Healthy Eating & Nutrition Blog

Welcome to Health Takes Guts® Check back frequently for advice on healthy nutrition and therapeutic diet plans, delicious recipes and other cutting-edge functional medicine nutrition news. Dianne Rishikof, MS, RDN, LDN, IFNCP, & CEO, has special programs for Registered Dietitians (RDs) with mentoring, resources and course offerings.



Cinnamon

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We are all familiar with cinnamon’s distinct smell and flavor. Did you know that cinnamon provides numerous health benefits?

  • Anti-oxidants
    • Cinnamon contains many anti-oxidants, including polyphenols. Polyphenols are special because they feed the good gut bacteria. We could all use that.
  • Anti-inflammatory properties
    • Chronic inflammation is responsible for all the major diseases. Cinnamon can help calm some of that inflammation
  • Lower blood pressure and cholesterol.
    • Some studies have shown that cinnamon can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol. (Don’t take medicinal levels of cinnamon without the supervision of a health professional)
  • Lower blood sugar
    • Cinnamon improves insulin sensitivity. Insulin is the hormone that opens your cells so the sugar can go from your blood to your cells (and be used for energy).
    • It appears that cinnamon also slows the digestion of carbohydrates, helping prevent that blood sugar rise and fall.
  • Disease protection
    • There is some evidence that cinnamon can help improve Alzheimer’s Disease and Parkinson’s Disease.
    • Other evidence that points to cinnamon as a protective factor against Cancer.

So go out and enjoy your cinnamon 🙂

Image courtesy of Mister GC at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The Best Smoothie

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Rishkoff Smoothie 3

Every single ingredient in this smoothie is a superfood. This smoothie is gluten-free, dairy-free, low in FODMAPs, and contains gut-healing ingredients. And with ingredients like strawberries, bananas and pineapple juice, and coconut oil, it is delicious and nutritious (for anyone). I developed this recipe for me, as a way to heal and seal my gut after all my struggles. It’s a rare and useful drink to fill my gut with everything it needs (and nothing it doesn’t!).

Pineapples contain bromelain, an anti-inflammatory compound. Coconut oil is easy to digest and it’s fatty acid structure causes it to be utilized for energy and not stored in our fat cells. But the heavy hitters in this smoothie are the L-glutamine and gelatin. Both of which can help repair leaky gut.

Recipe:

3-4 strawberries, cut up
2/3 of a whole banana, sliced up
organic fresh pressed pineapple juice
1 tb of coconut oil
1 teaspoon of gelatin (Knox brand)
1 teaspoon of L-glutamine powder (pharmaceutical grade)

Directions:

Put the cut up pieces of fruit in the blender.

Add pineapple juice just enough to cover the empty spaces between the fruit.

Put the coconut oil in a microwave safe bowl and heat it for 30 seconds to turn it liquid. Then add it to the blender.

Add the gelatin and L-glutamine

Blend and enjoy!!!

If you want a full meal-add a little of your favorite protein powder too!

PS: While the sugars in this smoothie are ALL natural (no added sugar), it is not a low carb drink and may be too high in sugar for some people.

(My recipe also appeared on Further Food Photos courtesy of Further Food as well! Rishkoff Smoothie 2)

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Eat, Drink and Be Calm

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ID-100306682Most of us are rushing around all day. Squeezing in eating and checking it off the schedule. If you have kids, meals can be even more rushed. The kids are hungry and want the food now, and then you all have to zoom off to school or an activity afterward.

Here’s the problem: when we are in stressed-out-rushing mode our digestive systems are too. This means we digest and absorb less of our food and our body doesn’t receive all that it needs to function well. (And the kids don’t get all they need to grow!)

The cortisol that is released when you are stressed (any time you are not relaxed, you are stressed) causes all kinds of damage to your body.

But what it does to your digestion? It basically switches it off. Less stomach acid and digestive enzymes (necessary for digestion), and less absorption of vital nutrients.

So, here’s what I suggest. Before each meal: REST, For 20 seconds. What you do in that 20 seconds is up to you. Breathe and meditate. Say Grace. Doesn’t matter, as long as you are STILL. Set your body into relaxed-mode and you will get tons more nutrition out of your meal.

Image courtesy of khongkitwiriyachan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

As always, share this with your friends!

Best Books on Food for Kids

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As a nutritionist and a mom, I have always been interested in good food-related books for my kids. Anytime I came across a book that teaches about food, healthy eating, or healthy body image, I bought it (even before I was a parent).

Here are just a few of my favorites (for young children):

“Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z” by Lois Ehlert is good for babies on up. Great pictures give exposure to all kinds of fruits and vegetables. As children get older and verbal they can pick out something at the market after seeing it in the book.

“Blueberries for Sal” by Robert McCloskey is a classic that was read to me when I was a child. It’s about a mother and child who go blueberry picking on the same hill as a bear and her cub.

“Bread and Jam for Frances” by Russell Hoban. Poor Frances only wants to eat the same thing meal after meal until she gets bored and learns that variety is a good thing.

