Never eat a polar bears liver!
Cute they maybe, but deadly to eat! Last night, The Polar Bear Family & Me was on BBC Two and since it also happens to be Liver Awareness month I thought I would share this top tip with you: Never Eat a Polar Bears Liver. Now okay, not likely to happen down the high street, but should you find yourself in this unusual circumstance be warned! So why is a Polar Bear’s Liver so lethal? Arctic predators such as polar bears have a greater capacity to store vitamin A in their liver than most other animals. It is thought to be because of the effect of naturally occurring vitamin A in marine algae being passed up the food chain to the polar bear. So great is the polar bears ability to store this vitamin that if you were to consume the liver, you would more than likely succumb to the effects of Hypervitaminosis A. Put simply it would be too much vitamin A for your body to handle & and you would suffer from vitamin A poisoning. Symptoms of this include liver & bone damage, hair loss, double vision, vomiting and headaches. However don’t panic and avoid Vitamin A altogether as it is essential for growth & normal development. In particular it is important for our eyes and fight infections. If we don’t get enough it can lead to night blindness. The estimated average requirement for vitamin A in adult females is 400µg per day & 500 µg per day in males. In doses over 100mg in children or 300mg for adults it can become toxic. Good Sources of Vitamin A Foods rich in vitamin A to eat regularly include: – Oily fish, eggs, fortified low fat spreads, milk, yoghurt, liver and cheese -in small amounts. For most people an overdose of the vitamin from their diet would be unlikely however as a precaution pregnant women should take care to avoid vitamin A supplements (unless advised otherwise by a doctor), liver & liver products since they contain high levels of Vitamin A. Too much of which can have a negative effect on the developing baby. Why you should love your liver The liver is the largest organ in the body. A healthy liver is kept busy performing various jobs, over 500 to be precise! The liver acts like a factory in the body. It performs tasks such as creating proteins, blood clotting factors and other products which aid with digestion and energy release. It also acts a storage facility for vitamins, iron & energy. The liver helps to control blood sugar levels, it cleanses infections from the blood & helps to neutralise drugs & toxins that enter the body. How to love your liver If you want to show your liver you love it. Then you should familiarise yourself with some of its friends and foes. Friends of the liver Exercise We all know that exercise is a great way to get fit and lose weight. Carrying around excess weight and especially visceral (body fat) is a risk factor for liver damage. Therefore maintaining a healthy weight is a great way to reduce your risk. By exercising and moderating your diet you are likely to lose more fat than with just diet or exercise alone. As well as slimming down you may also be helping to remove fat from around the liver. In doing exercise you are helping to optimise the functions of the liver. Which means you’re helping to keep the factory running efficiently. Nutrient Rich Diet Reducing saturated fats, sugars and processed foods will reduce extra stress on the liver. Eating a diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables and complex carbohydrates: brown rice and pasta, wholemeal bread, beans, pulses, nuts and seeds and lean proteins. This will boost the function of the liver to improve it from working like it was riding a toy bike with wooden wheels to a Olympian Velodrome cyclist! Fluids as per recommended (1.5 to 2 litres) helps keep the body toxins flushed through the system. Foes of the liver Alcohol Each time your liver filters alcohol some of the liver cells die. Despite this the liver is very resilient and providing it has no lasting damage it can repair itself very quickly. It can take as little as 24 hrs to go back to normal. However, over time prolonged alcohol misuse can cause serious damage. You can help your liver by not binge drinking and giving yourself 2-3 days in a row off from drinking alcohol. This will keep your total intake down and gives your liver time to recover. Drugs can have detrimental effects too, so follow the advice from your GP or pharmacist. For more information on vitamin A If you wish to have a liver check-up do get in touch with us: email: info@121dietitian.com If you are unsure of how to change your eating habits for the best or need help optimising the foods you eat. 121 Dietitian are happy to help with any nutrition related query big or small. 121Dietitian Make sure you have the correct nutritious foods. Check out the 121Dietitian Shop Please visit my YouTube Channel. If you have enjoyed this blog we would love you to share this with your family and friends on your social media channels. Gillian x Information checked & correct on 27th December 2022
Oats NOT so good!
