My name is Jennifer Brand and I am a clinical nutritionist. I have a Bachelor’s degree in nutrition and dietetics, a Master’s degree in public health, a Master’s degree in nutrition, and I’m a certified nutrition specialist.
I specialize in childhood skin rashes like eczema, food allergies and sensitivities, and gut problems.
I see people of all ages struggling with chronic symptoms and health problems they can’t find relief from.
I help people connect the dots between these issues and their body’s need for nourishment.
Too often we try to address health problems and health in general by being restrictive, like with restrictive diets.
And this may seem counterintuitive based on what we’ve been led to believe, but this is the opposite of what we should be doing for optimal health and for getting relief from symptoms and health problems.
I want to plant this seed…
Do you put diesel fuel in your car? You might if it takes diesel. Or you use gasoline, or you charge it up nowadays. And if you don’t put the right fuel in, you’re not going anywhere…
Let’s start with some case studies.
First, there’s Vicki. Vicki is a 42-year-old woman, with a variety of skin complaints, and LOTS of stress. Her most troublesome problems were chicken skin, or keratosis pilaris, and a very painful rash around her mouth. She had been on an exclusively plant-based diet for about 1/2 her life. She had tried everything she could do on her own to resolve her health problems. And she also had seen conventional doctors and even some holistic practitioners without getting the results she was hoping for.
Let’s talk about Bobby, he was 4 when I started working with him, and he was reacting to absolutely everything he ate with skin rashes, and mood and behavior problems. He was on a very restricted diet for some time already to try to manage his symptoms. His mother was scared half to death of him eating many different foods, and she removed more and more foods as his symptoms continued to get worse. The diet he was on, and the food restrictions, were not helping him get better.
Then there’s 1 ½ year old Janet with eczema covering her little body. She scratched so much, especially at night that she wasn’t sleeping and her parents had to keep her in an eczema suit and mittens so she wouldn’t scratch herself raw. Her mom was afraid of food, and had restricted many different foods from Janet’s diet, and she was still having skin rash flares in spite of this. Janet also started to exhibit disordered eating habits, yes at 1 ½ years old. This happened in the form of over eating, and eating large quantities of food for fear of deprivation, which is a natural instinct we all have to avoid starvation. This can happen when we either physically or subconsciously believe we won’t get the nourishment we need.
And then there was Jennie at 46 years old. She’d been struggling with gut symptoms since her late 20s, and she cut food after food out of her diet to manage her symptoms. Her symptoms didn’t get any better. Over time she lost more and more weight, and felt worse and worse. Over the course of a particular week she felt more tired than usual, and like she was coming down with something. She woke up one morning during that week ill. So weak and dizzy she could hardly walk. What a horrible flu, she thought. After 3 days of her flu not getting any better, she went to urgent care. She didn’t have the flu. She was literally starving and her body was shutting down. Years and years of diet restrictions to try to resolve her symptoms led to fear of food and disordered eating habits, and some very serious health consequences beyond her initial problems.
In all of these cases these folks were led to believe certain foods were bad.
When removing the first round of foods didn’t work, more foods were removed from the diet.
And here’s what ended up happening. The health problems didn’t get any better. In fact they were getting worse.
Here’s what you need to know. There’s a tendency to blame food. Yes nutrition is important, but it’s not the entire story. When you focus on diet alone to resolve health problems, there’s a big hole in your plan. That’s because food is not the root cause of the problem.
I’m going to share what you do need to know about nutrition so you can function and thrive, and get back on track to true healthy eating and overall optimal health.
I know it seems counterintuitive based on what we are led to believe but the more foods you remove from the diet the worst things can get.
Today we're going to talk about food as fuel…
Why we need to stop the diet mentality and focus on nutrition rather than diet…
And what you can do to nourish your body…
I’m passionate about this subject.
The first, and most important thing to understand is...
Your body runs off nutrients from foods you eat.
Nutrients are your fuel.
If those nutrients are missing, imbalances develop, and symptoms and health problems follow.
