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How do we know what to eat?
Everyone knows what’s good for you.
Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and all the “lose half your body weight in 2 days” people do, too; it’s their own product of course.
But before this post turns into a random Piñata-alike bashing of things that can’t convince me of their efficacy, let’s just say it’s not as easy as it seems. To know what to eat is much like navigating the stormy sea of a jungle. (yes. exactly that complex.)
I’d like to take myself as an example.
For 26 years I thought the absolute best thing I could feed myself were grains and carbs. Pasta? YES! Is it whole grain? DOUBLE YES! Rice? Yes, I NEED to eat some of that, you know, for my blood sugar. Bread? Better take 2 slices, just to be on the safe side.
This sounds crazy to me today. Absolutely insane. But I believed it then. And strongly, too.
And, to a certain extent, it was true. Way back when insulin was manufactured differently, it had a much longer onset time, meaning instead of starting to work within 10-30 minutes, like it does today, it took hours. And also hours to leave your system. This also meant that the doses you took were much bigger. Then it was important to keep blood sugar up while the insulin was still working its magic. (I think some of these are still around today?)
Today it’s all different. Insulin works much shorter, giving you much, much more of that longed for and well deserved flexibility. Meaning that you don’t necessarily have to give giant mega doses to cover your whole day at once, but can give smaller doses for when you do eat something. Which doesn’t have to include grains, if you find you feel better without them. For me, it’s not as easy as finding the carb count and injecting for it. I congratulate you if it’s like that for you! But grains do some funky business to my metabolism.
You can navigate grocery stores, menus and food choices with a lot more ease than before. And I find that an amazing development.
Very few people know instinctively what is good for you or what isn’t. It doesn’t matter if you’ve had 26 years of training by health professionals, you still might have no clue.
There seem to be a new kind of fantastic people though. Like my friend Elin, who is 6 years old.
When I last visited her and her mom, she gave me these wonderful drawings below.
Do you see any bread, pasta, rice or candy among these things that “are healthy for you”?
No. Me neither. Elin clearly knows what’s up!
Elin, 6 years, knows what’s up!
A Day In The Life Of…
Well. Have I got something super exciting for you today?!
I thought that I usually yap on about scientific research, what to go for in terms of food, or even complain in my blog posts. And it’s always. So. Much. Text.
Today I’m doing the opposite. Only pictures (well, almost only).
To get to know me better, and to get an idea of who I am behind this screen: WELCOME to a day in the life of me!
My first consultation every single morning is with my blood sugar meter (and insulin pump), which I call Doris, both to make it more “fun” and personalised. After the first test, I consult her many times during the day, meaning about 8-10 finger pricks a day. (Which I won’t let take over the story today. This is the only Doris pic you’ll get.)
Lemon water
My morning is usually kicked off when my husband runs out the door. That’s when I get up and have my glass of lemon water. If there’s one healthy habit you should do, it’s this one! It cleans your liver, it helps your metabolism… Sorry, promised very little text!
Supplements
After that I take my daily supplements: in red, we have Krill oil, which is the purest form of Omega 3 fatty acids (DHA and EPA). Big yellow one is a vitamin B complex. The two light yellow ones are Vitamin D3. Big white one is Magnesium, middle white one is Zinc and little white one is blood pressure medicine.
Most days right now I do a form of intermittent fasting, where I fast for 16 hours and eat my two meals within 8 hours. This has proven to help blood sugar management, metabolism and hunger, for example. So no breakfast for me! (Unless my blood sugar is low and I need it, of course.)
Sports gear
Moving on! Then I go out for my daily walk, which is anything from a quick power burst of 30 minutes, to a longer (but slightly slower) 2 hour walk. It depends on what else I have going on that day. I love the color of my shoes, it makes me happy eery time I look down on them when I get a little tired while I’m out. I carry all my stuff (test kit, glucose tabs for emergencies, tissues, keys, phone…) in the polka dotted fanny pack. Don’t judge – it’s the best solution I’ve found so far! And I don’t carry it on my front, I usually carry it across my back.
