Better Call Saf (Registered Dietitian)

In this last year we discussed a lot of alternatives to manage comfort eating and emotional eating  related to stress and depression and how to be more mindful  ( links at the bottom if you want to have a look) But what if it's not enough, as a Dietitian I can tell that sometimes is not about food. Mental health and the mood are important  to guarantee that you are able to have a good quality of life included following a healthy lifestyle. But what if low mood, depression and anxiety are "devouring" you and need to constantly fight with all of this. Sometimes food is not the solution, and focusing on what is creating all those emotions is not an easy process but something that could help permanently instead of a temporary fix like comfort eating. So this time I am going to list you some professional support, free to use that could be used to avoid the long waiting from your local medical centre and to keep all your confidentiality, because som...

Here is a quick comparison between different kind of oils and what to check on the labels before buying  What to check on the labels: Mainly are two things: - The nutritional values Trying to prefer oils rich in Polyunsaturated fats and at the same time Avoid or r educing the amount of saturated and trans fats   To note that any fat/oil from a plant is naturally without cholesterol Which means that is present in any animal fat including butter or ghee for example - Checking the ingredients is important too! Sometimes there are more ingredients than expected and often could reduce the quality For example when buying Extra Virgin Olive oil: Often there is a percentage of different kind of qualities  of olives to obtain a cheaper version so to not get tricked is important to check the percentages and in this case " you get what you pay for" applies almost always. Just consider that you may pay a little bit more to get a bet...

Let's start with a question: How do you think a  Queen Bee is made ? Would you say she was born already like this or something else made her become the Queen ? The answer is: She was born exactly as the other bees,  nothing different at all But because of the a different diet, her whole structure would grow differently and that's how she becomes a Queen with all the specific characteristics To give more details, the Queen Bee is receiving  a different kind of nutrient compared to any other, which is  Royal Jelly ,  and this is one of the  biggest example I came across on  how much the diet could impact overall Just to make one example: The Queen Bee can live almost 5 years   while the "regular bee" has a life cycle between 45 and 90 days, and all the credits goes to the different nutrients they have  Now, as you have probably seen this product in your local supermarket, let's have a look to the nutrients and  let's ...

How to alleviate all the symptoms during and before the menopause ? Here some practical tips: - Hormones are the first thing changing and you can notice that by the irregular periods before the menopause when after that is going to stop and not have periods anymore The oestrogens are reason for lot of these changes and side effects that you may experience during this time so how can we replace them? There are plant oestrogens which even mildly they can have a similar effect as replacement to the hormones and reduce all the symptoms especially hot flushes and in case you would like to try this alternative before any supplement  Some of this are: - Soya  - Edamame (link below with more information) https://www.safdietitian.com/2019/12/healthy-snack-alternative-edamame.html - Flax or sesame seeds (more information and other seeds properties below) https://www.safdietitian.com/2019/08/are-seeds-helpful-with-weight-loss.html - Peaches and Berries...

Let's start by saying that is not always to be just black OR white In this case is not about switching completely to these options instead of your favourite protein intake It's more about  having varieties and alternatives  during the month and sometimes trying new things that you don't know yet if you will love it or hate it,  but let's give a chance at least! So here some alternatives with detailed nutritional values per  100 gr : Tofu  What is it ? Similar procedure as cheesemaking it's made from condensed soy milk, also called bean curd. Nutritional Value: Calories  76  Protein  8 gr Carbs 2 gr Fat  5 gr Where to find it and How to use it? This product now it's very famous and easy to find in any groceries There are different types: - Silken: perfect to be blended like in smoothies or in recipes instead of eggs, so even scrambled on your toast - Firm:  more as a meat substitute, has to be se...

I was in a local bar in Naples when I made a compliment on how good was the coffee and the barista kindly explained to me that the secret was the water! Was the first time hearing something like that so I was curious about this answer, and the reason it's because the tap water from Naples it's usually very pure and low in minerals Thinking about this, actually makes sense that all the waters don't taste the same and just considering  the varieties of minerals you can have in the water really changes a lot from places to places or from different brands, and each mineral changes the taste of it, therefore since this is basically the other half as ingredient for any kind of coffee or tea, it means that changes the taste too! As a personal experience, I can say that the taste of the coffee of the same brand was different in Naples compared to the one I usually had in Rome (where I grew up) So what did change ? Immediately I can recall that the tap wate...

WHAT IS IT ? Simple and tasty, Originally from Western Africa. It is similar to sourdough dumplings and could be served with soup, stew or grilled fish. The only thing to consider is the preparation that requires few days for the fermentation process HOW TO MAKE IT: You can find lot of recipes and videos online if you want something more elaborate. This is a simplified version: Ingredients: - 2 cups of cornmeal  - 1 table spoon of corn starch  - dry corn husks  put the cornmeal and starch in a bowl  add warm water (same amount like the cornmeal so 2 cups in this case) stir for a smooth dough cover the bowl and leave it for 2 days in a warm place (fermentation) Now that the dough is ready, scrap any mould formed  Separately in a container Boil 2 cups of water and add salt inland after that  put half of the dough in the water and mix it for 10 min (medium heat) after 10 min. remove it from heat but continue to mix/stir ...

