I love answering questions on Instagram. Helping people directly is so much fun. Here are all my latest answers to my followers. If you have a question, follow me @mindoverbody.me and ask me yourself. I'm always looking for an interesting issue to research.
I have a question for you...what vitamin for lowering cholesterol do you recommend? I have fam history of heart disease and have been told Policosinol and red yeast rice together will work or chitosol. What do you recommend? Thanks! @mindoverbody.me
Red Yeast Rice, be sure and look for a good brand. If you take it, have your blood tested regularly.
No one thing is a magic solution, it should really begin with lifestyle changes. These include losing weight if you're overweight, and changing your diet to emphasize vegetables and fruits. Remember to always consult your doctor before taking any supplements. I am just suggesting what you should ask your doctor about. Lots of soluble fiber (leafy greens, apple, beans, ground flax etc). Limit refined carbs (chips, white bread, soda). Green tea and fresh garlic daily, whole oats, pea protein, CoQ10 and good fish oil, Flax Seed, Niacin (B vitamin), Sterols/Stanols. I would NOT recommend Policosanol suppiments- It’s often combined with crazy ingredients, making the effect unpredictable!
What advice do you have for a beginner regarding good nutrition?
Basing your diet on whole foods is an extremely effective but simple strategy to improve health and lose weight. I always advise increasing amounts of leafy greens and vegetables in your diet. Researchers found that a gene responsible for a healthy gut and body responds to the food you eat - specifically leafy green vegetables. Its hard for us to eat enough leafy greens so I include them in my smoothies twice daily. Also sprouts are a "super" food that many overlook.
Stay away from sugar, gluten and dairy for health, beautiful skin and hormonal balance.
Hi lovely, do you recommend having a healthy smoothie for dinner as an after-dinner smoothie or should i completely replace my dinner with the smoothie? And if I replace dinner and just do a smoothie instead, can you suggest one that increases metabolism and helps to burn belly fat? :) Hope that's not a lot of questions!
For increased metabolism and burning belly fat I would try Intermittent Fasting. There are different strategies and I would start with moving your breakfast later and later each day until you can wait to eat your breakfast at 11am. Try rotating leafy green and protein smoothies for breakfast. Check my bio for a link to my favorite recipes!
Eat dinner at 8 pm at the latest. Intermittent fasting is a lot easier than dieting and has a numerous of health benefits, including weight loss, reducing belly fat, training the function of your cells, genes and hormones. It also can reduce insulin resistance.
Since I'm new and just learning about your page, Which I happen to love by the way, it is so informative....Where do you obtain most of your information from?
Thank you, dear! From my school's books and programs, also from many wonderful books and research articles. I started reading while dealing with my own health problems. I talk about it on my website on my About page.
What do you know about CLA or safflower oil as a supplement? Is there such a thing as taking too many supplements?
I remember you asking me this question before, sorry for the late reply. Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) is a contender for the weight-loss miracle pill. CLA is a naturally occurring fatty acid found in meat and dairy products. It is also a popular dietary supplement that is sold with claims of helping people lose fat, maintain weight loss, retain lean muscle mass, and control type 2 diabetes.
Sometimes people are so obsessed with specific nutrients that they forget about the benefits the original, natural source. Sometimes a combination of nutrients are necessary to unlock the awesome, healing power of food and when you are missing something it loses benefits and potency. Supplements can cause fat loss, but the effects are so small and unreliable, I don’t think it makes a big difference. Big doses of CLA supplements can even cause some health problems. In my opinion losing just a few pounds isn’t worth the risk of liver or metabolic problems.
Several kinds of meat naturally contain CLA. Chicken and pork contain only small amounts of CLA, while beef, ground turkey, and lamb are a more significantly source. Vegetarians or vegans can get CLA from white button mushrooms and pomegranate seed oil. Some vegetable oils, including safflower and sunflower oils, also contain CLA. I personally don't eat meat and I don't like vegetable oils. Unlike butter or coconut oil, these vegetable oils can’t be extracted just by pressing or natural processes. They must be chemically removed, deodorized, and altered. These are some of the most chemically altered foods in our diets, yet they are promoted as healthy.
The benefits from CLA come from natural sources, not supplements. So if you plan on loading up on CLA, get it from whole, unprocessed foods!
I would love to learn more about healthy hormones for women!
I am going to post on this subject regularly on my Blog in a Hormones category. Also, my free Ebook is coming out shortly, check back soon!
