Holidaying where Food Is Definate,Yet Weight Gain Not A Must

Ho Ho Ho!

It is December holiday and Christmas mood is already with us. I can tell by the number of parties that I still have pending even before 25th and 26th. I must say thankyou for being an avid reader and am amazed that I can be of help to you!

So this post will definately tackle the subject of weight gain after this holiday where everyone gets worried that they have gained 20kgs by January. Wait a second, Did you know that as much as you indulge in December you might not gain as much weight as you feel you have in January?

Take your weight before you go indulging and do the same in January. If you calculate your BMI it might just be the same! Maybe you did not add up 10kgs as you thought! Ideally normal weight gain when relaxed ranges from only 0.5 to 1kg in a week. So lets say you vacated for 4 weeks you only gain 2kgs and not ten.

Truth be told though, after any holiday you always feel heavy and a need to cleanse your system. It is difficult not to indulge so please indulge responsibly!

However, here are some tips on how you can be able to indulge responsibly while avoiding harm to your body.:

Do not Skip Meals
Waking up at odd hours is definitely a norm during the holiday. If you wake up late, push your meals as per your schedule. But make sure you have them all i.e Breakfast,lunch and supper

Eat Some Melon
Watermelon, and other fruits like cantaloupe, and honeydew are high-liquid fruits, which can help flush out toxins and relieve water retention and bloat. Smart! Have a cup of chopped fruit in the morning, or make a quick smoothie with vanilla yogurt or lime juice. this way when you go to that party you will still be feeling abit full and will not overdo that nyam chom!

Make Simple Food Swaps
Using spices in place of fat in many dishes can boost flavor and combat that inflated-waistline feeling. "Cinnamon and ginger are digestive aids and commonly used in home remedies to help with gassiness and bloating.

 Go Bananas for Potassium
You know you have to cut back on salt to de-bloat, but did you also know you should stock up on foods that are high in potassium? It can help your flatten your stomach by flushing out excess sodium in your system. Try potassium-rich bananas, raisins, milk, and yogurt.

 Let your eyes feast first. Before eating, see what is being served. If there are raw vegetables or plain seafood, start with those, to take the edge off your appetite.

Stand far away from the buffet table. Once you’ve chosen food, take your plate into another room and enjoy calorie-free talk with friends. Make one trip to the buffet, and be selective.

Chew gum. When you don't want to eat, pop a piece of sugarless gum into your mouth. This works well when you're cooking or when you're trying not to dive into the buffet.


Remember weight gain in the body is gradual and does not just occur over night therefore, when you include fun and games in that party you will be amazed how well your body does not gain extra calories!

I know we shall have a great time sharing our holiday food habits in January! You have a question just post it here!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

MAGIC FOODS FOR BREASTFEEDING MUMS?

Many new moms wonder how breastfeeding will affect their diet. “Most writings for the nursing mother…set up complicated ‘rules’ about dietary intake…Thus one barrier to breastfeeding for some women is the ‘diet rules’ they see as too hard to follow or too restrictive.”Fortunately, there are no hard-and-fast “diet rules” for breastfeeding mothers. You don’t have to change your eating habits in order to give your baby the best.

You may have come across a mother or you are a mother who has asked the following:

“DO I HAVE TO EAT MORE THAN USUAL TO MAKE ENOUGH MILK FOR MY BABY?”

Although it used to be estimated that nursing mothers need an extra five hundred calories a day to produce milk, recent studies indicate that this recommendation may be too high.
 The food a nursing mother eats is only one of her sources of energy. She also draws on the fat stores she laid down during pregnancy. Milk production is such an efficient process that during the early months the energy supplied from stored body fat may be all the extra energy that is needed for some mothers, especially those who are not very physically active. Researchers have found that a woman’s metabolism becomes more efficient during lactation. This may mean that each extra calorie goes further in a breastfeeding mother, safeguarding her own health and assuring she has the energy she needs to produce an adequate milk supply for her baby. Losing too much weight too quickly, though, indicates that mother needs more calories.
So Really the extra Njahi,porridge or high energy dense food only needs to provide utmost only 500 extra calories!

“IS IT ALL RIGHT TO LOSE WEIGHT WHILE BREASTFEEDING?”

