Liz Mountford - Nutritional Medicine Practitioner

2 days ago

#14 - The Weird and Wonderful Facts on Nutrition: Selenium

2 Brazil nuts per day for 12 weeks is more effective for increasing selenium levels than a supplement containing a standard dose of selenium.

Additionally, the selenium naturally contained in Brazil nuts is thought to be more bioavailable for the human body to utilise than in supplementation form. This is due to the fact that certain enzymes that need selenium to work properly have been found to be more active in people obtaining selenium from Brazil nuts rather than selenium supplementation. ... See MoreSee Less

Liz Mountford - Nutritional Medicine Practitioner

4 days ago

Fast Facts #7: Dietary Sugar Loads

Although I advocate for whole real food diets, I also ask people to be mindful of foods that can result in excessive intakes of sugars.

There are 3 dominant pathways that we can consume excessive amounts of sugar in our diet. This can result in a wild rollercoaster ride in blood sugar levels with rapid highs followed by rapid lows which can bring feelings of extreme tiredness, headaches and irritability.

1 - Sugars Added to Foods.

A 300 ml Choc Chill which contains approximate 6 teaspoons of added sugar, this is on top of naturally occurring lactose sugar in plain milk.

2- Foods With Naturally Occurring Sugars.

An example is 100 grams of raisins which contain the equivalent of 17 teaspoons of sugar.

3 - Foods High in Starches.

Starchy foods breakdown easily into sugars. An example is 2 slices of wholemeal toast will breakdown into the equivalent of 6 teaspoons of sugar. ... See MoreSee Less

Liz Mountford - Nutritional Medicine Practitioner

1 week ago

#13 - The Weird and Wonderful Facts on Nutrition: Food that turns your skin orange!!!

Carotenoids are pigments that produce the bright red, yellow, orange colours in plants, fruit and vegetables.

There are over 600 different forms of carotenoids falling into 2 main groups Xanthophyll or Carotenes, which are naturally occurring in every day whole foods.

However, high intakes of foods containing carotenes such as carrots, sweet potatoes and pumpkin can cause a harmless skin condition known as Carotenoderma.

Carotenoderma is characterised by a person having an “orange glow” to their skin. This is due to high levels of carotenes depositing within the outer layer of the skin. Carotenoderma usually appears anywhere up to 7 weeks after starting a diet high in carotenes and usually disappears on a low carotene diet. ... See MoreSee Less