Nutrigenomix Launch

Nutrigenomix

Nutrigenomix - Eat according to your genes

A Little Nutrition is pleased to start offering personalized nutrition through genetic testing, developed by leading researchers in the field of nutrigenomics.

Imagine knowing what foods and nutrients your body needs more of – or less of to prevent a chronic disease… (heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and related health conditions).  Now you can!  The Nutrigenomix test kit is simple, as it only requires a small saliva sample. Once your saliva is analyzed, it will reveal how your unique genetic code determines your body’s response to 7 nutrients that are essential to managing optimal health and preventing your risk of chronic disease.

Your unique DNA results will be explained to you by Registered Dietitian, Susan Watson, BHNSc. along with diet recommendations you can implement to improve your health.

PRICE: $349 – This includes: one 15 min. appointment with Susan to collect a sample and answer any initial questions, one 45 min. follow-up appointment to review and explain your genetic results and provide diet recommendations. You will be provided with a Personalized Nutrition Report, which is a 40-page booklet of your unique genetic profile analysis (report take 2-4 weeks to be prepared and delivered).

If you are interested in booking an appointment, please send me an email: susan@alittlenutrition.com

 

Diet Secrets of a Sumo Wrestler: Steps to Gaining Weight

Sumo wrestling has been around for hundreds of years allowing the sport a lot of time to perfect the best way to help athletes gain weight. We can easily learn from sumo wrestlers by doing the opposite in order to lose or maintain a healthy body weight.

Secret #1: Skip breakfast:  Sumo wrestlers skip breakfast because it slows down their body’s metabolism, which means they are burning fewer calories. The word “breakfast” easily explains the importance of eating after a good night’s sleep. When we sleep, our bodies our “fasting” and our metabolism slows down. Therefore when we wake up, we need to “break” the “fast” so that our bodies metabolism can increase and burn more calories. Therefore, skipping breakfast lowers the body’s metabolism which ultimately burns fewer calories.

Secret #2: Exercise on an empty stomach:  When exercising on an empty stomach, your body goes into starvation mode. That means that it is trying to conserve as much energy as possible. Exercising normally increases metabolism, BUT if exercising on an empty stomach, your body’s metabolism will decrease in the long run and you will not burn as many calories.

Secret #3: Nap after a meal:  Sumo wrestlers will eat large meals (lunch and dinner) and then take a nap. When napping, our body’s metabolism decreases, which means it burns very few calories. Therefore, the food that was consumed before the nap gets stored in the body mostly as fat. This increases the size and weight of a sumo wrestler.

Secret #4: Drink with meals:  Sumo wrestlers consume high amounts of beer and other types of alcohol with large meals because alcohol contains no nutrients and the energy it provides will be stored in the body as fat. This will help increase the amount of fat cells resulting in weight gain.

SUMMARY of things YOU can do to help lose or maintain a healthy body weight

ALWAYS EAT BREAKFAST: This will increase your metabolism after you’ve had a good night sleep and will help burn more calories throughout the day.

HAVE FOOD IN YOUR SYSTEM BEFORE EXERCISING: Eating a healthy snack an hour before exercising will give your body energy and will increase your metabolism.

AFTER EATING, BE ACTIVE! : After eating a meal, your body needs help to maintain a higher metabolism. This can be done by going for a walk, bike ride or doing things around the house. It is also important not to over eat. Eating smaller meals with snacks in between is a good way to keep your metabolism up throughout the day.

LIMIT SOCIAL EATING TIME:  When eating alone we generally pay more attention to how much we are eating and putting on our plates, which can save you from consuming extra calories. If eating alone is not an option, limit your time when eating meals socially to 30 or 40 minutes in order to consume fewer calories.

WATCH THE AMOUNT OF ALCOHOL CONSUMED:  Alcohol adds a lot of extra calories and should not be consumed in high amounts. Drinking water or beverages that have nutrition in them are going to be a lot more beneficial to your body than alcohol.

Note:

Three things you should know about sumo wrestlers:

1. The average lifetime of sumo wrestlers is 60-65 years.
2. Illnesses such as diabetes, liver disease, high blood pressure and heart disease are common in sumo wrestlers.
3. Sumo wrestlers can consume up to 20,000 calories per day.The average person should be consuming approximately 1500-2500 calories per day.

*Written by: Brittney DesRosiers, University of Manitoba Nutrition Student. Reviewed by: Susan Watson, BHNSc., Registered Dietitian. Provided by: www.alittlenutrition.com

References and resources for article:

http://www.powerhouseperformancecoaching.com/2009/04/nutrition-advice.html

http://ngleisure.com/north-ga-leisure-lifestyle/carolcottrill/a-sumo-wrestlers-diet/

Conquer Your Food Cravings

Mushroom with barley & buckwheat soup

Ross and I love mushrooms and have them at least 2 or 3 times a week. (I find buying the sliced brown mushrooms at Costco for $3.99 a flat the best deal in town).