Home made mayonnaise
After getting back, I either work by the computer, or work in the kitchen. This day was a kitchen morning. I made some home made mayonnaise….
Testing, testing
…and tested a (for me) new, low carb bread mix from Sweden. 1 g of carbs per slice! (I love that it’s part of my job to try these things out so that I know what to recommend to you!)
Toast Skagen (sugar-, grain-, gluten- and milk free, o’course)
With the mayonnaise, the bread and some prawns, I made a sugar-, grain-, gluten- and milk free version of the swedish classic Toast Skagen for lunch. It was so good, it might just become a new Summer favourite! (if you want the recipe I used, leave a comment below!)
Office
This is where the magic happens! The GrainBrain magic that is. This is where I have a majority of my meetings, where I write the majority of the content I post… You get the point: this is where I work. (I love my light and airy office (that’s a balcony you see to the right) and my Voluspa Crisp Champagne candle, it smells so darn good.)
Office decoration
This is what I’ve got behind me in my office, so every time I get up from my chair, I’m reminded of these beautiful things. As well as my freaky plant.
Full fridge!
Aaahhh, fridge was empty, so I had to go and fill it up again. When I go shopping, I focus almost exclusively on getting fresh vegetables, meat and fish. A full fridge is a happy fridge!
Zoodles Bolognese
Once I’m done with work for the day and my husband’s back from work, we make some dinner. And by we, I mean him. For example, our (his) famous Bolognese sauce with zucchini noodles. And some parmesan cheese to bring up the fat content.
Àsgeir in Concert
After dinner, my husband and I always try to do something together. Like go to a concert, for example. Last night we saw Icelandic Àsgeir here in Zürich. I don’t often become enchanted by someones voice, but last night I couldn’t help it. Awesome voice, cool-ass beats. A winner in my books!
#goofballs
On our way home we had to wait for the train, which, of course, resulted in a goofball-train-station-selfie!
Probiotic Nightcap
My night cap every night are these friendly fellas. I take my probiotic supplement in the evening, so that my body can use them to rebuild my intestines without interruptions during the night (when most of our regenerative processes are at play!)
Sweet dreams!
After that tasty treat, it’s time to say night-night and sweet dreams! I try to get ca 8 hours of sleep a night, which works sometimes, and other times not quite as successfully…
What does your day look like? Do you have a routine you follow religiously, or are you more of a touch-and-go kind of person? I’d love to know! Please tell me in the comments below.
Why I Am A Nutrition Coach
If you’ve been following me for a while, you might know a few things about me.
Like that I strongly dislike the word “diet”. Or that I can’t get enough of asparagus. Or that I smear my face with coconut oil every day.
Or that I have a few auto-immune conditions.
But did you know how I got into the work that I do? Or how I got into the way that I’m eating?
It’s time for another confession post!
If we back up a little long time, I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 2, which is 29 years ago now (you’re welcome to do the math). I also have the beginning stages of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, Rosacea and some other auto-immune issues. My immune system can’t like me very much, judging by the fact that there’s a war going on between my IS and my body…!
Being a nutrition coach focusing on diabetes and other chronic diseases, has of course given me a huge insight as to how to eat better than the conventional suggestions by health care professionals. In addition to my education, I’ve done so much research and so many trials on myself, before recommending anything to you or other clients.
But for 26 years, I believed (very) strongly that, as a diabetic you HAVE TO HAVE carbohydrates and grains (preferably whole grains) with every meal.
Back then, I took an obscene amount of insulin to combat my fluctuating blood sugar levels. For a while I had a doctor who, in all seriousness, told me to “eat more grains and carbs, your blood sugars will stabilise then”. Well, this wasn’t the case. At all. My body was clearly under a lot of stress from this, my HbA1c (average blood sugar) was WAY too high, and my blood pressure was sky high, for which I got medication that had really weird adverse reactions.
My turning point only came when I re-educated myself as a nutrition coach in 2011.
