Wednesday, September 29, 2010

my 3 secrets for a flat tummy

Well – flattish

1. Eat exciting salads, vegetables and meats. Forget the grains – they are over-rated and lead to total body inflammation, which leads to metabolic diseases such as poly ovary syndrome, high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease. The best thing for these people to is drop the overt carbs and focus on eating vegetables and (sparing) fruit, meats, nuts and seeds.

2. Move – move and walk every where and every opportunity. The thing that strikes me most about Europe, is there fanaticism with food and exercising. They walk everywhere. So let’s learn from them; suck in rear, pull in tummy and imagine your head being drawn up like a puppet string.

3. Laugh. Laughing and deep breathing use all the muscles of the tummy. Give them a daily work out by finding something funny to laugh at. And if you can’t find something- make it up.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Are women becoming men?

High testosterone levels are becoming common among women.

84% of women feel they have a hormone imbalance, and 3 out of 10 women have a condition called poly cystic ovary syndrome.

Unfortunately many women probably have elevated levels of testosterone and are either walking out on their partner, can’t find mister Right, or their doctor has started them on anti-depressants.

Testosterone plays a very important role in women. It contributes to:

- energy levels

- muscle development

- sex drive

- makes us feel good

- strengthen bones

- protects against heart disease

And when we (women) don’t produce enough, we feel low in all of the above.

BUT when we make too much testosterone, women feel and experience the following:

- anger and irritability (including road rage and probably school yard bullying)

- obesity

- poly cystic ovary syndrome

- infertility

- unwanted facial and body hair

- deep or gravelly voice

- facial acne or pimples on the back or chest

- muscular stance, square jaw line and very “tom-boyish”

Women can end up looking like this if they don’t stop, reassess and try reversing some contributing factors. Unfortunately for many women, this is a true reality.

 image

Hormone balance

this is a short you tube clip explaining happy hormone balance in women.

84% of women feel they have a hormone imbalance! Are you one of them?

Women make a few sex hormones, but the 3 main ones will be discussed here.

 

 

The best way to check your hormone levels is via a saliva test. Blood tests will give you inaccurate results.

Oestrogen should be under 10. Ideally 3-6

Progesterone should be 800 but more importantly in a ratio of 200:1 of oestrogen

Testosterone should be between 80-100.

If your hormones are outside these levels, chances are you will feel “out of balance”.

Oestrogen (estrogen) imbalance in Women

 

Oestrogen (estrogen in Australia) is made by the woman’s ovaries and adrenals. It is also made by adipose tissue (fat cells).

There are 3 types of oestrogen.

Oestrone (E1) increases after menopause and accounts for 10-20% of oestrogen levels.

Oestradiol (E2) readily converts to E1, and is the most potent of the 3 oestrogens and is mainly produced by the ovaries.When the levels of E2 drop during menopause – flushes and night sweats can occur.

Oestriol (E3) is produced mainly throughout pregnancy. A topical cream derivative is used in post menopausal ladies for vaginal shrinkage (and painful intercourse) and urinary incontinence.

Normal oestrogen levels are responsible for the following:

- development of secondary sexual characteristics (eg breasts, widening of the hips, pubic hair).

- promotes the growth of the endometrial lining and breast tissue

- is necessary for development of longer bones

- improves memory

- increases fat stores

- protects against heart disease

- can be of assistance during menopause

Excessive Oestrogen  is also called Oestrogen Dominance.

In this very common hormone imbalance, women will feel some (not necessarily all) of the following:

- mood swings (including anxiety and depression)

- cellulite and fat

- headaches and migraines

- heavy or longer periods

- endometriosis or fibroids

- breast , ovarian and endometrial cancers

- pimples

- irritability, low energy and insomnia

The best way to check is to have a saliva hormone test. You can order these from the www.byebyebridget.com site or from your health care (make sure they specialist in hormone treatments and do saliva tests).

Sunday, September 5, 2010

This weeks meals

As I continually say to people, health is not an accident, it is a conscious decision.

Decide to be healthy every morning of every day.

So, to that end, I put a bit of effort into wholesome meals, loads of organic vegetables and home cooked meals.

This week we are having:

Sun: tacos (Sunday night treat)

Mon: Lasagna

Tues: Chicken cheese burgers

Wed: lasagna left overs

Thurs: lamb and lentil curry

Fri: beef roll

Sat: chicken, avocado and tomato pasta

email me for the recipes: sam@healthqueen.com.au

Friday, September 3, 2010

How right is Just Right?

This is a direct cut and paste from the Just Right food panel.

 

Good source of B1, B2 and niacin

Good source of iron

Good source of folate

High in fibre

Goodness of wholegrains

High in carbohydrate

Low in fat

Low in salt

No artificial flavours

PROTEIN 8.8 %

FAT, TOTAL 1.6 %

CARBOHYDRATE 71.2 %

Wholegrain cereals (63%)(whole wheat, rolled oats),  sultanas (17%), sugar, triticale (6%), dried apricot piece (3.5%)(dried apricot [preservative (220)], fructose, maltodextrin, humectant [glycerol], thickener [1422], soy flour, hydrogenated vegetable oil, vegetable gum [466], natural flavour, colour [apocarotene], food acid [citric acid], wheat flour), barley malt extract, salt, honey (0.1%), mineral (iron), vitamins (niacin, riboflavin, folate, thiamin).
Contains gluten containing cereals, soy, and sulphites.
May contain traces of peanuts and/or tree nuts

Health Queen Comment

They claim that the cereal is high in carbohydrate – too right it is. 70% sugar! So if you have 1 cup , 3/4 is sugar

It does have at least 3 chemicals and natural flavour, colour (the apocarotene can cause behaviour changes) and other flavour enhancers.

So is Just Right, perfect for you and your kids. Think again. You are much better off having pure oats (porridge, your own museli), free range eggs, puffed rice .