My Thoughts on Keto

Jenn
blue tape measuring on clear glass square weighing scale
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I am personally not a fan of Keto as a general weight loss diet.  I do think there are certain patient populations where it does benefit the patient – pediatric epilepsy for example.  In general I feel that eliminating whole food groups from the diet can be unhealthy and can lead to disordered eating patterns down the road.  Many people are successful on the keto diet initially but end up going back to their prior eating habits and regaining the weight that they lost.  That being said, there are people who are successful on Keto, and manage to maintain their weight loss and feel great.  Kudos to those individuals for sticking with it and working toward better health.  Individuals interested in exploring Keto should discuss the diet, risks and potential complications with their doctor and/or registered dietitian.

There is a lot of confusion with the terms ketosis and ketoacidosis.  They both cause ketone levels in the body to rise, but they are not the same.  Ketosis is generally safe for most individuals, and this is the goal of Keto (ketogenic diet).  The ketone level on this diet does not typically reach levels high enough to cause acidosis.  Ketoacidosis, on the other hand, is a very life-threatening complication of Type 1 Diabetes.

Before attempting keto or any diet please ask yourself a few questions.  Do you have an underlying inflammatory issue that might be contributing to your weight gain, or inability to lose weight?  What is your end goal?  Will you be able to maintain this eating pattern long term?

For short term, quick results these “fad type” diets typically work.  For more sustained results working with a registered dietitian to achieve your long term health goals is my recommendation.

 

Spotlight Oil – Vetiver

Jenn
white bed linen
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My six-year-old son was diagnosed with ADHD about 3 years ago.  He had such difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep.  His doctor recommended Melatonin for him and I had been using that with him for about 2 years consistently.  The prescribed dose for him was 1-3mg.  I started off initially with 1mg and it was effective.  I noticed that the longer the bottle was open the less effective the medication.  Toward the end of every month he would start waking up earlier and earlier.  As he grew his dose increased and we were needing to increase from 2 to 3mg.  I started to feel like I needed to find something else.  3mg was the highest recommended dose.  I was there….now what do I do?

I recently became more interested in using essential oils as a more holistic way of managing my health and to replace toxic chemicals that I was using in and around my house in health and beauty items and cleaning supplies.  I loved the potential of essential oils so much that I became a distributor for Young Living.

I started to search for oils that might help with sleep.  Enter Vetiver.  For me it was not love at first smell.  From the bottle Vetiver has a very woodsy, earthy aroma.  I’m more of a citrus/fresh/floral kinds of person…but this oil isn’t for me.  I put 4 drops in the diffuser, turned it on and let it run in my son’s room with the door closed for about an hour before bedtime.  We have a routine in our house – bath, book, bed.  We went in to the room to read and my son exclaimed, “What’s that smell?”  I thought…oh no.  But he said, “It smells good, like the woods”.  We read his book and then to my surprise there was no arguing, he just simply said, “goodnight” rolled over and went to sleep.  No melatonin, just Vetiver diffused in his room.  I was pleasantly surprised.  He slept through the night that night and for the next 4 nights.  We have been off of melatonin for the past month and only using Vetiver.  Most nights he is sleeping straight through and I actually have to wake him up.  He does still periodically wake up and come to my room but I think he’s waking up because he has to go to the bathroom.

Vetiver made me a believer.  We’ve also made other changes such as better diet, less screen time and the weather is nicer so there has been more outside time.  I definitely feel that Vetiver has helped.  I don’t use it every night but I love knowing I have it in my essential oil toolbox when I need it.

Vetiver is thick so if you are thinking about using it and are impatient waiting for the oil to come out of the bottle you may want to invest in a dropper bottle.

If you are interested in trying Vetiver or exploring options with other oils, I would love to help you.  You can reach out to me by commenting on this blog post, emailing me at sunkissedwellness@gmail.com or by visiting the Young Living website.  If you decide to place an order I would love your business – my Enroller ID/Sponsor ID is 16685171.

 

Choosing safe products – EWG Verified

Jenn
grocery cart with item
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It’s not easy to keep track of what chemicals, ingredients, etc. to avoid when choosing products to use in and around your home and on your body.  Many products that were considered safe when I was growing up, aren’t safe today.  Science continues to evolve and we learn more about ingredients and chemicals that may be toxic to our health.  I always feel horrible when something that I have chosen for my family winds up on someone’s list of products to avoid.  The EWG ( Environmental Working Group) is a non-profit group that helps consumers take the guesswork out of this daunting process.  They have developed a “mark” that is easy to identify and when you see this mark you know that the product has been evaluated and is free from toxic ingredients, it’s EWG Verified!

Over 1200 products carry this mark today.  Visit the EWG website by following the link above to read more about the “verified mark” and search for products that are safe for you and your family!  I’m so thankful for groups like this who help to take the guesswork out of shopping for safe products.

 

Clean Eating

Jenn
food salad healthy summer
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If I had a dime for every time a friend, family member or client asked me about a “diet for clean eating” I could definitely treat myself to a day of pampering (more on that in another post).

Clean eating isn’t (or shouldn’t be) a fad diet. Clean eating isn’t a diet at all as far as I’m concerned. It’s about making mindful, informed food choices.
It isn’t about eating everything raw and straight from the ground. It’s about reading food labels, choosing foods that are minimally processed, and knowing where your food comes from.

If you’ve been to the grocery store recently you have no doubt been overwhelmed by the daunting task of trying to figure out which product to buy. This list may help you to in choosing foods on your next visit to the grocery store.

1. Choose pesticide-free organic produce – wash all fresh fruits and vegetables before consuming. Choosing organic from EWG’s Dirty Dozen is a good place to start. You can save money by choosing regular from their Clean 15 list.
2. Choose minimally processed foods – foods in their natural form (such as whole grains), or as close to it as possible. Avoid long ingredient lists full of ingredients that you can’t pronounce or sound like chemicals. Avoid foods that contain nitrates, nitrates, phosphates, and aluminum.
3. Avoid artificial colors and flavors – reading labels is key. This was the first item I really started working on for my family. My son has sensory processing issues and artificial food colors really impact his behavior. Reading labels is key, avoiding the obvious red, blue and yellow FD&C dyes in addition to food that contains ingredients just listed as artificial color.
4. Limit added sugar – cut down on added sugars by limiting soda, cakes, pies, cookies, and candy. Added sugars are commonly found in foods that we typically consider “healthy” like yogurt, tomato sauce, and cereal. The American Heart Association recommends no more than about 25 grams per day for women and 36 grams per day for men.
5. Limit added salt – most Americans consume too much sodium (salt). The American Heart Association recommendation for sodium is less than  2300 mg per day for most of us and ideally 1500 mg especially for individuals with high blood pressure.
6. Choose healthy fats – While saturated and trans fats (the “bad” fats) can increase your risk of certain diseases, healthy fats can protect your brain and heart. Avoid foods with hydrogenated oils (trans fats) and don’t be fooled by labels that say “no trans fat”. This article from helpguide.org is an excellent resource for choosing healthy fats.

My suggestion would be to take small steps, trying to make all these changes at one time may be overwhelming. Prioritize the list based on your needs/desires and gradually incorporate all of the items that you would like to change.