Dietetics

Many people want to know how to lose weight.

Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is often recommended to manage a range of conditions and diseases in order to optimise health and prevent the worsening of conditions in the future. But finding the right information can be difficult. For accurate and evidence based advice that is best suited to your circumstances, speaking to a qualified health provider is recommended. An accredited practising dietitian (APD) can help you make the right changes to your diet and lifestyle to help you lose weight, maintain a healthy weight or choose nourishing foods. They are also there to support you through your journey, so you can maintain a healthy weight with sustainable changes and not fad diets that do more harm than good. Our dietitian can help you with:

• Healthy eating plans for weight loss
• Menu plans for food allergies and intolerance
• Menu plans for nutrition and healthy aging
• Family friendly meal planning & prep at home
• Changing your shopping habits
• Eating-out healthily

*Dieting and dietary restriction can be precursor symptoms of an eating disorder when regularly carried out. This is referred to as disordered eating. Athletes or “fitness junkies” are particularly at risk of disordered eating if they believe their body type will enhance their sporting performance. Disordered eating can increase your risk of developing an eating disorder. Some sports are also associated with an increased risk of disordered eating and eating disorders. Seeking guidance on your weight loss journey can help you aim for healthy goals and avoid disordered eating.

Eating disorders are serious medical and psychological conditions that take different forms across different demographics.

A person with an eating disorder often views themselves negatively in terms of weight, shape and food consumption. These views develop into the harmful eating practices and behaviours we identify with eating disorders. However, the root of an eating disorder are the mental health conditions and harmful coping strategies that manifested the behaviours. Eating disorders are often kept private and hidden, so they can be hard to identify in the early stages. Many eating disorders will build over time, perhaps appearing as a fad diet at first, before the behaviours become more extreme. They can be particularly difficult to identify in children and adolescents. There are several types of eating disorders which are generally categorised by their behaviours.

Eating disorder symptoms or behaviours include:

• Starvation (Anorexia)
• Vomiting (Bulimia)
• Binge eating
• Compulsive exercise and
• Abuse of diuretics/laxatives/fitness supplements

These behaviours are often accompanied by psychological symptoms such as negative self talk, the compulsion to “punish” oneself, obsession and shame. However, a person with an eating disorder will likely refuse to acknowledge these symptoms and deny the existence of a disorder, so they can be hard to identify in the early stages. Fortunately, it is possible to recover from an eating disorder when treatment and support is accessed. With the help of a General Practitioner, a Dietitian and a Psychologist the mental health, physiological health and nutrition of a patient can be accessed, supported and improved. The earlier help is gained, the better. As health complications can arise from the physical impact of eating disorder. If you believe you or someone you know has an eating disorder, discussing it with a qualified health practitioner can help shed light on the situation. If you or your loved one is uncomfortable speaking to a doctor, then a Dietitian may be able to help you begin the recovery process. The key is to seek advice and information as soon as you can so you can make informed decisions. Learn more about eating disorders at Eating Disorders Queensland

Food Allergy: A food allergy is when the immune system reacts to a food (allergen), which would usually be harmless.

The immune system then tries to fight off the allergen, which results in symptoms. Symptoms of an allergic reaction can include:

• vomiting
• belly pain
• facial swelling
• throat tightness
• hoarseness
• coughing
• breathing problems
• a drop in blood pressure

In severe cases these symptoms can be life-threatening. The most common food allergens are cow’s milk (dairy), eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, soy, fish, shellfish, and wheat. For individuals with a diagnosed food allergy, they must avoid the food to prevent symptoms. As most food allergies occur in children, these can usually be outgrown as the child grows and develops.

Food Intolerance: A food intolerance describes the digestive systems response when it cannot digest or metabolise food that has been eaten.

Foods that irritate the digestive system cause symptoms such as:

• stomach pain,
• bloating,
• gas/flatulence,
• diarrhoea,
• irritable bowel syndrome (IBS),
• rashes,
• hives,
• recurrent mouth ulcers or
• headaches.
Food intolerances usually have an intake threshold, meaning an individual with an intolerance can consume small amounts of the food without feeling symptoms, however if they were to have a larger serve this would cause symptoms to develop. Foods/food products that typically cause intolerance include lactose, readily fermented carbohydrates such as fructose, polyols, sucrose, coffee, sulphites, MSG and amines. If you often experience such symptoms it would be worth while discussing this with your Doctor or Dietitian to shed some light on what may be causing the problem and how it could be managed.