The Ketogenic, Banting or Low Carb Diet History

Eating Keto is an extremely popular trend right now.  Just about everyone has heard of it, many of us have tried it, and we all seem to have an opinion on it.  As a nutrition coach with an emphasis on flexible dieting, I recognize that some of my clients may prefer, or may benefit from eating Keto-based diet over a traditional diet. I aim to create a safe, judgment-free space that empowers my clients to eat the foods they choose.  In order to do that, I must have some foundational knowledge on the topic.  Over the next few posts here, I intend to share some of the knowledge I have concerning the Ketogenic diet starting with a quick look at the physiology of ketosis and a brief history of low carb dieting. Read more “The Ketogenic, Banting or Low Carb Diet History” →

Snacking – Helps You Hold Onto Fat

Snacking is a habit for many people. Eating small bites of foods between meals, while at our desk at work or in the car while on the go is a norm.  While snacking is not advisable in general, if you must snack, nutrient dense foods like fresh veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds, hard boiled eggs, nut butters, and hummus make for good options as do cheese sticks, fruit dried without added sugars and plain Greek yogurt.  Ideally however, changing habits and stopping snacking all together should be the goal.   The following explains why. Read more “Snacking – Helps You Hold Onto Fat” →

Research on Sleep: Weight Gain & Obesity

Sleep is the foundation on which the two pillars of good health, fitness and nutrition stand.

Ineffective, inadequate sleep is a detriment to any and all nutrition and fitness efforts. In fact, sleep deprivation can kill you. Every major system, organ, tissue cell, and even DNA molecule in your body suffers for lack of sleep. The effects of sleep deprivation are so severe that the Guinness Book of World Records stopped recognizing attempts to break the sleep deprivation record. The evidence of detriment is so compelling they then went on to delete past records out of fear that Read more “Research on Sleep: Weight Gain & Obesity” →

Set Point Theory

Homeostasis is the tendency towards a relatively stable equilibrium, or balance between interdependent elements, especially as maintained by physiological processes. Our bodies’ love and can in fact only thrive when in state of a balance. For example, your body temperature must be maintained at or around 98.6°F (37°C). If this temperature should rise too high or go too low, you will die. To prevent this, Read more “Set Point Theory” →

Metabolism

We’ve all heard someone blame their excessive weight on having a slow metabolism, or their ability to eat large amounts of food and not gain any weight on their fast metabolism. But what exactly is metabolism? Technically speaking the word metabolism is defined in biology as the chemical processes that occur within a living organism in order to maintain life. When most people are discussing metabolism though, what they’re actually referring to are just a few of those chemical processes, specifically the ones that convert the macronutrients in the food and drinks we consume into energy or Calories, and then taking into consideration how long it takes for our bodies to use that energy. In this way, our food is our fuel. Read more “Metabolism” →