Without fuel your body can’t do what it’s supposed to do, which is grow, develop, repair, function, and thrive.
Essentially, when your system doesn’t have the fuel it needs, it starts to break down.
This is basic biochemistry.
Common reasons I see that nutrients (fuel) are missing are:
They are not being included in the diet. This goes beyond what we think an unhealthy diet is. Of course we think fast food and processed foods, but know this.. any diet that restricts or eliminates whole, real foods, food groups, or categories of foods puts you at risk. Elimination diets to manage symptoms and health problems, and “healthy” diets can fall into this category.
Your gut health is impaired so you’re not able to digest, absorb and use nutrients from the foods you eat. This means your perfect diet won’t matter much. The fact is you aren’t what you eat, you are what your body can do with what you eat.
Chronic physical, chemical, or mental/emotional stress burns through nutrients and steals them from the other needs of your body.
Physical stress includes restricted diets, over exercise, physical trauma, impaired gut health, illness and disease of any kind
Chemical stress can come from prescription medication use, environmental pollutants and toxins, pesticides and processed foods
Emotional stress includes personal, financial, and work related concerns
Kids might not have work, financial or relationship stress but they can feel yours
Think of it this way. In order to build a house you need to have a strong foundation, and if your foundation is full of cracks your house is going to fall down. We can compare this to your body in that if you don’t have a strong foundation, you’re going to have health problems. Nutrition, gut problems, and chronic stress are examples of cracks in your Foundation.
Today we’re starting with number 1, nutrition, stopping the diet mentality and expanding your shrinking diet so your body has the fuel it needs to do what it’s supposed to do.
Without proper nourishment, you’ve got no chance of meeting your goals to be healthy in general, or resolving your chronic health problems, and I see a lot of people trying to resolve them by dieting.
Let’s talk about more reasons why we don’t want a diet.
95% of people feel like they’ve failed at dieting.
When we restrict nutrients that our bodies need, we get cravings.
Your body’s main energy source, and the fastest energy liberating source is carbohydrates/sugars. When your body needs fuel you will crave these foods. This is a sign that your body isn’t getting what it needs. And what it needs isn’t simple carbs and sugar! This is just your body’s way of saying “hey there you, I need fuel and I need it now.”
Remember, restricting foods, food groups, and categories of foods from your diet takes away important fuel sources.
Over time this leads to nutrient deficiency of course, but before we get that much in ‘debt’ if you will, you can have nutrient insufficiency. And I see this a lot.
If you’re not in a state of deficiency, you can still have symptoms and health problems with insufficiency and this doesn’t show up in your lab tests so you won’t feel well, labs look normal and you start to believe your symptoms and health problems are all in your head. Conventional testing doesn’t pick up insufficiency. There is functional testing that does, and can help identify what your body needs to run optimally, not just skate by.
We are led to believe that certain foods, food groups, and categories of food are the enemy and we become fearful of eating them which leads to disordered eating habits and eating disorders. This is especially detrimental for children who are growing and developing and desperately need nourishment. Disordered eating habits develop in childhood so you may be setting your little one up for an unhealthy relationship with food that will follow them into their future.
Have you noticed over time the more and more diets that pop up on the scene, the more unhealthy our society has become? I do not see this as a coincidence!
There are a variety of adverse effects from dieting and the list here is just a small sample.
Your cravings can arise due to low blood sugar levels, and this can create mood swings, issues with concentration and memory, and even anxiety. And of course your body needs nutrients to make energy.
Dieting actually can make you gain weight and for more than one reason.
Because you are nutrient and fuel deprived you will crave foods (like calorie dense carbs) and end up overeating.
Also when your body isn’t nourished your metabolism slows down and your body will start hoarding rather than burning.
Your body also will not be able to maintain muscle mass so your body composition will be more unfavorable (less lean body mass/muscle mass and more fat mass).
Again, your body runs off of nutrients found in foods you eat. Those nutrients are the building blocks for everything down to the cellular level including neurotransmitters and hormones which regulate your mood, stress, and sleep, and hunger and fullness cues.
