Yo-yo diet warning to mothers

Mothers who diet back their figures after giving birth and put on excess weight during pregnancies are putting their own and their baby’s health at risk, as reported by the BBC.

Fluctuating weight ups the risk of dangerously high blood pressure and diabetes in the mother as well as risking stillbirth, Dublin-based specialists in the British Medical Journal suggest, and reported by the University of Toronto.

One Swedish study involving 207,534 women found that weight gain between pregnancies was strongly associated with major complications for the woman and baby in the months preceding, and just after childbirth.

Another study found that women whose weight fell significantly between pregnancies had a higher risk of giving birth prematurely than women whose weight remained stable.

‘There is a known association between overweight and obese parents and the likelihood of a child being overweight themselves’ says Tam Fry of the National Obesity Forum.

It is also common for overweight women to experience more discomfort and difficulties during childbirth than healthy women.

Young girls should be taught the importance of a healthy diet not only for their own physical health and comfort but also that of any children they may wish to carry in the future.

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Top 20 recommendations for a healthy nutrition plan

Here are my top 20 recommendations for a healthy nutrition plan:

1. Cut out the following: Sugar; White flour (it's stripped of nutrients), Animal and vegetable fats and ALL margarines


2. Avoid excess soy and consider having none at all


3. Keep consumption of dairy products LOW


4. Don’t rely on ONE source of fibre, (i.e. wheat bran) include beans, pulses, fruits, vegetables, brown rice, oats, rye, barley, corn


5. Wheat bran is not a good choice - it inhibits mineral absorption


6. Keep alcohol consumption down


7. Limit salt – try not to add any to your food and never cook with it


8. Don't eat excessive amounts of animal protein


9. Protein is also found in nuts, seeds, peas, beans, lentils, sprouts and whole grains. All are rich in vitamins, minerals and protein


10. Avoiding carrying too much weight – it will reduce your life expectancy, and brings many diseases with it


11. Don't smoke or take recreational drugs


12. Ensure a HIGH intake of vegetables, especially green, leafy ones and preferably raw or steamed


13. Plenty of good quality fibre – many people need supplemental help here


14. Eat organic and free range where possible


15. Take regular MENTAL exercise - hobbies, reading etc


16. Prayer enhances immunity


17. Enjoyment of life also enhances immunity


18. If you are a vegetarian (but be aware of the long term dangers here) ensure sufficient protein and include the following: Rice with legumes or sesame seeds, Wheat with legumes/sesame seeds, Corn with legumes, Sesame seeds with either beans or wheatQuinoa is a good source of protein


19. Regular exercise - even if it is just a 15 minute walk


20. Have a goal in life - raises your immunity!

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What about a low-fat diet?

For those of you who still think you’re going to lose weight on a low-fat diet, think again.

Our bodies crave fat and we cannot survive without it. As soon as we deprive ourselves of good fats and oils (in fish, pharmaceutical grade fish oil supplementation and extra virgin cold pressed olive oil) our bodies panic and send messages to our brains for a quick fix in the way of sugar, sending us into diabetes contenders and susceptible to other degenerative diseases.

It is clear from the ever-present chronic diseases, skyrocketing overweight and obesity rates and widespread degenerative illnesses facing developed and developing countries that something has gone wrong with our diets. The biggest fad diet in the world has encouraged food from machines and sickly animals instead of whole foods from organically grown sources and this is a major issue that contributes to the failure of our health.

Identifying and eating low-fat foods provide many with reassurance, but fat is often substituted with increased levels of sugar. Many people believe a low-fat alternative has up to 40 percent fewer calories than regular brands, when the true figure is more likely to be only around 11 percent, say researchers.

A person's perception of what amounted to a regular portion of food was often slanted when faced with low-fat alternatives. People believe they will feel less guilty eating the low-fat foods, so they tend to overindulge.

Unbeknownst to the general public, the theory that bad health follows high intake of fats in general or saturated fats in particular has long had its detractors--and the list of detractors has been growing noticeably in recent years.

Have a read of what DrSears.com has to say on this topic - you'll need to register, but worth reading!

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Dieting does not work, researchers report

Anyone who has been on a diet will tell you that over time, they do not work – that is why so many people yo-yo diet. The temptation of a ‘quick-fix’ will always lure overweight and obese people to ‘try just one more diet’. It’s a mug’s game that is certain to fail. From a common sense angle, we know our bodies understand feast and famine very well, as we are conditioned to store nutrients in our fat cells if a drought shows the slightest chance of being apparent.

Think of it this way:

As soon as we reduce our intake of calories, our bodies are conditioned to store food because they think a drought is at hand and could get worse. So food is stored in the fat cells ‘for later’.

Another aspect that is going to encourage a diet to fail – our bodies crave fat, but the world has gone mad and has encouraged a ‘fat-free’ lifestyle to reduce fat, which is completely against the way our bodies function best. Our brains alone consist mostly of fat, and work at optimum levels when our essential fatty acids are in balance. If we reduce fat, we unknowingly turn on a craving for fat which manifests itself in a craving for something sweet. So we have a quick fix bar of chocolate or muffin or breakfast bar (even worse!) in the hopes of stilling the nagging urge, and so set up a cycle for storing fat once again. Sugar turns quickly to glucose in the blood and if we don’t use it immediately it becomes toxic, so turning on the insulin response which removes the toxic sweet stuff out of the blood stream – into the fat cells!And so the cycle goes on.

There is only one certain way to lose weight and keep a healthy body as a result, and that is to eat a variety of foods which are not processed and are still in their natural form, exercise sensibly, drink plenty of water and make certain you have enough good fats and oils in your diet. Find a nutritionally trained health professional who understands how your body reacts to different foods and keep away from fad diets.

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