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Tag: healthy eating

Optimal Health > healthy eating

What is Food Combining?

HealthOptimal Health

Food Combining is a way of eating to simplify the complexity of digesting our foods. It ensures that the foods we eat can travel through our entire digestive system with ease.

Depending on the combinations of foods you are eating, a healthy looking meal may end up causing weight gain and/or digestive problems.

There are two simple rules to food combining:

1) No proteins and starches at the same meal, wait two hours between protein and starches

2) No fruits and vegetables at the same meal, wait two hours between fruits and vegetables

So how can using these rules help? By food combining we are taking into account mechanical digestion (chewing and churning) and chemical digestion (micronutrient breakdown & enzyme production) of our macronutrients.

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Top 5 Tips on Nutritional Balance for Vegans

HealthOptimal Health

1. Get Regular blood tests
Vegans are in the group of those at high risk of iron, calcium and B12 deficiency. Luckily these are easily checked through blood test by your GP. Your aim is to be on the high end of the test results. If you are showing signs of levels dropping make sure to increase your green leafy vegetables and legumes. If you drop to the low end of the scale, supplementation is necessary! Don’t wait until you’re considered clinically deficient to supplement, you want to make sure nutritionally you can be the best you!

2. It’s all about the plant proteins
Avoid all those tempting starchy carbohydrates and ensure you are having a high protein portion to each meal including snacks. This means lots of nuts, seeds, beans and other legumes. You may even what to try a few vegetable based protein powders to keep the intake up if you are exercising regularly. (Try NutraOrganics Clean Protein)

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Is Grass Fed Meat Better For You?

HealthOptimal Health

In recent years there has been increasing evidence of the benefits of eating pasture-raised and grass-fed meat and dairy. These are not just limited to animal welfare and the environment, but also include health benefits for humans.

Studies show grass-fed meats are leaner and have lower total saturated fat content and calories than feedlot beef. Meat from grass-fed cattle also has higher levels of healthy fats – conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and the omega-3 fatty acids ALA, EPA, and DHA.

However, the absolute levels of CLA and the omega-3 acids remain extremely low, in comparison to the high omega 3 content found in plant forms such as linseeds and hemp seeds or even seafood such as mackerel and sardines.

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