Posted on August 1st, 2017

I have put together a summary of the 7 main mistakes I see people making all the time. Reasons and suggestions have been included to assist you in your health journey.

1. Fruit Smoothies and Juices

This is a big one! Often people assume that if they’re making smoothies using fresh fruit or making juices using fruit then they are doing great. If you are sticking to only 1-2 pieces of fruit for a smoothie or juice then this is ok, if you are finding yourself having more than 2 pieces of fruit then this can be too much.

Juices in particular seem to cause more confusion for people. Ideally you should be consuming the whole fruit as this is where the fiber is which slows down the digestion of the fruit, therefore not causing as much havoc to our blood sugar. Think of it this way – if you cannot physically sit there and eat all the fruit that you put in your juice then it is too much. Same goes for a smoothie, if you can’t sit there and eat everything that you put into your smoothie then forget it.

2. Detoxifying Quickly

For some reason we associate detox with giving up normal eating patterns and going on juice cleanses, limiting our food or even fastening. All of these options can be dangerous if done too quickly and actually cause more havoc to our metabolisms.

The best way to essentially go on a detox is to go through a qualified practitioner and find the best approach for you. If you are eating a good wholefoods diet full of fresh vegetables, proteins and healthy fats your liver will naturally go through a detox each day.

3. Skipping Meals/Reducing Calories (to lose weight)

This is another perception that I see all the time. People think you can skip meals to lose weight, not true. Reducing calories too dramatically or not eating puts our bodies in a fasting mode and causes our body to use store glucose until we receive another meal. When we do eat our next meal the body then goes I will store everything from this meal (good and bad) to put away for later as I may not be fed again for a while. This also slows our metabolism down along with our detoxification pathways and makes it harder to shift unwanted weight.

You are best eating regular meals but just changing to more of a wholefoods diet if you want to lose weight (more vegetables and healthier proteins and fats).

4. Nut Milks

Nut milks are made on nuts so they must be healthy right? This is an easy misconception. It would be nice to think that suppliers made healthy dairy free alternatives with just nuts but often they contain added sugars, fillers and chemicals that can be dangerous. It is very important to carefully read the ingredients label on nut milks plus check out the sugar content. Also just be mindful not too add too much to drinks – stick to 250ml.

5. Spray Oils/Wrong Oils

Oils are one of the easiest mistakes people make when trying to be healthy. There are no many different oils to choose from and often people use the wrong oils when cooking their foods such as; canola, sunflower and peanut oil. These oils in particular become rancid at high temperatures and have been linked to being carcinogenic. The other concern with spray oils is that they are simply in spray form as opposed to being liquid, therefore something such as soy lecithin is added to emulsify the oil. Along with this, other agents such as silicone or a little alcohol is sometimes added to prevent the spray from foaming or clogging.

This article also goes through some other concerns with spray oils. http://www.thealternativedaily.com/5-reasons-to-ditch-cooking-sprays/

You are always best choosing a liquid oil such as; extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil to cook with. If you need to use a spray oil at least stick to extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil.

6. Lack of Protein! Excess Vegetables

When people decide to put themselves on diets they often ditch the quality protein and load up of lots of vegetables. Vegetables are great for you they provide us with lots of nutrients that we need for our bodies to function, however we still need adequate protein. Protein helps us build and keep our muscles strong, it allows our brain to function, it strengthens our hair, skin and nails and it also provides us with energy. Not eating enough protein will actually cause us to put more weight on than lose weight and we run the risk of developing mild to chronic conditions.

7. Low Fat Products

Low fat doesn’t necessarily mean healthy, often low fat has more sugar added to it. The fat is the healthy part of dairy products in particular. We need fat to have balanced hormones, to provide us with energy and to support digestion and metabolism. Non-fat products can often contain some sort of sweetener (i.e. inulin) which we don’t need in ours diets.

Stick to full fat options where you can and be mindful of portion sizes.