Do you find yourself thinking about food all the time? That means your body needs fuel, it needs nourishment!
So when you can’t stay on your diet because you start having issues like these, it certainly is not your fault!
This isn’t about willpower.
Your body was not meant for this type of abuse!
So rather than saying 95% of people fail at their diet attempts, the truth is diets fail us 95% of the time because they promote an unattainable and false ideal, that doesn’t actually solve the problems you’re trying to address in the first place!
Let’s talk about macronutrients. I often hear of folks eliminating or reducing one or more of these from their diets. This refers to fats, carbs and proteins. And I like to throw in cholesterol because there’s still a lot of confusion about it.
Also, I’m going to use the term essential a lot, this means you need to get that nutrient from your diet because your body can’t make it. Your body then uses essential nutrients to make others.
Fats
Fats are a source of energy, which your body can also store for later use
Fats are important for maintaining healthy skin and other tissues, and they make up your cell membranes.
Fats are needed for absorbing fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K so you can use them
Essential fatty acids necessary for growth, development and cell functions
Our brains contain large amounts of essential fats
Particularly important for little ones and their development
Certain fatty acids like omega 3s are essential, and come from healthy fatty foods like salmon and other fatty fish, as well as flaxseed
Healthy fats should never be restricted especially in children!
Protein
Protein is needed for building and repairing every structure in your body down to the cellular level
We don’t store it like we do fats and carbs, so we need to eat it every day to replenish stores and keep tissues from breaking down.
Kids need more than adults per pound of body weight because they are “building” which means growing and developing, quickly
When we are on a healing journey we need even more protein because your body needs to maintain normal function and repair itself.
There are 9 essential amino acids which come from protein rich foods like animal products.
Animal proteins are complete proteins, which means they contain all the essential amino acids.
Plant protein sources contain some essential amino acids but not all of them, and therefore they are not complete proteins.
When under stress and in times of illness there are amino acids your body normally makes but can’t under these circumstances.
In this case they need to come from your diet too and are called conditionally essential.
Animal proteins contain these conditionally essentials too, plants do not.
Carbohydrates
Carbs are a source of energy, and your body uses carbs as fuel, and to spare protein
Cholesterol (fat) is needed for
The structure of your cell membranes, it is a fat
In order for your body to make vitamin D
It’s necessary for the synthesis of hormones including cortisol, estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone
It forms the myelin sheath that protects your nerve cells and allows them to conduct signals
It’s needed to make bile acids so you can digest food
Most of the cholesterol you have is made by your body (~75-80%). If you eat more, your body will make less, and if you eat less, your body makes more!
I see cholesterol levels too low in so many clients. Yes, too low! When that’s the case, you’re going to have issues with all of these functions.
There are many other caveats here with cholesterol, basically standard lipid panels don’t tell a complete story. This is your testing that gives you total cholesterol, HDL and LDL values. Rather, getting an expanded lipid profile is a better indicator of what’s happening with your blood lipids, and there are a variety of other lab markers that can help assess cardiovascular risk more accurately than our standard lipid panels.
Vitamins and minerals are our micronutrients, and many are cofactors for enzymes in your body.
Enzymes are proteins, and they make biochemical reactions in your body happen. Those reactions do everything from making energy, to building cells, tissues, and organs, to repairing structures, everything your body is able to do.
In order to work, those enzymes require vitamins and minerals. This is what makes those vitamins and minerals cofactors.
Most vitamins and minerals are essential which means they come from your diet.
Your body can make some vitamins in small amounts, but not enough to meet your body’s needs.
Again, essential means you need to get it from your diet because your body can’t make it.
Your body uses essential nutrients to make others. So if you’re not eating essential nutrients or in many cases those conditionally essentials, you’re going to be lacking in many others as well.
ALSO KNOW THAT ALL NUTRIENTS WORK TOGETHER IN THE BODY! This is why we want to get them from food first, because they are combined in food the way nature intended, which is also how our biochemistry works. When we supplement with individual nutrients they can push others out of balance, causing insufficiency and deficiency. This doesn’t happen with food.
