15:03 Shad Mohammad Khan: How does nutrition relate to stress? How will you know that your stress is due to your diet? Can children also have stress due to diet issues?
15:04 Stephanie Karl: Often stress causes craving for certain foods sweet or salty. It also disrupts sleep. Children can suffer from stress, too. Signs of this are poor gut function, behaviour issues, learning issues as well as repetitive actions and reduced pain.
15:07 Anupriya D Budhwani: And how do we know what food is right for children?
15:10 Stephanie Karl: No one food is good for anyone. A good start is to clean up the diet and make treat foods just that again. Food items like sodas, processed snack foods, processed meats and refined carbohydrates. Also, chicken nuggets are the pinnacle of industrialised foods along with hotdogs. Don’t eliminate, but restrict these in favour of wholesome foods.
15:12 Atiq Al Rahman Mohammad: What are the foods that reduce stress? Do caffeine drinks like tea and coffee help reduce stress or do they increase it? Are stress-reducing tablets harmful in any way?
15:13 Stephanie Karl: If there were foods to reduce stress, they would contain the protein tryptophan, which boosts serotonin. Serotonin makes melatonin, which helps with sleep. These foods are milk, chocolate and turkey meat. Magnesium is also a great relaxant. Have Epsom salt baths or eat nuts and seeds. Coffee is a stimulant and it triggers insulin. It won’t help stress at all.
15:13 Sumera Malik: The thing that most disturbs me is whether stress is because of family issues or something else. I can’t seem to focus on anything except thinking constantly about the current issues in my head. It’s like a constant battle I have to deal with inside my mind. The whole process of thinking, especially when it is bedtime, ruins my sleep cycle. What options do I have to beat this?
15:15 Stephanie Karl: It seems you have some imbalance in your neurotransmitter pathways. We all do at different times. Symptoms such as anxiety, foggy thinking, memory issues, depression and cravings are usually influenced by neurotransmitters. Eat regularly to balance your blood sugar and make every meal based on a protein. Serotonin is the happy pathway, dopamine is the performance pathway. Tryptophan helps balance serotonin as discussed above, tyrosine helps with dopamine. Tyrosine is in all protein foods but a supplement can help, especially if you are someone who cannot accept rewards like nice comments made to you, about you, which you dismiss.
15:18 Saima Tariq: I am suffering from Pica. I have a craving for non-eatable things. How can I stop this craving? I feel anxious when there is something important and feel like puking. How do I overcome this?
15:20 Stephanie Karl: Again, I would recommend good eating and supplementation to balance neurotransmitters. Pica can also be a neurological issue, as it is common in children with spectrum disorders. I don’t think it is anything to do with nutrition but the anxiety can be helped.
15:21 Anupriya D. Budhwani: Stephanie, I would like to know how do we manage our nutrition when we are stressed and tend to overeat without even realising? I have high insulin resistance, so should I not drink coffee?
15:24 Stephanie Karl: Overeating is generally an imbalance in blood sugar. Serotonin influences blood sugar and cravings. I would recommend that you definitely eat to reduce the stress hormone cortisol. It can dull your appetite, so you don’t eat. But then blood sugar drops and you binge or eat sugary foods. Ensure you take protein at each of the meals as it has a good effect on satiety receptors. Coffee is one of the foods that trigger insulin even though they have no carbohydrate or calories. Aspartame is the other. Insulin is the fat storage hormone, so coffee is not a diet food or great for insulin resistance.
15:25 Madhu Madan: I am diet conscious but fed up of not being able to lose weight, so want to ask a few questions. I rarely take fatty or junk foods. But I take lentils or pulses regularly and three cups of tea. Is one bowl of lentil daily bad for weight loss?
15:27 Stephanie Karl: Both foods are great. Do you eat any animal foods - meat, dairy, eggs?
15:28 Madhu Madan: I am 100 per cent vegetarian. From the calories point of view, I don’t even take cheese. Also, is sleep important for weight loss? Is too much of tea bad? I forget my worries, stress and exertion, all with a simple cup of tea, three cups of tea in a day. Also, which food is good for thyroid patients? Is brown rice better or wheat chappatti (unleavened flatbread) for weight loss?