“Berenstein Bears and Too much Junk Food” Besides the use of the word “chubby” that I don’t like, this book has great lessons about food and exercise.

“Cat in the Hat: Oh the Things you can do that are good for you” Great book with rhymes and information about healthy eating, exercise and other healthy habits.

“Shapesville” by Andy Mills and Becky Osborn. This book is all about loving the body you have and celebrating that we are all different shapes and sizes.

 

Leaky Gut

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Leaky gut is as gross as it sounds. Not because what is in your digestive track is leaking out of your body but because it’s leaking INTO your body.

The lining of the GI track, like your skin, is a barrier to the outside world. What’s in your gut IS outside your body until your GI lining lets it through. Luckily this gut lining is extremely good at letting in the good and blocking the bad. It has tight junctions (imagine a net). Things that should get through: fully digested and broken down molecules of protein (amino acids) and carbohydrates (single monosaccharaides), as well as vitamins and minerals. Things that should stay out: bacteria, non-digested food particles, toxins and other things that belong in your poo and then the toilet.

But when the lining is damaged, the tight junctions become loose. And what shouldn’t get through does. This is leaky gut, or increased intestinal permeability.

It is theorized that all autoimmune disease is partially caused by leaky gut. Something big and/or foreign get into your blood and your immune system attack these unwanted things. But over time, you immune system starts getting confused and starts attacking you. If you are genetically predisposed to an autoimmune disease, this can be a trigger. Leaky gut can also cause food allergies and sensitivities. If a protein molecule (that isn’t totally broken down into single amino acids) gets through, that will cause an immune reaction and trigger a food sensitivity or allergy.

Symptoms of a leaky gut:

  • Fatigue
  • Gut symptoms (bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation)
  • Autoimmune conditions
  • Food sensitivities
  • Skin problems (rashes, eczema)
  • Headaches and migraines
  • Anxiety and Depression
  • Behavioral problems (ADHD, Autism)
  • Weight problems
  • Adrenal Fatigue

Causes of a leaky gut:

What can help?

  1. You want to remove all your triggers. (stop taking aspirin, start meditating, give up gluten, etc)
  2. Treat the root cause (infection, SIBO)
  3. Heal the lining

What heals?

  • Gelatin. I am not talking about Jello. I am talking about non-flavored unsweetened gelatin. The amino acids heal the tight junctions. Bone Broth, if made properly, is an excellent source. But you can buy gelatin powder too and add it to drinks and food. Check out this smoothie!
  • L-glutamine. An amino acid that heals the lining.
  • Zinc, Vitamin A
  • Probiotics (as long as SIBO, and other infections are treated appropriately)
  • Digestive enzymes
  • Real food

For more on leaky gut and how to fix it for good, check out my eBook!

 

Image courtesy of Ohmega1982 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

 

Do your kids watch TV while they eat?

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Two-thirds of kids watch TV during mealtimes. On average, kids spend 53 hours a week looking at a screen (sometimes more than one at a time!).

The problem? This affects their health, today and tomorrow.

First of all, just that much screen time makes me cringe. Watching TV means kids are sedentary instead of moving their bodies. Exercise is important for people of all ages. Also, if they are watching TV they aren’t playing or socializing, both of which are needed for healthy brain and personality development.

But back to the mealtime issue. If they are watching TV, they are missing out on the family meal. Family meals are extremely important for emotional development and for kids to adopt healthy eating habits. For more on the family meal, read this post.  Additionally, kids who watch TV the most have higher intakes of calories, fat, and sugar, and lower intakes of fruits and vegetables. This leads to poor brain and body development now while they need optimal nutrition. And it also is associated with obesity, Diabetes and heart disease later.

Turn the TV off and enjoy the family meal. You are your kids’ best model of how to eat healthy.

SIBO

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SIBO (pronounced see-bo) is an acronym for Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth. Your colon has 100 billion bacteria per milliliter but your small intestine should have less than 100,000/ml. When too many bacteria migrate or colonize in the small intestine, SIBO develops and all hell breaks loose.

SIBO is responsible for all sorts of uncomfortable symptoms, such as gas, bloating, and diarrhea. More importantly, it causes damage to the small intestine leading to a ton of non-digestive problems as well. It is estimated that 84% of people with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) also have SIBO. Similarly, people with Crohn’s Disease and Celiac are likely to have SIBO as well.

When bacteria are in your colon (large intestine), they eat what’s left over (mostly fiber) after you have absorbed all the nutrients that your body needs. But when the bacteria in your small intestine (before your body has absorbed all that it needs), they get VIP access to your food (carbohydrates are their favorite). As described in the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle: “The presence of undigested and unabsorbed carbohydrates in the small intestine can encourage microbes to take up residence and multiply. This, in turn, may lead to the formation of products, in addition to gas, which injure the small intestine…. bacterial growth in the small intestine appears to destroy the enzymes on the intestinal cell surface preventing carbohydrate digestion and absorption and making carbohydrates available for bacteria” This is the cycle. Injury to the intestine–>impaired digestion and absorption–>bacterial overgrowth–>damage to the intestine–>impaired digestion…and so on. When the bacteria injure the intestines and impair digestion, the small intestines become less able to digest carbohydrates, leaving more for the bacteria to digest, and allowing for more bacterial multiplication. They are preventing you from digesting the very thing they need to eat.

