Tag: digestive health

Feeding Babies/Toddlers, Nutrition + Health, Seasonal Eating

Breaking the Breakfast Boredom

by RebeccaLeave a Comment on Breaking the Breakfast Boredom

Like many people, I personally love to eat the same or fairly similar food every day for breakfast.
My go to is oatmeal. 

And at the same time, as a nutritionist, I’m often preaching diversity of meals and foods on the daily.
Counter-intuitive? It seems.

Though I’ll caveat that my morning oatmeal is not the same everyday. I have a general formula and then standard variations and seasonal/weekly/daily changes which I do that end up leading to a fair amount of diversity. I’ll share more about that soon because oatmeal, or whole-grain porridge in general, really is an underrated super meal.

But today isn’t all about oatmeal because…

I went and had a baby who is now a toddler. With opinions!

And he got tired of oatmeal every day.

I was also trying to start him off with a diverse diet. So early on, his morning meal was in some ways more diverse than mine. Because while I might be firmly on the porridge train, I’m probably never going to eat amaranth or quinoa-based porridge on a regular basis. Oats are by far the preferred breakfast grain.

After Bee began having opinions about his too-similar breakfasts  – and me completely forgetting how to make him anything other than oatmeal or simple scrambled eggs – I came up with a simple framework to keep breakfast changing up throughout the days and weeks. 

I share this because too often, I hear you too get tired of the same old thing! But it’s so easy to default to the usual without some inspiration, a little guidance, and a plan. So I’ll share ours with you.

Our Weekly Breakfast Routine

  • Bee always has a fresh fruit offering, which he gets to snack on while we are preparing breakfast and getting morning chores done. Then,
  • Monday is Toast Day: Usually avocado and “toast” with some nut butter and possibly yogurt on the side.
    When I say toast, I mean not-toast currently. We do soft “steamed” whole grain sourdough instead of dry, crunchy bread.
    And I choose Monday for toast day because Bee favors bread when it’s freshly baked. I’m most likely to bake on the weekend and/or we pick up bread from a bakery then.
  • Tuesday is Oatmeal/Porridge Day: Babies and young toddlers need more fat than adults, so Bee’s oatmeal is cooked in a high calorie milk with dates and the same spices I choose that day. We currently have to do non-dairy milk for him, but it’s nutritionally similar to cooking his oats in whole milk. Then he has my omega-3 seed and nut butter rotation of the day stirred in. I usually don’t add other fruit (which I’ll stew into my oatmeal) because he is already eating fresh fruit beforehand. But it will usually be the same fruit for both of us.
  • Wednesday is Muffin Day: There will be some sort of baby/young toddler appropriate mini muffins (no sugar added/whole grain), yogurt, and maybe something else. Avocado on the side or perhaps leftover oatmeal so he has a choice if muffins aren’t favored that day.
  • Thursday is Egg Day: Usually scrambled and they will have at least one other thing to pair with them. Avocado, toast again, or perhaps yogurt so there are options. Some days I sprinkle in some moringa powder so he has a tiny punch of super nutritious greens. Some days he could eat eggs and only eggs – and lots of them. Some days, he won’t touch the eggs beyond an initial bite that he spits out.
    Other weeks I might instead do a quick tofu scramble instead.
  • Friday is Pancake Day: I tend to rotate between a few different pancake recipes, some savory, some very very simple. But my internal rule/reminder is to do something different than the week before.
    If I’m all out of ideas, I do a simple three-ingredient baby weaning pancake which includes one egg, a banana, and a ¼ cup of quick oats (or oat flour). My pancake recipe tends to be frequently in the rotation, as are any of the many pancakes from Green Kitchen Stories‘ books.
  • Saturday and Sunday are “free for alls:”  Meaning, usually Bee’s father is also having breakfast with him and eggs are likely offered again. Sometimes French toast will feature. Usually there’s another batch of oatmeal made. Leftover pancakes are also likely to happen. 

Are there repeat foods and ingredients with this plan?
Absolutely. It’s not perfect. 

Why Diversity is Important

Without dealing with an individual case, the number one thing I’d recommend for achieving or maintaining balanced health through diet is eating diversely with primarily plant-foods. Doing so feeds beneficial gut microbes through the plant fibers, and those microbes then make short chain fatty acids — which are key to balanced health — both in the gut and digestive system and beyond!

Ideally, eating diversely starts early and continues throughout life, but there’s absolutely no wrong time to start rotating in different types of foods and ingredients. And, even if you like “the same” type of food every day, there’s still room to opt for diversity. Stay tuned for my routine spin on changing up oatmeal soon.

