When I started on my nutrition journey I was excited to learn all of the fancy science stuff. I figured in order to know how to eat well you needed to know all of the minute details of food, what nutrients are important, and how the body works. Although I did learn all of those things at school, I think some of the most important lessons I’ve learned have nothing to do with my education. In fact, some of the most important lessons I’ve learned are ones I picked up along the way and the same ones that I want others to learn too. So here are the 3 nutrition lessons I wish I learned earlier.

1. What you eat is more important than how much.

I wish I’d never heard of calories or serving sizes. I hate them. The reason I dislike them so much is because they are SO confusing. As a kid, I would just eat. I would eat because I was hungry, and when I wasn’t hungry I wouldn’t eat. It wasn’t until high school (or some time around then) that I discovered calories. Although I don’t remember the exact moment, I’m sure it was in some health magazine article about what celebrities eat in a day. “Egg whites for breakfast, salad for lunch, a handful of almonds for a snack and salmon for dinner = 1,200 calories and you can look like Jennifer Aniston too!”. WTF. Look, I love Jennifer Aniston, but why do I care how many calories she eats per day!?!

The goal of eating is to seek nutrients, not avoid calories. Therefore, the quality of the food you eat far outweighs how many calories it contains. Eating a baked potato is not the same as eating chips, although they both come from potatoes. Not only does real food contain more nutrients, but it is more satiating and therefore you don’t need to eat as much. Although both chips and baked potatoes are made from potatoes, you could probably eat an entire bag of potato chips (and then some), however, after one or two baked potatoes, you would probably be good to go. That’s because real food is nourishing and satisfying, so in the end, you end up eating less of it and, therefore, fewer calories anyway. So instead of counting your calories, put your calculator away, and focus on eating whole foods instead.

2. Your body is the best coach you’ll ever have.

I have read endless health magazines, followed numerous health “gurus” and read hundreds of nutrition books. Did I learn from all of this information? Absolutely. Did I get all of the answers I needed? No. That’s because the truth is that no matter how many people you talk to or how many nutrition experts you listen to, you already have the very best coach you will ever get – your own body. There is literally nobody else out there that knows more about what is going on with you than your own body, so you need to learn to listen.

I know people joke and say things like “Well, my body is telling me it wants donuts!”, and although that’s cute and funny, it’s not what it’s telling you. You’re either not actually listening or still haven’t quite figured out how to listen. The concept of “listening to your body” might seem weird or sound like hippy witchcraft, but it’s not as complicated as it seems. Listening to your body is not listening for a loud voice from the heavens, but rather it is paying attention to little cues that your body gives you on a daily basis. For instance; you feel tired, you’re not sleeping well, you are grumpier than usual, your joints are aching, you bloat after every meal, you don’t have regular bowel movements, your skin is bad, you get sick every month, etc… Honestly, there are SO many ways that your body talks to you, you just need to pay attention. These ‘things’ don’t just happen to your body to happen, they happen for an actual reason, and if you can pay attention you have the opportunity to address them and feel better.

3. Indulgence is an important part of health.

There is no perfect diet. I wish someone had explained this to me years ago. You are never going to eat 100% perfectly all of the time for the rest of your life – that is not realistic. And it’s also not fun. Chocolate, ice cream, wine and wedding cake are some of my favourite things and it is ok for me to enjoy them. In fact, I should enjoy them, and when I do, I need to understand that I am not a bad person, I didn’t do anything wrong, I am just living my life. I spent years beating myself up every time I ate a treat, telling myself I was bad or feeling like I had done something wrong. I would convince myself I needed to go to the gym after a night of eating and drinking because I needed to “work it off” or pay for my sins. What a bunch of wasted time.

Do I now eat chocolate, ice cream, wine and wedding cake every day? No, absolutely not, but when I do, I just do, because it’s ok. I don’t tell myself I can’t have it, because I can, I’m a grown-ass adult and I can do what I want. I just don’t need to eat it all of the time because I savour it when I do. Instead, I focus on eating whole foods because I listen to my body, and when I want a treat I have it, and that doesn’t make me a bad person, it simply makes me human.

One of the most heavily discussed topics in the nutrition and fitness industry is how many times per day to eat. You’ve likely heard the concept that eating more often “boosts” your metabolism, but is there actually any truth to this? Turns out, the answer is no. In fact, there is very little if any evidence to support this idea which is exactly why you don’t need 6 meals per day and there are many more important things to focus on.

Should you eat 6 meals a day?

