~ by Kate Watson

Now seriously, our digestive and bowel habits aren’t issues that we bring up too often in every day conversation. And I’m not suggesting you necessarily start doing that. But I’ve come to find that so many people, in particular women, live with ongoing digestive issues, which they tend to ignore or just accept as normal. If you’ve spent any time in a grocery store lately, you may have observed that there is a definite trend out in the marketplace promoting products to improve digestive health. I think that is both because there is an increased incidence in gastrointestinal problems as well as an increased awareness of the important relationship between our gut health and our overall health.

Did you know that healthy women fart an average of 7 times a day and men 14 times a day? Good to know, isn’t it?! I do believe it is important to know what is considered normal as well as what is normal for you. I myself lived for years unaware that it was not normal to have abdominal pain, bloating, and gas immediately after eating. By the end of most work days, I needed to change into stretch pants to accommodate my expanding, bloated belly! I had frequent diarrhea, accompanied by urgency, so I never traveled too far from a bathroom and always had my Immodium on hand. Sometimes, I think we gradually adapt to feeling bad and forget what feeling good is like! But eventually, things kept getting worse, and the impact on my daily life was severe enough that I went to see my doctor to find out what was wrong.

Enter my long and frustrating journey with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I ended up seeing various doctors throughout the years for it and had many medical procedures done to rule out any other serious illnesses, but the consensus was IBS. I was told it is not harmful, in that it wouldn’t cause any damage to my intestines the way something like Celiac disease would, and that was merely “inconvenient and annoying.” Most suggestions I received from doctors were trial and error- to find my food triggers, try medications, and to get my stress under control. I was finding out there is no single remedy that works for every individual with IBS. I tried everything I could over a period of years- I learned stress reduction techniques, used herbs, tried acupuncture, went to therapists, exercised, tried cutting out dairy, gluten, tried low fiber, high fiber, high carb, and low carb diets! But nothing made any significant or lasting improvement.

My symptoms would get better and worse seemingly with no rhyme or reason. I could find no link to any common food. A few years ago, a new GI doctor I started going to had the wisdom to test me for Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO), which I tested positive for. The treatment for it was an antibiotic, which provided me with a great deal of relief, for a while. I had another episode of SIBO after the first time, but was not able to tolerate the medications the second time around.

I found myself often becoming discouraged and depressed about my GI issues because I felt that no matter what I ate, I was going to pay for it afterwards with stomach pain. I could find no long term or sustainable solution. I was disappointed in myself because I am a dietitian for crying out loud, and I felt I should be able to help myself! And I became a dietitian in large part because I believed food was meant to heal, so it was quite disheartening to feel that all food seemed to be causing me pain!

About a year ago, I had an episode of abdominal pain that put me on the floor writhing in pain. I went to the doctor, fearing it was something serious. He thought it may be an ulcer so I started on proton pump inhibitors. I knew that something had to change drastically for me at this point because I didn’twant to merely put a band-aid on the issue with more medication again but I wanted to find a lasting solution! In my desperation, I started researching again and came upon the low FODMAPS diet. I had no idea what in the world FODMAPs meant and it certainly wasn’t something we were taught in college. Turns out it stands for Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disacccharides, Monosaccharides, and Polyols (hence the need for an acronym)! The FODMAPs are a group of carbohydrates that are poorly absorbed, which provides food for intestinal bacteria, leading to digestive discomforts. Too many FODMAPS in my diet very likely explained my episodes of SIBO and chronic abdominal pain. And so it made sense that a diet low in FODMAPs might help reverse the symptoms. According to all of the data I found, the low FODMAPs diet is the only scientifically proven diet to help relieve the symptoms of IBS, with almost 75% of patients showing improvement. That was the most promising information I’d ever heard for IBS sufferers and encouraging enough to make me want to try it!

I bought myself a great FODMAPs app for my Iphone, did a lot internet research for recipes and support, and completed a continuing education course on it to learn as much as I could. After just a week on the diet, my symptoms were drastically reduced and after a month on it, I felt like what a “normal” person must feel like. It seemed like nothing short of a miracle after nearly 15 years of stomach issues!

Although the low FODMAPs diet is not meant to be long term and is not exactly easy to follow, I learned a ton from it about what foods my body tolerates and I finally feel in control of my digestive health. I no longer need to be tethered to my toilet! I’m so excited that the discovery of FODMAPs offers real hope and I love empowering fellow IBS sufferers with this new and powerful tool!

To learn more about a low FODMAPS diet or to address your own digestive concerns, contact VIBRANCE at 206-227-1231 to schedule an initial consultation with Kate!

