Q and A coming soon

As the title suggests, I will soon be organising a Q and A session which I will post over on youtube.

I have a few questions I regularly get asked but if you would like to add to the list please get in touch.  No matter how simple your questions seem, there might well be someone else thinking exactly the same thing!


We all know the season has arrived when we still would love to look amazing in the little black dress,    feel less bloated,  wish we had more energy to dance the night away...
We also know that January the 1st will see us full of promises to ourselves to make things different.  I am here to help.  Should you need it,  I will be focusing so much on my online membership site this coming few months.  Want to know more?  Click here.  

Plus, the first 10 to sign up will get a free 121 coaching session with me worth £60 (while stocks last!).

So get in touch with your questions via email and let me know what you would like to see me post next year.  That's right, I'm organising 2016 right now!

What foods cause histamine intolerance?

Recently, I have been looking more and more into the chemistry of foods!

C5H9N3 is histamine!

How about that?

Ok, lets get down to the stuff you really want to know about!

Could you have histamine intolerance and what is it?

Histamine is a chemical compound which occurs naturally in foods.  It is involved in a local immune response as well as regulating physiological function in the gut.  The body is super clever! It does all this because we need it to.  It also works as a neurotransmitter. Basically sending messages from one place to another.  So,  we need it.  What we don't need, is an intolerance to it!

If we have an intolerance to it, this won't stop us from eating it but there are ways to limit what we consume at once in order to prevent a reaction.  It's like filling a cup with water.  A little bit in the bottom won't make the cup overflow.  Keep filling it (like filling your body with histamine) and it will flow over the top (cause a reaction).

Diamine Oxidase is an enzyme we all have which breaks down any histamine we consume from food containing the chemical compound histamine.  However, some of us can have a low level of the enzyme.  This, coupled with eating too much histamine food, we can suffer a reaction.   These can be allergy type reactions which cause
* Rashes
* Itching
* Sneezing
* Diarrhoea
* Vomiting
* Headaches

These high histamine containing foods are:

• Champagne, wine, beer, cider and other fermented drinks and spirits
• Sauerkraut and other pickled foods
• Vinegar and foods containing it such as dressings, pickles, mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard
• Tofu and soya sauce
• Parmesan cheese and other cheeses
• Sausages and other processed meats (ham, salami, gammon, bacon)
• Mushrooms and quorn
• Tinned and smoked fish (tuna, salmon, herring) and crustaceans
• Prepared salads
• Tinned vegetables
• Dried fruit, seeds, nuts
• Yeast extract, yeast
• Chocolate, cocoa, cola

Many foods which are not high in histamine can stimulate the release of histamine in our mast cells in our body.  These are a type of immune cell.  These foods include:

• Bananas
• Tomatoes
• Strawberries
• Nuts
• Peanuts
• Shellfish
• Egg white
• Chocolate
• Pumpkin
• Spinach
• Aubergines
• Avocado
• Papayas
• Kiwi
• Pineapple
• Mango
• Raspberry
• Tangerines
• Grapefruits
• Red prunes
• Pea
• Spices

Try skin prick testing?  No,  this will not show a reaction.  The IgE food allergy indicator  will not show as this is not what causes the reaction at all.  

The best way forward is to try a low histamine diet for a couple of weeks.  Track everything you eat and eliminate the foods above.  Then also track your symptoms, feelings, sleep patterns and any reactions.  

As with any elimination diet,  you need to be aware of nutrient deficiency.  Therefore re-introduction of the foods is paramount.  Take one item per 3 days and slowly reintroduce them to your diet.  Keep tracking! This is super important.  

I'd love to know how you get on with this if you are a sufferer.  

Wishing you the very best of health. 

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Recommended books for your Lusher Life: http://astore.amazon.co.uk/lusherlifefavouritebooks-21

Email: lifenutrition@virginmedia.com

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Is it really all about calories?

 So often,  we take conflicting advice.  It's tricky to know if it really is all about energy in = energy out.

Will creating a calorie deficit really help you lose weight?

Or is it something else?

After several years of watching videos, reading books and journals,  I have drawn the conclusion that it is in fact all about energy.  

We have lots of information about energy dense food these days.  Another blog will follow about this.  But in this blog, the question is,  will creating a calorie deficit really enable you to lose weight?

Some believe the following the Atkins diet is better.   Cutting out the carbohydrates.  What actually happens while on this diet may surprise you.  By eating more protein - you feel fuller for longer.  This will keep you satisfied and less hungry for quite some time.  Also,  not having such great sugar crashes after refined carbohydrates.  In return,  you will consume less calories and create an energy deficit.