Symptoms:

  • Abdominal bloating and distention
  • Gas
  • Abdominal pain and discomfort
  • Diarrhea, constipation, or a mix of the two
  • Heartburn or GERD

Systemic symptoms and associated conditions:

  • Vitamin and mineral deficiencies
  • Leaky Gut (where your intestinal wall let’s things into your blood that aren’t supposed to be let in)
  • Fatigue, brain fog
  • Food sensitivities
  • Headaches/migraines
  • Mental Disorders (Autism, Depression)
  • Obesity
  • Skin problems
  • Autoimmune disorders

How does this start?

  • Insufficient stomach acid (acid kills bacteria)
  • Impaired cleansing waves (a wave of muscle contractions that sweeps the debris out of the small intestine and into the colon in between meals and at night)
  • Anatomical issue (such as having no ileocecal valve, the valve at the end of the small intestine, that keeps colon bacteria from migrating up)
  • GI infections or disease (Crohn’s or Celiac)

There are a few treatments for SIBO, antibiotics being the best. But the underlying cause might still be a problem and the SIBO will likely reoccur. There are a few diet options as treatment: The Specific Carbohydrate Diet, GAPS diet, Elemental Diet or a low FODMAP diet. Each of these manipulates the type and amount of carbohydrates in your diet to starve the bacteria.

Nutrition therapy with a Registered Dietitian (who specializes in digestive disorders) is essential. Besides being necessary to attempt one of the therapeutic diets mentioned above, nutrition is critical for:

  • Preventing the SIBO from returning
  • Correcting vitamin and mineral deficiencies
  • Healing the gut lining
  • Increasing stomach acid
  • Encouraging cleansing waves. (There are a few ways to do this, but my favorite is with lemon water)

Talk to your doctor if you suspect you have SIBO. And get a qualified Dietitian.

For more information about SIBO and how to get rid of it, check out my eBook!

 

Valentine’s Day Fun with Food

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Happy February Everyone!  Time to start thinking about what kinds of fun creative things you will do for Valentine’s Day! Here are some ideas to get you started. Above is the heart made of a variety of fruit.

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Salty sugary chocolatey treat

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Strawberry Rose

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Cheese and Crackers make a good snack.

For these and more ideas check out my Valentine’s Pinterest page. And use those nifty share buttons!

Snacking at the office

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Snacks are an important part of a daily diet for most people.

Snacking can keep our energy up so we can better focus and be productive. It also keeps us from becoming over-hungry and subsequently overeating and/or making poor food choices. But if we are eating chips or candy every day at 3pm, we will suffer the consequences (weight gain for one).

I have compiled a list of snacks for eating at the office. Some are suitable only if you have access to a refrigerator. Hope you are inspired and stop visiting that vending machine!

  • Cottage Cheese (w/fruit and/or nuts, or by itself)
  • Yogurt
  • Hard boiled eggs
  • Nut-butters (w/fruit, veggies, crackers)
  • Nuts
  • Cheese (babybel, string cheese, slices) w/whole grain crackers
  • Edamame
  • Turkey (or other deli meat) roll ups
  • Tuna salad, chicken salad, egg salad
  • Jerkey (nitrate free Brands: Krave, PerkyJerky)
  • Veggies:
  • cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, celery, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, sugar snap peas
  • w/hummus
  • Oatmeal (single serving bowls)
  • Soup
  • Whole grain cereal and Milk
  • Hummus and crackers/pita/veggies
  • Fruit
  • Popcorn
  • Chips, salsa and guacamole
  • Bars:
    • Let’s face it, bars are easy and portable. But not always healthy. Here are the guidelines to follow when picking a good bar:
    • 10-15gm protein
    • 5 gm of fiber
    • less than 15 gm of sugar
    • as few ingredients as possible
    • whole food ingredients
    • ex: Luna bars
    • make your own!

For more ideas and recipes visit my pinterest page on eating at the office.

Sharing is caring-share this post on your social media sites

Image courtesy of Keerati at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Love your Body

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In honor of the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr, I have a different type of post.

He is the author of one of my favorite quotes: “Darkness can’t drive out darkness only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that”

Well, how many of us hate our bodies? It is not only unfair to your body, it is counterproductive to your goals (assuming your goals are to improve your body in some way).

So, today, and everyday, try to be kinder to yourself. Think of all the ways your body is an amazing machine. Your body serves you every minute of every day. It carries on tremendously important functions without your awareness or effort. It gets you from here to there. It allows you to see, hear, taste, feel. Every single thing you do is done by or with your body. You’d be nothing and nowhere without it. Cherish it.

Spread the love-use one of those social media buttons to share this post!
Image courtesy of imagerymajestic at FreeDigitalPhotos.net