Niyc Pidgeon

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Positive Psychology | Personal Training | Optimal Nutrition

Monday, 7 October 2013

Healing through nutrition

I had such a lovely weekend at the CAM Expo at Earls Court in London this weekend! The Expo was an event for health practitioners and retailers, which combined a trade show with educational seminars and workshops, centered around presenting the most up to date research relevant to the health industry. The presentation that really struck a chord with me was, ‘Healing the heart with food’, which looked at the value in preventing and also treating cardiovascular disease with nutrition.

As a proponent of nutrition as a preventative measure for disease it was great to hear the most up to date research into both of these areas, which both have relevance to me, both professionally through my business Optimal You, and also on a more personal level, as my dad has ischemic heart disease, and I want to know everything I can that might be able to help him in some way. I am not a medical doctor, and so am not qualified to give advice as to what the best treatment for CHD might be, although the information from the seminar yesterday did ring true for me with the existing knowledge and research I have done.

I’d like to share what I know and what I have learned over the weekend, and hopefully it might inspire you to do your own research and learn about how nutrition might be able to play a part in disease prevention for you J

Cardiovascular disease is the collective term for a class of diseases that affect the heart. It is considered an epidemic, and is the cause of 180,000 deaths per year in the UK, which equates to one in every three of all deaths. Huge statistics I think you will agree.

Treatment for cardiovascular disease includes lifestyle changes, statin medication to help lower cholesterol, and stents put into the heart to help ease blood flow. Research suggests that statins are effective in reducing heart attack risk by 1% when taken for 5 years (McCormack, 2010), and that the benefits of stents extend to angina relief but do not prolong life.

Inflammation is thought to be the cause of most or all disease, and it is suggested that CHD can be reversed, and surgery avoided, with lifestyle and diet modification. Reduce inflammation, reduce disease.

The research into nutrition based healing shows that including nuts and high quality oils into the diet each day can reduce risk of cardiac death by 30% for those patients yet to experience a cardiac event, or by 76% for those that have (compared with 18% for statins).

Raw, steamed, and slow cooked foods are to be favoured instead of frying or grilling, as these cause higher numbers of AGE’s to enter the bloodstream and cause inflammation. Just six weeks of making positive choices with regards to cooking techniques can dramatically reduce the inflammation, which leads to disease.

An acidic body environment is associated with cardiovascular risk factors and promoting a more alkaline body environment, through the drinking of green juices and the incorporation of vegetables and potassium into the diet, can change cardiovascular function – with every single meal. There can be a 14% change in endotoxin levels (associated with obesity) after eating a high AGE meal, and so it is important to remember that each meal you eat may have a positive or a negative effect on your health.

Cereals (including wheat) should be eliminated, along with dairy products, with an abundance of vegetables, herbal teas, and water being favoured instead. The idea is to lower the inflammation and to allow the immune system to function correctly as it should. Apples, onions, spinach, and broccoli all contain polyphenols, which promote positive physiology of the body. They reduce inflammation and lower the risk of CVD.

Drinking one glass of pomegranate juice per day can help open up arteries and increase blood flow, and beetroot, celery and spinach can all help vasodilation due to their nitrate content. Taking a prebiotic and a probiotic is recommended, to promote healthy levels of good bacteria, and a positive psychology and sense of purpose should be cultivated in order to lower stress levels and maintain an alkaline balance.

By choosing natural and healthful foods you can create your own positive health and energy, prevent disease, and actually reverse CHD. A plant-based diet is recommended, coupled with exercise, meditation and well-being as well.

Key Points:

1. Each meal that you eat has a profound effect on the way your body functions, within 20 minutes, and also cumulatively.

2. Choose natural, whole foods, and eat more alkaline foods (vegetables, almonds) and less acidic foods (meats, processed foods, sugars)

3. Cook using low heat methods, eat raw, steam, or slow cook.

4. Take prebiotics and probiotics daily (there are 25 billion probiotics in one serving of green vibrance or maximum vibrance).

5. Invest in yourself, your health, and your well-being.

‘Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food’.

Niyc xx

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Friday, 20 September 2013

Your Positive Personality

Self Awareness is the ability to know yourself and your values. It is the ability to be able to realise what it is that drives you, and engage in personal reflection in order to allow you to progress.

Becoming self aware is an essential step towards maximising your potential, and it allows you to engage in activities and relationships that are in line with the values you hold. Knowing yourself, and understanding yourself are the key to allow you to identify areas of strength, and areas for possible improvement.

One way of developing self awareness is to consider the personality traits that you hold and exhibit often. It is useful to think about what types of feelings and behaviours you believe to define you, and to reflect upon the accuracy of these beliefs in relation to how others see you.

This week I completed an exercise in feedback and self reflection, in order to demonstrate the value of taking the time to take stock of who you are. I presented a talk to an audience looking to help develop entrepreneurial spirit in the North East of England, and wanted to highlight the value in asking other people for feedback in relation to defining your pathway and goals.