The concept that eating many small meals per day boosts metabolism is an easy one to buy into because, at first glance, it appears to make sense. Because the process of digestion raises your metabolism slightly, one might assume that eating more frequently would help to keep your metabolism elevated throughout the day and, in turn, burn more energy and fat. In theory.

In reality, there is no advantage to eating multiple small meals per day. In fact, evidence shows that it is the total volume of food that you eat during the day that is more important. So, whether you eat chicken breast at one meal or cut it up and eat it across 6 different meals makes absolutely no difference to your metabolism.

You Can’t “Stoke” Your Metabolism

People love talking about their metabolism. This boosts your metabolism. I have a slow metabolism. She has a fast metabolism. But what I find hilarious is that most people have absolutely no idea what their metabolism actually is! Your metabolism is not a thing. It is not a fire in your stomach. It is not an organ that lives in your armpit. Your metabolism is the sum of certain processes in your body; it is a combination of chemical processes from various complex systems that give you life. There are many factors that contribute to and affect our metabolism such as age, gender, diet, weight, muscle mass, blood sugar, hormones, stress, environmental factors, and thousands of other body processes that are too long and too complex to list. So, to think that simply eating less food more often throughout the day will address and affect all of these factors is simplistic at best.

Leave the Grazing for the Cows

Just think about this logically. From an evolutionary (and practical) perspective, how would the need to eat at 8:00 am, 10:00 am, 12:00 pm, 2:00 pm, 4:00 pm, and 6:00 pm actually work or make sense? Throughout history, meal times have been variable. The human body has evolved to go long periods of time without food. I don’t know about you, but I would much rather just eat, be satisfied and move on, as opposed to feeling the need to snack every 2 to 3 hours during the day. In fact, the need to eat frequently, getting irritable between meals, and getting that hangry feeling is all signs that your blood sugar is disrupted and the strategy of multiple meals per day is not working for you. In my opinion, people should be able to comfortably go 4 or more hours between meals, and if you can’t it’s a good sign your blood sugar isn’t well-balanced and needs to be addressed.

Make Blood Sugar Your Friend

I would argue that eating less frequently actually has more benefits than eating multiple small meals per day. By eating every 2-3 hours, you are constantly spiking your blood sugar throughout the day which means your body is constantly using sugar (or glucose) for fuel. In a balanced state, the body should be able to use both glucose and fat for fuel, however, it will always prioritize using glucose for fuel because it is more easily burned. Think of it like this; carbohydrates (glucose) are your body’s first source of gasoline, while fat is your backup gas. Although the body loves using fat for fuel, it only does so when your body is out of readily available glucose.  So if you are constantly eating, therefore constantly delivering glucose to the bloodstream, your body no longer needs to use fat for fuel. Over time, your body will become more dependent on glucose for fuel, which means the body will become less and less efficient at burning fat for fuel. This perpetuates the cycle of needing to eat more frequently because your body has become so dependent on glucose for energy. Not only does this mean you will experience more dips and spikes in blood sugar, which are often displayed by increased cravings, feeling hangry, and difficulty losing weight, but some evidence suggests it is harder to feel full on smaller meals which can lead to increased food intake. Given many people try and use the 6 meals per day formula as a tool for weight loss, this can end up defeating the intended purpose of “stoking” your metabolism or burning body fat.

You Need Better Meals not More Frequent Meals

Eating well has less to do with meal timing and frequency and more to do with the quality of the food you eat. Whether you eat 500 calories 6 times per day or 1000 calories 3 times per day, makes absolutely no difference. What is more important is the quality of the food that you eat; focusing on whole foods and real ingredients. Eating 6 times per day with cereal for breakfast, a sub for lunch, pasta for dinner, and snacks of granola bars, crackers, and popcorn are not going to solve any of your problems.

Pay Attention to your Hunger Cues

Rather, what is more important is eating real food that satisfies you and paying attention to your personal hunger cues. You can talk to every nutrition expert in the world, but you already have the best nutrition coach you will ever get – your own body.  You don’t need to eat at 8:00 am, 10:00 am, 12:00 pm, 2:00 pm, 4:00 pm, and 6:00 pm if you are not hungry at those times, there is absolutely no benefit to it. If you are hungry when you wake up – eat, if you are not hungry when you wake up – don’t. When people tell me they are hungry in between their meals, I don’t suggest adding snacks, I suggest eating bigger meals. I would much prefer people eat to their own personal hunger cues than some made-up guideline, bro-science, or nutrition dogma.