Breastfeeding makes it easier to shed the extra pounds put on during pregnancy.lactation may be an ideal time to lose weight. Breastfeeding naturally mobilizes fat stores, even fat accumulated before pregnancy. But it is important to go slowly. nursing mothers do nothing consciously to bring about weight loss during the first two months after birth. During that time your body needs to recover from childbirth and establish a good milk supply. Most breastfeeding mothers will lose a few kgs while following a normal diet. Breastfeeding mothers often shed extra kgs gained during pregnancy when their babies are three to six months old.
 If you aren’t losing weight as quickly as you’d like, you can begin by increasing your activity level and decreasing your caloric intake. By taking a two-mile walk five times a week with the baby in a stroller or baby carrier while at the same time eliminating 100 calories from your daily diet (the number of calories in three teaspoons of margarine or butter), you can expect to lose two or three kgs a month.

“IF I DON’T EAT WELL WILL MY MILK STILL BE GOOD FOR MY BABY?”

Even with a less-than-ideal diet, a mother’s milk is the perfect food for her baby. “All over the world women produce adequate and even abundant milk on very inadequate diets.” While it is true that a mother who is not eating well will produce the milk her baby needs, any new mother–no matter how she feeds her baby–will feel better, have more energy, and be more resistant to illness if she eats wisely and well.

“WHAT DOES ‘EATING WISELY AND WELL’ MEAN?”

The principles of good nutrition are the same for the breastfeeding mother as for the rest of the family: eat a wide variety of foods in as close to their natural state as possible. Don’t limit yourself to only a few choices in vegetables or a strictly meat and potatoes diet. Chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, and dairy products are all sources of animal protein, in addition to “red meats” like beef, pork, and lamb. Legumes such as beans and peanuts are also good sources of protein, especially when combined with grains, seeds, certain nuts, and dairy products.

“WHAT CAN I EAT OR DRINK TO INCREASE MY MILK SUPPLY?”

There are many myths about “magic” foods that will increase a mother’s milk supply–for example, “you need to drink milk to make milk.” However, cows don’t drink milk, and there is no evidence that particular foods or drinks affect milk supply. Milk supply is determined mainly by supply and demand–the more often a baby nurses effectively, the more milk there will be. Conversely, the less often (or less effectively) a baby nurses, the less milk there will be.
If you are concerned about your milk supply, you can determine whether your baby is getting enough milk by counting your baby’s wet diapers and bowel movements. At least six to eight wet cloth diapers (five to six disposables) and two bowel movements a day (fewer bowel movements are normal in a baby older than six weeks) indicate that the baby is getting enough milk. A weight gain of at least four to seven ounces per week (at least a pound a month) is another indication that the baby is getting enough. If your milk supply is low and your baby is nursing effectively, nursing more often will quickly increase your supply.


So there you have it you can still survive with normal food there is no magic in too much extra energy foods. There is simply no connection in those energy dense foods and production of milk! However, foods that increase your blood level (Vitamins), foods that repair your worn out tissues (Proteins) are vital for your body as a mechanism for repair after giving birth!

I love questions so #AskTheNutritionist!

Email me on: ndutaniceness@gmail.com

WEIGHT GAIN ASSOCIATED WITH MARRIAGE FOR MEN?

I write this from a professional nutrition view,with a high essence of honesty and concern. Recently, I have seen so many relationships and marriages suffer from the reduced sexual drive in men today.

Its the time after the bachelors party and he is excited that he has kissed dating good bye and can now settle down and enjoy marriage. Some few years into the marriage he feels worn out already and as the lay man says he is blank of the drive for sex.

Sex by design was handcrafted by God and within the world He would like it to be enjoyed during marriage and marriage alone...This means that it should be somewhat sustainable to have a fulfilling marriage.

A look in the market today one would get the impression of exactly what the value of sex has become to many. So many remedies that surround the value of sex in a manner to improve the libido of either the men or the woman. This is a subject that is all too well known by many as a therapy that requires the consultation of a doctor or a therapist who is well versed with the sex subjects. Many of the marriages today have seen men left out of the league towards their sperm count. Let’s be very real with each other men, it is no longer a complication of the women but rather a problem that you need to address. Do not ignore it it is a crucial subject that you can reverse for better.

