Cancer-Fighting Sprinkles

We’ve all heard of antioxidants; they’re those wonderful substances that help prevent and repair damage to our cells to ward off premature aging and cancer, among other maladies.  Antioxidants such as vitamins A, C & E, lutein, beta carotene, selenium and lycopene are found in abundance in a healthy diet rich in whole grains, vibrant fruits and vegetables and… herbs and spices?

That’s right.  Those wonderful flavouring agents growing stale next to your stove are, in fact, superfoods with the ability to help you lose weight & stay healthy! Spices are a dieter’s best friend as they add flavour and richness with virtually no calories.  The spiciest of them – cayenne, hot curry powder or plain old chili flakes – force us to slow down as we eat and, statistically, to actually eat less as a result.

Here’s one more reason to add some oregano to your whole wheat pasta or some cinnamon to your oatmeal: the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found in the largest-ever antioxidant study that ground cinnamon, cloves and oregano are some of the most potent sources of antioxidants, rivaling even blueberries and cranberries.  In fact, just one teaspoon of cinnamon provides the same quantity of antioxidants as a half cup of blueberries!

The bottom line: eat more vegetables, fruits and grains.  But when blueberries rise to $8 a pint in the dead of winter, grab that cinnamon shaker and add some spice to your oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, even your coffee, and savour the flavour.

Here are the top four antioxidant herbs/spices to add to tonight’s dinner:

• cloves have the highest level of antioxidants among spices and also reduce cholesterol and triglyceride levels

• cinnamon comes in just below cloves on the antioxidant index and also helps control blood sugar following a meal

• oregano is not just an antioxidant powerhouse, it’s renowned for its antibacterial properties

• turmeric packs antioxidants and is believed to have anti-inflammatory properties that can mean major cancer prevention benefits

the truth about breastfeeding & fat loss

You’ve heard it before, probably even from your OB-GYN or your midwife when she was listing the benefits of breastfeeding to you.  Your mom, sister, aunt, girlfriend or coworker might have told you.  Maybe you googled “baby weight” or “benefits of breastfeeding” and read it there.

hello baby, bye-bye treadmill?

Breastfeeding an infant burns about 500 calories per day. Wow!  500 calories a day!  That’s like jogging an entire hour.  Or doing two back-to-back bootcamp classes!

Only… it doesn’t quite work that way.  It’s true that maintaining a supply of breastmilk requires a woman to eat approximately 500 calories more than she normally would to maintain her own healthy bodyweight.  BUT… that’s the key – it requires you to EAT those calories.  If you don’t eat enough calories, you might not make the same quantity or quality of breastmilk.  So dieting is not really an option when you’re breastfeeding.  The LaLeche League recommends you consume a minimum of 1500-1800 calories per day in order to safely lose a healthy amount of baby weight while still providing quality milk for your little one.

The female body is an enigma.  No matter how much we learn about dieting, fitness and fat loss, we are still at the mercy of Mother Nature.

healthy baby, chubby mommy... fair trade.

I breastfed my first child for 23 months.  That’s right.  When I found out I was pregnant with #2 I was concerned about being active, nursing my toddler and providing enough calories for my growing baby, so I decided to wean my toddler.  After weaning, I actually LOST about 5 pounds that had, despite all my efforts and all my knowledge about fitness and weight loss, been clinging to me for 2 years since giving birth.  Now I’m nursing my second and, almost 5 months in, I am reigning in my expectations, settling in for a long chubby period and expecting to lose those last few pounds with some hard work once I’ve finished breastfeeding for once and for all.  And it’s not just me.  Friends, clients, acquaintances have all told me they’ve experienced the same sudden weight loss during and after weaning.

So what gives?  If nursing burns calories, why do you LOSE weight when you wean?  Shouldn’t the weight melt off while you’re nursing instead?

The truth is that a breastfeeding body is in many ways like a pregnant body.  Hormones produced during the breastfeeding stages help a woman (without asking her opinion, mind you…) maintain fat stores to help feed her and baby in the event of a famine.  Once baby is weaned, many women see a weight loss as hormone levels return to normal.

The best formula for losing that baby weight is to eat according to your hunger (read: not your cravings, your hunger), drink according to your thirst and exercise at least 3-4 days per week with a combination of strength training to boost your metabolism and cardiovascular exercise to burn off extra calories.

And patience.  The other part of that formula is patience.

How have your postpartum weight loss efforts worked?  Did you find you lost weight at certain stages more easily than others?  Share with us!



Safe from SIGG

what’s in the news

BPA, the chemical you love to hate...

