino acids before converted to muscle and can also be converted to fat, excreted in the urine, or build up to form kidney stones. So, unless you are working out and strength training, protein is not going to convert to muscle! I'll say it again - protein breaks down into amino acids before ever becoming muscle. "Muscles are built in the gym, and FAT is built in the kitchen" is a good way to look at it. ;)

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Muscle is Built in the Gym, Fat is Built in the Kitchen. Gym Meme by Kelly Athletics.

 

Now that you know at least 7 reasons to ditch meat, will you?  You might be thinking “but it tastes so good!” and “I need my protein!”  Don’t worry, there are plenty of delicious plant-based proteins you can have instead.  In fact, most plant-based foods contain at least 8% of its calories from protein. Fruits have the lowest protein content (between 5-8% usually), while green leafy vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds have up to 50% protein content (like spinach and mushrooms).  There is a wide variety of plant based proteins, even high-protein plant-based foods, which gives more than enough reasons to ditch meat. So if you've been wondering "do I need meat to survive?" The answer is a big fat NO.  I hope you enjoyed this post. Please share and send me a message if you have any questions about it.

References:

1. Certified Level 1 Nutrition Coach by Precision Nutrition. The Essentials of Sports & Fitness Nutrition: Certification Manual, 2nd Edition. by John Berardi PhD and Ryan Andrews MS
2. American Heart Association http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/102/18/2284
3. MyFitnessPal http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/calories/340152145
4. PETA https://prime.peta.org/2015/05/should-you-still-be-concerned-about-cholesterol
5. Health & Medicine http://healamed.com/health/diet-weight-loss/48-risk-of-heart-disease-33-lower-in-vegetarians-than-non-vegetarians.html
6. USDA https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list?qlookup=23197

Need Help Reducing your Meat Intake? Book a Nutrition Evaluation today.

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How Do I Get Rid of Sugar Cravings?

How Do I Get Rid of Sugar Cravings?

Getting to the Bottom of This Common Craving

Find out if you have the hidden condition that causes sugar cravings and endless health problems. Get answers to your questions "Why do I have sugar cravings?" and "How Do I get Rid of Sugar Cravings?" with a vegan candida diet. The health issue I am going to talk about today is the leading cause of sugar cravings.

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Do you have sugar cravings? Read this blog to find out why!

Here is a list of symptoms that you may have this condition:

·         Nail fungus or athlete’s foot
·         Craving alcohol or sugar
·         Bloating, constipation, diarrhea, IBS, gas, leaky gut, or other digestive issues
·         Having an autoimmune disease
·         Having symptoms of ADHD/ADD
·         brain fog upon waking up
·         poor memory
·         irritability, mood swings, anxiety, depression
·         seborrheic dermatitis, eczema, skin rashes
·         vaginal or prostate infections; itching
·         severe skin allergies to fabrics, seasonal allergies
·         hormone imbalances
·         thrush

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Do you have brain fog? This might be why. Click the article to read the #1 reason why people get foggy brains in the morning. #brainfog #symptoms

If any of those symptoms apply to you, then you might be suffering from Candida Yeast Overgrowth! That's right, Candida Albicans is a naturally occurring yeast in the human body  - not just for women, but men, too.  You may think of Candida as a female problem, but yeast infections are only one of the many attributes of Candida Yeast Overgrowth.  It’s a good idea to try a candida elimination diet if you have symptoms. Here are some risk factors that can lead to this nasty condition:

·         being treated with antibiotics on multiple occasions, or long-term use of antibiotics
·         consuming dairy products or meats derived from animals treated with antibiotics
·         eating a high-sugar diet or highly processed carbohydrates
·         having a high stress lifestyle
·         taking oral contraceptives
·         binge drinking or regular alcohol consumption
·         being exposed to molds or chemicals
·         consuming toxic metals like Mercury, food chemicals like MSG, or tap water.

Dieting for Candida isn’t something that people typically talk about, and is not something that medical doctors typically will test for either.  It might be something for you to bring up to your doctor and ask for testing.  Before you follow through with testing, there is a questionnaire you can take to see how likely it is that you do in fact have Candida Albicans.

Most of the information you find online about candida elimination base their foods around meats, poultry, fish, eggs, and even supplements not suitable for vegans or vegetarians.  Unfortunately, vegans are given the least flexibility with Candida Elimination diets because we don’t eat animal products and most of us base our meals around starches or fruits, which can give yeast an environment to thrive. So, I’ve decided to put some time into sharing my experience with candida elimination on a plant-based diet.  I’ve broken the vegan candida diet / plant-based candida diet into a few phases. If you've been wondering how do I get rid of sugar cravings, then here is how.

First, kill off as much candida as possible within the first week on the diet.  The initial phase of this diet is a Candida Cleanse.  It includes meals based upon whole grains, nuts, seeds, vegetables, legumes, and low-sugar fruit.  The first week can feel terrible, as there are Candida die-off symptoms (known as the Herxheimer reaction).  As miserable as it may feel in the beginning, the more symptoms you experience, the more likely you are actually making progress with eliminating candida.

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Do you have unexplained joint pain? It might be caused by the #hexheimer reaction. Click to read more.

Here is a list of Herxheimer Reaction symptoms:

·         Nausea or vomiting
·         Headache, fatigue, dizziness,
·         Swollen glands
·         Increased joint or muscle pain
·         Elevated heart rate (tachycardia)
·         irregular heart beats (heart palpitations)
·         sweating, fever, or chills
·         sinus infections
·         hypotension
·         anxiety

Surprisingly, a major sign of die-off is worsening symptoms of your typical candida overgrowth:

  • stronger sugar cravings
  • skin rashes or lesions
  • digestive issues
  • vaginal or prostate infections

It can be tricky to tell whether or not you are making progress or getting worse, because everyone has different symptoms.  The good news is, I can help!  Contact me for Nutrition Coaching or stay updated with my blog and you could find more info on a candida elimination cleanse, recipes for fighting candida, and more information on how to combat Candida Albicans while maintaining a plant-based diet for optimal health.

Written by Kelly Gibson

*Disclaimer: I am not a licensed medical professional and am not diagnosing, prescribing a diet, or claiming to treat any illnesses. See my Terms and Conditions for more info.

Need Help Fighting Candida? Contact Me for More Info on the Candida Diet!

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Personal Trainer in Pittsburgh PA | Local to Ross Township, West View Borough, Franklin Park PA, Wexford PA, Coraopolis PA, Robinson Township, Kennedy Township, McCandless PA, Allison Park PA, Shaler Township, Hampton Township, Glenshaw PA, Cranberry Township

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Ask Kelly Athletics: How do I get Rid of Sugar Cravings?