My teacher was wonderful, and fully on the Paleo train. He made me realise how much I was punishing my body with what I ate. The “healthy and diabetes-friendly” food that I had been told to eat so many times for so many years.
I started cutting out carbs in the form of grains quite quickly during that time. Yes, even the “healthy” whole grains. Following that, I took away potatoes and most fruit, too. What I was left with is what you can see on my Instagram account, aka my food diary; meat, vegetables and healthy fats.
Today, I avoid gluten, because it makes me feel really, really bad. It’s quite easy if you don’t eat processed foods or grains! I also try to avoid cows milk in all shapes and forms, as I’ve noticed that I’m sensitive to casein (a milk protein). I also avoid caffeine, because it affects my blood sugar. And I get terribly jittery by it. Yet I love coffee.
So, what’s happened to my results then, you might wonder?
Well, I’m doing so much better. It’s really a whole galaxy away from what I used to be. I’ve been able to reduce my insulin dosage by half, my blood pressure medication is as good as non-existent (my doctor says it’s a silly dosage to eat at all, so I guess I could take it away?!)
Of course it’s not always a dance on roses, my blood sugar levels still fluctuate quite regularly, but nothing at all like it used to. It’s unavoidable, no matter how little carbs and grains you eat – if you’ve got Type 1, your sugars will fluctuate. But, it’s much, much easier to correct now, which was close to impossible when I was still eating my body weight in sugar every day.
Everything’s improved since I cut the grains and carbs from my diet. So far, I’ve been able to control the Hashimoto’s solely with the help of supplements. The Rosacea is calmer, although it comes back every once in a while (which I treat with coconut oil – you can read about that here!)
I’m just so thankful that I’ve found a way to eat and live that helps me as much as this does! And I’m also so thankful that I have the opportunity to help you achieve similar success, too.
And, for the record, my current endocrinologist doesn’t really care how I eat, but thinks I “should eat more carbs”. But thanks to my improved levels, I only have a doctors appointment every 4-5 months instead of every 3 months. My CDE (diabetes educator) on the other hand is completely for my low carbing, and agrees with me that I would never have reached these levels without changing my way of eating.
Have you gone against medical advice? What happened?
Skincare Tip
Ah, the years spent trying to find the perfect face cream.
Either they all have too much of this and not enough of that. Or the other way around.
Or they just plain old have too many chemicals in them. That’s how it was for me.
I tried everything from drugstore brands, over pharmacy brands, all the way to organic ones.
And they all gave me some kind of reaction. Not enough moisture, not enough fat, or too much of both. Some felt like a plastic wrap around my face, some I could have just used water, leaving my skin dry like sandpaper. Crazy zits, or a full-blown break out.
But not even once have I found a commercial face cream that does what I want it to: moisturize my face and leave it break out free.
It was actually only quite recently that I was formally diagnosed with rosacea, which is (yet another) auto-immune disease. One more for the list! But I suspect I’ve had it most of my life, to a lesser extent, of course.
To make a long story short, I (of course) left the dermatologists office with a shopping bag full of creams and chemical potions worth more than a small african country’s entire annual GDP. Which I did use for about a month – 6 weeks.
The funny thing is, NOTHING happened. Nothing got better in my face, and the rosacea got worse rather than better during this time. So I went back to the doctors after a couple of weeks, and left again with the advice to try for a little longer.
After six weeks there still was no improvement at all. So I stopped wasting my time using expensive chemical products that didn’t help anyway.
My next question was, of course, what should I use instead? Having tried pretty much every face cream under the sun (don’t get me started on sunscreen!), what was I going to try next with the likelihood of it being yet another flop?
I started researching this extensively. Read pages upon pages of medical research, peer-reviewed articles, blatant advertisements and countless threads on various online forums.
It wasn’t until I hit a blog post by a girl who had similar problems to myself that I found what was to become my thus far most successful face cream yet – coconut oil.
Yes, after having tried face creams that were too fatty, I have joined the chorus on coconut oil as face cream.