Loss of libido also makes men more unhappy about the rest of their lives than it does women.
when men lose interest in sex it scares them more than women -- their masculinity is so linked to their sexuality that it is very threatening.Testosterone is an essential hormone found in both sexes, but it is primarily a male hormone. It is not only responsible for sexual appetite, but also improves skin and bone health. For males, testosterone drops after the age of 30. In today's Kenyan men the testosterone levels drop as early as the age of 25.

Lets face it, its no longer the fault of the woman that she does not get pregnant....as a nutritionist i would like to give a few tips on how to maintain the sexual drive from the time you get engaged through to your marriage.
To increase the level of testosterone in the body you need to improve on the intake of some foods whether a bachelor or when married. Remember, testosterone is valuable component of digestion in the man's body. If the man has depleted levels then he excessively adds on weight. In the marriage, he utilizes the testosterone in larger amounts than before. Through sex and also needs it for digestion. So once it gets too depleted, it has to be replaced somehow! Not with drugs I say, but check out these foods.

Pumpkin and Watermelon seeds
These have a high component of zinc which if incorporated consistently in meals improves the digestion through increase of production of testosterone hormone due to their zinc specialty. If you feel eating them upfront is difficult, they can be incorporated into pudding as for watermelon seeds and into soups for the pumpkins.


Beans
Surprisingly, beans have got a certain capacity of zinc that improves the levels of testosterone.Unfortunately for m,en some of them do not like consuming the beans. If not you could try pumpkin seeds. Eat pumpkin seeds, the very best dietary source of wholly natural zinc. Don't consume fresh seeds obtained from hollowing out a whole pumpkin though, as aside from the fact that this is expensive and inconvenient to do, dry seeds taste far more palatable. Buy packs of dried pumpkin seeds from specialist health food stores.

Bananas
Bananas contain the bromelain enzyme, which is believed to increase libido and reverse impotence in men. Additionally, they are good sources of potassium and B vitamins like riboflavin, which increase the body's overall energy levels.


Avocado
avocados indeed contain high levels of folic acid, which helps metabolize proteins, thus giving you more energy. They also contain vitamin B6 (a nutrient that increases male hormone production) and potassium (which helps regulate a woman's thyroid gland), two elements that help increase libido in both men and women.
Eggs
Although they should be eaten sparingly,they contain vitamin B6 and B5. These help balance hormone levels and fight stress, two things that are crucial to a healthy libido. Eggs are also a symbol of fertility and rebirth. Some people will eat raw chicken eggs just prior to sex to increase libido and maximize energy levels. But all bird and fish eggs contain B6 and B5. Whenever you eat eggs always remove the yolk and eat the egg white to ensure that you lower down the levels of cholesterol.
Garlic
Yes, you might need to stock up on some extra breath mints, but it'll be worth it. Garlic contains allicin, an ingredient that increases blood flow to the sexual organs. As such, it's a highly effective herb to help increase libido. If the odor just won't work for you -- or you can't stand garlic try eating it in food.

Liver
A good source of glut-amine -- a cellular fuel for your immune system -- liver may indeed increase a slowed-down libido.

These are just some few of my thoughts of which you can feel free to comment.

Nduta
nutrition counselor

IS THE BROWN BREAD YOU ARE CONSUMING THE REAL HEALTH DEAL?

With an increasing consciousness about health and hygiene, a large number of consumers are making the switch from white bread to brown bread or whole wheat bread at their breakfast tables. However, there is little awareness about why is brown bread considered healthy or what constitutes brown bread that makes it healthy. As a result, most people succumb to marketing tactics of companies that add caramel to white bread to make the color brown and advertise it as wholesome and tasty!

