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A User’s Guide
Better Health Through
Good Nutrition
Anthony Ortiz, RPH, CCN
- Owner, Pharmacist & Certified Clinical Nutritionist -
- Atlas Drug and Nutrition -
(201) 869-5990Atlasdrugandnutrition.com
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
We Get It.
You’ve tried it all – popular diets, brutal exercise regimes, weight-
loss pills, cleanses, skipping meals, and nothing works. You suffer
for weeks or months, only to find you’re heavier and unhealthier
than before.
At some point, you think about just giving up – maybe you were
“meant to be”:
• Overweight
• Sluggish
• Plagued with diabetes
• High blood pressure and high cholesterol
And there’s nothing you can do about it.
Please don’t give up! So much of good health comes down to
education. Without it, we’re all doomed to repeat the same cycle
of overindulgence, desperate attempts to lose weight and get
healthy, followed by failure and increased weight.
There will be battles you will lose (not having access to healthy
foods, the holidays etc.) but the goal is to win the war.
The war will not be won by counting calories. You may have
short-term success, but it will not be sustainable, and the
choices you make may not in fact promote good health.
There, isn’t that a relief?
It comes down to science and physics. A calories is a unit of
energy. The more calories you consume, the more energy
you will have to move, exercise, and think because the brain
uses a great deal of calories.
Not counting calories doesn’t give you a license to eat
anything and everything, but it does give you permission to
choose healthy foods even when they are high in calories.
For example, you could have a “100 calorie pack” of a
processed food, or you could choose the 140 calories in two
eggs. With the first you get little nutritional value, little
satisfaction, and all kinds of chemicals.
The only way to lose weight is to deprive yourself
The war will not be won by counting calories.
Choose eggs instead and you get a healthful amount of good fats and proteins, keeping you fuller longer and fueling your body and brain for activity. Other high calorie foods to include in your diet are lean meats, butter from grass-fed cows, and unsweetened coconut milk.
There will be times during the day, and even entire days during a week, that you will be hungrier than normal. If you are counting calories you will be robbing yourself of the ability to feel satisfied. Feeling satiated, full, stuffed, not needing to eat are part of a successful plan to eat whole, dense nutritious food without worrying about calories. By eating moderate amounts of good fat and protein, limiting your intake of carbs, and exercising regularly, you will lose weight.
In fact, when you concentrate on getting enough healthy vegetables, lean proteins, and fruit, you may find you just don’t have room for the unhealthy foods you used to crave.
Many attempt to lose weight by eating low fat foods, but this
practice in fact increases hunger. These foods contain higher
than normal percentages of carbohydrates, and have
undoubtedly contributed to the modern diabetes and obesity
epidemic.
The lemonade and chili “cleanse” and other similar plans can
cause major blood sugar issues as well as fatigue, irritability,
and intestinal upset. A cleanse should only be carried out
with medical supervision.
Low-Fat is Healthy
Diet pills and the like are quick and temporary additions that
are unlikely to keep you at your desired target weight. Some
have uncomfortable and even dangerous side effects as well.
Researchers have discovered that artificial sweeteners may
cause more weight gain than sugar because they stimulate
your appetite, encourage fat storage, stimulate a flood of
insulin, and increase carbohydrate cravings. Try stevia
instead.
Using artificial sweeteners is a good way to satisfy a sweet tooth and save calories.
Breakfast is the most important meal, since it ends the
longest period of time that the body as gone without eating.
Going for long periods of time without food robs the body of
glucose which supplies the necessary fuel for energy.
We advise clients to avoid sugar-laden cereals and
carbohydrate-filled bagels, and instead to eat eggs and other
good proteins for breakfast.
Remember, skipping meals slows down your metabolic rate,
causing you to burn less fat, since your body wants to
preserve calories. More important, skipping meals makes
you overeat at your next meal.