Well, 16 years of educating others I thought I was immune to the everyday angst of nutritional dilemmas!!!!!! Until very recently, so recent that I still can’t believe it and I may be in recovery for a while! Okay enough drama, here’s what happened: I was on a long journey driving through the night and pulled into a service station to refresh with a coffee. It was 3am so calculating ahead as my usual Dietitian head does, I considered my ‘up and coming’ breakfast options and I decided I would pick up a snack at this point so if anything changes later with my journey then I could keep on driving. While ordering the coffee I perused the appealing, but limited, arrangement of sweet stodge! I decide I would over look these and went for the most righteous option the ‘Nutty Flapjack’. I paid, ate and drank with satisfaction. Ah! However things quickly turned nasty! As I finished my flapjack I smelt a rat, (okay not literally) the flavours were sweeter and fattier than my finely tuned palate was expecting, alarm bells rang. The detective flick switched on in me and I peered at the small print – the ingredients and nutrient information. AHHHH! I nearly choked, if the coffee hadn’t woken me up at 3am then the info on the packet certainly did!!! I had consumed the equivalent of a hamburger and small fries, or two slices of cake, or a cooked breakfast. What a cheat. What made it even harder to swallow (wished I hadn’t!) was that it was made with 60% butter and condensed milk with a scant offering of oats, nuts and more sugar!!!! So I couldn’t even glory in the, ‘well the ingredients were superior’ therefore I shall accept the wonderful nutrients and the kcal’s come as a consequence. This experience brought me straight to the coal face of what my clients experience daily and why sometimes when you think you are doing right you are doing wrong. The moral of the story: no matter who you are! If you are keeping to a healthy eating plan, check all ingredients and nutritional information as you could be in for a surprise! Information checked & correct on 16th May 2018.
Wrap up & eat right the cold season is approaching!
The cold season is certainly approaching and in more ways than one. The temperature took a noticeable dip last week and now it seems everyone around is coughing and sniffling (not us at 121 Dietitian! Yet!!). Whether by co-incidence or by design this snuffly month (October) happens to be flu awareness month. Nobody likes to feel unwell and taking time off work is never good, especially in these times when retaining your job is paramount and being in tip top health is essential. To help you protect yourself or battle through, we thought we would share our knowledge on how to protect yourself from flu and boost your immunity before the flu season kicks in. Protect yourself The Public Health Agency has just launched their Seasonal Flu Vaccination Programme 2012/2012, they have some great advice on protecting yourself on their dedicated website http://www.fluawareni.info . Boost your immunity Did you know that malnutrition (under nutrition) is a common cause of reduced immunity? We can boost our immunity simply by eating right & staying hydrated. A healthy diet plays a key part in boosting immunity. Lack of nutrients such as zinc, selenium, iron, copper, folic acid and vitamins A,C & E in the diet can lead to a deficiency which then reduces immunity. Being overweight or obese does not exempt you from malnutrition. Obesity is another factor associated with reduced immunity. The moral of this story; Poor Diet + Overweight = Bad news for the immune system Tips to boost immunity • Eat a healthy & varied diet. This will help prevent malnutrition. • Maintain a healthy weight for your height an ideal BMI is 23. • Stay hydrated, aim for 8 glasses of fluids per day, drink more when you exercise or when it is hot. • Fruit and vegetables are a great source of Vitamins A,C & E. These nutrients have a significant impact on our immunity and so this is just another reason to ensure we all get our 5 a day. • Red meat, poultry and seafood such as oysters, crab & lobster are a good source of Zinc. Vegetarian sources include whole grains, fortified breakfast cereals and dairy products. • Dietary sources of selenium include nuts and seeds, fish, chicken, rice & cheese. • Folic acid, (essential in pregnancy) can be found in dark green leafy veg, dried beans & peas and citrus fruits eg. oranges & strawberries. Information checked & correct on 16th May 2018.
Make October YOUR New Year!
A lovely lady recently came to me in August 2012 looking for help with her main 2011 New Year’s resolutions! She wont mind me sharing this as the progress she has made has been outstanding since she started! Her main problem was her disappointment that she had not come near to achieving her personal goal of “being as healthy as possible.” Despite her good intentions she had made disappointing progress and it was 8 months into the year. She was panicking. Many of us can relate to this. We have expectations for great changes and we feel motivated at the start, but events and responsibilities seem to work against us and we are left feeling frustrated and sometimes discouraged that the changes we want to see will never be accomplished. With this lady, and others, a few simple strategies can help make significant changes promoting health, fitness, and control. I advised this client that September through to October would be the perfect time to make her changes. The kids are back in school, the home routine is in place, and it is a long time till the Christmas rush! My Client was raring to get started, she focused, made the time and energy to commit to her new plan. The following are some of the goals we decided to focus on: Step 1: Start small. In the case of my client, instead of encouraging her to become a slave to the gym, we started with two 30-minute walks per week. Over the past three weeks, these have lengthened and she now looks forward to her evening walks most nights of the week. This simple change may add years to her life. Step 2: Be ‘SMART’ Identify specific, measurable goals. They must be realistic and linked to a period of time so you can assess your achievements. These goals are “SMART” goals (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely.) My client’s goals were similar to many; ‘eat better and be more active’, but how do we measure success with a goal like this? As a starting point, we broke down her goals into three straightforward, but significant, changes: 1) Begin to eat breakfast within 30 minutes of waking five out of seven days per week. 2) Eat a portion of vegetables with both lunch and dinner six out of seven days per week. 3) Keep records of your food intake and exercise for five days to promote self-awareness of your eating and activity patterns. Step 3: Get Support Obtain support from a friend, spouse or family member. In this case of this client, her husband has been a great supporter. He reminds her to sit down and eat breakfast with him instead of running around after the kids and he provides the motivation for her to be fit by walking with her in the evenings. He and the kids are enjoying the health changes too, they are eating better and their mum is happier and healthier. In addition to her family support, my client has benefited from professional support. In working with a dietitian it has had help her make appropriate goals, identify obstacles and help overcome challenges. Professionals are trained to help provide creative ideas to make it a fun and interactive experience. My client laughs with pleasure as she informs others of her fears of making that initial contact. She expected I would whip her into shape and she would be mortified, but now instead she admits she enjoys the one to one webcam consultations, coming to the clinic weight session and the programme she is following. She says she does not feel deprived or different to anyone else only that she is already feeling much healthier and fitter. Step 4: Get accurate information As a Dietitian I spend a lot of time correcting people’s myths. Most of my clients come in expecting they will be told to eat salads, cut carbohydrates, and slave away on a treadmill seven days a week. We know from countless studies, that healthy eating does not mean dieting. While there are specific dietary requirements for many conditions, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and cholesterol problems, most people do not have to cut anything out, they just need assistance in finding the right balance. Obtaining professional guidance ensures you learn which strategies are appropriate for you. If you have struggled with getting healthy this year, why not click on the contacts page and get your diet assessed by the professionals! Information checked & correct on 16th May 2018.