Alongside this,  there is also a mental shift that you can actually still have foods which may be banned on other 'diets' and therefore lets you believe you are not in a diet mentality and feeling more positive which is likely to keep your attention longer and prevent 'throwing in the towel'.

So my suggestion which I share will all my clients is this:  Download the free app called www.myfitnesspal.com and enter your details.  Simply, this gives you a daily allowance of calories which creates a healthy deficit for you.  You can track your food intake on your phone throughout the day and watch the excess fat burn off at a healthy rate of approximately 2lb per week.  You will be safe in the knowledge that this will be excess fat rathe than water weight or muscle mass.

Wishing you the very best of health.

How a client left me exhausted

As promised from the last blog,  I am going to share with you the mentality of weight loss clients who are very hard to 

1. Believe
2. Change their mentality
3. Help to lose weight

Just last week, I saw a client who was morbidly obese.  She was a wonderful lady and took great care in her appearance.  From this, I concluded that surely, weight loss would be of importance to her.  As she sat in my chair which was difficult for her,  she began to tell me all the best ways you can lose weight.  I sat for a few minutes in awe of her wonderful advice.  She certainly knew a few things.  yet, many she got wrong.

You must eat 3 meals a day. Or even 6 smaller ones.

Is this right?  Well,  you must consistently fuel the body in order to keep the metabolism active and stop it from becoming sluggish.  Not too sure about 6 meals.  That one is open for abuse by many clients who would eat 6 dinner type meals each day.  That’s not the idea.

Then she proceeded to tell me how she doesn’t eat much.

This is a trap that many overweight clients fall into.  Often they will not eat all day but consume more than their calorie allowance just before bed.  This lady however was different.  It took a good 5 minutes of justification for her to let me know why she made her bacon sandwich with 3 slices of bread instead of the usual 2 for breakfast.  This suggests she is in denial.  As many clients are.  

There is always a reason that the ‘cutting down’ starts tomorrow.

Then, after ‘trying everything’ they give up because they are over 50 now and it gets harder so they might as well stay like that.  I get frustrated.  I want to remind this lady that she will live longer and healthier if she loses weight now.  Giving up is like not going on holiday as you are waiting to die.

Chances are they haven’t tried everything.  If you create a calorie deficit for a period of time,  you will lose weight.  Assuming no other health issues such as thyroid.  This can easily be checked by the doctor.

There are any ways to get help to lose weight.  See your GP and ask for referral to a dietitian.  This can sometimes have a waiting list,  so you could invest in some private consultations if you prefer.  GP can also now prescribe you a number of weeks at a weight loss group.  

Yet all of this said,  the work of losing weight is all down to you.  People like me can help, for sure, but it does come down to you wanting it bad enough that you will not only try but you will do everything it takes to succeed.  Sometimes people say it can be really hard.  I have a few tips up my sleeve which can help you.  Feel free to email me to find out more for free and also follow this blog.

You will be surprised to find that it can be as easy as keeping a log of what you eat and you can still have some treats too.  Want to know more?

How food can change your body shape

How food can change your body shape

This might surprise some of you reading this.  There are many people who don’t understand that what they eat can change the weight and shape of their body.

A few years ago I worked for a world wide weight loss company and it never ceased to amaze me how many new members would join and not understand how they came to gain weight in the first place.  Educating those members was actually the easy bit. One lady asked me,

“So, if I change the way I eat, I could actually lose weight?”

Aha moment.  Yes I explained to her the advantages of why you should be at a healthy weight and all, including moving more and getting around from A to B just that little bit faster might all help.  So in other words

Calories in should be less than calories out and there you will see an energy deficit.  This will allow you to tap into energy reserves which have been stored as fat.  Hence losing weight and also creating a leaner body mass in the long run.

Can you guess the members who were the tricky ones to educate?  Sign up to this blog to find out in the next blog where I will tell you the flabbergasting facts of a client who left me feeling exhausted.

Juicing - how to do it!

Finally, a new Youtube video.  I'm so excited to share this video with you.  After many technical issues it seems I've cracked it so please hop over and subscribe to my channel and you can help me to grow this into a lovely way to share the knowledge.



Summer is a fantastic time to get juicing.  So refreshing and hydrating.  Anyway, go ahead and watch the little film and you will see so much more!

Get all your juicing supplies here! 

What is the 80/20 rule?

Here's the thing.  When I posted this photo on my social media,  so many readers had a big AHA moment.