15:29 Stephanie Karl: Sleep is critical to getting cortisol levels in balance. Cortisol interferes with insulin. Thyroid patients may require iodine and should have it checked. That helps manage thyroid function. Soy is not good for thyroid patients. I would probably go with the brown rice over the chappatti. Vegetarian diets need a lot of understanding as they are often low in vitamin B12, iron, essential protein building blocks and zinc. Eggs are a fantastic food to boost a vegetarian diet. Spinach has both iron and zinc and nuts and seeds are also great for minerals.
15:31 Anupriya D. Budhwani: Is brown bread good for health? Rumour has it that it is only the colour that’s added!
15:31 Madhu Madan: Is intake of three cups of tea daily, with skimmed milk and sweetener, bad from a weight loss angle?
15:32 Stephanie Karl: I go by the rule that if the bread slice can flap, i.e. not break when flapped, it is not much better than white bread.
Sweetener is not a good food. It is made from glutamic acid, aspartic acid and formaldehyde. It is excitotoxic to the brain and triggers insulin, therefore influencing weight. Sugar would be better, also maple syrup or honey, from a health perspective.
15:34 Madhu Madan: Oh, that’s a good piece of information, Ms Karl. I will bear in mind your input on sweeteners.
15:34 Salwa Ali: I am so skinny! I eat so much but some days I just don’t feel hungry. This has no impact on my weight, it won’t fall or increase. I am 40-42 kilograms since the sixth grade - now I am 23 years old and still the same. Is there any way I could increase my weight?
15:35 Stephanie Karl: It may be that you are not getting enough calories from protein and good fats. These foods are not fattening unless you add a carbohydrate to trigger insulin. Insulin puts all calories into storage if they are not needed.
15:36 Fatima Suhail: I wish to know what are the symptoms to look out for to conclude whether or not we are suffering from stress, anxiety or depression. Stress usually has a direct impact on not just our health or mental state but also on our overall appearance. For instance, I am suffering from premature greying of hair at quite a young age, wrinkles around my eyes, etc. What can be done to prevent further damage?
15:36 Stephanie Karl: Stress increases the hormone cortisol and this can dull your appetite. It also triggers insulin. You need to eat regularly, support your neurotransmitters and include good quality protein and fat to help gain weight. Timing is important. Stress causes fatigue and weakness, suppressed immunity, muscle and bone loss, skin and hair issues, moodiness and depression, weight loss or gain depending on the hormones being influenced and its severity, insomnia, loss of libido and thyroid issues. Managing stress is multi-faceted. Good diet, adrenal support, getting sleep patterns re-established and hormones into balance. It usually requires some very targeted supplementation and takes time. But it happens!
15:40 Raymund Caabay: I am a tennis addict. I play at least thrice a week and if possible every other day. I am now middle- aged and, every now and then, I suffer from joint problems. When I am with my immediate family, we do a lot of ‘malling’ and thus walking. I need food that gives me power, endurance and stamina. I also need food that protects me from the heat of the sun, and keeps me hydrated. I do not need food that elevates uric acid. I need food that helps me recover quickly and get me ready for my next court session. I hardly know the best nutrition for my game. Please give me the best advice on how to manage stress so I can balance my work and play. I cannot afford to be sluggish after a game especially on weekends because my family expects me to be with them. I also need to deal with stress so that I would not carry it over to the office. Can you help me sustain my passion for life?
15:41 Stephanie Karl: Reduce inflammation by keeping blood glucose stable. That means reducing sugary and refined carbohydrates. Boost good oils and fish oil or flaxseed oil. Whole grains, for fibre, fresh fruit and vegetables. If you have irritable bowel symptoms, this is a good place to start. Many people find that a good B complex and vitamin C supplement helps. With any cardio sport, hydration is the number one requirement. If you have a small snack before you play, it is unlikely you will need to drink sports drinks, however, if your performance improves, take a banana or some dried apricots and walnuts.