Read food labels, not to count calories, but to avoid things
that are harmful. For instance, food labels must now display
the amount of trans fats contained. No amount of trans fat is
healthy. Even items labeled “healthy,” “nutritious,” or
“organic” may contain ingredients you should avoid. Other
things to look for and avoid:
• High amounts of sodium (over 400mg is considered
high). More than just the amount of sodium itself, this is
often an indication of how processed a food is.
• Unrecognizable and unpronounceable ingredients
(usually an indication of chemicals used in processing,
many of which are known or suspected carcinogens).
• Artificial colors and flavorings (known carcinogens).
Want to be really safe? Stick to foods that need no labels –
fruits, vegetables and grass-fed meats - or keep to foods with
very limited (and recognizable) ingredient lists.
Supermarkets often put the healthier foods on the “outside”
aisles of the store. Avoid temptation and increase your
chances of making good choices by sticking to the perimeter
whenever possible. A quick detour through the aisle with the
nuts is probably all you need.
While the internet is a great source of information on a
myriad of subjects, the misinformation it contains
regarding health and nutrition is frightening! Find
trustworthy information on well-known sites with
reputations to uphold, and make sure information given is
backed up by research or signed off on by a credentialed
expert.
Some sources we like are the Mercola.com website, the
brand new book, The Calorie Myth by Jonathan Bailor, and of
course, our own blog at Atlas Drug & Nutrition
Nancy Lentine, DO, an integrative family practice physician
in Little Falls, NJ has some great suggestions:
Transitioning into healthy eating? Get nutritional
counseling.
For stress eating, get the book Mindful Eating by Jan
Chozen.
For adrenal fatigue, see the website adrenalfatigue.org or
the book Adrenal Fatigue by James Wilson.
For hormonal imbalance, try the website
womeninbalance.org.
Concerned about hypertension and heart disease? Read
What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Heart Disease
or Hypertension by Dr. Mark Houston.
Find trustworthy information
on well-known sites with reputations to uphold.
Healthy eating is a good habit your children will appreciate
for life. While their friends may be loading up on artificially-
flavored and colored “froot” snacks, help your kids discover
healthy foods that they enjoy. Make the produce section of
the supermarket or famer’s market the fun section when you
allow them to choose something new every week. Make it a
fun adventure for the entire family!
Did Emily choose eggplant this week (who
can resist the shiny purple skin)? Let her
help you make a fantastic gluten-free
eggplant parmesan for the family. Did
Luke grab a new variety of apple?
Spend some time with him slicing and
topping the apples with peanut or almond
butter and a few raisins for a fun after
school snack.
All of those conditions, and many more, are well-served by
eating healthfully, as outlined in this ebook. Not sure if a
certain food or recommendation is right for you? Keep a list
of questions to ask your doctor or nutritional counselor.
Celiac disease is a gluten intolerance and it occurs when the
body cannot digest a protein called gliadin. Gliadin is one of
the hardest proteins to breakdown even in the healthiest of
intestines. It leaves the body mostly undigested.
The undigested gluten triggers the immune system to attack
the protein that is in the intestine, resulting in diarrhea,
constipation, and cramping. As the condition worsens, the
immune system remains activated and seriously damages
the intestine’s ability to absorb vitamins and minerals, leading
to other health problems.
The increase in the reporting of gluten intolerance and celiac
disease is a result of the refinement of the wheat supply and
the increase of carbohydrates (particularly grains) in the
western diet.
For those reasons, says clinical nutritionist and pharmacist
Tony Ortiz, RPH, CCN, “I believe for most non-sensitive
people, it makes good sense to avoid gluten as often as you
can. For those people who are gluten sensitive, even the
smallest amount of gluten can ruin their day, so my advice is
to totally avoid it.”
Dr. Lentine adds, “In certain situations, products containing
gluten are not healthy. They are mainly genetically modified
and in general are not healthy for our bodies. When I
recommend a gluten free dietary plan, I don’t have them rush
out and buy gluten free products, as they contain fillers to
compensate for the taste.”
