I’d like to introduce you to Janelle Hunt, who is a Registered Dietitian and an EDIT™ Certified III – Eating Disorder Treatment Clinician. Janelle worked with me at my previous office location in Denver, Colorado. She is a knowledgeable and compassionate clinician, who specializes in nutritional counseling for people in recovery from eating disorders. She guides her clients to learn the real facts about nutrition – in this article, you’ll learn the facts about fats. If you’re “hungry for more,” please contact Janelle about becoming a client (see bottom of article).
– Dr. Dorie

My name is Janelle Hunt, MS, RD – and I’m a Registered Dietitian who specializes in the treatment of eating disorders. In some of my other blogs, I discussed how essential it is to consume carbohydrates and protein. Now let’s look at another vital macronutrient – fat. Yep, the forbidden word, fat! It seems like currently the media is on a ‘carbohydrates are bad’ kick but many of us recall the 90’s fat-free craze. Almost all food naturally containing fat, became fat free. Cheese would no longer melt, potato chips caused gastrointestinal problems because of the Olestra being added instead of fat and our pans were never the same again as even oil or degreasers were forbidden. Even though the media moved onto different trends, this fad still hangs in the back of our minds and I often have clients who are still convinced that fat is bad.

To answer the common question, Will Eating Fat Make Me Fat – let’s review the different types of fats:

Saturated: found in animal-based products and tropical oils – meat, eggs, dairy, palm oil and coconut oil. They are typically solid at room temperature. These used to be thought of as bad fats but more studies are showing that as long as these are consumed in moderation, they are not harmful.

Unsaturated (poly, mono and omega’s): typically found in plant oils as well as fatty fish – olives, nuts, seeds, avocados, salmon and tuna. These are known for having huge health benefits. They are being used to treat schizophrenia and depression, prevent blindness, decrease cholesterol levels and help with healthy skin and hair.

Trans Fat (partially hydrogenated fat): manufactured fat found in processed foods. Because this is not a natural fat, the body does not know how to process them properly, therefore these fats are linked to increased risk of heart disease. As of June 18, 2018, all partially hydrogenated fat must be eliminated from food.

Fat is essential for many reasons. To begin with, it provides the amazing flavors and smells when we cook. Three pounds of our brain is water. If we removed the water, we have over half of the brain containing fat which includes cholesterol and unsaturated fat. This is critical for our brain to communicate. If you imagine dropping a pea into a jar of olive oil, it will float around but if the jar does not have oil in it, the pea will clink around in there. The same thing happens in your brain. When clients eliminate all fat from their diet or begin to lose too much weight, the brain actually shrinks. This leads to increased risk of dementia and depression as well as increased eating disorder thoughts. Rationale tends to decrease considerably, especially when it comes to not overthinking food choices and having a healthy body image.

So – back to the question, Will Eating Fat Make Me Fat? It is true that fat is more calorie-dense then carbohydrates and protein – meaning that each gram has more calories. But it’s important to remember,  “everything in moderation.” Let’s focus on trying to eat some fat throughout the day so we can have the healthiest brain possible.

*****

Looking for guidance with NUTRITION? Contact Janelle Hunt, MS, RD – the author of this blog article. She is an EDIT™ Certified III – Eating Disorder Treatment Clinician, and has a specialty in nutritional counseling for eating disorders. – EMAIL JANELLE

Interested in a FREE consultation with Dr. Dorie? Dr. Dorie is passionate about her method of Eating Disorder Intuitive Therapy (EDIT)™ to help people overcome eating disorders and addictions.  She provides customized counseling for eating disorders and alcohol / drug addiction at her Positive Pathways treatment center in Evergreen, Colorado – and EDIT™ eating disorder training and certification for coaches and clinicians worldwide. CALL 303-494-1975 – EMAIL DR. DORIE

The post Will Eating Fat Make Me Fat? appeared first on INTUITIVE THERAPY™ | Healthy Weight Loss | Eating Disorder Recovery Coach.

I’d like to introduce you to Janelle Hunt, who is a Registered Dietitian and an EDIT™ Certified III – Eating Disorder Treatment Clinician. Janelle worked with me at my previous office location in Denver, Colorado. She is a knowledgeable and compassionate clinician, who specializes in nutritional counseling for people in recovery from eating disorders. She guides her clients to learn the real facts about nutrition – in this article, you’ll learn the facts about fats. If you’re “hungry for more,” please contact Janelle about becoming a client (see bottom of article).
– Dr. Dorie

Sugar addiction – a behavior of binge eating sugary foods – is a problem reported by many people, especially at this time of year, when Halloween candy is so prevalent! Some “sugar addicts” attempt to abstain from sugar, only to find that restriction can trigger binge eating. As I discussed in a previous blog, carbohydrates are essential for health, and sufficient carbohydrate consumption can reduce cravings for sweets.

Now, let’s look at the importance of protein. I find very few of my clients are fearful of protein, which seems to stem from the messages from the media telling us that if we consume lots of protein, that means we will lose weight and fit into society’s view of perfection. I specifically just read an article saying protein can help us lose belly fat. Honestly? Let’s think about that a minute. How can eating a chicken breast cause fat in our belly to shrink?

Keep in mind that everything we eat breaks down into calories. If we over consume calories, we gain weight; if we restrict calories, we’ll lose weight. We should consume a variety of nutrients from all food groups. We do not gain or lose weight from certain foods, but rather from calories. For example – if we eat fat, it does not immediately turn into fat in the body, nor does protein foods immediately turn into muscle in the body. All food breaks down to calories and the body uses them where they’re needed or burns off what isn’t needed.