One of the first snack alternative I usually discuss with patients is this one: The low sugar Jelly WHY? Suitable for vegetarian ,  which means is suitable for lot of different dietary choices that could be due to religion or ethic reasons, but I would recommend to always double check the label to confirm this. Flexible to mix with other products like yogurt or even ice cream , to still have something that you like but with a considerable reduced amount of sugars and calories Easy to transport as a snack when you are out to avoid a high in calories snacks from the shop  Doesn't require any preparation at all WHICH ONE TO CHOOSE: There are different brands let's see the differences: Hartley's 10 cal jelly: Calories: between 5 and 10 calories depending on the flavour Sugar: 0.1 gr Fat:  0.1 gr Protein: 0.1 gr Flavours:  - Lime - Mango - Orange - Blueberry - Cranberry - Raspberry - Strawberry -...

Fructose could be found in a variety of products in an elevated amount as a syrup or simple sugar for example WHY COULD BE UNHEALTHY? Keeping in my mind that the dose is making the difference, we are not talking about fruits and veggies which the amount could be included in a healthy diet. A high amount of this can increase extra fat disposition and insulin resistance. Another important note is the level of satiety which is low, it basically means that you need more of these kind of product to fill full and satisfied which also means a bigger portion/calories FOOD HIGH IN FRUCTOSE: LOW FAT YOGURT   (always check the label because some brands are claiming a low fat product without mentioning a higher amount of sugars/fructose) DRESSING ( like Ketchup and Mayonneise ) FLAVOURED OR SWEETENED MILK CANNED FRUIT FIZZY DRINKS  JUICE As you can notice once again reading label is important to be aware about the content and the ...

Prevention it's always better than any future treatment Working in the NHS Diabetes prevention programme   made me realise how important it is to always look in a long term perspective to avoid any further complications Doesn't matter if you are feeling young and invincible right now or have you just been diagnosed with Diabetes (even borderline) The point is that an "investment" made on yourself to get healthier will be paid off with many interests in the future and the only person to benefit from this is yourself  You might have heard already about: Diabetes type 1: It happens when the body can't produce enough insulin  Diabetes type 2 : The body develops insulin resistence or is not produced enough  But maybe you didn't hear about: Diabetes type 3 : An insulin resistance that could trigger Alzheimer's disease , because of the complications from the chemical imbalances (to not be confused with type 3c) PRACTICAL ADVICE: ...

In the first part we discussed about Speed and Perception while you are eating Here is the link in case you want to have a look: https://bettercallsaf.blogspot.com/2020/03/how-do-you-eat-your-meal-part-1-speed.html Now in this second part we will discuss about other two main points included in the MINDFULNESS : - PLACE:  It does matter, just take a moment to think about a meal consumed at home and the same exact meal and portion consumed at work, the perception we have is different and also how much was satisfying and filling could be perceived differently. So try to plan ahead where you can have your meal in peace without getting distracted and being able to focus and enjoy more your food Now even at home the place could make the difference, sitting on a table with a right posture it does help to be more mindful, applying a simple rule: When you eat JUST eat. Sounds too simple but getting distracted by something in some other places, like the TV in anoth...

We discussed about this application in a previous post, almost a year ago (link at the bottom) But it might be something new if you started to follow this page just recently To summarise:  It's a totally free app that gives you reward for walking! (with no other implications) I wanted to make this post because there are some update and improvements and this could be a very good reason to increase your steps and activity everyday. Main improvements: - It counts ALL the steps, included the one indoor, so no excuses if you can't leave home, as far you are keeping your phone in your pocket or using a connected smart watch, it will count every single step. - More rewards , as discussed previously sometimes is not easy to keep the motivation, especially in the long run, but as simple as it sounds, getting rewards for your efforts and having targets (like your daily amount of steps to reach) it really can make the difference in the long term. - It is now a " po...

These are challenging times to make dietetic changes, because of the Covid-19 outbreak people started to panic buying , leaving the shelves empties so some patients shared their feelings with me on how hard is now to find the product they are looking for and to make a healthy choice when actually there are no choices left on the shelves of the groceries. So let's find some practical solution in this kind of situation, and I really hope that this post will be used just for this time during the Coronavirus outbreak and will not be necessary again in the future, because the situation as we can all agree is not the best. FIRST SOLUTION: Convenient store/ ethnic shops Majority of people prefer to do their groceries in traditional supermarkets chains because they can find more products and branded products too, but that's why during this time the convenient store or the ethnic shop could be still full of products because is not the first choice when we think on where to do...