In some extremely lazy manufacturing, but inspired marketing, much of the ‘brown’ bread you’ll find in the supermarket is simply the same white bread with brown coloring, often CARAMEL, added back into it. Hardly the healthier choice it’s made out to be.
Likewise, ‘wholemeal’ bread with a bit of chemically treated wheat germ added back in, or ‘multigrain’, with a sprinkling of softened grains, hardly makes up for what the main ingredient – refined wheat flour – has gone through.
The fact is, the vast majority of breads from the big manufacturers are just slight variations, a little coloring here, a sprinkling of seeds there, of the same extremely unhealthy processed bread.
But the hullaballoo of wanting to eat brown bread as the healthy bread could all be distorted in kenya! This is because almost 80% of brown bread sold to us is not genuinely brown. The best bread to eat is the whole wheat grain bread that you can find in supermarkets and normally has a darker colour and is more expensive!
True whole wheat bread, if you can find it, should be a healthier option. Whole wheat bread is made with the wheat germ and the bran included and is hopefully not as heavily processed or full of chemical additives as most commercial loaves. It’s higher fiber content helps to slow down its digestion and therefore its effect on your blood sugar and levels of fat storing insulin shouldn’t be as pronounced.
A real brown bread is healthier than white bread because the wheat flour used to make brown bread is less processed compared to wheat flour used for making white bread. During the processing of the wheat flour for making brown bread the bran and germ in the wheat grain are not removed. The bran is the part of wheat grain that is rich in fibre, while germ is the inner part of wheat grain which is packed with nutrients, Vitamins B and E as well as phytochemicals.

So how do you tell the REALS from the FAKES?
It's commonly believed that you can tell the difference between white and wholemeal by the color of the loaf. Not so! The keywords to look out for are "whole grain" and "whole wheat" as the first ingredient on the ingredient list. If any other substance is listed first, you are likely looking at white bread that has had caramel colouring added.
There you have it, find this rare Whole meal bread and find your long lost and found real brown bread. Infact, ask yourself why you eat brown chapattis that taste real brown but when you eat brown bread it does not have similar taste?

This is not to say that white and brown breads could be exactly the same in Kenya market. If you compare the labels of white and brown breads of your favourite brand, you will probably find that the brown bread still has more dietary fiber, making it the wiser choice. What’s important to remember is not to confuse all brown breads with the much healthier whole grain bread alternatives. Do your research and read your labels for the choice that’s right for you. Best place to begin is in Tuskys supermarket at the bread parlour where you will spot the difference!
I know you have questions so comment below and email me on ndutaniceness@gmail.com

WHY THE OIL YOU USE TO COOK COULD BE THE REASON FOR YOUR ILLNESS

Food cooked from fats is tasty and easy to eat. There are some fats that negatively affect our bodies when consumed and should be avoided. In Kenya’s market fats available are either solid or liquid in nature. 

But just which type of fat is best for cooking your meals?

Chemically fats can be either saturated, unsaturated or trans-fats. The saturated means that they have a chemical composition with carbon atoms saturated with hydrogen atoms. Saturated fats are usually in animal fats especially the dairy products. Very few plants have saturated fats, the palm and coconut oil.

Trans fats are made when manufacturers turn the liquid oils to solid for instance kimbo and blue band. 

All Trans fats and saturated fats are solid at room temperature. These are the two fats that are severely harmful to your health when cooking because they raise bad cholesterol in your body. This is thought to form a layer in the arteries that causes blockage in the heart leading to heart attacks or strokes.

Let’s review the unhealthy cooking oils in the market that are either saturated or Trans fats:

Kimbo,chipsy,kasuku,cowboy, and all other solid fats are highly hydrogenated and clogs in arteries if used for long

 

                         

 The good oils:

These are normally in liquid form, but caution should be taken because, the oils sometimes change and become solid in nature after sometime...For instance, instead of buying Rina vegetable oil, go for Rina sunflower oil since it does not solidify at all costs and does not clog your arteries! 

This same criteria goes with other liquid oils like elianto, rinsun,golden fry, etc.
 The best bets are all sunflower oils, canola oils, peanut oil, corn oil, safflower and non-hydrogenated oils.

I know you have questions..Drop them on the comment box below..

MICROWAVE: THE QUICK FIX THAT COULD BE YOUR WORST ENEMY!

I remember the days when we prepared foods without microwaves, we used firewood, the stove and those who were privileged to have gas they were found to be rich. Today, the evolution has gone to instant cooking and warming of food without having to wait for hours before it is ready.

Microwaves have become the norm in many kitchens in Kenya, at home, restaurants and even in offices. But just how safe is the food you heat in the microwave? What are the dangers you expose yourself to when using it? How best to use the microwave? These are the many questions Kenyans and people using the microwave keep asking.

This blog is all about the facts, the myths and the misconceptions about this device that has become somehow inevitable to use.