It’s Been a While – Vitamin D
Hi, well what a year it has been. Work has pushed my boundaries further than ever imagined, the kids school and social demands continue unabated and we are now heading to another episode of over indulgence! Looking back, we have had a disappointing amount of summer sunshine, not good for Vitamin D stores or for the fun picnics we so love. We did have a fab trip which was a special treat and it certainly made up for our poor weather; a royal Caribbean cruise! Wow, as a Dietitian it was a sight to behold. The food choices were superb from both ends of the spectrum! The holiday guests, some whom had definitely been there before, could eat 24/7 and some did. Initially I found it all a little overwhelming and off-putting, but once I realised that the majority were not all gluttons we had a holiday of a lifetime! Vitamin D As we come into the winter it is important to be aware that nearly half of the British population have low blood levels of Vitamin D during the winter and spring months. This has come from changes in our lifestyles, less time outdoors, and increased use of sunscreens. If you are Obese, pregnant or a child you are at further risk due to either lack of availability with high fat stores or due to an increased need for development and growth. Why Worry? Rickets, a bone disease from the Victorian times, that had diminished, is now increasing significantly, leading to bow legs and short height, if prolonged it results in adults as osteomalacia. Recent Scientific literature has linked this important vitamin to not alone bone health; rickets, oesteoporosis (brittle bones) but also low levels of vitamin D are linked to increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, breast and colon cancer, impaired immunity, type I diabetes, arthritis and multiple sclerosis. What Can You Do? Careful exposure to the sun in the summer months (pale skin achieves sufficient amounts 10 times faster than darker skin) is considered essential but maybe not enough. Food Sources: Salmon- wild and baked is an excellent source. Baking has no effect on Vitamin D content whereas frying reduces it by 50%! Sun dried Shitake mushrooms is also highly concentrated, sardines canned, mackerel and tuna canned. Some breakfast cereals are higher than others so check the labels. Some manufacturers are aware of this deficiency worry and products like breads are being fortified, polyunsaturated margarine are also fortified. Until further fortification is widespread supplements maybe necessary. Make sure you are getting enough from your diet and sunshine and then top up over the winter months. Information checked & correct on 16th May 2018.
Fathers day – more food!
The Fathers Day weekend is almost over. In our house it has been made extra special by the hot sunny weather. We have enjoyed eating alfresco, breakfast, lunch and supper; with the humour of being on holidays and ‘when’s the flight home’? Now for many today, like ourselves, we were caught up in Fathers Day. Our 3 kids were up early scurrying around putting finishing touches to the envelopes off cards and gifts! Hubby lay on in bed for the honorary grapefruit, but I drew the line at croissants, these were to stay firmly in the kitchen area! I hate crumbs especially in bed, yuk! After breakfast came what seem like minutes later, snack time. Huh I had just cleared the breakfast. Out came the bits and pieces again and the noise of chewing and slurping was priceless; apple, strawberries and blueberries. Off we went on a cycle our first long bike trip, 9 miles in total. Obviously interrupted by a packed ‘picnic’ just in case our blood sugars should drop ever so slightly! This was light as I was carrying the bag! Bananas, oatcakes, World Cup crisps and water. Home and you guessed it, before I could walk to the fridge the chorus off, “I’m hungry” rang out. Lucky I was fully prepared and out came a rainbow off colours to be piled up high and rolled into wraps. King prawns, homemade guacamole, salad, tomatoes, peppers, etc…. 2 wraps each later and large eyes were still able for the home-made Victoria sponge cake! Friends and family often comment on the fact that my kids appear bottomless pits. Now my food bill makes me think I am harvesting a family of tapeworms! Luckily lunch did the trick, and eggy bread was all they could manage before rolling into bed! Information checked & correct on 16th May 2018.
