The Ideal Nutrition Blog | Ideal Nutrition

26Mar 2020 by Aidan Muir

What Is Metabolic Adaptation and Why Does It Occur?

For a long time, people have been aware that total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) changes during phases of dieting. Personally, my first insight into this phenomenon was when I saw the phrase “metabolic damage” a bit over 5 years ago. This was at some stage in my nutrition degree at university. My understanding of the concept was that if somebody was aiming for weight-loss and was in a calorie deficit for an extended period, their “metabolism” (which I didn’t fully understand at the time) would slow down. My take on the main difference between metabolic damage and metabolic adaptation is that ”damage” indicates that there is an issue, whereas adaptation indicates that the body is making an adjustment. Damage could indicate that the metabolism is broken and needs to be…

15Mar 2020 by Aidan Muir

Weight Cuts for Powerlifting – A Dietitian’s Guide

Sports

Weight cutting is an area of powerlifting that I see not being done well on a frequent basis. Honestly, I see it as a bit of a gap in the sport where people are missing out on a massive potential advantage. In a lot of combat sports where making weight is a requirement as well, it is at the point where almost everybody undertakes a significant weight cut. If an athlete chooses not to do one, it puts them at a noticeable disadvantage due to the difference in size and muscle mass. Interestingly enough, even though weight cuts can provide an advantage, they haven’t become a part of the culture of powerlifting, which is why I see it as a bit of a gap. At one end of the…

03Dec 2019 by Aidan Muir

The Vertical Diet: A Dietitians Review

Body Composition, Sports

Outside of the niche community of serious strength athletes, The Vertical Diet is pretty unknown. But due to quite a few elite-level athletes following the diet (including Hafthor "The Mountain" Bjornsson), there is a large reputation behind it. Another massive influence on this is that the founder Stan Efferding is very charismatic (and jacked) and creates compelling arguments as to why a lot of the aspects of this diet are beneficial for health and performance. As a dietitian who specialises in working with strength athletes (with a focus on powerlifting specifically), I get quite a few questions about The Vertical Diet, so I thought I would go through some of the pros and cons. What is The Vertical Diet? The Vertical Diet is a diet that is based on whole…

22Sep 2019 by Aidan Muir

Savina Rego Interview

Other

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? I graduated from Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia in 2013. I have been working full time as a Dietitian since graduation, working across multiple areas – hospitals, community and aged care. I now work for a not-for-profit organisation, that focuses predominately around chronic disease management. My clinical areas of expertise include Diabetes Management (type 1 and 2), Pre-diabetes, fatty liver disease and aged care; which includes a range of dietetic specific areas e.g. pressure injury management, nasogastric feeds, malnutrition, chronic kidney disease, stoma management and texture modified diets. I am also interested in the area of bariatric surgery and IBS management – specifically, the low FODMAP diet, having IBS myself. I am now working towards becoming a Credentialed Diabetes Educator.…

31Jul 2019 by Matthew Benetti

3 Ways Dieting Could Be Slowing Your Metabolism

Health

Having trouble losing weight?Unless you are a lucky minority, most people who have attempted weight-loss have faced the horrid weight-loss plateau. This refers to a stop in weight-loss for an extended length of time despite no change in observed behaviour (e.g. diet and physical activity). Anyone who has gone through this will understand how frustrating and discouraging it can be. Your personal trainer thinks you’re lying, your friends think that you have messed up your metabolism and you feel frustrated that the scale is not changing.Lucky science is able to provide some explanations that hopefully can help us make smarter decisions to handle this. This blog will investigate the big culprits for weight-loss plateaus. You Are Unknowingly Eating More Than What You Think Before getting into the tips, it's worth…

24Jul 2019 by Aidan Muir

Why I’m Not a Non-Diet Dietitian: Part 2

Health

A year and a half ago I wrote an article called “Why I’m Not a Non-Diet Dietitian.” It’s not the most-read post on this blog, but it is something that I’m proud of since I consider myself to be a poor writer and I believe that it is the only long-form piece of writing I have done that has had a major impact on a number of people. I had planned on writing more about the topic, but honestly, I haven’t had much more to say and the original article still sums up the majority of my thoughts even though I have been in the field for almost twice as long now. The title is 99% for clickbait. The whole point of discussing this is not to downplay HAES or…

09Jul 2019 by Nadia Mazari

Is Bone Broth Really a Cure-All?

Health

Is Bone Broth Really a Cure-All? Winter is well and truly upon us, and with it comes the barrage of comforting soup recipes, immune-boosting remedies and winter ‘fitspo’. Bone broth appears to tick all three of these boxes. What’s more, those on the bandwagon claim that it’s a cure-all for a multitude of common ailments such as poor gut health, joint pain and skin ageing. This article will, therefore, explore whether the hype around bone broth is based on science or science fiction. What is Bone Broth? Many of us are led to believe that we can use broth, stock and bone broth interchangeably. However, the preparation methods of each differ slightly and as such so does their nutritional value. Understandably, not knowing this makes it all too easy to…

10May 2019 by Nadia Mazari

Fighting Fatigue

Health

Fatigue is a common ailment that most of us will experience at some point in our lives. In fact, it has been reported that each year, approximately 1.5 million Australians present to their doctors with fatigue. This isn’t surprising considering how busy, high-stress and emotionally demanding many of our lifestyles have become. Fatigue generally describes a feeling of unrelenting tiredness, lethargy and/or lack of motivation that lasts for several weeks. Daily, low-grade fatigue is a symptom of an underlying issue, condition or disease. It can be caused by a myriad of interacting physical, psychological or medical factors such as insufficient sleep, increased stress or catching the influenza virus. Fatigue can hence be remediated by addressing poor lifestyle habits or the underlying medical issue. In this article, we will explore some…

04May 2019 by Aidan Muir

Rachel Hawkins Q&A

Other

Can you tell us a little about yourself? I am a Brisbane-based Accredited Practicing Dietitian (APD) and Nutritionist and founder of The Naked Truth Australia - a nutrition consulting and communications business devoted to ‘baring’ the truth on all thing’s food and nutrition. I founded my business after recognising the need for a trustworthy source of food and nutrition information in the health and wellness industry. My business is quite diverse, so I find myself working in a number of different roles. I see clients privately for one-on-one dietetic consultations online via Skype, I am involved in a number of projects where I act as a nutrition consultant, and I also engage in various opportunities through my Instagram account @thenakedtruth.au such as recipe development, writing educational blog posts and brand…

27Apr 2019 by Matthew Benetti

Should You Care About Animal Research in Nutrition?

Health

Understanding nutrition research is like trying to hit a pinata blindfolded- but with no pinata in the room. Even the savviest can fall in the trap of cherry-picking unmeaningful studies to support a preconceived idea. Understanding a studies place among the hierarchy of evidence is an important skill to your nutrition toolkit. This blog will investigate the limitations and strengths of extrapolating nutrition research from animals to practical human recommendations. Animal Studies are Important for Research These types of studies are key to the development of nutrition research. Performing studies on humans require strict compliance with ethical parameters. This excludes many of the new or unsafe trials to cell-based and animal studies. These studies are not subject to the same level of ethical requirements and generally are cheaper to perform…

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