Let’s talk about what eating whole real foods means.
We start with drinking water, at least 6 to 8 glasses per day for adults. Kids need the number of 8oz cups equal to their age. This does not apply to infants and breastfed babies, who get all they need from breast milk preferably, or formula. Rule of thumb, you can introduce water when baby starts solid foods, around 6 months old.
Liquid from other beverages and foods counts towards fluid intake, however there really isn’t a substitute for plain old water.
Load up on non starchy vegetables, they should fill ½ your plate at meals. Think leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and other cruciferous vegetables.
Non starchy vegetables are great sources of fiber, which is good for digestion and detoxification.
Go for a rainbow assortment. Different colors contain different phytonutrients (which are natural chemicals in plants that are also antioxidant and anti-inflammatory).
Phytonutrients also can enter the nucleus of your cells and positively impact your DNA (food is information).
Yellow and orange have carotenoids, good for eyes and vision. Purple/blue have anthocyanins, good for brain health. Green has isothiocyanates, protective against cancer.
Include fermented foods in your diet.They are natural sources of probiotics which are good for your overall health, because they support a healthy gut.
We won’t get into this today but know that health begins in the gut. It’s where 80% of your immune system is so problems in your gut can negatively impact your entire body. This is why gut problems are one of the foundational cracks we address in your health.
Examples of probiotic foods include sauerkraut, kimchi, and other fermented vegetables, as well as yogurt and kefir.
It's important to add healthy fats! We can add in nuts and seeds, olive and avocado oils, avocado, olives, grass fed butter and ghee, coconut oil, and foods like whole eggs, and fatty fish like wild caught salmon (essential omega 3s) are examples of foods rich in healthy fats.
We also discussed the importance of protein. Include Grass fed, pastured, free range, and wild caught organic animal products. Remember animal proteins contain all essential and conditionally essential amino acids, they are complete proteins.
Plant based protein sources include tofu, tempe, lentils, chickpeas, nuts and seeds, quinoa, chia seeds, and beans.
With plant proteins you need to combine them with other foods (beans and rice are an example) in order to make them a complete protein, so that you get the essential and conditionally essential amino acids your body needs and can’t make.
Starchy vegetables are a good source of complex carbohydrates and they also are good fiber sources which helps with digestion and detoxification.
Examples include sweet potatoes, yams, squash, and other root vegetables like carrots.
Complex carbs are the ones we want to eat, rather than simple ones like white bread, white rice, white flours, and pastas.
Other complex carb examples are quinoa, brown rice, steel gut gluten free oats, buckwheat, and other gluten free grains. Gluten is inflammatory for the gut in everyone, symptoms or not. It also has no nutritional value and there are plenty of naturally gluten free options to choose from. Avoid gluten free products which are just processed foods.
Fiber by the way is prebiotic which means it feeds your good gut bacteria. Probiotics on the other hand introduce good gut bacteria into your gut. Both are important for your overall health because they support a healthy gut.
Eat low sugar fruits like berries, and granny smith apples. As is the case with vegetables, go for a rainbow assortment! Different colors are due to different healthy natural plant chemicals.
Herbs and spices are anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, so use freely and liberally!
Yes, dark chocolate is on the list! 70% cocoa and higher is rich in magnesium and antioxidants. 1 oz is a serving.
When we put the right fuel in our engine and focus on nutrition rather than diet, magic happens!
We stop feeling like we are failing.
We don’t have sugar/carb cravings and that afternoon low blood sugar fatigue/energy crash.
Your body has the fuel it needs to do what it’s supposed to do.
You are able to enjoy food and eating rather than fear it.
You won’t be constantly obsessed with food, thinking about it all the time.
And since your body has the fuel it needs, you’ll have improved memory, cognition, mood, attention, focus, energy, be able to maintain your weight pretty effortlessly, improve your body composition (have more muscle and less fat), and you’ll have less stress and better sleep!
