Category: Nutrition + Health

Journal, Nutrition + Health, Seasonal Eating, Summertime

Field Notes: September 1st, 2024

by RebeccaLeave a Comment on Field Notes: September 1st, 2024

Somehow the last full month of summer went in a flash. When I look back at all the little moments through memories on my phone, I realize there was baby, or I’ve barely captured anything at all.
I’ve now been back to work for a full month. I have felt constantly pulled between wanting to be in two places at once. And balancing work with breastfeeding or pumping regularly – in short, the last year or so of pregnancy and new motherhood has given me a whole new appreciation for mothers.

And in the more granular, events both in our neighborhood this past week, and in my community of people have shaken me the last few days. Tragedy, shock, personal fear. While we can all do hard things – sometimes we just wish for others to stay at the top of wheel of fortune just a while longer. And of course we wish that for ourselves.

Reading

Enjoying

  • A Vegetarian Ceviche that tastes pretty much the same as the imitation crab-based one I grew up with. I’ll be leading a virtual Cook-Along in the next few days if you’d like the recipe and/or to cook-along with me!
  • Gluten-Free Sourdough Pizza with this Quick Homemade Pizza Sauce. I made a Margherita Pizza for the first time ever last week and it was AMAZING – using this dairy-free mozzarella.
  • an adapted version of the Vaghareli Makai corn salad recipe in Heidi Swanson’s Near & Far.
  • This playlist. And also this one, which I personally refer to as Temple Morning. Our baby has mostly listened to Gregorian chants or Sanskrit mantra songs, and he came into this world to a different playlist of the same (now his bed-time songs).
    I’ve always been a big music person but my tastes have changed with the years. In the last few, I’ve realized I need music that calms my nervous system rather than amps it up. It’s safe to say I’m in a spiritual/chanting phase.

Nutrition and Food/Cooking Questions

  • Should I be avoiding chocolate due to the recent headlines about heavy metal content?
    A recently published study on heavy metals in chocolate is a bit alarming, and should be taken into consideration as lead and cadmium are toxic. For most individuals, this means limiting your portion sizes, choosing products that have somewhat lower amounts, and consuming chocolate less often. See Consumer Lab for more details on brands and products. This is especially true for pregnant women, young children, and anyone with chronic health conditions. This doesn’t mean you have to avoid chocolate completely – just be conscious of just how much you’re consuming.
  • What do you think of soy products? I try to avoid them because of health risks.
    Soy really has gotten a bad wrap over the years. This is usually true because of its phytoestrogen content. Traditional soy foods including organic tofu, tempeh, and edamame actually are linked to preventing the health conditions that many are weary they’ll promote. This is because the phytoestrogens act like a “key” in an estrogen receptor “lock”, and they replace the key that estrogen would have inserted into that receptor lock. In fact, we see that up to two servings of traditional soy foods per day can be helpful for preventing breast cancer, both pre-and post-menopausal, and higher soy consumption is associated with reduced risk of death after cancer diagnosis. Consuming soy may also help with the symptoms that often present in the menopause transition.
    For the same reason as the estrogen lock and key description above, men need not fear soy products either.
    You’ll want to seek out organic products as non-organic soy is commonly genetically modified and will have heavy glyphosate use during crop production. The takeaway here is that as long as you’re consuming soy in traditional ways and not in ultra processed products, it’s beneficial in well balanced and diverse eating patterns.

    Until next time ~ Rebecca

    p.s. if you have nutrition or cooking questions, you’d like to submit, enter them in the comments, or submit via the contact form. If you’d like to sign up for my periodic newsletter, you can do so here.
Journal, Nutrition + Health, Running, Seasonal Eating, Sports Nutrition, Summertime

Field Notes: August 10th, 2024

by RebeccaLeave a Comment on Field Notes: August 10th, 2024

Something I’ve been thinking a great deal about the last few weeks is the shift that occurred internally for me within the last couple years regarding becoming a mother. Since childhood, I’ve always aspired to have kids some day and when I was younger, I thought it would occur much sooner than it did.
But then William and I got married, and we just weren’t ready. For years. There was a lot that went into that including a health crisis, turbulent finances, politics in this country, the climate upheaval (also a crisis, actually). But ultimately, there was being ready for the lifestyle adjustment. And a switch in my brain that hadn’t flipped. Until it did.

Since having our baby, it’s become even more dramatic. At first, I worried that I’d lose myself and my ability to make time for the other things I enjoy. We’re only a bit over three months in so there is much of parenting we haven’t gotten to yet, but one thing we discussed early on in planning for a child was that we were going to include our child (or children) in doing the things we love rather than give up ourselves for the sake of our new person(s).
As it turns out, in the first few months anyway, that last aspiration is quite challenging. We’re still trying to get back into a regular routine of going to church and we’re several months yet from being able to go for a run together, let alone a day-trip adventure run. But it’s certainly a work in progress.

