Time to see: A holistic nutritionist

by Rani Sheen January 13, 2010

I’m becoming more and more interested in the way every morsel I eat affects my health — my energy level, my hair, my mood, my skin — so I was excited to see that 889 Yonge (889 Yonge Street, 416-925-7206, 889yonge.com), Toronto’s bastion of gleaming eco-friendliness, is now offering the services of a certified holistic nutritionist alongside its yoga classes, spa services, and TCM, osteopathy and naturopathy practitioners.

Joy McCarthy (pictured) is a glowing example of shining health, with a gentle and pleasant way of nudging you towards making better food decisions for the sake of your health. She’s a font of information, and many of her tips have stayed with me (admittedly, I’m already doing a lot of the things she’d usually recommend, like avoiding sugar, white flour and processed foods). Here are my favourite ideas:

If you change one thing about your diet, start every morning with a tall glass of water with the juice of quarter of a lemon squeezed into it. This stimulates the digestive system and detoxifies the liver, among other benefits.

As a general guideline, try to eat 40% lean protein, 20% healthy fat and 40% complex carbs at every meal and snack for optimum nutrition, digestibility and satisfaction (i.e. no three o’clock cravings).

Cut down on soy. McCarthy says many women she sees who have hormone imbalances are helped just by limiting soy dairy products and tofu in their diets. Opt for tempeh instead–the fermentation makes it easier to digest.

If you can’t tolerate dairy, try Kefir, the fermented yogurt drink, which may be easier on lactose-intolerant tummies. It tastes a little fizzy, but once you get used to it it’s great on muesli with fruit.

Try taking two tablespoons of chia seeds a day for omega-3s and tons of other mineral benefits – I’ve switched my daily flax for chia after Joy extolled its superior benefits. I just stir it with water or rice milk and gulp it down.

When you eat bread, go for pumpernickel, rye, spelt or kamut, as many whole-wheat breads are just white bread with molasses added for colour.

Get a water filter installed on the kitchen tap.

Another great tip was to switch out my morning oatmeal for breakfast quinoa, to shore up on protein in the morning. Here’s her recipe (find more at thatsfit.ca/bloggers/joy-mccarthy):

Joy’s Breakfast Quinoa
1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup filtered water
Method:
Bring quinoa and water to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 12-15 minutes. Once fully cooked, remove from heat and rinse in warm water. This is to remove the saponins, which are like soap lather in your belly if you forget to wash them away. Makes 3-4 cups of cooked quinoa.

You can dress the quinoa however you like—Joy recommends stirring in a half a cut-up apple or pear, a teaspoon of cinnamon and some unsweetened almond milk or organic vanilla yogurt.

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