In the first place it is vital to understand just how does this device work?

Microwave oven uses electromagnetic waves called micro-waves to heat food. No wonder the name of the appliance is; microwave oven. The micro-waves oscillate at a very high speed, normally 2450 times per second.

When food is placed in a microwave oven, various food ingredients behave differently. The main ingredient that enables food to be heated by micro-waves is water. The higher the water contents in food, the faster the heating rate. Water in molecular level behaves exactly like a magnet. Water has two oppositely charged ends due to presence of positively charged 2 Hydrogen atoms and a negatively charged Oxygen molecule. Therefore, water in food behaves like a magnet. If a bar magnet is held above another bar magnet, and you rotate the held magnet, the other one also rotates. Similarly, due to two different poles in water, when micro-waves oscillate the water molecules rotate. This is because the negatively charged end of water is attracted to positively charged end of micro-wave, while the positive end of water is attracted to the negative charged end of micro-waves.

The micro- waves rotate at extremely high speed of 2450 time per second. This means for every second a micro-wave rotates, the water molecule also rotates 2450 times. This extremely high rotation rate causes water molecules to collide with each other at very fast rate. This creates friction between water molecules. This friction generates heat. The heat flows through the food by conduction, convection or radiation. Therefore food warms up. That is simply how microwave heats food.

Facts:

You Can't Heat Oils in a Microwave

Oils such as olive oil do not heat well in microwaves because their molecules lack the polarity found in water. It's also true that frozen butter is hard to thaw in a microwave, because the bulk of the substance is oil, and the portion of water present is in the form of ice, which keeps the molecules locked up in crystal form, making oscillation more difficult.

 Some foods explode or generate sparks when heated in microwave ovens.

Foods that explode when heated in a microwave include eggs. So, they should not be heated in a microwave.

Boiling a Cup of Water in a Microwave Can Cause It to Explode
one potential danger of microwave ovens is getting scalded by over heated water. What can happen is that when plain water is heated in a microwave in a clean ceramic or glass container for too long, it can prevent bubbles from forming, which normally cools it down. The water can become superheated, past its boiling point. So when it is disturbed, say by moving it or dropping something in it, the heat releases violently, erupting boiling water out of the cup.

To avoid this risk heat water only the minimum amount of time needed. Or place a wooden spoon or stick in it (you should be fine with a metal spoon too, as we discussed above. Don't use a metal fork though, which could spark.) 

Myths:

Metals Get Dangerously Hot in Microwaves

Metals reflect microwaves, whereas plastic, glass and ceramics allow them to pass through. That means metals don't appreciably heat up in a microwave oven. However, thin pieces of metal, such as foils or the tines of a fork, can act as antenna, and the waves can arc off them, forming dramatic sparks.

Microwave Ovens Cook Food from the Inside Outside

Although many people believe this to be the case, microwaves actually work on the outer layers of food, heating it by exciting the water molecules there. The inner parts of food are warmed as heat transfers from the outer layers inward. This is why a microwave can only cook a big chunk of meat to a depth of about one inch inward.

Micro-waves leak through the glass door?
No. The glass door helps to see inside the oven while it has a mesh to prevent micro-waves from leaking out.

So what to do?

If you use a microwave:

• Don’t heat food in plastic.
• Make sure food reaches 160 degrees F in all areas (you have a food thermometer, don’t you?).
• Cover food to help ensure uniform cooking.
• Allow the food to sit a few minutes after microwaving.
• Microwave food only as long as necessary, with little to no cooking water.

If you don’t use a microwave:

Continue to heat food over gas, stove, jiko or any other means since you exempt yourself from the risk of losing food nutrients, causing some illnesses especially IF your model leaks radiation when heating or cooking food.

Go check whether your microwave leaks radiation by:

• Find a fluorescent tube or bulb
• Darken the room where the microwave sits
• Hold the bulb against the edges of the microwave ovens door when the oven is in use. While normally it is not recommended to use the microwave with nothing inside it, in this short experiment, it is best not to add anything to the oven.
• Check for a reaction. If there is microwave leakage occurring, the bulb will glow.

From here you know what to do! Discard your microwave or have it fixed!

I love questions add them on the comment box below or email me on: ndutaniceness@gmail.com