My parents were visiting recently, and since they live so very far away now, it was extra special to see them enjoying their latest grandchild. With that, here are some other tidbis of what I’m enjoying.

Reading

  • “Matrescence,” and the Transitions of Motherhood: If I’ve suddenly transitioned to talking a lot about motherhood, you can blame my new brain!
  • A diet-wide Mendelian randomization analysis: causal effects of dietary habits on type 2 diabetes: In this study, poultry consumption was positively correlated with type 2 diabetes, and intake of dried fruits and cereals was correlated with lower incidence of T2D. Pretty counter to what the low-carb tribe will have you believe. According to study authors, “possible reasons include the breeding process, where commercially bred chickens may be exposed to hormones and antibiotics, which can act as endocrine disruptors and potentially affect glucose metabolism. Additionally, processed chicken products often contain high levels of sodium and preservatives. Cooking methods also play a role, as fried or fat-added chicken products can be high in saturated and trans fats. These cooking methods can lead to the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) through frying, grilling, and high-temperature baking. These fats and compounds are known to increase oxidative stress and inflammation, which are contributing factors to the onset and progression of type 2 diabetes”
  • Impact of Plant-Based Dietary Fibers on Metabolic Homeostasis: “The gut microbiota contributes to metabolic disease, and diet shapes the gut microbiota…”
    There are a lot of caveats to this study since it was done on mice, they were on a high-fat diet, and the implementation of dietary fibers was via supplementation rather than as part of a well-balanced diet. But the results are where I start to reference oats and oatmeal consumption again! The authors found that “Only βeta-glucan supplementation during HFD-feeding decreased adiposity and body weight gain and improved glucose tolerance compared with HFD-cellulose, whereas all other fibers had no effect. This was associated with increased energy expenditure and locomotor activity in mice compared with HFD-cellulose.” Guess what the richest source of Beta-glucan fiber types are? Yep, it’s rolled oats, and oat bran!

Enjoying

  • Speaking of oats, I made my Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble recently and it is super easy and delish!
  • This flatbread with roasted zucchini, hummus, and a crunchy, seedy salad.
  • Kohlrabi Soup – Kohlrabi means “cabbage turnip” and that’s essentially the best way to explain what kohlrabi is like; a combination of the two. Admittedly, I like both cabbage and turnips more than kohlrabi, but we grow a handful every year, and they are amazing in this soup.
  • Apricot, Date + Turmeric Bars: a favorite fruit/nut snack bar with balanced carbs + protein for athletes.
  • The Olympics! So far, I’m extremely behind and mostly watching Equestrian Dressage (which was my sport back when I had a horse), Equestrian Eventing, Road Cycling, and all the (distance) track and running events. And if you’re able to but haven’t yet watched the opening ceremony, I highly recommend.
  • Nigel Slater’s garden
  • Making elderberry syrup. ‘Tis the season.
All those health-promoting polyphenols in elderberries make for purple hands for a couple days after syrup making!

Nutrition and Food/Cooking Questions

  • I see that you are not an RD. What does your CNS credential mean?
    This article explains the difference well. I’ll add that the training to become an RD and a CNS are similar but also quite different. An RD pathway will have a big portion of training for acute care (like in a hospital), and/or planning for creating nutrition plans for an institution, whereas my training leaves that out and focuses solely on preventative and chronic conditions. Additionally, a CNS will have functional medicine training and a focus on integrative health and getting to the root cause of an imbalance, as well as training in using herbal medicines and other traditional approaches, in addition to food and nutritional supplementation. Ultimately, in many states an RD and CNS share the same licensure, meaning we have the exact same scope of practice.
  • What’s an easy summer vegetable side dish?
    Roasted summer squash and/or zucchini! This is such an easy go-to that’s mostly hands-off, delicious, and easy on digestion (unlike all those crunchy summer salads). Just chop up a bunch of zucchini and/or yellow summer squash, lay out flat on a parchment lined baking pan, preheat your oven to about 400-425 degrees F, and lightly season with salt and pepper. You can add other spices too, such as thyme, Herbes de Provence, or Italian Seasoning, but they’re not even necessary. Roast until soft and slightly golden on the edges/bottoms, stirring once or twice throughout. No need for any oil or water in the pan; the squash will create it’s own juices and make it just the right consistency.
  • What’s been growing well in your garden this year?
    Every year some things do well and others flop. I’ve already mentioned the boysenberries and blackcurrants in previous posts, but we also had a great harvest of black raspberries, and the everbearing strawberries are coming back around for their smaller second harvests. As for vegetables, many things are growing great! We have a steady supply of yellow crookneck squash right now, zucchini (hence lots of delicious roasted squash!), green beans, carrots, broccoli, and there were several heads of amazing cauliflower a few weeks ago. We also have a whole garden full of giant sunflowers. Such perks of constant joy.


Until next time ~ Rebecca

p.s. if you have nutrition or cooking questions, you’d like to submit, enter them in the comments, or submit via the contact form.
If you’d like to sign up for my periodic newsletter, you can do so here.

