Improving nutrition: Micronutrients

Episode 22 - Improving nutrition: Micronutrients
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This episode continues education on self-management of fibromyalgia and other chronic pain conditions. Food and nutrition are an essential part of your well-being. Proper nutrition is also essential if you have autoimmune diseases, like lupus or RA, or other chronic disorders.

Today I will talk about step two: replace. How you can replace or add nutrients into your food plan. I am discussing different micronutrients, vitamins, minerals, etc. and why they are important for your health. 

WAITLIST  Mindful Eating for Autoimmune conditions, chronic pain, and fibromyalgia course.  (https://www.rheumcoach.com/mindfuleatingwaitlist).

You can see the full transcript:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1890983/10582628

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Transcript

Welcome back to episode 22 of the Mind your Fibro Podcast. 

Today we continue talking about nutrition. 

During the previous episodes, we discussed why nutrition is essential for your wellbeing and how to start improving your eating habits without diets and with self-hate.

So during episode 21, I discussed the importance of removing the junk, sugar, processed and refined foods from your  diet and doing  it with self-kindness and grace, without judgment. My patients tell me that just removing soft drinks from their diet makes them feel better. One of my patients recently stopped all soft drinks and lost 30 pounds in less than three months and felt her joint pain improved and her energy changed. So if you have not listened to episode 21, please do so; it will help you understand the importance of removing harmful chemicals from your food and bring awareness to your food choices. 

 Today we are talking about the next step, replace. How do you  go about improving your nutrition? Replacing the junk with healthy options or adding more nutritious foods into your daily life.

I often hear patients complain that their doctors tell them to eat better and move  more, but they don’t tell them why or how. So the  next few episodes will address the why and how you can add powerful nutrients and their effect on your health.

There are many ways of doing it. I do not advocate any particular diet or food choices because we all are unique people with different needs, preferences, cultures, taste buds, and foods likes and dislikes. Most diets fail because people feel restricted, confined to a list of foods they must eat or avoid, and focus on limitations. 

Once you shift your mindset from eating for calories and pleasure to nourishment, the focus changes to what foods will help you accomplish that. 

Many of my patients and the public in general often lack the general knowledge of the basics of nutrition. Unless you pick up a book, a blog, or a podcast and intentionally learn how to eat well you may be missing important information. The public media, television, etc., address very little the importance of wholesome foods. We  are bombarded with ads for fast food, sugary cereals like Lucky Charms, candy, soda, and other foods. It's not sexy to advertise the goodness of carrots, and carrots have a very little profit margin compared to diet Coke, which is cheap to produce and addictive, so you keep buying more. 

So let's go over some important concepts that will help you understand what foods you should be eating and why. 

So our food can be divided into macronutrients and micronutrients.

Macronutrients ("macros") are the nutrients your body needs in larger amounts, namely carbohydrates, protein, and fat. These provide your body with energy or calories. We will discuss macros next week. 

Today we will focus on Micronutrients. 

Micronutrients are the nutrients your body needs in smaller amounts, which are commonly referred to as vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other compounds that help your body function well.  Vitamins are a group of substances that are needed for normal cell function, growth, and development. There are 13 essential vitamins. This means that these vitamins are required for the body to work properly and we must consume them from food. 

There are two types of vitamins: water-soluble and fat-soluble.

Water-soluble vitamins dissolve in water, which means these vitamins and nutrients dissolve quickly in the body. Water-soluble vitamins are carried to the body's tissues, but the body cannot store them. Any excess amounts of water-soluble vitamins simply pass through the body and out with urination. Vitamin C, Bs are example of these vitamins. We need to keep consuming them because they are not stored for future use. 

Fat-soluble vitamins are absorbed with the other fats from the food you eat. When absorbed in this way, they go with the fats and are stored in your body's fat tissue and liver for up to 6 months. Main: A, D, E, K.This is why it is so important to take vitamins with food, or they will not get absorbed well. 

Vitamin A  strengthens your immune system, essential for vision (deficiency can cause blindness, starting with poor night vision and dry eyes), promotes cell growth, and supports reproductive functions.  

2 sources: animal products >> plants. Deficiency is rare in developed countries unless your do not eat well. 

Major sources of vitamin A include: •Dairy •Liver •Some fish

•Fortified grains (not the best option, synthetic vitamin A)

•Carrots, Broccoli, Cantaloupe, Squash

Vitamin D - helps the body absorb and retain calcium and phosphorus; both are critical for building bone; provide important functions and regulations of the immune system, cancer and infection prevention, protective properties of the nervous system, muscle function, and brain cell activity. 

2 sources: 1)Your body makes vitamin D when direct sunlight converts a chemical in your skin into an active form of the vitamin (calciferol). 2)Consumed from foods: fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, and sardines, or fortified foods (not the best option). 

Vitamin E - Vitamin E is a group of eight fat-soluble compounds. Vitamin E deficiency is rare and usually due to an underlying problem with digesting dietary fat rather than from a diet low in vitamin E. 

Found in plant-based oils, nuts, seeds, fruits, and vegetables.

It's essential for vision, reproduction, and your blood, brain, and skin health. Vitamin E also has antioxidant properties.

Vitamin K - helps to make various proteins that are needed for blood clotting and the building  bones. Prothrombin is a vitamin K-dependent protein directly involved with blood clotting.

The most common foods with high vitamin K are green leafy vegetables such as kale, collard greens, broccoli, spinach, cabbage, and lettuce.