.
I believe for most non-
sensitive people, it makes
good sense to avoid gluten as often as you can.
If you have tried the suggestions above and still don’t see
results, see your doctor. Some hormonal imbalances,
including thyroid problems, can make it much more difficult to
lose weight and get healthy. Getting all your hormones
regulated can make your path to a healthy body and weight
much easier.
Don’t wait until your next regular appointment. Make an
appointment specifically to talk about your issues with
nutrition and weight.
This is in line with Dr. Lentine’s practice: “In patients who
have a hormonal or adrenal imbalance, I balance their
hormones in addition to suggesting dietary change based on
their levels.”
She also suggests practicing “mindful eating” or
psychological counseling when it appears that stress eating
is an issue.
Whether you have tried the suggestions above or not, you
may benefit by seeing a nutritional counselor. Your counselor
should be willing to work with your doctor to make sure your
individual needs are addressed.
Many counselors also have extensive knowledge of
pharmaceuticals and health conditions as well, so they can
review your current medications and find out if any are
getting in the way of your success. They may also offer a
free limited consultation, during which time they’ll help
determine whether you need their help or a doctor’s.
In patients who have a
hormonal or adrenal
imbalance, I balance their
hormones in addition to
suggesting dietary change based on their levels.
“There is no magic bullet, pill, or diet that works for everyone.
If there were there would not be the obesity epidemic that we
have in our country... As soon as people see this as a life-
long change then they keep the weight off and they feel
good.”
“Although it may take some time for most of my patients to
grasp, once they get it, it is both life altering and sustainable.
Once my patients are able to live in a state of awareness that
food is medicine, and that the quality, quantity, and the
timing of meals affects their mind and body, which in turn
affects their quality of life, they become more mindful of
the amount of processed food they consume as opposed to
the amount of whole fresh foods.
This awareness does not only transform their nutritional
intake but also transforms their lives on multiple
levels. Eating a whole food diet is the very first step to
mindful living.”
“Fat is not something that should be avoided. Saturated fat is
made out to be the villain and accused of being dangerous -
increasing cardiovascular risk and cholesterol. In fact,
coconut oil, a saturated fat, is very healthy and should be
used instead of vegetable oil such as corn and canola in
cooking.
For the past 50 years, the mantra of avoiding fats has fit well
into the “cholesterol model” of heart disease. Fats from free
range beef, fish, and vegetable sources are very
concentrated and dense energy sources that the body uses
to make vital things such as hormones and cell membranes,
and to absorb fat soluble vitamins. One of the keys in
preventing hunger or put another way, feeling full, is to add
fats into the diet plan with each meal.
It's very important to understand differences in saturated fats.
The saturated fats that should be added to the diet are ones
sourced from high quality meats that contain a saturated fat
called stearic acid. This fat gets converted by the liver into
oleic acid which is a monounsaturated oil. Those are the oils
such as olive and canola oil that many doctors tell you to eat.
I suggest that you add olive oil to your diet but avoid canola
all together.
Other sources of good fats are:
• Avocados,
• Raw nuts and seeds
(walnuts, almonds , pecans),
• Free-range meats,
• Organic grass-feed butter,
• Organic pasture-raised eggs,
• Coconut and coconut oil.
The bad fats you should avoid are the trans fats. These are
vegetable oils that are hardened in order to preserve shelf
life but in fact reduce YOUR life by raising LDL (bad
cholesterol and reducing HDL (the good guy). Trans fats
increase the risk all sorts of chronic disease from heart
disease to diabetes.
It’s Time
To Get Healthy!
We are so happy you’ve taken this step towards
better nutrition.
If you’d like some advice tailored to your
unique needs and challenges, please schedule
your free consultation now.
If we can answer any questions you have, please do not
hesitate to ask. Send them to
[email protected] or call (201) 869-5990.
Let’s Talk
(201) 869-5990Atlasdrugandnutrition.com