The Bottom Line

Look, at the end of the day, there is no perfect formula. I know that’s what people want, but it just doesn’t exist. There is probably someone that operates really well on 6 meals per day, but if that doesn’t work for you don’t do it because there is no actual benefit to it. What is more important is focusing on eating real food, eating to the point of satiety, balancing your blood sugar, and listening to your hunger cues.

Most people have heard the expression “you are what you eat”, but as we continue to learn more and more about the body evidence has become clear that in fact “you are what you absorb”. The gastrointestinal system is not only important for breaking down and digesting the food we eat, but it is largely important for the health of our immune system and overall well-being. It is now said that our gut health impacts everything from skin conditions to mental health and even obesity. In fact, many researchers believe that supporting gut health will be one of the most important medical goals of the 21st century. Therefore, it is now more important than ever to understand why your gut is a key to your health.

What is the “gut”?

The term gut does not refer to the belly above your pants, but rather it refers to the components of your digestive system that support health, namely your intestinal system. In fact, our gut is more than just a big long tube for digesting food, it is a complex system that absorbs nutrients, makes minerals, houses bacteria, protects from infection, relays messages to our brain and so much more. Our gut is a hard-working system that allows nutrients and water into our body while keeping toxins and antigens out.

In fact, the contents of the gut are actually considered to be outside the body. Sounds crazy, right? If you were to stretch it out, you would see the gut is actually a long hollow tube that runs from mouth to anus, and the role of the gut is to let the important stuff in and keep the dangerous stuff out.

The Importance of Gut Health

We have only recently begun to understand the importance of gut health and how it can impact us physically and emotionally, however, we do know that there are two important variables that impact the overall health of our gut; its microbiome and its barrier.

Our gut is home to approximately 100 trillion microorganisms, which is 10 times more than the entire human body, and over 400 different species. Although researchers are still learning more about the microbiome (also known as gut flora), we have begun to understand that our microbiome not only promotes normal gastrointestinal function but provides protection from infection, regulates metabolism, and comprises more than 75% of our immune system.

In addition to our gut’s microbiome, our gut itself is a barrier system that works as the gatekeeper for our body; determining what comes in and what stays out. Given the contents of your gut are technically outside of your body, it is the guts barrier system (or intestinal wall) that decides if what you ate comes into the body or gets expelled. In the digestive process, it is the lining of the small intestine that helps to regulate what is absorbed into the bloodstream and the body. The gut lining is made of up very tight junctions which help to prevent toxins or foreign invaders from entering the body. However, the tight junctions of our gut can become compromised, making them permeable, which can increase the absorption of toxins and antigens into the bloodstream and body which are not meant to be there. This intestinal permeability is sometimes known as “leaky gut” syndrome.

What Negatively Impacts Gut Health?

Unfortunately, many aspects of a modern lifestyle and the standard North American diet can negatively impact your gut’s microbiome and intestinal permeability including:

• Diet high in refined sugar and refined carbohydrates
• Diet high in processed foods and additives
• Diet low in fermentable fiber
• Long-term use of antibiotics or birth control
• Lifestyle with chronic stress

Not only can these factors negatively impact our gut health individually, but cumulatively they are even more problematic. Frequent use of antibiotics is particularly harmful to our microbiome (it’s all in the name anti-biotic = anti-bacteria) as they impact a profound and rapid impact on our gut flora. Once your gut flora has been compromised, and tight junctions have become inflamed and irritated, our gut’s barrier system can no longer defend us as it was designed to do. As the barrier becomes weakened, it becomes less selective; allowing bad bacteria inside and keeping vital nutrients out.

Gut Health is More than Just Digestion

With more than 20 million Canadians dealing with digestive issues every single year it is easy to understand how the health of our gut is important and how easily it can become compromised. However, what many people don’t recognize is that the health of your gut spans far beyond digestive symptoms. Although issues such as IBS, Chron’s disease, Celiac disease, and digestive disorders are clearly related to gut health, poor gut flora and intestinal permeability can many other things including; mood, mental health, energy, fatigue, headaches, migraines, skin issues, and food intolerances. In fact, you do not need to have digestive symptoms for your gut health to negatively impact you. Poor gut health can manifest itself as acne, psoriasis, poor concentration, anxiety, depression, or fatigue before you have a digestive issue.

Given that 75% of your immune system resides in your gut, the health of your gut has a large impact on the health of your immune system. When the intestinal barrier becomes permeable, protein molecules can escape into the bloodstream. However, since these molecules don’t reside outside of the gut, the immune system responds by attacking them as foreign invaders. This process ‘pollutes’ your bloodstream and creates an excess workload on your immune system and filtering organs as they attempt to cope with the unwanted invasion. Studies show that the link between gut health and the immune system plays a role in many auto-immune conditions as well as the increase in food allergies and food sensitivities.

