Do you ever feel tired, dizzy, have shortness of breath, heart palpitations (awareness of your heart beat), headaches, or leg pains? These are all symptoms of Anemia which is one of the most common ailments affecting humans. It mainly affects women of child bearing age, intense exercisers, teenagers and young children, however all age groups are susceptible. Here are some important tips to ensure you are eating enough iron, and absorbing it properly.

Heme iron is a lot more absorb-able than non heme iron:

There are two types of iron. Heme iron is derived from animal sources such as red meat, where as non heme iron comes from plant sources such as chickpeas. Heme iron is more easily absorbed by the human body. You can affect the absorb-ability of iron by eating it with other vitamins, for example eating foods that contain vitamin C with iron, increases its absorb-ability. However eating calcium with iron decreases its absorb-ability.  Having some heme iron with your vegetables will increase the absorption of the non heme iron (For example you will absorb more iron from your spinach if you have some red meat with it).
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Tagged As: diet, energy, Iron, Meat, nutrition

photo credit: Pam Cantú

Did you know that fruits, veggies and fish are good for you? Yes, yes boring. We all know we should be getting 2-4 fruit, 5-7 veggies per day and 2 serves of fish per week. Tell me something I don’t know! How about this;

Cruciferous vegetables protect the body from nasty free radicals which cause everything harmful, from a wrinkle to cancer. Cruciferous veggies include cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussel sprouts.

Orange and yellow vegetables and fruit contain carotenoids and loads of vitamin A, which dramatically improve the immune system, and protect the eyes and skin. Try paw paw, apricot, pineapple, rock melon, pumpkin, carrot and oranges.

Green leafy vegetables are packed with folate and photo chemicals. They are one of the most nutrient dense, yet low calorie foods we have, are packed with minerals such as iron and vitamins such as vitamin K. In fact one cup of cooked dark greens will contain up to nine times the daily recommendation of vitamin K. In case you weren’t aware, vitamin K aids in regulating blood clots, reduces osteoporosis, and helps protect our joints from inflammatory diseases such as arthritis. Try baby spinach, rocket, Asian greens, silver beet, parsley.

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Tagged As: energy, nutrition

Have you ever noticed how some people can wake up and inhale sausages, eggs and bacon for breakfast and feel great, whilst a meal like that would make others feel tired and sleepy? Or when you eat that really healthy salad sandwich for lunch, but an hour later you are tired, sleepy and hungry? The fact is that everyone is different, so understanding and eating according to your metabolic type can have a massive effect on your energy levels and overall health.

Metabolic Types (MT). What are they? MT is based on a theory that people are either oxidative dominant or autonomic dominant which means that some people feel better on higher protein diets and others on higher carbs. Others need an even mix. Your individual MT greatly impacts how the body digests different foods.

How will MT affect you: Improved energy levels, effective weight loss, reduced bloating and improved sleeping patterns are just some of the results recorded after one month of eating right for your type. Another plus is that it can be adapted to fit in with other diets, or if you are not a “dieter” you can simply shift your protein and carbohydrate ratios to match your personal MT.

Take this great test to see what your MT type is. Some of the questions will challenge you and really make you think about how different foods make you feel.

Click here for the Metabolic Type test

And I would love to hear your feedback!

Tagged As: diet, energy, metabolic types, nutrition