Until next time ~ Rebecca

p.s. It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted a blog here, but I’m still balancing that baby/toddler with work in the nutrition clinic with clients. Reach out to me if individual sessions are of interest. And if you’d like to sign up for my periodic newsletter, you can do so here.

GI Problems, Nutrition + Health, Seasonal Eating, Sports Nutrition

Gut Health 101: Adding More in the age of Cutting Out 

by RebeccaLeave a Comment on Gut Health 101: Adding More in the age of Cutting Out 

How to improve your gut health naturally and sustainably 

woman feeling good, with balanced gut health, standing in kitchen

Hi there. Just a quick message today that’s been on my mind lately. As many of you know, within the nutrition clinic, I specialize in digestion and gut health. In reality, even though someone might show up with health goals that don’t seem to do with gut health, nearly everyone with a health condition or imbalance has a gut health imbalance. 

That’s because, if your hormones or endocrine system are out of wack, there’s a gastrointestinal component that’s involved too. 

Or if you can’t lose weight (or can’t gain weight), there’s usually a gut and inflammation component to that weight resistance. 

Or if your issue is blood sugar dysregulation or some sort of cardiovascular health issue, the gut is involved, and at the microbial level, is often a big component of healing and returning to balance. 

What about common health concerns in athletes?

What about common concerns in athletes, such as low iron or iron deficiency anemia, fatigue without an iron deficiency, or poor workout recovery? First, it’s often as likely that you have an issue absorbing iron as that you’re not eating or supplementing enough, particularly because as your iron needs goes up, the digestive system, when functioning well, will preferentially absorb more iron of every bit you consume. That is true for many other minerals too. 

Inflammation – The Common Culprit

At the heart of nearly every physical ailment is inflammation. Inflammation can be systemic or localized to one body system or part, but it often begins in the gut. 

Gut Healing – Adding More Types of Foods

Over the years, I’ve given out lots of simple to-dos that one can implement to help digestive healing or rebalancing health in general (check out my last post because it’s a really good one!). 

Today, I’ll share something we don’t often hear enough about from Dr. Google or all those companies marketing their products or special diets. And to be fully honest, no single tactic you implement to heal the gut is going to solve the whole issue. This is why it’s a good idea to work with a functional nutritionist (CNS), because then you’ll get unique guidance based on your presentation of symptoms and health imbalance.

But for today, let’s just touch on the importance of eating diversely. 

Many of my clients come to me eating extremely  routine meals from day to day with little variation. That can be because they don’t feel well and don’t know what to eat. Or because they’ve gotten into a routine, or they feel overwhelmed when grocery shopping.  Or they don’t meal plan or prep.

Rather than taking away more foods and restricting your diet more when you don’t feel well or don’t know what to do, when I’m in a clinic with an individual client, I’m often encouraging him or her to be adding more foods. 

Yes, we will screen for reactivity to top foods of concern and then eliminate them when needed, for as long as needed (which doesn’t necessarily mean forever!) But beyond that, a big to-do for clients is to start adding more diversity. Instead of eating just one or two grains, like rice or wheat, I’ll have them start adding a whole host of the many other grains. Instead of eating the same small handful of vegetables from day to day, they’ll begin experimenting and adding in more colors, textures, and flavors of in-season vegetables. Instead of just eating the same almonds or pecans or cashews in their breakfast or snack, I’ll ask them to rotate every day or every time they shop. 

Why is all this important? 

A big component of both gut health and overall health is having high diversity in beneficial gut microbiome species (1,2). And you only get high diversity if you’re eating lots of different (mostly plant) foods. That’s because the food for the bacteria is what you are eating, and each species or strain will have a preferred food, meaning if you feed them what they eat, they’ll thrive, but if you don’t, their population will disappear. 

Now, if you think about the “Standard American Diet,” individuals are often eating different foods like pizza, tacos, pasta, burgers, meat and potatoes…but they’re eating mostly ultra processed foods that are the same small rotation of foods at the ingredient level: corn, soy, wheat, sugar, beef, pork, chicken, cow’s dairy, a small handful of processed oils. 

With a diet with minimal diversity, there’s not much to work with at the gut microbial level, particularly because the balance of microbes that’s going to help the gut thrive, are mostly species that feed on plants.

Eating the Rainbow

When working with clients, a tactic I often recommend is to eat the rainbow – shopping for and preparing foods that are in season, and different from week to week and season to season.


