10Jul 2018 by Renae Earle
The HPE Diet

The HPE Diet

Health
If you’re a clinical dietitian working within the hospital setting, you probably know the high protein/energy (HPE) diet inside and out. For those of you with little exposure to the HPE, read on. What is Malnutrition Before we try to understand the HPE diet, we need to look at the condition a HPE diet is designed to prevent, malnutrition. Malnutrition is a silent killer that goes largely unrecognised, undiagnosed, untreated in our hospitals. Often, it is not taken serious enough. It occurs when an individual does not consume enough protein and/or energy to meet their requirements. Some common causes of malnutrition: - Increased energy and protein requirements (for example, cancer patients, post-surgery). - Decreased appetite (due to medication, age, being unwell etc.). - Early satiety: feeling full quickly. - Changes…
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03Jul 2018 by Renae Earle
Functional Foods

Functional Foods

Health
Functional foods are a new trend emerging in response to the public’s increasing health consciousness. The food industry continues to create products with ‘added health benefits’ and it seems as if there is a new product on the shelf every week. It can be difficult keep up. Let’s explore functional foods and if you should consider adding them to your diet. What is a Functional Food? What is a functional food? Now that, is a good question. There is no singular, universal definition for functional foods. However, the general idea, is a food with an added health function, that is superior to a ‘general’ food. This definition is vague; hence it is easier to understand functional foods in the context of examples. Functional foods can be naturally high in a…
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04Jun 2018 by Renae Earle
Transitioning to Solids – Infant Nutrition

Transitioning to Solids – Infant Nutrition

Health
  Are you a new mother? Having a new baby can be overwhelming at times. A flurry of emotions and mixed information. You will have been told again and again, ‘breast is best’ and it has probably been drilled into you by each of your health professionals. Now, your little one is growing up, and you think it might be time to start weaning off the breast and on to solid foods. Just when you thought you were getting this mothering thing down pat, this new obstacle arises. Read on if you want to know more about getting off the breast. When The WHO guidelines suggest introducing solids after 4 months, and no later than 6 months. While these guidelines are a great place to start, your bub will let…
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21May 2018 by Renae Earle
The Sugar Tax

The Sugar Tax

Health
What is it? The idea of the sugar tax has been thrown around a lot over the past few years. It is a tax only applying to sugar sweetened beverages. Australia is proposing 20%, which would apply to all the classic sugar laden soft drink giants. For example, Coke, Sprite and Fanta. It would also apply to a few of the less obvious culprits such as mineral waters, energy drinks and flavoured milks. The tax aims to reduce the consumption of these drinks through an increase in their price, making them less desirable to the consumer. Hence, having positive effect on the health of our society, decreasing the prevalence of overweight, obesity, diabetes, dental caries and other chronic diseases. Many people think the sugar tax is a good idea. Many…
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09May 2018 by Renae Earle
The Lowdown on Ketogenic Diets

The Lowdown on Ketogenic Diets

Health
Ketogenic diets are becoming increasingly popular. As a weight loss tool, as a performance enhancer and for other health benefits. No matter the reason behind your consideration of the ketogenic diet, it is important to understand the relevant evidence. What is the Ketogenic Diet? The ketogenic diet is traditionally high fat low carbohydrate. However, there is some debate over the exact definition of ‘low’ and ‘high’. A popular figure is 80% of calories coming from fat. In reality, this is extremely hard to achieve. In order to consume 80% of calories coming from fat, your diet must consist of mainly egg yolks, nuts, dairy, meat and oil. You can throw in a select few vegetables if you feel like shaking things up! Here are some examples of keto-friendly recipes: -…
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15Apr 2018 by Renae Earle
Ketone Bodies as an Ergogenic Aid

Ketone Bodies as an Ergogenic Aid

Other
You’ve probably already heard of BCAA’s, glutamine, creatine, B-alanine, carnitine and nitric oxide. The world of sports supplements is diverse, controversial and at times, confusing. Now, introducing the newest, latest and greatest supplement to hit the market- Ketones. The Ketogenic Diet If you’re interested in nutrition (you probably are since you’re reading this article), you’ve probably heard of the ketogenic diet. You may have even tried it yourself. The ketogenic diet and ketone bodies are intimately related (if you couldn’t already guess that from the name). The purpose of the ketogenic diet is to starve the body of carbohydrate, increasing its reliance on fat and ketone bodies as a primary fuel. There is some evidence to suggest that ketosis (the state of using ketones as a primary fuel) is beneficial…
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05Apr 2018 by Renae Earle
Salty Snags

Salty Snags

Health
Why so Salty? The humble snag copped a lot of flak recently, with health experts slamming the Aussie icon. A Bunning’s sausage on bread with tomato sauce is quintessentially Australian, and probably the closest thing to a national dish we have. It’s no wonder that people were outraged by experts calling to curb our intake. Few understand the evidence behind this recommendation, so let’s look a little deeper before turning our back on the backyard BBQ delicacy. Don’t? Chuck Another Snag on the Barbie? All this saltiness began with research conducted by the George Institute which investigates the sodium content of the humble sausage. It even goes as far as to name and shame some of the saltiest snags out there with Coles thin pork sausages ranking number 1. It…
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19Mar 2018 by Renae Earle
How to Travel on a Diet

How to Travel on a Diet

Health
Everyone loves travel. Not everyone loves the weight gain that can accompany. If you want to avoid coming home with an unplanned 5kg souvenir, read on! Local Foods For me, one of the most exciting parts of travel is eating out every day. I love to sample local foods and trying a variety of foods is part of immersing yourself in the culture. Often, local foods are unfamiliar to us (which is part of the fun). Less fun, is having no idea exactly what you are eating, or its approximate energy and nutritional content. The best way to combat the unknown, is to get educated! Do your research. Quickly googling ‘local foods of…’ can be invaluable in gaining an understanding for what you are up against. You can therefore pick…
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06Mar 2018 by Renae Earle
Stressed Out!

Stressed Out!

Health
I’ve got a confession to make. I’ve been feeling pretty stressed out lately. I’ve come off the back of a 3-month summer break (complete with relaxing beach holiday) and now I’m back into the daily grind of university, work and exercise. If you’re human, you’ve probably felt stress before. In fact, you might be feeling stressed right now. When am I going to get the groceries done? How am I ever going to meet that deadline? When will I get a chance to see Black Panther?! No matter how trivial the source of your stress is, it has serious effects on the body. In fact, stress related illnesses are becoming increasingly prevalent in our society. What are they? How do we deal with them? And who is most at risk?…
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19Feb 2018 by Renae Earle
Performance Enhancement in Team Sports, Without Extra Training

Performance Enhancement in Team Sports, Without Extra Training

Sports
For some, team sports were left behind before high school. For others, team sport is carried through to adulthood, serving as a platform for socialisation and fitness. For few, team sport is a career. Whether you’re a professional athlete, or wanting to be, it’s good to understand the effect performance enhancing (ergogenic) aids can have on your performance. Before getting too deep, it is important to define what sort of exercise constitutes team sport. For example, the physiological demands on a soccer player are different to those on a volleyball player. Not only do we see marked differences between sports, but also within sports. For example, a rugby forward and back needing different skills sets and types of fitness. The extremely diverse nature of team sport is what makes it…
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