Healthy Habits

06/09/2019

Not all eating strategies work the same for everyone. Don’t follow a style of eating because it works for someone you know. Book an appointment with a registered dietician who can guide you along a healthy lifestyle that suits you.

Witten with help from Dr. Rona Antoni, intermittent fasting researcher and RD.

Intermittent fasting is a legitimate weight management strategy backed by some high quality research.

It has also been highjacked by Diet Culture, with people now selling fasting plans (imagine people making money from telling you NOT to eat) and even the ‘biohacking’ community are promising that fasting is the elixir for everlasting life.

If you had seen a dietitian or doctor 5 years ago and reported that you were fasting for extended periods, you would have been sent to an eating disorders clinic. Research moves on and intermittent fasting is now known to be an effective weight management strategy for some people.

That said, as with all dietary protocols, people are taking fasting to the extreme and it has become a very convenient way for people with a disordered relationship with food to legitimise skipping meals.

Forms of intermittent fasting that are evidence based include time restricted eating, where you’re reducing your feeding window to 8-12 hours, either skipping breakfast and/or not eating too late and intermittent energy restrictions (e.g. the 5:2 diet; alternate day fasting) where you eat a very low calorie diet for several days a week.

We know that FOR SOME PEOPLE these strategies can help to manage weight and also have the potential to improve insulin sensitivity and fat metabolism. Some (but not all of these effects ) are due to the weight loss/calorie deficit these diets can create. Many of the other reported benefits including autophagy and cancer prevention are not supported by evidence in humans.

As with all ‘diets’ a fasting protocol that means that you are avoiding social eating, ignoring hunger cues for extended periods, feeling lightheaded or struggling to concentrate, getting headaches or lacking energy for exercise or struggling to sleep due to hunger NEEDS TO BE REEVALUATED.

If you have stopped eating with your loved ones in the evening because you’re fasting, you’re probably not on the right protocol for your mental and social health.

It is important that all ‘diets’ need enough flexibility to feed your social life as well as your body. Remember, no diet needs to be enforced 24/7. What if you just did time restricted feeding 3 days per week? What if you didn’t have any rules at the weekend?

There is no established benefit to restricting eating to a window shorter than 6-8 hours so those only eating for shorter widows of time are likely to be over restricting.

Fasting in the morning works for me but mainly because my appetite is low in the morning (and completely unmanageable the rest of the day!). Anyone who wakes up hungry should listen to their body. Anyone going to bed hungry should listen to their body. There are so many ways to achieve a calorie deficit if that is what is needed and we are all different. Finding something that is sustainable FOR YOU is essential.

11/06/2019

Intermittent fasting has become quite popular of late. This article discusses the pros and cons of each of the different versions of intermittent fasting.

Intermittent fasting is a method of dieting that restricts the amount of time you are allowed to eat. The appeal of these diets is that you don't need to count calories or eat certain foods. But there are so many versions, it's hard to know which on

29/05/2019

Added sugar is everywhere. It’s so easy to wean your child onto nutritional foods that are easy to prepare, cheaper and have less additional sugar. Dieticians can help guide you and your child in this often unfamiliar territory

A study showed that most baby food products have a high sugar content.

12/11/2018

Great infographic busting myths about the sugar content of low fat milk

How many times have you heard, “don’t choose fat free milk, it’s so full of sugar!”?
This is a myth, in fact, fat free milk is lower in sugar than its full cream counterpart. .
Milk breakdown from South African Dairy Association.

11/10/2018

A lot of clients come in struggling with the way their bodies change through menopause. This article gives a few tips on eating well and staying active.

Unwanted weight gain is frustrating at any age, but if you've hit menopause you may feel the deck is stacked against you.

10/10/2018

Start your day with a healthy breakfast. You are less inclined to make unhealthy choices if you start your day off correctly

After our longest fast, a healthy breakfast kick-starts the metabolism, lights up mental functioning and boosts physical energy on a day-to-day basis. But did you know that having breakfast regularly also helps to protect against type 2 diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure?

23/07/2018

Such a great article. Worth a read

All that insta scrolling might actually be messing with your health mojo.

19/07/2018

Saw this on another post and really liked it. - bananas get such a bad wrap these days.

A healthy lifestyle is not about restriction of nutritious foods or food groups. In restricting we miss out on key nutrients and goodness that whole foods provide us with.

I saw this picture in a running group (who was in favor of eating the banana, btw, which is encouraging) and it really got to me. I remember CLEARLY being down the rabbit hole of deprivation and restriction, staying away from "starchy carbs", like bananas and carrots (um, what?) because they were "fattening" (yes, diet culture actually vilifies carrots).

The memory of that makes me angry and sad at the same time: angry because diet culture is killing women, and sad because some of those same women would actually feel guilty over eating a banana. This hurts my insides.

The only, and I mean ONLY, reasons to avoid specific foods is because a) you have a medical reason to do so and b) you just don't like the taste of them. That's it. If neither one applies, then eat the banana, for crying out loud. -- Cyndi

06/06/2018

A great article. It is important to try to eat food as close to its natural state as possible, focus on whole foods and not individual nutrients and realise that no one food can make a persons diet healthy or unhealthy.

Many people can feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of nutritional information on the internet, so it can be easy to get bogged down with this often conflicting advice when you are trying to make …

06/06/2018

Its Dieticians week and in celebration ADSA have put together a recipe book with recipes that have been tried and tested. Enjoy!!

In celebration of and together with our partners SASPEN, Enteral Nutrition Association of South Africa and The Hospital Dietitians Interest Group we are proud to present this beautifully designed recipe book featuring a collection of 39 tried and tested recipes by dietitians across South Africa!
You can download it at: www.adsa.org.za/Public/DietitiansWeek2018.aspx

30/01/2018

10/10/2017

In your daily intake of sugar more than you realise? Rethink your drink - drink water

How sweet is your drink?🤔
The best way to see how much sugar is in your drink, is to read the nutrition info table. 👀

See “total sugar” on the nutrition information table - calculate the number of teaspoons by dividing the sugar in grams by 4 E.g. 40g sugar = 10 tsp’s
National Department of Health (South Africa) ADSA