In the nutrition clinic, I work with clients in individual nutrition consultations, and as a Licensed Dietician / Nutritionist (LDN/LD) and Board-Certified Nutrition Specialist (CNS), use medical nutrition therapy, integrative health measures, and a root cause approach to heal imbalanced health conditions. 

If you’d like to learn more about how you can improve your symptoms of imbalance, I’d love to speak with you in a quick phone consultation! 

References:
1. Gomaa E. Z. (2020). Human gut microbiota/microbiome in health and diseases: a review. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, 113(12), 2019–2040. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-020-01474-7 2. Hills, R. D., Jr, Pontefract, B. A., Mishcon, H. R., Black, C. A., Sutton, S. C., & Theberge, C. R. (2019). Gut Microbiome: Profound Implications for Diet and Disease. Nutrients, 11(7), 1613. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11071613

Ayurveda, GI Problems, Nutrition + Health, Sports Nutrition

“Normal” Habits that Cause Poor Digestion

by RebeccaLeave a Comment on “Normal” Habits that Cause Poor Digestion

What’s considered “normal” in our modern culture doesn’t necessarily mean it’s healthy or optimal. 

As a pathway to optimal health and performance, optimal digestion is one of my main focuses as a clinical nutritionist. Why? 

Because the fire element in the body is responsible for all forms of transformation internally – digestion, absorption, assimilation, creation of digestive enzymes, maintaining balanced body temperature and metabolism, providing energy, supporting regular and balanced elimination, deep sleep, mental clarity, stability and groundedness, cellular communication, and zest for life. 

Among many others. 

In nearly all cases, the root cause of weight gain or stagnation, inflammation, muscle and joint pain, fatigue, anxiety and depression, hormone imbalances and monthly or menopausal symptoms, are all rooted in the condition of the digestive system’s ability to optimally transform food into a healthy body and mind. 

In the last few years, I’ve been increasingly drawn to the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda, which is one of if not the oldest, medical system. In Ayurveda, many of the medical terms are in Sanskrit, a very old classical language. 

In Sanskrit, there’s this term used with poor digestion called Ama, meaning unripe, uncooked, or undigested food, or events that occur as a result of impaired digestive function. 

Can you spot any of the normal food preparation techniques that may be problematic for certain individuals?

In our modern lifestyles, there are lots of “normal” ways of eating that cause ama formation, or impaired digestive function:

  • Meal combinations that have complicated ingredient combinations or incompatible elements 
  • Eating heavy foods or indigestible foods
    • This may be unique to the individual or universal
    • For example, A meat lover’s pizza with lots of cheese is not going to be well tolerated by anyone.
  • Overeating
  • Eating allergenic or rancid food
  • Raw and undercooked food
    • Especially when it’s cold outside or the individual is cold, dry, and generally undernourished
  • Eating cold food
    • Especially when it’s cold outside or the individual runs cold
  • Eating dry and dehydrated food
  • Experiencing intense emotional stress and especially eating when experiencing that stress
  • Fasting for long periods of time 
  • Irregular eating patterns
    • The body likes routine because it has its own circadian rhythms that also regulate digestion as well as sleep/wake cycles. Meaning it’s best to eat at the same times every day!
  • Suppression of natural urges like needing to go to the bathroom, ignoring hunger or thirst, etc. 
  • When one travels a lot or the season or weather shifts
    • The body likes routine, and there may be an adjustment period with seasonal transitions, as well as with traveling to a new place.

Our ancient teachings remind us that  modern day “normal” isn’t necessarily natural. 

Do you routinely practice any of these seemingly “normal” ways of eating? I know I sometimes do, and I definitely notice a difference in my digestion, energy, skin quality, and generally how I feel – both when I fall into these habits and when I transition back to cooking and eating styles that support digestion. The common culprits for me are uncooked, crunchy salads, overcomplicated “cheffy” meal combinations, and eating when stressed or anxious.

Each of us tends to gravitate to a few of these and they’re often more of the root cause for impaired digestion than the idea that you simply can’t tolerate a big list of random foods.

The ability to take food and break it down into nutrients, and assimilate it into the body to be used as energy is the basis for building healthy body tissue (and thus a healthy body!) The goal for each of us is balanced digestion, and the stable mood, and smooth and efficient symptoms that come with it. This is possible for everyone. 

If you’d like to learn more about how you can fix it, I’d love to speak with you in a quick phone consultation!

Learn more about which of the four types of digestion you have.