My niece is 11 years old. She's overweight. What would you suggest we give her to shed some of the weight. The weight has affected her right limb.
Does she have any medical condition? If not I would start with adding more leafy greens, vegetables, fruits and legumes (like lentils and chickpeas) into her diet – just whole foods in general. Its easier to say than do with children. So I suggest making good tasting, naturally sweet green smoothies and protein smoothies. Start every meal with a little, colorful, fun looking salad. Exclude all inflammatory foods: sugar, gluten, and refined carbs (crackers, white bread, doughnuts) from her diet. Try to limit dairy intake, and find raw, organic, grass fed milk and milk products. Goat or sheep's milk are healier dairy products. Try coconut water instead of sodas. Cook with coconut oil instead of vegetable oils. Unlike butter or coconut oil, vegetable oils can't be extracted just by pressing or natural separation. They must be chemically processed.
I have a sensitive stomach, and I've been looking to do a detox diet to clear out any toxin in my lower abdomen, what are your thoughts on what I should do? I know you're not a doctor per se, but would love your opinion?
My Ebook containing two week plant based detox program is coming out soon. It will give you a pretty good jump start. So stay tuned! I would exclude all inflammatory foods - sugar, gluten, and refined carbs (crackers, white bread, doughnuts) from your diet. Also, avoid all vegetable oils. Unlike butter or coconut oil, these vegetable oils can't be extracted through natural processes. These are some of the most chemically altered foods in our diets. Add a protein smoothie for breakfast and a warm salad before each meal. Eat a cup of cultured veggies (like kimchi or sauerkraut).
Eating carbs and proteins separately can help you detox and take a load off your digestive system. (Even supposedly healthy sushi is not an ideal combo of fish protein and rice carbs. I will make some posts about optimal food combinations, it can do wonders for your body and help you detox.
Intermittent Fasting can also provide amazing results. This technique is a lot easier than dieting and has a numerous of health benefits including weight loss, detox, changing the function of cells, genes and hormones. It also makes you look younger and live longer.
[Can you recommend] 3 foods that help so much with weight loss..(Asking for a friend)
Anti inflammatory foods. stomach problems?
I also have a sensitive system... IBS... and for some reason green smoothies are too harsh. Also, what are some good plant combinations that include all the amino acids... other than the obvious rice and beans.
Remember that all plant-based foods can form complete proteins within the body once ingested. Doesn't matter what kind of protein you eat, your body takes it apart for amino acids and builds new proteins, so complete proteins are kind of a myth. Any single whole, natural plant food (or a combination) would provide all of the essential amino acids and not just the minimum requirements.
In last question you said about dream weight and when the body stop losing weight. I want to know how we can break it and force our body to start losing weight again? Thanks
Right, lets discuss Inflammation. Eating often for high metabolism is a myth. Intermittent Fasting and HIIP training (High Intensity Interval Training) help your body burn more calories.
Intermittent Fasting is a lot easier than dieting and has numerous health benefits including weight loss, reducing belly fat, changing the function of cells, genes and hormones. It also can reduce insulin resistance and help you balance your hormones.
High intensity interval training combines short, high intensity bursts of exercise, with slow, recovery phases repeated throughout one short 15–20 minute session. Torturous marathons on the treadmill aren't the best way to exercise. It helps you burn calories and fat hours after your workout. Exercises span cardio, weights, jogs walks, cycling, you name it. It jump starts your metabolism and activates the creation of natural Human Growth Hormone.
Do you know any good meal prep recipes? I've been struggling to eat healthy in a hectic week
I share all my recipes in My Blog
How do you manage your time?
Its all about setting goals! I make a list of goals for the next day (a mix of easy and hard to accomplish.) It motivates me to get more done and feels good as I cross them out at the end of the day.
Hmmm, what motivates you to continue blogging?
All the nice words my followers say to me. I receive thank you notes in DM messages and they melt my heart. I enjoy when people comment and being able to share my information with others. People ask me a lot of questions and it feels so good to help in any way. I love, love my followers.
I've been reading conflicting evidence regarding soy milk. Please can you clarify if it is true that soy milk does more harm than good
I personally don't drink soy milk. I use Coconut Milk in place of dairy and soy. My main concerns are:
I believe if you can digest it easily you might see some benefits from it. If it is concentrated and highly processed it might not be that good for you. The most digestible way to include soy in your diet is with MODERATE amounts of tofu or tempeh, well cooked, preferably with fresh ginger. A small amount of miso, soy sauce, or tamari is also good on occasion.