It’s the first weekend of Spring, and while the Midwest and Eastern sides of the country are still bundled up Seattle is in full bloom; cherry blossoms and daffodils are bursting onto the scene in a joyous visible choir of life.
The farmer’s market is still shelling out the last of the winter produce – lots of hearty greens, tubers, and carrots, but the larger grocery stores are reminding us of what is to come with berries and asparagus flown in from Latin America. Thanks, Whole Foods, but I think I’ll pass until I can get the home grown stuff!

Spring is a season of cleansing and renewing, when both the Earth’s natural abundance and our internal desires often turn to that which is energizing, fresh, revitalizing and alive. The allure of heavy stews and mashed potatoes fall away and, I at least, start fantasizing about finally buying that juicer and stay up too late exploring all the different ways I can prepare watercress on Google. Many people start sending in email inquiries or calls regarding cleansing and detoxifying; the extra daylight hours and warmer weather wake up the populace and stir motivation to take action!

This season is very supporting of a cleanse, and definitely the best time of year to take one. It can be very helpful for digestion, seasonal allergies, and also offer a mental shift for those who crave a program to get on track with healthier eating.

If you are unable or uninterested in taking on a formal detoxification program, you can still get a gentle ‘cleansing’ effect simply by focusing on the local produce this season. Berries, tender leafy greens and sprouts (omg – have you ever had garlic scapes?!? They are the sprouts off garlic and they are quite lovely – and only available about 2 weeks out of the year!) …where was I? Oh, yes – berries, sprouts and especially the tender greens of spring have a gentle cleansing effect on the lungs and liver; according to Chinese medicine, if the liver’s energy is sluggish or burdened it can show up as seasonal allergies. One of the ‘side effects’ we see with eating spring foods in our detoxes is a lightening or absence of seasonal allergies. The foods of spring are also low in calories and high in nutrients and fiber; this is a naturally fabulous combination to have when looking to shed excess winter fat from the body.

Spring greens are a great intro as far as green leafies go; their milder taste is better suited to an American palate (which tends to turn it’s nose at heavier, bitter winter greens). They also require very little food prep and are best enjoyed raw, and thus are easy to prepare.

Greens can be intimidating to work with if you are unfamiliar with them, but often keeping it simple is the best way to go – it eases the transition in introducing the vegetable to your palate and allows the green to retain some of it’s individual characteristics so you can get to know it better than you would were it drowning in butter or a heavy dressing (which spring veggies don’t typically do well with, anyway). Serendipitously, I came across the recipe book below while writing this post: Here are 18 lip-smackin’ recipes from our alma mater Institute of Integrative Nutrition, offered up with spring in mind!

Comment below and let me know what your favorite part of spring is! I’m excited for all the great produce heading into town; how about you?

Trick question! The answer is B,C, and D.

Surprised? You are not alone. This goes against all marketing, advertising, and even what nutrition experts are saying. Let me explain myself: technically speaking, any food which has been altered from it’s original form is a processed food, so the carrots pulled from the ground with tops on (A) are the only unprocessed food shown above. The degree to which processing occurs has the greatest influence of whether or not that food is health-supporting.

When we think of processed foods we automatically think of a food like C or a food like twinkies, which is so far removed from what it looked like growing on a farm we have no notion of where it originated. And so a ‘processed food’ becomes a ‘bad food’. This notion is significantly encouraged by the media, which has 10-30 seconds to educate us on what we should or should not be eating for health. REALITY IS NEITHER BLACK NOR WHITE. A food that has undergone processing is not necessarily a ‘bad food’ (see option B in graphic above).

To find our way back to health, we must think critically and discern our own truth from what advertising.

Let’s look at the notion that a processed food is not necessarily a bad food. Both baby carrots and carrot juice are great examples of this. A baby carrot has been shaped, lightly bleached to kill bacteria, and packaged for convenience. Carrot juice probably started as option A, but went through a juicer and had the pulp removed. The carrot juice contains a boatload of vitamins and antioxidants – way more than you’d get consuming whole carrots themselves, as well as a lot of sugars that will cause insulin levels to rise due to the lack of fiber to offset them. Carrot juice is an amazing food for rebuilding and renourishing the body. It is not so great for fat loss. Which is healthier? That depends on who you are and what you need.

It’s pretty obvious that C is the most processed of these four choices. This carrot has been sliced, fried or baked in oil or dehydrated, seasoned, and packaged in such a way that it is shelf-stable for about a year. Does that make it unhealthy? Not necessarily, but it’s more likely to be unhealthy than the other. The less a food looks like it would had you harvested or killed it yourself, the more processed it is. The more processing done, the less likely it will be health supportive.

