Our January meeting focused on good nutrition to keep us healthy. Our speaker, Amber Cotton is a Registered Nutritional Therapist who enjoys working with people to build a food program suitable to their age, lifestyle and health. Her topic for the evening was Mastering Midlife Metabolism.
She spoke about the six pillars of Metabolic Health: Stress, Blood Sugar, Muscles, Movement, Sleep and Gut Health. The takeaway messages were
- importance of reducing the tendency to rollercoaster blood sugar, by regulating the amount of sugar and carbohydrates in the diet, both of which tend to spike blood sugar. Spikes increase inflammation and promote insulin resistance.
- One handy technique is to freeze carbohydrates before consuming which changes their structure into longer chains, making them a slower burn in our digestive system. So, cook your pasta and rice, then put in fridge for 24 hours before reheating, or freeze, along with your bread.
- Balance blood sugar by ensuring adequate protein, healthy fats and plenty of fibre
- need to ensure 100-130g of protein source at each of three meals in a day
- Healthy fats provide energy and help feeling full. They are needed for cell, brain, heart and immune health and help absorb vitamins. Choose dairy, grass fed beef, coconut milk, avocadoes, olives, fatty fish, some nuts and seeds.
- Avoid industrial oils: rapeseed, sunflower, corn and vegetable oils
- Aim for 70g of fat a day. eg 1 tbsp olive oil = 13.5g, 1tbsp butter = 9g, half an avocado = 15g
- Fibre helps feeling full and important for gut health. Soluble fibre in apples, green bananas, oats, avocadoes and beans help control cholesterol. Insoluble fibre found in bran, whole wheat flour, skins of fruit and vegetables, keep your bowels healthy.
- no need to avoid carbohydrates, but best to restrict to about 30g per meal.
In summary: Don’t snack! Protein, healthy fats and fibre with every meal. Always include some healthy fat or protein with any carbohydrates.
For more information you can visit www.ambercotton.co.uk
The business part of the meeting reviewed the activities of our Orange the World campaign.