Category: Weight Neutral

The alternatives to dieting

30/9/2019

"I'm SO confused by all the diets out there! Everyone says something different. How do you know what to eat, when to eat it, and how much of it to eat?"

This is one of the most common questions I am faced with in my nutrition counselling practice. It is usually asked by a client in an exasperated, overwhelmed tone of voice, accompanied by hands being thrown up in the air!

So I'm going to attempt to answer it here.

In my experience there are two levels at which you can know something to be true.

The first is to know something at the level of the intellect. This is where logic, science, traditional knowledge, past experience and “common sense” coalesce to inform and direct us.

The second is the deeper level of intuition, instinct, or “just feeling” something to be true. This more feeling-based truth happens “below the neck”, in the vast landscape of the body that lies beyond the brain. It may be described as feeling in your heart, sensing in your gut, or knowing in your bones that something is true for you.

Another way to think of it is that we have two different navigation or GPS systems that can help us to arrive at a personal truth: intellect and intuition.

The Wellness Diet Cycle

17/7/2019

The typical person I see in my clinic is female, in her 20s, 30s or 40s.

She goes to yoga and only shops at organic markets. She makes her own bone broth, vegetable juices, and paleo "treats" (because gut healing is good, and dairy and sugar are "bad").

She spends a small fortune on vitamins, probiotics and herbal supplements.

She is very health conscious, sometimes bordering on being obsessively so.

She has seen numerous health practitioners prior to seeing me.

And despite her utmost efforts to be healthy, she has long list of seemingly obscure health conditions. The list of signs and symptoms I see in these women goes something like this:

Headaches, migraines, intense cravings, cold hands and feet, sleep problems, rough dry skin, brittle hair, hair loss, IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), dizziness, brain fog, low energy levels, low body temperature, constipation, low libido, bloating, indigestion, frequent need to urinate, anxiety, panic attacks, loss of muscle mass, heart palpitations, frequent colds and flu / thrush / UTIs / herpes outbreaks, unpredictable emotional swings, severe PMS, irregular periods, missing periods, infertility.

The woman in question usually doesn't have every single one of these (although some do), but she will have a significant number (around 80% or more) of them.

By the time they've come to see me, many of these women have attributed this long and baffling list of symptoms to candida. Or a food intolerance. Or simply "being too fat".

And they've come to the conclusion (via Google or some health guru) that the obvious solution is to embark upon yet another restrictive diet. Anti-candida, low-carb, paleo, keto, GAPS, SCD, vegan, intermittent fasting, and raw are the usual go-to's right now.

And herein lies the root of the problem.

The Big Thing most health-conscious people are missing (that's ruining their health)

Most of the women I see in clinic do NOT have a food intolerance, candida, or an allergy to grains. I should add that I have been trained to recognise and treat food sensitivity and intolerance so am well aware of what that looks like. Although it is a valid and very real issue, about ninety percent of the time, food intolerance is NOT the causative factor.

The root of these women's problems is this: They are trying too hard to be healthy and as a result, they are eating too restrictively.

The biggest mistake I see women making today is trying too hard to be healthy.

Intermittent fasting - rad or fad?

26/6/2019

Intermittent fasting (or IF for short) is so hot right now. In fact it's been hot since it rose to fame with the arrival of Michael Mosley on the television and book publishing scene in 2012.

Basically, it means going an extended period without eating. Sounds technical AF, right? (Unlike plain ol' healthy eating and regular movement, which is clearly not sexy enough to attract the attention of the masses!)

IF is fancy-sounding enough to get the attention of those who want the next magic bullet that will help them lose weight and/or get healthier.

So, nearly everyone.

But especially those who already have issues with weight concern, body image, disordered eating or eating disorders - the folks I see the most often.

In actuality, almost all of us intermittently fast. Every night. When we are asleep. Not so sexy, I know. So let's talk a bit about the sexier, newer, more restrictive version.

FIRST DO NO HARM.

12/3/2019

A call to naturopaths to embrace a weight neutral approach to practice.

Primum non nocere. First, do no harm.

This is the first tenet of the naturopathic oath we all take on graduation day from college, and the most critical.

As naturopaths we strive not to add to the burden of problems of our patients. To refrain from further damaging their physical, mental or emotional wellbeing. To not intervene in such a way that will in any way harm.

Doing nothing is better than doing something that will cause harm.

In many ways, we are very good at abiding by this foundational tenet.

And yet... there is something insidious going on within the naturopathic profession that has not been called out. And despite our best intentions, it is doing serious harm to our patients, our profession, and ourselves.

That thing is a weight focussed approach to health. Whether directly or indirectly, promoting weight loss does irrefutable harm.

Even if it's weight loss "for health". Or weight loss "for fertility". Or weight loss just for the sake of weight loss, because "who doesn't want to be a bit leaner?"

To illustrate my point I'll set the scene. The other week I received two emails: one from a very well known nutraceuticals company promoting its weight loss seminar to naturopaths and other natural health professionals. The other was the exact same email, forwarded on to me from a major natural medicine education institution to its students.

This is not okay.

As I'll illustrate shortly, a focus on weight loss does unequivocal harm. This is in direct opposition to the first and most crucial naturopathic tenet.

It's 2019, and I propose that it's time that practitioners in the field of naturopathic medicine universally adopted a non-diet, weight neutral, Health at Every Size approach. For the sake of our clients, our best practice, and for the future longevity and validity of our profession, we must steer the ship away from the weight-centric doctrine it is starting to (and arguably, has) become and back towards true preventative and holistic medicine.

The kind of medicine that naturopathy sprang from. The kind of medicine that does no harm. The kind of medicine that treats the whole person, not a number on the scales.

Casey's blog

The alternatives to dieting

The Wellness Diet Cycle

The Big Thing most health-conscious people are missing (that's ruining their health)

Intermittent fasting - rad or fad?

FIRST DO NO HARM.

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