A simple truth of living in a technological age is that it is unreasonable and unsustainable to live without processed foods. But we do have a still have a choice in what we put into our bodies, so we can rely on the notion that the more unprocessed a food is, the more likely it will act as an advocate for your health. At VIBRANCE, our fat loss plans tend to center around large amounts of vegetables, leaner proteins, with carbohydrates and fats that come from minimally adulterated sources (beans or yams instead of whole wheat pasta, for example, or nuts/seeds rather than flax oil in another). These foods do a better job at providing the one-two punch of nutrient density and satiety that the body needs to thrive and melt away excess weight. There are some shifts in this plan for those seeking greater energy or those training for a marathon, but generally speaking, all bodies do better on a minimally processed diet.

This is not to say that we are not advocates of baby carrots, protein powders, greens supplements, pre-cut veggies, or vitamin supplementation. Far from it! With soil depletion, overtaxed bodies and minimal time allotted for preparation of whole, fresh foods, we welcome what industry can do to make health-supportive nourishment more accessible to the population.

Finding our ways back to health and vibrancy requires a discerning eye and keeping a finger on the pulse of our own unique needs. Because there is so much information so readily available and so many voices and companies clamoring for your eye, you must step up and become your own advocate to get what you want. Frankly, it sucks, but no one knows you better than you do! And becoming the advocate for your personal wellness empowers you to get the most out of the time and energy you devote to it.

Yes – I think chocolate milk is crap. The recovery food hailed by the world as being the perfect post-workout replenishment falls far short of it in my book. Before I fully step upon my soap box – again! – let me explain why chocolate milk rose to fame:

The key nutrition components to a complete recovery can be summed up in two categories: 1) food and 2) hydration. Here’s why the Dairy Council and many coaches and sports nutritionists are pimping milk at the finish line:

• Chocolate milk contains the ideal* ratio of carbohydrates to protein – the 1:3 – 1:4 ratio that not only replenishes glycogen but also provides protein for tissue repair and transport of the carbohydrates more effectively into the cell walls. *ideal if you are male. Women do better on a 1:2-1:3 ratio
• Chocolate milk is liquid – therefore it contributes to rehydrating the body
• Chocolate milk is tasty – I mean, really! Who the heck doesn’t like chocolate milk?!?!
• Chocolate milk is cheap, convenient and accessible. You can find it anywhere – even along a highway in rural Kansas at a truck stop or gas station.

The above facts are exactly why you are thinking chocolate milk sounds good right about now! However, I take the viewpoint that the human body is a miraculous vessel. When you think about all it does for you and all it puts up with it’s easy to understand that it is an incredible machine – not unlike a Ferrari or a Tesla or a Lamborghini. Chocolate milk is like putting the cheapest unleaded fuel you can find into your half million dollar sports car. Here’s why:

1. Chocolate milk is a dairy food – and dairy foods come with a host of potential problems. They are difficult for many to digest (an estimated 60-75% of the adult human population exhibits signs of dairy intolerance) and often laced with excessive hormones from the conditions in which cattle are raised. Excess estrogen is already of great concern in many individuals and is linked to hormone imbalances and possibly cancer in humans. Dairy only exacerbates that. (My former teacher Dr. Mark Hyman has a compelling piece on dairy and the Food Guide Pyramid here if you want more info).
2. Chocolate milk’s carbohydrate source comes exclusively from lactose (potential allergen) and high fructose corn syrup or sugar. HFCS is strongly suspect as being a contributor to diabetes and non-alcohol related fatty liver due to how it is digested in the body. It also must be metabolized through the liver before getting into cells so it is not appropriate for optimal glycogen replenishment. Corn syrup and table sugar, are of course, the most nutritionally devoid form of carbohydrate on the market. Regardless of where any nutritionist or dietitian is on our highly political food spectrum,  we all agree that sugar and corn syrup are not ideal sources of carbohydrate. So my question to you is, are they the sources you want to be pumping into your cells to repair them after a hard workout? Do you want the construct of your muscle tissue to come from vitamin-devoid  sweeteners?
3. Chocolate milk doesn’t have enough protein to repair muscle. Period. We need about 25-30 grams of protein post-workout (that includes at least 3 grams of leucine) to stimulate muscle building and repair. Chocolate milk does not provide this.

This stance alone has some of you wanting to squeeze the remainder of your milk carton in my face. I get it. I’m not taking a popular stance here! If milk judgement were my only offense, you might forgive me. But I have more blasphemy for you.

You Know You Want To.