I even use it to “wash” off my make up in the evenings, it removes waterproof mascara like no other. And my skin doesn’t get fat, oily and more prone to breakouts as one might think, rather the opposite.
My skin has another glow to it, it’s incredibly soft, my eye lashes are longer (yay for proper nutrition!) and my rosacea is easier to handle. While it isn’t completely gone, it’s much, much better than with the chemical storm I put it through earlier this year.
I’ve now turned to completely natural skin care, with coconut oil being my no. 1 weapon. I get mine from the cooking section at my health food store. And, as a peeling/skin mask, I use baking soda with a few drops of water, which works better for me than anything else I’ve tried.
By doing this, you know what the biggest bonus is for me, apart from soft skin? All the money I’ve saved. The tub of coconut oil I have in my bathroom now I bought in January (I think), and it’s about half full still. For CHF 10 (USD 11.22 or EUR 8.18). Pretty crazy, right?
Over all, coconut oil is truly an amazing product, both inside and outside the kitchen. And it’s done an amazing job for my skin.
Do you have any skin care tips? I’d love to know what you use!
My Current Favourite (+RECIPE!)
There is this one food I can’t get enough of right now!
It’s a true multi-talent in terms of health benefits. (Yay!) And super versatile in terms of preparing it.
You can fry it, steam it, boil it, broil it, grill it, mix it…. Endless!
In this post, I’ll give you the low-down on my current favourite food: ASPARAGUS.
- Asparagus is a great source of proteins and fiber, very, very little carbs (2 grams/100g, of which all is awesome fibre!) and definitely no fat. Add it! (see below)
- It’s a filling vegetable without any “bad stuff” in it. This is truly an “eat as much as you like” food!
- The anti-inflammatory compounds, such as sarsasapogenin, which has been positively studied in patients with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Lou Gehrig’s Disease).
- Filled with antioxidants, including glutathione, which protects the skin from the sun, pollution and certain signs of ageing. Green leafy vegetables are fa nice complement, adding more antioxidants though, so don’t forget them!
- Vitamin K (“the forgotten vitamin”) that is excellent for proper blood clotting and strong bones, amongst other things.You get 100% of your recommended intake from just 100 g of asparagus. Crazy!
- Vitamin C, which is great for your immune system, to mention one.
- Inulin, which is a type of fiber that remains undigested until the large intestine. There it makes it easier for nutrients to be absorbed, cleaning the colon out and lowering the risk of colon cancer.
- FANTASTIC source of B vitamins, especially folate, which is good for your heart, the nervous system, and especially so if you’re pregnant.
- It also contains vitamin A for better vision, potassium for the kidneys, and super important trace minerals, such as zinc, selenium, magnesium phosphorus, potassium, copper and manganese.
Now, for the fun part: the recipe!
This is how I LOVE to eat asparagus – oven broiled with a nice (home made) sauce hollandaise!
The asparagus part is easy, it seriously couldn’t be ANY easier. (And that’s the way I like to have my recipes!)
- Put your oven on 200 degrees.
- Snap off the dry ends of the asparagus, and put the asparagus in an oven form
- Add olive oil
- Broil for 10 minutes, before turning them over and broiling them for another 10 minutes.
Ta-daaah! Done!
Now for the sauce it can get a little tricky, it’s a moody sauce that separates easily. And to be honest, I’m usually not the one doing this step in the process, it’s my husband!
Anywho, I’ll give it a virtual whirl on here:
- Separate 1 egg, you’ll only need the yolk. Put it in a clean, dry bowl
- Squeeze about 1/4 of a lemon into the bowl
- Melt 75 grams of butter just so it becomes liquid, no browning and barely bubbling
- Carefully add some of the melted butter to the yolk and lemon in the bowl WHILE whisking
- Repeat the step above until the butter is done and you have a nicely combined sauce hollandaise!
Serve with whatever else you think asparagus goes well with, for me its salmon (as you can tell from the picture below) or poached eggs and ham.
