Nutrition is complex. That’s why some of us spend years studying and understanding how it interacts with the body, and how to use it best for health and healing.
And so I know how confusing navigating nutrition can be.
This is why I opened up my doors and told you to ask me anything. For the last few weeks, you’ve emailed your questions – today I’m answering your most common questions!
ASK ME ANYTHING Q + A
Q: Does the body have a comfortable weight that makes losing weight hard? And does weight loss negatively affect metabolism making losing again harder?
A: Yes, your body does in fact have a set weight (as discussed in this study), however that biological marker can be changed by external factors. For example, eating the “standard american diet” can cause you to gain weight over your set point.
According to current studies, metabolic damage due to yo-yo dieting isn’t actually a thing. With that being said, severe calorie restriction and overfeeding can both cause changes in your gut flora and hormones, which can affect your ability to lose or gain weight.
Q: Is the “whoosh” effect real when trying to lose weight?
A: At this point in time, I have not seen any research that backs up the idea that your fat cells get flooded with water before being excreted by the body in your urine. While it would be nice to have a better understanding of “plateaus” and, better yet, an explanation for them, there is nothing to prove this theory to date.
Q: Is adrenal fatigue really a thing?
A: According to the research, no. While all the symptoms associated with “adrenal fatigue” are real, the problem isn’t the adrenals but the communication between the brain and HPA axis. Let me explain …
The brain tells your adrenals to produce cortisol, which is then converted into cortisone. During times of stress, your body makes lots of cortisone to make you feel tired and slow you down. But because most of us don’t take the hint, we keep going – forcing the body to try and give us more energy by converting cortisone back to cortisol.
But here’s where the problem comes – your fat tissues also produce cortisol, giving your brain a false read on your cortisol levels. This causes your brain to tell your adrenals to stop producing cortisol because it thinks you have enough – but you don’t!
That’s when you find yourself exhausted and feeling like your adrenals just aren’t doing their job. So what should you do to fix it? You need to start by addressing the communication between your brain and HPA axis.
Q: This is slightly embarrassing, but how often should I really be having bowel movements daily and how do I know if something’s wrong?
A: Please don’t be embarrassed, I talk about poop all day between my job and kids! And though it’s a personal thing, in the healthcare field it gives us important insight into the health of your body.
To answer your question, you should be having one to three bowel movements a day to ensure you are not constipated. You can check out this article to learn more about what to look for.
If you’re not going at least once daily, book in a consultation and let’s get working on your digestion!
Q: What are some natural ways to lower cortisol levels?
A: Cortisol is an important hormone for managing stress, the problem comes when we have chronic stress and our system is flooded with cortisol.
Some natural ways to lower your cortisol would include getting enough (and better quality) sleep, and managing your stress through exercise, relaxation, and fun.
Through nutrition, you should make sure to drink enough water and eat an anti-inflammatory diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, green tea, dark chocolate, and probiotics.
A hormone panel is really helpful for seeing exactly where your cortisol levels are compared to the rest of your hormones, which allows us to gear your nutrition towards your exact needs.
Q: How do you reduce inflammation in the body?
A: When inflammation becomes present in the body, removing gluten, dairy, and sugar can be one of the quickest ways to reduce it. Chronic inflammation can be reduced using a good quality elimination diet that removes all inflammatory foods for a period of time, with a slow re-introduction. (Contact me if you’d like to learn more about my elimination diet!)
Also, supplementing with Omega 3’s and curcumin can be helpful in controlling and lowering inflammation. But please, never put yourself on a supplement protocol! Always talk to your healthcare practitioner first.
Q: What kinds of testing do you recommend and why? I’m not sure it’s worth the investment.
A: There are so many tests that can be beneficial for providing important information about what’s going on inside your body. While I understand the hesitation over the cost, testing gives us accurate information and prevents the need to guess – saving you time and money in the long run.
IgG Food Sensitivity Tests are great because they give you a glimpse into exactly what foods your body is reacting to. This allows for a less dramatic elimination, helps to quickly lower inflammation, and gives us valuable information to work with.
Hormone Panels are fabulous because they give us the insight we need into your individual hormones and how that’s impacting your overall health. It makes it easier to create a protocol that is geared to your individual hormonal needs – helping to alleviate symptoms quickly.
Metabolic Assessment Profiles help you learn how your body’s basic metabolic processes work, and also allows you to tailor your lifestyle, diet, and supplements to improve your internal processes – resulting in better overall health, mood, sleep, energy, and digestion.
So yes, testing is more than worth the cost for the solid information it gives you! You can read more about these tests in this article.
Q: What are some good foods for balancing hormones?
A: While your hormones are really complex, and balancing them really depends on how and why they are imbalanced, there are certain foods you can eat to support healthy hormones:
Coconut oil, salmon, olives, avocado, nuts and seeds, flaxseeds, maca root, camu camu, vegetables like broccoli sprouts, kale, and spinach, fruits like blueberries, peppers, and tomatoes.
Q: Why do nutritionists make you take supplements? And are they really necessary? They’re so expensive!
A: Supplements aren’t always necessary and are always optional. While nutrition is the main focus, supplements allow us to bring balance and healing back to the body where food cannot provide enough for therapeutic purposes. Supplements are meant to supplement a healthy diet.
While good quality supplements aren’t cheap, when recommended by your healthcare practitioner they are for a purpose and absolutely worth the investment.
Q: What’s your makeup routine and what brands do you use?
A: I’m going to be honest with you – I only wear makeup when I feel like it.
With that being said, I rely on Norwex baby clothes for washing my face and BeautyCounter for all of my makeup.
Q: Where did you study nutrition and why did you get into it?
A: I studied for my Nutritional Consulting diploma through Alive Academy. I became passionate about health initially out of my own struggle with binge-eating disorder and my weight. After having kids I became even more invested in this way of living.
I specialize in sports nutrition, vegetarianism, and gut health due to various life experiences that led me there.
Q: I’m going to be honest, I’ve been wanting to come and see you but I’m hesitant because of the cost. Can you explain how it would benefit me and why it would be worth it?
A: Seeing a Nutritionist helps to take the guess work out of your healing process, provides a resource of information, personalized nutrition, and an accountability partner to make sure change happens.
Though the cost feels like a lot, it covers the hours of research and cross-referencing that it takes to ensure a safe and accurate protocol is created for your specific needs, and full access to myself at any time to answer questions or keep you focused.
Is it worth the investment? Absolutely, you won’t regret it. Book in a consultation and find out for yourself!
Q: Is seeing a nutritionist covered by insurance?
A: Not all nutritionists are covered by insurance, but as a Nutritional Counsellor, there are many insurance companies that cover my services. Check with your provider to see if I’m covered. Otherwise, let them know that you’d like coverage!
Do you have a question that I didn’t answer here? Feel free to ask me.