Carb loading. Our mainstay and go-to: the absolute foundation of endurance sports nutrition lies in carb loading. I cannot tell you how many hundreds of pancake feeds, pasta feeds, thai food feasts and other meals I’ve had after long runs in the last decade. This was a myth I bought hook, line, and sinker. It made sense. It was widely backed by research. The entire sports nutrition community did it and backed it. And pancakes and pasta sound AWESOME after 2-3 hours on the road. Another easy sell!  I began to question this logic though when it became more and more challenging to maintain my weight. I struggled to prevent weight gain when my training was at its highest – 10 hours a week or more! At 5’2″ my stomach doesn’t hold enough food to make up for the calories I was losing, yet I was still challenged. Working with other endurance athletes – I saw the same struggles in them. It wasn’t until I understood the hormonal impact of carbohydrates in relation to fat burning and left the caloric model completely that I was able to lose the 7 pounds I gained for my last races in 2010 AND be able to help other runners and triathletes lose the spare tire that refused to go away. Looking around we all know that some people stay slender and others have to fight for it. The answer, however, isn’t in hours logged and miles run so much as it is in the food choices we make on an hour to hour basis. I, and other endurance athletes like myself, find better results in carbohydrate moderation rather than carbohydrate loading. I discovered that there was no need to carb-up or recover to the extent that I had been taught. Many runners will only lean out when they start moderating the quantity and timing of their carbohydrate intake. If you are burning loads of calories and still struggling with weight you’ll want to explore this possibility immediately.

My final blasphemy for the day is a hybrid of the above two. The pre-race spaghetti feed.  For races less than 2 hours long, it is unlikely you will need to consume extra carbohydrates than you typically do unless you are on a carbohydrate restricted diet. For many events, such a feed is simply unnecessary. Events lasting longer than two hours are best fueled with moderate carbohydrate consumption the day before and with amino acid and carbohydrate replenishment during the event. Your pre-race meal is to top off the tank, not fill it to overflowing.

Another consideration with the pre-race pasta meal again lies in food intolerances and digestive upset. Gluten intolerance is very common in my practice and increasingly common in the general population. Thus the pasta feed can lead to digestive upset during the race, increased inflammation and decreased recovery, poor moods, decreased alertness and motor skills (I kid you not!) and overall lowered performance. Many clients have had a significant shift in performance simply by shifting the pre-race meal to sushi, brown rice pasta with loads of vegetables, or including a baked yam or potato with dinner the night before. Give it a try before your next race and see if you feel a difference! If you already have a gluten-free pre-race meal, I’d love to know what it is so I can share with my gluten-free athletes!

It is not my intention to create enemies with this post – only to open up the possibility for alternatives if what you are currently accepting as appropriate is, in fact, not working for you.  Each person is unique and therefore requires a unique formula to achieve success on and off the trail.

What fueling strategies have you found to be successful for your long workouts?

Bone broth has been used in most cultures as a restorative and healing food. It is used to heal the sick, mend injuries, restore strength and  promote health. As the values of processing became associated with purity in the early 20th century America potent medicinal foods such as organ meats and bone broth became passé. There are some schools of nutritional thought that point to the loss of “scraps” from the diet as contributors to disease and tooth decay that are the norm in modern culture.

After much experimentation, I have found a bone broth of my own making that I am very excited about. It is dark, rich, and flavorful. It includes ingredients long forgotten but highly valuable in healing. And, it’s very easy to make, requiring little prep or clean-up.

• 2 pounds of scrap bones (soup bones, chicken carcass, marrow bones, etc)
• 3 chicken feet (I completely understand if you choose to omit; but these add high amounts of collagen and other nutrients to the broth)
• 3-5 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 carrots, sliced lengthwise and coarsely chopped
• 2 parsnips, cut lengthwise and coarsely chopped
• 3 stalks celery, leaves included, coarsely chopped
• 1 inch piece of ginger, sliced
• 1/2 onion
• 3 pieces of wakame (sea veg that is rich in iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and other trace minerals)
• 1/4 cup dulse flakes (sea veg that is rich in iodine, trace minerals and  fucoidans for healing injuries and tissues)
• 1/4 cup nettles (optional)(western medicinal herb rich in iron and silica as well as vitamins C and K, soothing to GI tract and beneficial for building strength and robust health in a stressed or injured body)
• 6-8 peppercorns
• 3 bay leaves
• 8 cups of water
• 2 tbsp. vinegar (critical – it’s acidic nature is key to pulling minerals from deep within bones)
• 1 tbsp. fish sauce (adds a nice depth of flavor)

OPTIONAL: Roast bones in 400 degree oven until browned – 5-10 minutes. This roasting will add depth of flavor to the broth.

1) Crush garlic and set aside to allow allicin to form.

2) Place veggies and bones into slowcooker pot. Add herbs, sea vegetables and spices.

3) Cover with water and vinegar.

4) Set slow cooker on low for 24-36 hours.

5) Strain broth, discarding vegetables. Bones may be saved and reused if desired.

Makes 2 quarts of broth.

For maximum healing, consume 1 -2 cups of broth per day, as a liquid, soup, or through cooking it with other foods. To learn more about using foods to speed healing of injuries or for post-surgical recovery, visit www.nutritionforinjury.com