The after-game session is the critical time, especially if you want to recover quickly to play again the following day. My favourite food recommendations after a game are a pot of rice pudding or a yoghurt or laban drink or chocolate milk. You may consider a whey protein drink with 15 to 26g of whey isolate. However, this is just a preference.
The effects of sustained stress can be measured in the body as it affects cortisol and DHEA (an endogenous steroid hormone) levels. These are the hormones that pep you up to perform when you wake up in the morning and relax in the evening to allow you to become sleepy. Corisol is at its highest between 6-8am and tapers off over the day at which time DHEA rises early evening. Hence, eat more in the morning to allow you to perform and less in the evening.
Eat regularly over the day to boost your metabolism and enable you to perform.
Make every meal including snacks built around a protein choice – dairy, eggs, pulses, meat, fish and chicken, nuts and mushrooms. Balance this with a wholegrain carbohydrate for energy and vitamin B and a good natural fat for energy and to keep your brain tissue and cell membranes in peak health.
Nuts and seeds are great sources of minerals – zinc, copper, selenium, magnesium and omega 3 oils. Fish oil and flaxseed oil are also an omega 3 source, which will help reduce inflammation and recovery from hard exercise.
Fresh green vegetables, especially spinach, is rich in zinc. So are sesame seeds and tahina - used in hummus and moutabbel - mushrooms, seafood and peanuts. These are great men’s foods for keeping testosterone levels up and for immunity. All of the B vitamins are critical for energy as well as relaxation. Fruits and vegetables with vitamin C are great anti-oxidants as are barberries and gooseberries. Cruciferous vegetables – broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, onions and garlic – are great liver detoxes due to their sulphur component.
Specific proteins target different parts of the body. Animal products have the full complement of all protein building blocks, hence a mixed diet makes life a little easier.
Arginine produces nitric oxide to improve vasodilation and help reduce blood pressure. It also improves the delivery of nutrients to cells
15:44 Naveen Frank: How do we achieve consistency with diet and exercise?
15:46 Stephanie Karl: This can be a real challenge. I believe the best exercise is resistance where you repeat exercises using your body weight. Three lots of 15 press ups against the bath bench followed by 3 x 15 bicep lefts using the bath. Find things you can do at home. I love the resistance cables that you can fix to a door or beam.
15:47 Shad Mohammad Khan: What is the best way to help children eat more fruits and vegetables?
15:47 Stephanie Karl: Diet has to start in the morning with a good breakfast. I recommend two eggs most mornings and avoid cereal, but that depends on your activity level. Take your own snacks and don’t leave meals to chance.
I make kebabs with fruit and maybe a marshmallow, puree fresh fruit and freeze it, make tangy dressings where fruit is part of it. With vegetables, you just have to keep chipping away at introducing new ones. It is not a race and taste buds develop slowly. Even if they have five preferences, stick with them.
15:49 Anupriya D Budhwani: We are vegetarian so we don’t eat eggs, too. What is the best breakfast to start the day with?
15:51 Stephanie Karl: For a vegetarian, I would suggest yoghurt with fresh fruit, flaxseeds and raw nuts. It is protein, carbohydrate and fat with lots of vitamins. Have you found barberries? They are potent in vitamin C.
15:51 Naveen Frank: I am being treated for a pre-diabetic condition. I take my medication regularly. I have tried swimming and exercising along with low food intake. But I have not been able to shed weight. I border around 84 kilos and doctors have recommended I go down to 75. Your advice please.
15:53 Stephanie Karl: I would follow a carbohydrate count, which is a great tool to follow. There are some good supplements to consider, magnesium and chromium. The key to your eating is protein – but not overdoing it – and a good balance of fats, fruits and vegetables. Pre-diabetes is very manageable with a consistent routine. Weight is not a standalone issue. It doesn’t happen overnight and is generally perpetuated by other things. It needs to be well understood and managed.
(Suman Shafi is a trainee with Gulf News.)