Journal, Nutrition + Health, Running, Seasonal Eating, Sports Nutrition, Summertime

Field Notes, July 20th, 2024

by RebeccaLeave a Comment on Field Notes, July 20th, 2024

I feel like a really fragile human, I told my husband this morning. It’s the day after I took baby boy to his two-month pediatrician visit. I’ve quickly learned that I become anxious before all baby’s doctor appointments, and I generally enjoy them about as much as him. Which is not at all. We both came home feeling fragile. He whimper-napped and whimper-ate all day, and I cried with him off and on.
There are SO MANY challenges to being a parent in most of the phases, but the combo of months of inadequate sleep due to a newborn and a baby in pain, is absolutely right up there. This weekend, I have hopes to rest as much as I can, shower even more love on baby, and take care of my mental health by going slowly, being gentle with myself, and getting some time in moving my body.

With that, I’m still moving slowly into flexing my creative muscles. I’m back to work very soon, and it feels imperative that I soak up the last of my less rigidly scheduled routine until then.

Reading

The chai-spiced pear oatmeal I enjoy when pears are in season

Enjoying

  • The Hippie Bowl from Sara Forte’s Sprouted Kitchen Bowl + Spoon cookbook. Bonus that William told me it’s one of his favorite meals I make!
  • My own version of the Courgette Flatbreads with Lots of Herbs from Gill Meller’s Root Stem Leaf Flower. This is one of my all-time favorite cookbooks for seasonal meal inspiration, and an absolute work of art as well. I used my sourdough pizza crust, which is still the best gluten-free pizza base I’ve tried.
  • Our boysenberries are nearly done for the year, but the black currants are still practically dripping off the bushes. So many to harvest!
  • Aviva Romm’s new Mama Pathway group/program. It is sooo helpful to have a community of like-minded individuals and experts to gather with and gain answers from. It’s a new parent re-assurance goldmine.
  • Slowly easing into longer runs after baby. I’ve been trying to be very conservative in coming back to running postpartum due to the extreme taxation that childbirth has on the pelvic floor and core muscles (I now fully understand why childbirth really is like having a major injury!), the inability to recover from day to day due to lack of sleep and always being on, and the nutritional taxation on the body from breastfeeding. Ooof. Together, it’s quite the combination!

Nutrition and Food/Cooking Questions

  • Why do you say you can have digestion dysfunction even without GI symptoms?
    There’s a saying in Ayurvedic Medicine that when the diet is right, there’s no need for medicine. And when the diet is wrong, medicine will do no good. That may seem a bit extreme in today’s modern world, but truly, the majority of medicines are actually band-aids on bodily imbalances, and they are not “curing” diseases or treating the root cause. In the majority of cases, an imbalanced digestive system is at the root of other health imbalances.
    Let’s use a common challenge with many: overweight, obesity and blood sugar challenges. Much of what we are now seeing at the gut level is dysbiosis (meaning microbial imbalances and overgrowth) driving food cravings and inflammation, slowing down metabolism, and impairing liver function, as well as glucose and insulin. When we can get to the root cause by rebalancing the gut, we can chip away at a lot of the subsequent symptoms. This isn’t to say that by rebalancing the gut that someone who has been overweight their entire life will suddenly become thin (we all have different body constitutions we’re born with), but it can mean we’re as balanced, symptom-free and at the appropriate weight and health in our body as we can be.
  • Do you meal plan?
    I do! It started out as William buying me a five-year diary over a decade ago. I’d use it to write what I made for dinner each day. After filling up the journal, and each year realizing I was making similar foods on the same weeks of each year, I noted that seeing what I made at the same time in other years was super helpful in deciding what to plan for meals. The super-seasonality of how we eat means I often don’t make the same thing more than a couple times throughout the year.
    Now, I keep a multi-year table in my OneNote application, which I can access on my computer and phone – and I make a list of five to seven main meals for each week. And I still take inspiration from looking at past years when I’m out of ideas. I also update it throughout the week, making note of what produce and ingredients need to be used first to prioritize what to make each day, and/or move meals around if I need something that comes together faster or the weather dictates something different from day to day each week.
  • What do you think of fasted exercise? Like running first thing before breakfast?
    Like all nutrition questions, I’ll say it depends. For women of child-bearing years (essentially from puberty to menopause), it’s a huge stress to do fasted exercise, particularly if it has any intensity beyond a really short, easy run. The reason is because women’s hormones are quite sensitive to even subtle changes in the environment (and a hard workout on “empty” after an overnight fast is beyond subtle). Fasted exercise in this life phase can throw women’s hormonal and endocrine health completely out of balance if done long term. But for men and post-menopausal women, my answer might be different. But it depends on the person, situation, and context.


Until next time ~ Rebecca

p.s. if you have nutrition or cooking questions, you’d like to submit, enter them in the comments, or submit via the contact form.
If you’d like to sign up for my periodic newsletter, you can do so here.