Sounds like a win-win to me!
If you do have chronic symptoms and health problems, it can be a lot more complicated, but know that it does start with making sure your body is nourished, and addressing the basics as to why your body may not be getting the nourishment it needs.
It’s about filling in cracks in your foundation, and making sure you:
Expand your diet, so that nutrients are taken in!
If you do have symptoms and health problems, also explore:
Gut problems. Make sure your gut is working, so you can digest and absorb those nutrients for your body to use them; and
Address stress, which causes nutrient depletion
Remember, your body runs off of nutrients from foods you eat, and when they are missing, imbalances develop and the system breaks down.
Let’s go over some strategies for making better choices…
Shopping
Shop the perimeter, start with produce
Stay out of the isles
Don’t take your kids with you if you don’t need to!
Meal prep
Take the time to cook in bulk
Make it a family event
Use a crock pot or Instant Pot
Breakfast
Have leftovers for breakfast
Think outside the cereal box, breakfast can be a vegetable and meat/protein
My first meal is often roasted Brussels sprouts and chicken
My favorite dinner is eggs
Leftovers
Eat them for breakfast
Take them to work for lunch
Menus
Order a side salad or veggies instead of fries
Get dressings on the side
Get salads with oil and vinegar dressing
Use lemon juice and oil
Go for grilled and not fried
Bunless burgers and sandwiches, or lettuce wraps
Go for corn over flour tortillas
Bypass sauces and marinades, they are usually loaded with sugar
Food combining
Eat a protein and fat source with each meal to balance blood sugar, and avoid getting HANGRY
You’ll stay fuller longer, and feel much better throughout the day
Healthy snacks
Hard boiled eggs
Avocado
Nuts and seeds
Nut and seed butters
Raw veggies
Whole fruits
Bars like Larabars, Epic Bars
I bet you’re wondering about Vicki, Bobby, Jennie and Janet…
With Vicki, the woman with keratosis pilaris and the painful rash around her mouth, one of the first things we did was talk about expanding her diet. As her diet expanded, and she did start eating animal products again, chicken was the first introduction, her skin conditions began to resolve, and so did some of her stress (remember nutrients also build neurotransmitters and hormones which play roles in our mood, and with anxiety and stress). She is on a supplement protocol as well based on testing we did, but we implemented diet changes first, as well as some stress management techniques, and didn’t start the supplements until she began making lifestyle changes.
Know that supplements can be important for helping to restore imbalances due to long term deficiency, but you can’t out supplement a diet lacking in nutrients!
With Bobby, mom removed a lot of foods from his diet and his skin rash, mood and behavior got worse. As scary as it was for mom, she began to introduce foods into his diet again. Mom noticed immediate improvements in his mood and behavior. And within a few weeks, as more foods were reintroduced all of his symptoms were significantly improved, and he stopped breaking out in rashes. Bobby did have gut problems as well (we conducted testing and found gut infections), so we also had him on a gut healing protocol, but what made the biggest, first dent to improving his symptoms was expanding his diet.
And Janet, the little girl with eczema and disordered eating habits… we stopped taking foods out of her diet, started to add them back in, and did some testing. We found some significant infections and imbalances in her gut, and we are actually just getting started on her protocol to resolve those issues to get her health back on track.
Jennie… the 46 year old woman who became so caught up in controlling her diet because her symptoms were controlling her life, literally had no idea her diet turned into an eating disorder. Getting sick, and that visit to urgent care ended up saving her life. It’s taken her about 3 years to put on some weight, and eat a varied diet again, and yes she sought professional help. As her body healed and became well nourished, her gut symptoms resolved, and she’s giving this talk. THANK YOU.
The morale of the story is, don’t blame food. It’s not the root cause of the problem. We need it, it’s provides the fuel we need for our bodies to function.
Now you have an understanding of why we want nutrition and not a diet.
Why nutrition is important for you to thrive.
What it means to eat whole real foods, and how to make healthier choices!