Amazing statement.  One lovely lady, Yvonne, suggested people fail on typical diets as they don't feel they can have a treat.  This is what is an issue with 'diets' that you 'go on' for a quick fix.  Really, there needs to be a life change.

That sounds so off putting and frightening.  Which is why there are far better sales in:
"lose a stone in a week" type of marketing.  However this isn't looking at your health as a whole and won't make you feel better in the long term.

So what can you do if you have the motivation and the wish to make a long term life change?

Well, many health gurus are sick and tired of the "Food Police" chasing them around when they are out at a restaurant with the family.  Even these heroic types can have a 'moment' from time to time.

It's not falling off the wagon.  Nor is it a treat.  Forgive me if I slip up in my Youtube and call it a treat! What is the best thing to do?

As the title suggests, there is an 80/20 rule.  Which means that for 20% of the time you can be more relaxed in your healthy eating.  This will not throw your diet off completely.  Although you really should exercise some caution when you are using your 20% and use common sense.  
Generally though,  using your 20% will be a sure way of keeping you motivated and on track without doing damage to your hard work on the 80% times.

Have you tried this approach?  Let me know in the comments below what has worked for you in the past.

Please feel free to subscribe to the list to get more updates like this!

Wishing you the best of health

Louise

Obesity and Sugar - the latest news!

Great news!

Fantastic news in fact.

Yesterday, the BBC reported that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has called for us to halve our daily sugar intake.  This includes added sugar, plus fruit juice and honey. 

If we reduce our intake to 5%of energy intake we will be lowering risks to health including diabetes and obesity.

What is 5%?

5% of energy intake from free sugars amounts to 25g for ladies (which is roughly 5-6 teaspoons) and 35g for men (7-8 teaspoons).  So a can of pop 330ml will use up all of that allowance.

Sound like bad news?

Well if you think this is bad news, it's not.  We need to stop the obesity epidemic and many people have found that traditional 'diets' just don't work for them  Often they may contain far too much sugar in the diet.  Reducing this will take us back to a more natural diet which we were originally designed to eat!

Tax on Sugar?

I don't think putting extra tax on sugar will stop people from consuming it.  They will just find extra money from perhaps another healthier resource.  Maybe its a good idea for local farmers to sell healthy local produce at a more competitive price and we can support their business while they support our healthy eating habits.


I'm thrilled that this news has been sent to us from the BBC (see the page here) and really hope that folks begin to listen to this news.  It's a great start to fighting the obesity epidemic and if you see my Youtube video you will see my views on how we have been getting it wrong with the advice of a low fat diet.

Wishing you the best of health and a lovely day

Welcome to a new you!

So you found yourself on my blog.  

Brilliant!

Welcome to a Lusher Life Nutrition.  This is a brand new blog which will share tips of healthy ways of life through nutrition.  Let me know what you would like to see. 

Recipes 

Videos with 'how to'

Tips on healthy eating

How to help your health through nutrition

Weight management

And whatever more you care to request.  Please feel free to get in

touch via my email and send me 
any questions you have.  

As well as the free tips you will get on this blog and my Youtube channel, there will also be a consultancy service.  This can be booked in person or online,  it's really up to you.  If you need motivation to lose weight or if you are struggling with health issues and would like to get well again, I can help with all nutritional therapy issues.  

You will see that through my blog we are not talking about diets,  yet rather tweaking how you eat and live as an ongoing lifestyle change.  This will see you living longer and being able to keep fitter late into life.  Let's face it,  this is what we all desire really don't we.  So many of my clients tell me,  
"It's not that I mind getting older, I just don't want to be unwell."

As a very realistic person, I do understand that there are so many tasty treats out there these days which tempt us to eat them.  However,  often you can still incorporate these treats and just make tweaks and adjustments which will give you a healthier option.  

Having intestinal issues myself,  I have experienced first hand exactly what a difference nutrition can make in your life.  Doctors were baffled when I managed to avoid surgery and strong medication just through using the power of nutrition.   I say 'just' - this wasn't easy of course and nature gives us all the tools we need to be able to create the health we desire and deserve!

I know that you want to make changes.  I also know that you have tried to go it alone.  Neither of these need to stop you getting the energy you dream of to go ahead and create the life of your dreams.

I will be offering 2 free consultations every month for those who feel they cannot afford to pay for a private consultation and therefore if you know of someone who is in need please tell them to get in touch.  For everyone else,  please see the pages on this website detailing all you need to know.

Wishing you the very best in health

Louise xoxo