7 Unhacked Questions To A Nutritionist

The most typical questions with untypical answers.

The more you learn about the principles of a balanced diet, the more questions you will have. My questions concern the digestive system and how it works as well as how to learn cooking healthy and still delicious meals.

I recently got my wits and decided to consult a nutritionist. There were many questions that interested me, but today I want to write about seven of them. The questions below bother every health eating beginner, so I believe they will be of great use to anyone.

Can I drink water right after meals? And what about coffee right after breakfast?

Even the lazy wrote and said that drinking water is a must-have for a healthy diet. You must have also heard the myth about drinking 8 glasses of water daily, yet you should know that it was “busted” by Dr. Rachel Vreeman MD and Dr. Aaron Carroll MD back in 2009. Yet, it came to me as a surprise that you shouldn’t drink it during and right after the meal. Water washes away healthy enzymes. These enzymes help our body to ingest nutrients from the products. If you have a habit of drinking water after the meal, know that you’re washing away the nutrients, meaning that they just pass by without leaving anything healthy.

What are the consequences of drinking water after meals? Your body won’t get enough nutrients and will demand more and more! And as you cannot identify which nutrient is missing, you are likely to just eat whatever is at hand. And usually, it’s not a carrot or an apple.

The bottom line: drink water and any other kinds of drinks no less than 15-20 minutes before and after the meal.

How often should I eat?

You should eat as often as you want and can. There is no far cry if you eat three or five-six times a day. What matters is WHAT you eat. Your body doesn’t care how many meals you will take until you provide it with all the required nutrients. In this issue, the most important is the proper proportion of protein, fats, and carbs.

Remember, that these indices are individual and depend on whether you have problems with over- or short weight.

How to understand portion size?

If you don’t have the overweight problem, then the easiest way is the rule of hands.

Why the blind munchies comes in winter and what to do with it?

“People have evolved to have subconscious urges to overeat, and limited ability to avoid becoming obese, especially in winter.” - a recent study by the University of Exeter in the U.K. says.

So winter blind munchies are an absolutely usual thing for our bodies. We need a lot of energy to preserve constant traditions of temperature. Add to this the deficit of the sun which violates some hormonal processes.

What to do? First, you need to accept that blind munchies in winter is OK. Moreover, nutritionists say that if over the winter you gain 4.5-7 pounds, then it’s absolutely natural. Second, you need to add more fats to your diet. Fish, avocado, and cheese will do great for this purpose. Third, you need to get more sleep. Try getting to bed no later than 10-11 pm and sleeping for 7-8 hours. If you have too hectic schedule and it’s impossible, then sleep yourself off during weekends. And, of course, help your body preserve the temperature by dressing warm.

What to do if I really want pizza for dinner and don’t want to cook anything healthy?

If you want to eat, then you just need to eat! It is very rare that you will get in this kind of situation if you have a balanced diet, and this is one of its greatest benefits. And even if something like this happens, then it will leave neither you nor your butt suffering.

The nutritionist, I consulted, said that she herself sticks to the principle of 80:20, where 80% is balanced diet (which she plans in advance) and 20% is left for emergencies. This 20 % can be distributed throughout the day, for instance, you can eat several pieces of chocolate as a snack. “Hear me right”, she said, “pieces and NOT the whole bar!” And the same rule applies to your beloved pizza. You can leave this small cheating for the weekend so that without a twinge of conscience you could treat yourself to something delicious.

If you stick to this proportion, you will harm neither your psychological nor physical condition and not even your body (of course it works only given that you have no overweight problem). So getting back to the question. Yes, you can have dinner with a pizza, but don’t do it every day and only if your whole diet is balanced on other days.

Which fats should I eat and how much?

Fats are an obligatory element of balanced diets, especially for people trying to lose weight. The numbers for fats (as well as protein, carbs, and calories) are calculated individually for every person. But there are two things to pay attention to:

1. Omega-3. This kind of fat our body can’t synthetize on its own, so it’s better to take it as a supplement. And make sure that you don’t muddle up Omega-3 and cod liver oil that is sold in drug stores and pharmacies. Don’t also pitch into fish thinking that it has lots of Omega-3. Only freshly-caught fish has the proper amounts of aliphatic acid, so don’t rely on the frozen fish from a store.

2. Transfats. This is what you should beware of. They harm not only our shapes but our health in general. Transfats can be found on the shelves of pretty much any store (take just margarine or spread for instance). But don’t think that if you don’t have margarine as it is in your fridge, it’s not in your home. Margarine and spread are frequent ingredients for the mass-product production of confectionery and pastry (cookies, brownies, muffins, etc.); they both can also be found in snacks (chips, popcorn, etc.). And, of course, margarine and spread are the most important ingredients of the fast food.

What to fry eggs, meat, and fish with? And can I do it at all?

You can fry food. Yet, nutritionists advise doing it properly and the less, the better. Since time immemorial people have been using oil for frying. And this is one of the reasons why previous generations have been suffering from CVDs. The problem is that if you heat oil for over 100 C, it loses any existing hale and starts filling with transfats and harmful conservatives. Your body acidizes, plaques start forming in your vessels, and in the end, it leads to heart attacks and diabetes.

What to do? The best oil for frying is refined or coconut oil, drawn butter will work great too. And there is one BUT. Even “proper” oil can be burned and turned into a harmful substance, so fry your food gently and don’t let the smoke to form.