Maintain Good Gut Health

Leaky gut and bad gut flora are common because of the modern lifestyle. If you have a leaky gut, you probably have bad gut flora and vice versa. While achieving and maintaining gut health can seem like hard work, it is vitally important to our health. The most obvious solution is to avoid all of the factors that contribute to gut health, although in some cases it is easier said than done.  Depending on the degree of concern there are many different and complex nutrition and supplement protocols you can follow in order to improve your gut health (which I will cover at a later date), however, the first step is merely accepting the fact that what you eat affects much more than your weight and physical appearance. By focusing on a diet of whole foods, limiting refined sugars, food additives, and processed foods, and limiting stress, you will be taking the first steps to improve your overall health.

Think you might have leaky gut? Read part 2 and part 3 of my overview on gut health about the common symptoms of leaky gut to learn more.

Part 2: 10 Signs You Have Leaky Gut

Part 3: How to Heal Leaky Gut

There is no quicker breakfast than a slice of toast, and when paired with the right toppings, toast makes a healthy and hearty meal on the go. Although toast and bread in general have a bit of a bad rap, it is one they certainly do not deserve. In fact, when paired with the right combination of toppings, toast makes a great breakfast, lunch or snack. So here are 12 healthy toast toppings that will be sure to satisfy you whether you are in the mood for something savoury or sweet.

1. Almond Butter + Banana + Cinnamon

These toast toppings are a classic combination, but the addition of cinnamon helps to elevate this combo by adding a hint of natural sweetness without adding any sugar.

2. Avocado + Nutritional Yeast + Chilies

If you’ve yet to try nutritional yeast, this is the way to do it. Although it might sound a little odd, nutritional yeast has a natural cheezie flavour and gives a simple avocado toast a little umami je-ne-sais-quoi. Top it all off with a sprinkle of chillies for a bit of heat and a touch of sea salt to help tie it all together.

3. Roasted Red Peppers + Feta

The perfect combination of salty, savoury and sweet, every bite of roasted red pepper and feta toast is sure to hit all of your taste buds, making these toast toppings one of the best of the bunch.

4. Hummus + Cucumber + Sea Salt

For a quick and easy snack, a spread of your choice of hummus, sliced cucumber and a sprinkle of sea salt give you a hearty toast topping with a little plant-based protein in every bite.

5. Egg + Spinach + Pesto

This combo might be the perfect morning toast! Quickly cook spinach in a pan with oil, fry up an egg, and top it all off with a dollop of pesto for a filling meal that will keep you fueled for your day ahead.

6. Tahini + Honey

If you’ve never tried tahini with honey, you are in for quite the surprise. Although tahini is quite savoury on its own, when paired with a drizzle of honey it takes on a whole new flavour, similar to salted caramel, making this toast topping the perfect sweet treat.

7. Goat Cheese + Strawberries

A goat cheese and strawberry salad is a restaurant menu staple and the good news is it’s just as good on toast, if not better. You can slice up fresh strawberries or take it the extra step and whip up a quick batch of my Strawberry Chia Seed Jam for this sweet and savoury combination.

8. Baba Ganoush + Sprouts

Made with roasted eggplant, tahini, olive oil and seasonings, baba ganoush is easy to find in just about every grocery store. It’s a great alternative to hummus, especially for those who can’t tolerate chickpeas, and topped with fresh sprouts is a great way to increase your intake of leafy greens.

9. Pecan Butter + Sliced Apple

Although pecan butter is my personal favourite, apple on toast works well with just about any nut butter you like, be it peanut, almond or cashew. For the best results, be sure to cut your apples nice and thin so you can easily slice through them on every bite.

10. Tomato + Balsamic + Sea Salt

This combination may seem simple, but if you’ve got really fresh seasonal tomatoes the simplicity of this toast topping is what makes it so incredible. However, if your tomatoes are not quite as ripe as you would like them to be a little spread of homemade mayo or creamy goat cheese goes a long way.

11. Mushrooms + Garlic + Thyme

Although this combination requires a little cooking, it’s totally worth the effort. Simply cook sliced mushrooms in a pan with oil, minced garlic and thyme, and top on toast with a sprinkle of sea salt for some rich and earthy eats.

12. Avocado + Fresh Salsa + Coriander

Think of this combination as an Italian bruschetta with a Mexican flare; creamy avocado, fresh salsa or pico de galo, and a generous sprinkle of chopped coriander help to take these toast toppings from good to great.