 Water-soluble vitamins include vitamins C, Bs. 

Vitamin C - is an antioxidant that helps protect your cells against the effects of free radicals — molecules produced when your body breaks down food or is exposed to tobacco smoke and radiation from the sun, X-rays, or other sources. Free radicals might play a role in heart disease, cancer, and other diseases.

Eating more fruits and vegetables is the best way for someone to naturally increase their vitamin C intake.

Not eating enough fresh fruits and vegetables can cause deficiency. You may feel tired, weak, and irritable. Vitamin C deficiency, called scurvy, causes easy bruising, gum and dental problems, dry hair and skin, rashes, and anemia. 

Unfortunately, scurvy is not a thing of the past. This condition was common in the past when sailors and pirates went on many month-long voyages across the ocean with limited access to fresh foods. However it is  something we see even in this day and age, although many times it is not recognized and blood levels are not checked.. I have diagnosed many patients with scurvy and other vitamin deficiencies, because it is on my radar, and many patients tell me that they do not eat enough fresh fruits and vegetables. Often taking a vitamin is not enough; patients need to remove processed foods and increase their intake of fresh foods to get enough vitamins absorbed to make a difference in their blood levels and symptoms. 

B vitamins play a vital role in maintaining good health and wellbeing. 

They have a direct impact on your energy levels, brain function, cell function, and production of red blood cells. We have 8 B vitamins, •B1 (thiamine)

•B2 (riboflavin), •B3 (niacin), •B5 (pantothenic acid), •B6, •B7 (biotin)

•B12, •Folic acid - this is why they are often sold as a B complex. 

B12 deficiency is common with symptoms of fatigue, brain fog, numbness/tingling, neuropathy, balance problem, sore mouth, muscle weakness, and anemia. So if you struggle with fatigue, brain fog, and numbness, look at your diet and see if you are consuming enough foods with vitamin B12 and other Bs. 

Foods that provide vitamin B12 include:

•Beef, liver, and chicken.

•Fish and shellfish such as trout, salmon, tuna fish, and clams.

• milk, yogurt, and cheese

•Eggs

 Other micronutrients include minerals.  Magnesium, Chromium, Iron, Copper, zinc, and many others.  One of the most commonly used mineral used as a supplement and I get most questions about is magnesium. 

Magnesium has a great benefit and is essential for your wellbeing. Its function is muscle relaxation, it supports nerve function, energy production, protein synthesis, GI motility. 

Magnesium is found in nuts, seeds, whole grains, beans, leafy vegetables, milk, yogurt, and chocolate. If you are eating a high-fiber diet with lots of produce, you should be getting enough magnesium. Again, people who mainly consume processed foods may develop a deficiency. But it is very easy to correct with food - just 1 oz of almonds contains 20% of the daily magnesium an adult needs. 

Another important class of micronutrients are phytonutrients. 

The term phytonutrients is a broad name for a wide variety of compounds produced by plants—common names for phytonutrients: antioxidants, flavonoids, phytochemicals, and polyphenols, etc.. 

We all probably heard of Beta-Carotene - it is a phytonutrient. 

Beta-carotene is a pigment found in plants that gives them their color. The name beta-carotene is derived from the Latin name for carrot. It gives yellow and orange fruits and vegetables their rich hues. Beta-carotene benefits the immune system, vision, skin, and bone health; orange and dark, leafy green veggies are the best sources of it.. Other phytonutrients are Lycopene, Lutein, Resveratrol, and others. They help prevent and fight disease. 

 As you can tell, if you eat diverse, wholesome foods - green leafy vegetables, lots of produce, eggs, meat, fish, etc. you are not getting only calories, but lots and lots of vitamins and other healthy compounds. 

And if you are not eating these foods, you may be missing nutrients. 

People who eat plant-based foods, not animal foods, can still get complete nutrition. I am making a general statement about wholesome eating that will provide you with nutrients, and if you are consuming mainly processed foods and drinks, you are missing all these vitamins. 

 Next week, will discuss macronutrients - carbohydrates, protein, and fat. and why they are important for your nutrition and health. 

Bottom line Nutrient-dense foods have a lot of micronutrients. 

Here is a list of some foods that pack a nutritional punch, not an exclusive list, but just to show you the variety available and some ideas of what you can start incorporating into your food plan. 

·        Avocados

·        Chard, collard greens, kale, mustard greens, spinach

·        Bell peppers

·        Brussels sprouts

·        Mushrooms 

·        Sweet potatoes

·        Carrots, beets

·        Cantaloupe, papaya, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, pineapple, peaches and pretty much all fruits and berries. Just watch the amount and if you trying to lose weight, limit to 1 portion per day. 

·        Seeds (flax, pumpkin, sesame, and sunflower)

·        Nuts, Almonds, cashews, peanuts, macadamia, pecans, and of course walnuts 

·        beans (garbanzo, kidney, navy, pinto)

·        Lentils, peas

·        Barley, oats, quinoa, brown rice

·        Salmon, halibut, cod, scallops, shrimp, tuna

·        Lean beef, lamb, venison

·        Chicken, turkey

·        Yogurt

·        Eggs

I hope you found this information useful.  I suggest making small daily action plans on how you can incorporate this information, so it is not a passive accumulation of knowledge. Consuming information does not lead to symptom improvement, implementation does.  And of course, please speak to your doctor before making changes to your diet or anything that may affect your health.

 Thank you for listening. I will talk to you next week.