5 years ago most of us wouldn’t even have known what BPA was.  Bisphenol A is a compound found in polycarbonate plastics such as those commonly used in hard, reusable water bottles (NOT the disposable bottles you purchase at the grocery or convenience store – those are safe!) and baby bottles, and epoxy resins which are normally used to line metal containers to provide a layer between the food being contained and the steel or aluminum of the can or container.  BPA can be transferred from the epoxy or plastic into your foods and beverages, particularly at high heats.  So, for example, leaving a plastic water bottle in the car all day in the sunshine and then gulping it on your drive home (gross – warm water…)?  Not such a good idea.  How about heating up a tin of beans over the campfire?  Yum!  Cancer!  Well, not exactly…

Health Canada issued a release in 2008 (supported by other governments’ examining bodies) stating that: The current dietary exposure to

Reusable hard plastic bottles like these from Nalgene are now BPA-free...

BPA through food packaging is not expected to pose a health risk to the general population, including newborns and young children.

But this doesn’t mean you don’t want to limit your exposure to the stuff.  Plastics are associated with a higher incidence of hormone-related cancers like those of the breast and prostate.  And we love a health advisory, now don’t we?  BPA has been in the news more than that other nasty acronym, DDT.  As an aside, I’ll take a helping of BPA anyday over DDT… When news about BPA got big in 2008, manufacturers like SIGG and Klean Kanteen cashed in on the new consumer awareness by offering a safer alternative to the hard, reusable plastic bottles that were previously popular.

Here’s why SIGG is in trouble.  While they never actually stated that their water bottles were free of BPA, they did imply it.  Many of my clients use SIGG bottles and chose them, along with competing products like Klean Kanteen, specifically because they believed they were purchasing a product that was free of Bisphenol A and the associated health risks.  Here’s what SIGG originally stated with regard to BPA (or an implied lack thereof) in their bottles:

The proprietary SIGG bottle lining is a water-based, non-toxic coating that is baked into the interior walls and remains flexible and crack resistant for the life of the bottle. This special SIGG lining is not plastic – it is a micro-thin epoxy…Unlike common Lexan plastic water bottles (polycarbonate #7), which studies have shown over time may leach harmful chemicals like bisphenol – A (BPA), SIGGs have been thoroughly tested to ensure they are 100% leach-free and 100% safe! (SIGG 2007 Product Catalog)

And what does SIGG have to say now that the truth has come out about their bottle liner?  SIGG CEO Steve Wasik published a letter of apology earlier this week, claiming:

I learned that many of you purchased SIGG bottles – not just because they were free from leaching and safe – but because you believed that SIGGs contained no BPA. I learned that, although SIGG never marketed the former liner as “BPA Free” we should have done a better job of both clearly communicating about our liner as well as policing others who may have misunderstood the SIGG message.

So they don’t leach BPA.  But that doesn’t mean they don’t contain BPA.  And they do – in trace amounts.  This doesn’t mean your SIGG bottle is giving you cancer.  But it does mean you can do better.  If you use a stainless steel bottle not just for the convenience, cost savings and environmentally friendliness BUT to protect you from the harmless chemicals found in plastic and other bottles, you might be just a little bit annoyed.

Do you have a SIGG water bottle? The company is offering a replacement program so you can trade in your old bottle for a new SIGG bottle with a lining that is 100% free of BPA.  Visit the SIGG website to download the necessary shipping label and form.

Jon & Kate Plus a Tummy Tuck

what’s in the news

No matter what you think of them – whether you are a fan, used to be a fan, or have never seen the show and don’t know what all the fuss is about – they are a couple with a family and they are obviously undergoing some major changes if not completely falling apart.  So why do we need to talk about Kate’s tummy tuck?  I was reading a mom blog online and there were photos of Kate Gosselin on the beach with her kids (for prying eyes who want to see the results of her surgery, I assume).  The worst part?  They were interspersed with ads for diet supplements!  Why are we so hard on ourselves?  It’s wrong to stay fat.  It’s wrong to get too skinny.  It’s wrong to have plastic surgery.  Or is it?

I have had clients who have undergone plastic surgery.  One client had both a breast augmentation and tummy tuck a few years after having her son.  She had anorexic tendencies and I was sorrowed to hear she was planning the tummy tuck after seeing her go through the frustrations of a boob job. 

Another client, whom I currently see, is considering some mini-liposuction.  She works extremely hard, trains with me weekly (and has for 3 years) and exercises on her own an additional 4-5 times/week.  She takes great care of herself, takes pride in her appearance and, at 52, is considering having a plastic surgeon do what exercise, diet and genetics won’t do.  If she decides to have the procedure, I will support her decision.  I think she is a great candidate for plastic surgery as she is dedicated to taking care of her body and is at an age where she has the confidence and maturity to make the decision rationally and expect realistic results.