In my quest to eat more whole grains I came up with this soup recipe. I opted for using fresh tomatoes instead of canned. Anytime you are using canned foods you are going to see an increase in the sodium content of what you are eating.  So it was fresh tomatoes for this recipe.

In the end, I wanted more colour and nutrition to my soup, so I threw in a package of frozen spinach. I always buy frozen spinach and add it to a bunch of different recipes to boost the nutritional content, like rice or pasta dishes. It is so simple and has a lot of bang for your buck.

The barley and buckwheat cooked up nicely in the crockpot and also thickened up the soup to a hearty consistency.

Ross found the soup a little bland, so if you want, you can add a dash of low sodium soy sauce or reduced sodium salt to kick up the flavor, but I found that was fine on its own.

Hope you enjoy! Sue

Mushroom with barley & buckwheat soup  (Printable PDF)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large ONION, RAW, Chopped
• 4 clove GARLIC, RAW, Minced
• 1 cup BARLEY, PEARLED, RAW
• 1/2 cup BUCKWHEAT
• 4 cups MUSHROOM, RAW, chopped
• 9 cups WATER
• 156 ml TOMATO PASTE, canned (1 small can)
• 1 item Low Sodium Boullion Cube
• 1/2 tsp CARDAMOM, GROUND (CARDAMON)
• 1 1/2 tsp CUMIN , Ground
• 1 tbsp SEASONING BLEND, MRS. DASH
• 1 tsp Windsor Half Salt TM
• 1 tsp PEPPER, BLACK, GROUND
• 10 oz SPINACH, frozen, chopped, thawed (1 package)

DIRECTIONS
1. In a large crock pot or slow cooker, add all ingredients. Stir all ingredients together.

2. Cook on high for 4-5 hours. If you have time, stir every couple of hours.
3. Add in thawed frozen spinach 30 minutes before serving.

 

Cucumber and Italiano spice mix

I love to snack on this when I want something crunchy and flavourful. It doesn’t quite replace potato chips, but it is a good alternative if you are looking for something healthy and light.

Cucumber & Italiano spice mix

• 1 cucumber
• Clubhouse Italiano spice mix

Directions: slice cucumbers and sprinkle spice mix over top. For best results, let sit for 5 minutes to let the water from the cucumber absorb into the spice mix and release the flavours of the dried spices.

Here is a picture of what I used. I bought it at Costco, but I have seen it at Superstore and Safeway.

Carrot & Dill soup

I found this great recipe off of pintrest the other day, and had to make some revisions. I changed a few things to make it healthier and I was quite impressed with the taste.  I served it to Sydney with a bit of spinach hummus mixed into it…she seemed to gobble it back. So if a 9 month old liked it, I am sure you will too!

Carrot and Dill Soup  (PDF)

Makes 4x (2 cup) servings

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tbsp CANOLA OIL
• 3 clove GARLIC, , chopped
• 1 large ONION, , chopped
• 3 cups BROTH, CHICKEN, LOW SALT, canned
• 28 oz Canned TOMATO, NO SALT
• 1 potato, RED, FLESH & SKIN, RAW, MEDIUM
• 4 cups CARROT, RAW, sliced
• 1 tbsp LEMON JUICE
• 1 tbsp DILL, DRIED
• 1 tsp Windsor Half Salt TM
• 1 tbsp PEPPER, BLACK, GROUND

DIRECTIONS
1. In a large soup pot, sauté onion and garlic in canola oil (until lightly brown) and onions are translucent (approx. 5 minutes).
2. Deglaze pot with vegetable stock.
3. Add canned tomatoes with their liquid, carrots, potatoes. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes (or until vegetables are soft).
4. Stir in lemon juice and add dried dill, salt and pepper.
5. Transfer into a blender. Blend until smooth.
6. Transfer back to pot or slow cooker and keep warm until ready to serve.

Original recipe from: http://www.everythingreconsidered.com

MYTH 21: “Multi-grain” is the same as “whole grain.”

THE TRUTH
Multi-grain isn’t always whole grain. Multi-grain products
include different grains, but they may not be whole. You’ll get
the greatest health benefits from eating whole grains. To
make sure a food is made with whole grains, look on the food
label’s ingredient list for the words “whole grain” in front of
each grain name. If whole grains are the main ingredients in
a food, they should appear first in the ingredient list. Make
at least half of your grain products whole grain each day.