I spent five minutes at the beginning of the week thinking about how I would introduce and describe myself to the audience in my presentation, in order to give an accurate representation and understanding of who I am. These are the words I came up with:

I then asked friends on Facebook to describe me in one word, and this is what they returned:

Many of the words I chose for myself do fit with how others see me - my reflections of hardworking and determined both carried through and were fed back by others. Likewise passionate was mentioned within both my personal reflection and within the feedback, and receiving so many positive comments, definitely suggested my reflection of feeling loved was an accurate one :)

Gaining feedback from others offered many more positive descriptions that I would have offered for myself. This will be true for most other people too - it often takes somebody on the outside looking in, for you to realise just how brilliant you are. From past experience of working with clients, many people feel uncomfortable, or even embarrassed when asked to talk about themselves in a positive manner. It is an effective tool then, to ask for feedback from others, to compliment your reflective process, and this is the concept I highlighted within my talk.

Try and take a few minutes to think about 5 words that you would use to describe yourself. Then ask five people you know to describe you in one word. Compare your findings and consider the idea that you might be being harder on yourself than you really need to be. Think about the positive aspects to your character, and think about how you can use those positives to drive you forward, whether it be taking a strength and using it within business, or simply realising a positive personality trait, and using it to enhance your personal well-being.

Learning to appraise yourself positively is just one aspect in the journey towards self awareness, and such an important one at that. If you can practice self love, and feel confident with recognising your positive qualities and describing them to others, you can see benefits in self esteem, confidence well-being, and more positive relationships as a result.

Thanks,

Niyc xx

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Wednesday, 11 September 2013

Apple Wednesdays!

For almost all of 2012 I ate nothing but apples on Wednesdays. Now before you think I am insane, let me explain why….

Apples are considered as one of the most perfect health foods available to us. They are consumed raw in their natural state, and contain an abundance of health giving nutrients, as well as a lot of fibre. The fibre in apples is known as pectin, and it is associated with the lowering of cholesterol, and the stabilization of blood sugar. Pectin also helps to keep us feeling fuller for longer, and reduces appetite and cravings.

Apples contain immune enhancing polyphenols in a water-soluble form, which means they are more bioavailable to the body and of greater positive affect once ingested. Polyphenols are most abundant in the skin of the apple, and are great for prevention of cancers and for better heart health.

Antioxidant and flavonoid quercetin is also present in apples, and acts as a natural anti-inflammatory, anti-histamine, and is thus an excellent nutrient for the prevention of cancers and other lifestyle diseases that are associated with inflammation.

Recent research has offered preliminary findings towards the supplementation of quercetin as being positively associated with increased willingness to voluntarily participate in exercise and physical activity. Current suggestions are in the region of 1000mg per day and with apples containing just 10mg of quercetin each, we would need to eat 100 per day to reach this level of supplementation. Luckily quercetin is available in capsule form, and is one of the supplements I choose to take daily, to compliment my existing nutrition programme. It is definitely an antioxidant that I will be keeping my eye on and would love to conduct research on in the future.

So why apple Wednesdays?

The case for apples as an amazing health food is clear, with at least one apple per day being recommended as a reliable way to lower blood fat levels. The reason that I chose to eat only apples for a full day each week is that apples are digested quickly and easily by the body, and so when eaten alone provide a great means of cleansing and detoxification. Apples pass through the digestive system in around 20-30 minutes and give your body a break from foods that may be more difficult to digest (such as animal proteins). However, when eaten alongside or after such foods, apples themselves can lead to bloating and digestive discomfort as a result of the food below them being digested more slowly, or because of sensitivity to the fructose sugars within the fruit. For this reason it is better that fruit be eaten alone, 30 minutes before a meal or 2 hours after a meal, or alongside blood stabilizing fats such as nuts and seeds, to optimize positive effects.

Choosing to eat only apples for one day per week not only allows for effective digestion, but also promotes more mindful eating, where we become more aware of what hunger feels like, and how our food smells and tastes. We can focus on getting things done, with the guesswork having been taken out of what to eat for the day, and often my most productive days would be realised on an apple Wednesday.

For me this method worked, and it allowed me to structure my week. Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays I would eat my normal diet of a post-workout protein shake, wild smoked salmon and spinach breakfast, tuna salad lunch and second lunch, another post-workout protein shake, and vegetable soup for tea. Wednesdays would be apples and only apples, these would always be organic and I would eat around 12 through the day. This doesn’t sound like a lot but I was definitely full all day long! Thursdays and Fridays I would return to my normal diet, with Saturday involving healthy morning and then a cheat afternoon. Including an apple Wednesday into my week allowed me to maintain a healthy diet and fat loss routine, kept me focused for the days when I chose not to eat fruit, and allowed me to remain productive and mindful of what I put into my body.

Apple detoxes are often recommended as a short-term weight loss solution, and they do work, although are not for everybody. Do consult a medical healthcare professional before choosing to embark on any new diet regime and be aware that detoxing may have negative side effects.

Feel free to get in touch with any questions you might have - my email is below.

Thanks,

Niyc xx

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