To better explain this, let’s say you overall eat a balanced diet and your weight is maintaining. If you all of a sudden decide to eat an additional 500 calories of protein each day for a week and the next week decide to switch that and instead consume an extra 500 calories of butter; you will still gain the same amount of weight both weeks because you over-consumed calories. You won’t gain muscle weight when eating the protein and weight in fat when you consume the fat. That’s not how our body works.

Foods containing protein are broken down to smaller molecules in our body called amino acids. Examples of a few protein-rich foods are meat, dairy products, eggs, nuts, lentils, soy, tofu and tempeh. Protein is essential for our body to build muscle, since muscle is made up of amino acids. We have to be physically active, though, in order to use protein we eat to make muscle. This can include walking or light activity.

The other essential reason we need to consume protein is that it is needed to send the signal to your brain that you’ve eaten and help you feel satisfied. This is why diets push consuming more protein. If you eat toast for breakfast, it has very little protein, so your brain is not told you’ve eaten and that’s when clients start to notice sugar cravings and overeat the rest of the day. However, if you had a couple of eggs or Greek yogurt with your toast, the brain gets the signal that you’ve eaten and less cravings tend to happen, which means decreased over-consumption of calories.

So if you find that you never feel satisfied during the day or constantly crave sugar as in a “sugar addiction,” try to have a bit more protein for breakfast and see if this helps!

*****

Looking for guidance with NUTRITION? Contact Janelle Hunt, MS, RD – the author of this blog article. She is an EDIT™ Certified III – Eating Disorder Treatment Clinician, and has a specialty in nutritional counseling for eating disorders. – EMAIL JANELLE

Interested in a FREE consultation with Dr. Dorie? Dr. Dorie is passionate about her method of Eating Disorder Intuitive Therapy (EDIT)™ to help people overcome eating disorders and addictions.  She provides customized counseling for eating disorders and alcohol / drug addiction at her Positive Pathways treatment center in Evergreen, Colorado – and EDIT™ eating disorder training and certification for coaches and clinicians worldwide. CALL 303-494-1975 – EMAIL DR. DORIE

The post Sugar Addiction: Eat More Protein and Crave Less Sugar appeared first on INTUITIVE THERAPY™ | Healthy Weight Loss | Eating Disorder Recovery Coach.

I’d like to introduce you to Janelle Hunt, who is a Registered Dietitian and an EDIT™ Certified III – Eating Disorder Treatment Clinician. Janelle worked with me at my previous office location in Denver, Colorado. She is a knowledgeable and compassionate clinician, who specializes in nutritional counseling for people in recovery from eating disorders. She guides her clients to learn the real facts about nutrition – in this article, you’ll learn the facts about fats. If you’re “hungry for more,” please contact Janelle about becoming a client (see bottom of article).
– Dr. Dorie

As a dietitian who specializes in the treatment of eating disorders, I enjoy educating my clients about the role of nutrition in eating disorder recovery. Eating well isn’t just about weight gain or weight loss – it’s about feeding your brain so you can think clearly and feel in balance emotionally.

You’ve probably heard this statement from your parents, teachers, or dietitians – “Eat your green veggies!” If you are in recovery from an eating disorder, this may seem like yet another “food rule,” which you either take to an extreme by over consuming these foods, or, you may rebel and eat very few green veggies.

Have you ever wondered, “Why does my brain need green veggies?” Consuming enough folate-rich food is often talked about in the news as a way to assure having a healthy pregnancy. So, since folate so important for women who are pregnant, is folate important for non-pregnant women, and men, too? Recently, a great deal of research with folate has been done, which everyone should pay attention to, as it effects the health of the brain.

Folate is commonly found in deep green veggies, such as spinach, asparagus, turnip greens, and broccoli. In addition, it is found in whole grain cereals, lentils, and black, navy or kidney beans. When we eat folate-rich food, it is converted in the intestine into a substance called L-Methylfolate, which goes into our brain and makes the neurotransmitters serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine. You may have heard of the importance of having a good balance of these neurotransmitters in the brain, because of their role in having a balanced mood.

Proper levels of serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine can help reduce depression and anxiety – and overall, when these neurotransmitters are in balance, we have a sense of wellbeing. If the balance in your brain is off, medications can be helpful. Seventy percent of clients have to get their medications changed, or feel no real shift in their depression or mood, which has stumped doctors for years. It turns out that many of these clients lack a key component to convert folate to L-Methylfolate. If there’s no L-Methylfolate for your brain, then you can’t make serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine and therefore can’t feel relief from depression.

If you have tried numerous antidepressant medications, are consuming enough folate in your diet, and you still suffer from symptoms of depression – it may be worth talking to your psychiatrist or medical doctor to request a blood test to determine if your body does not make the component to convert folate to L-Methylfolate. If you are deficient, then you can take a supplement to treat the deficiency, your medications will start working correctly, and you can feel better!

*****

Looking for guidance with NUTRITION? Contact Janelle Hunt, MS, RD – the author of this blog article. She is an EDIT™ Certified III – Eating Disorder Treatment Clinician, and has a specialty in nutritional counseling for eating disorders. – EMAIL JANELLE

Interested in a FREE consultation with Dr. Dorie? Dr. Dorie is passionate about her method of Eating Disorder Intuitive Therapy (EDIT)™ to help people overcome eating disorders and addictions.  She provides customized counseling for eating disorders and alcohol / drug addiction at her Positive Pathways treatment center in Evergreen, Colorado – and EDIT™ eating disorder training and certification for coaches and clinicians worldwide. CALL 303-494-1975 – EMAIL DR. DORIE

The post Eating Disorders and Nutrition: Your Brain Needs Greens appeared first on INTUITIVE THERAPY™ | Healthy Weight Loss | Eating Disorder Recovery Coach.