I would not have liposuction.  I would not have a boob job.  Someone suggested to me a few years ago (before I had my first kid) that I was a good candidate for early Botox because I had the beginnings of lines on my forehead.  I didn’t know whether to hit her or laugh.  Now I have some REAL beginnings of lines and I still can’t imagine having Botox.  But I would never judge a woman who does.  Several of my clients have Botox regularly.  It’s just not for me.  Or not yet, anyway…

The jury is still out on the tummy tuck.  I gained A LOT of weight with my first baby.  With my current pregnancy I’m on my way to a much saner weight gain and I expect to have no problem taking it off after delivering.  Postpartum weight loss (like every other kind of weight loss) is really just a combination of diligence and patience.  Plus it’s my job to lose the weight!  But the skin… the skin does not go away.  So maybe I won’t rule out a tummy tuck just yet.

Back to Kate Gosselin.  Why should we care that she has had a tummy tuck?  Besides, the woman has had 8 children – 6 of them in one shot!  Doesn’t this woman deserve a tummy tuck?  I think she deserves a congressional medal of honour.  If she’s willing to settle for $75,000 a week and a free tummy tuck, what do I care?

But people do care.  Maybe you care.  Do you care?  Is there something wrong with a woman having a tummy tuck?  Is a tummy tuck different from other types of plastic surgery; is it more forgivable?  Have you had plastic surgery?  Would you?

little kids with big problems

what’s in the news

You can’t go long these days without hearing another study about the obesity epidemic in North America.  Canadian and American adults and children are bigger than ever.  Last year, Statistics Canada announced that 16% of Canadian adults are medically obese and another 32% are overweight.  Bigger parents means bigger children, and now a staggering 26% of Canadian kids are overweight. If you’ve ever been teased (yes, you… shoved in a locker? called names? picked last for kickball?) you know that being perceived as different can be emotional torture for a child.  An overweight kid might as well have giant neon arrows surrounding her.  But what about the physical consequences of childhood overweight and obesity?

Heavy kids are at risk for most of the same complications as heavy adults: depression, sleep problems, asthma, headaches, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, type-2 diabetes, hypothyroidism, chronic infections, fatty liver disease, gallstones, constipation, acid reflux, joint pain, fractures and a generally decreased quality of life.  Not the future you envisioned for your little one?  The good news is that simple lifestyle changes like increasing physical activity and improving family nutrition habits have a big impact on little bodies.  A recent study showed that overweight children can lose several pounds just by exercising 20 minutes per day.  Easier said than done, you say?  Well, the gestappo you are not.  If you want to change your kids’ attitudes toward exercise you must understand what’s stopping them from being active in the first place.  A 2003 study determined the top five perceived barriers to exercise among overweight and obese children.  Below are the top 5 reasons that overweight kids, especially girls, feel they can’t be active and five strategies to break down these barriers and get your kids moving:

Top 5 Perceived Barriers to Exercise… and Solutions for Parents

1. Barrier: too much homework and not enough time for physical activity.  Moms & Dads can: suggest short bursts of exercise as homework breaks and build exercise into the daily schedule by encouraging biking or walking to school and activities, if possible.

2. Barrier: Self conscious about looks and when doing physical activity.  Moms & Dads can: shift language to emphasize strength, health and fitness instead of appearance, and choose activities that encourage performance but don’t focus on how to make bodies look better.

3. Barrier: No one with whom to exercise.  Moms & Dads can: schedule family activities on weekends and evenings, and find age-appropriate group activity programs (perhaps not school-based if your child is being ridiculed or left out or feels self-conscious with classmates).

4. Barrier: Feel too overweight to do physical activity.  Moms & Dads can: show kids that work and play activities such as walking the dog, cleaning, frisbee and dancing are all activities of which they are capable and which can help improve their health and fitness.

5. Barrier: Chosen last for teams.  Moms & Dads can: introduce kids to individual sports or sports that are less focused on skill level such as biking, jogging and cross-country skiing.  Encourage strength training to help build coordination and focus; strength training may also help build self-esteem as overweight children are often quite strong.

Children are meant to be active.  In a gentle way, teach your children that exercise is not an option.  Daily activity is as mandatory as daily teeth brushing and exercise, in its absence, is a powerful threat to your child’s health, now and as an adult.  Understanding your child’s attitudes about her body and about exercise can start a conversation between you that will allow you to strategize and come up with solutions to get the whole family a lot healthier and happier.