Dropping the Fat

• Do you have bad breath?

• Healthy Clicks looks at www.Dlife.com

• Burning Question: Is my BMI important?

Watch Dropping the Fat Episode #2

Transcript

 

Hello, I’m Mark Moxom, and welcome to Dropping the Fat. In this programme, we get a little personal, as we look down the tubes as it were, at the nasty smells people associate with Low Carb diets. Our Burning Question this time asks about fat measurement, and we take an unusual look at a website that’s not meant for Low Carbers, but has some real treasures to click on. All that, and more to come, as you join me in Dropping the Fat.

Bad breath and other low carb smells

So, have you got bad breath? Does your body odour seem more pungent than usual? And isn’t that a good thing? DOesn’t it mean you’re in ketosis? Those are just some of the things I’ve heard said to Low Carbers, because many people associate the Low Carb diet with nasty smells – and to a certain extent they have some reason, but only if you listen to the hype and rumour that abound among those who, quite frankly, don’t know better.

The truth is nasty niffs don’t really need to be a part of a Low Carb lifestyle, and it’s frankly one of those things that has been blown out of all proportion, to the point that many Low Carb dieters think that nasty smells are the norm, and so therefore they should be getting them! In my view, living with that type of mindset means that folk just aren’t doing all they would normally do to eradicate the odours they would normally get. Simply, if you’re body is used to eating Low Carb you should not be overly troubled by nasty niffs, it’s as simple as that.

Anyway, we can break down the perceived problem into three main causes of offence; the one at the top of the list is bad breath. Then we have smelly sweat; and for some, foul smells in the bathroom. However, the one thing that joins all these together, is that any change in diet will necessitate a period of bacterial re-adjustment in your digestive system, from the mouth down to the rear end. Anyway, let’s have a look at those, one at a time, starting with bad breath.

Now many folk have the idea that bad breath is caused by keytone bodies being exhaled. Well, to a limited extent, that is true, however, the main cause of bad breath is actually down to a change and imbalance in the levels of bacteria in our digestive system. Remember, we don’t swallow one hundred percent of everything we chew. Food particles break down in between and around our teeth, and that process can often be the cause of a foul odour given off. The solution here is obvious, it’s good dental hygiene. Also, in the early stages of some Low Carb regimes, we are encouraged not to drink tea, coffee and other similar drinks. That means that low-level dehydration can become a problem, because most people are not very conscientious in replacing this liquid by, say, drinking more water. That results in them getting a dry or partially dry mouth. Remember, saliva helps to keep the teeth clean.

However, the things we swallow can be a problem just as well. Things like onion and garlic are probably the best known examples of foods containing spicy, pungent oils that can be the cause of bad breath. And they are not alone – as there are other vegetables, too numerous to mention, that can do the same. Once these foods are digested, the spicy oils find their way into our blood stream, some of that will end up in our lungs, where it’s given off in our breath until the food has gone from our body. Even on a high carb diet this would happen to a greater or less extent. The solution here is to add more variety to our diet, incorporating other just as tasty, but less pungent flavours, to the list of things we eat. Another key, is to cook in such a way as to let the natural flavour of the ingredients come to the fore, or we can use herbs or less smelly spices to flavour our food. The best advice though, is to get a good cook book and jolly well use it!

Another cause of offence is what you might call “coffee breath”. This is the sort of thing that people who don’t eat breakfast but then just drink, say, coffee, get quite often – even non-dieters. It’s just simply a poor choice of food.

OK, what about smelly sweat then? Well, urine is the most natural exit for any keytones produced by the body. When we are in ketosis these will be present in the bloodstream, which means that to a limited extent, they can also come out through our breath, as well as when we sweat. Getting rid of the keytones by going for a ‘pee’ would generally cause the least problems, and it’s also the one we can control the easiest, again simply by drinking adequate amounts of liquid. So the solution to overcoming this problem is to make sure we drink enough fluids, and to keep on top of our personal hygiene. We only really get a problem when keytones mix with stale sweat. No stale sweat, no problem!

At the bottom of the list we have those foul smells in the bathroom. Now I know it’s not a nice subject, but someone’s got to talk about it. Under ideal conditions, our stools should have a slightly earthy odour that is actually not that unpleasant, and they should consist mainly of dead, digestive bacteria and indigestible fibre. Now any change in the food you eat can cause an upset in the balance of the natural bacteria in your digestive tract (as I’ve already said), and in some cases this can be severe enough to cause excessive gas and the unpleasant smells that go with it. Skipping meals and not eating regularly can also increase the problem many times so the solution here is firstly to eat a variety of your permitted foods, including vegetables, salads, meats, cheeses, in an adequately varied mix. Secondly, don’t overtax your digestive system with big meals. Instead, divide up your daily allowance into four or five or more sittings, evened out over the day. You can be sure your stomach will thank you for it! Lastly, eat foods that are bacteria friendly, things such as kale, mustard greens, collard, spinach, and even dandelion leaves, and make sure you eat regularly without skipping meals.

Now, while there will be a short adjustment period as the bacteria in your gut adapt, it is something that can be quickly and easily got through. A little-known tip I can give you now is to eat natural yoghurt, or bio yoghurt, at the end of each meal, and in between meals if you’re feeling peckish, especially while you are going through the adjustment period. Natural yoghurt is good for you in that it provides an ideal food for the gut bacteria to thrive in, meaning we digest our food more effectively and we get all the goodness out of everything we eat.

So, the key solutions are: To drink more, make sure you eat regularly, feed our friendly bacteria, brush our teeth and keep on top of personal hygiene. By following these simple steps you will find that the incidences of all these problems are drastically reduced or eliminated. And, on top of that, you’ll feel much more satisfied during the day.

The bottom line – well, I maintain that when you’re doing any Low Carb diet properly, diet related causes of bad smells should not be that severe in the first place, and they are certainly something that can be readily treatable.

Now, something that’s guaranteed not to smell nasty is our next item – as we take a look at another “Healthy Click”!!

Healthy Click – DLife.com

This time, we’re looking at a website that may not be one that immediately comes to mind for someone on a diet; Low Carb or otherwise. Today’s choice is full of really useful information and has tons of recipes too. The website is called “Dlife” and it can be found, unsurprisingly, at www.Dlife.com. It’s a site that is primarily aimed at folk with diabetes – hence the big D – but as many of the dietary choices they have are similar to Low Carbers, then much of the information is applicable to us as well. In fact, whatever diet you follow, there’s something there for you. The site is clear and it’s easy to find your way around. But I’m just going to pick out one of the links at the top of the page – in this case, it’s the one marked “Diabetic Recipes”. Now surprise, surprise, that takes us to the recipe section, which again is divided handily into useful subcategories such as carb content of various values; things like low sodium, and others. Or you can search by meal types, such as breakfast, dinner, tea, or the main ingredients, such as poultry, fish. Well, I’m sure you get the idea!

The quality of the information presented is on the whole top notch, and frankly it’s well worth spending some time there. There you go . . . Dlife.

Now if you have a suggestion for a website to appear on this programme, drop me a line at the email above and if it’s a good one, I’ll share it with the others on the programme.

Burning Question – "Is my BMI Important?"

Right, moving on. Here is something to wake up the brain cells as we take a look at our Burning Question.

Today’s question is from Sally Mountjoy in Greenwich, and she asks “Is my BMI important?”

Well, BMI (Body Mass Index) is actually a very effective tool to find out if you are carrying excessive fat. However, you can get a very quick idea if you’ve got a significant weight problem simply by taking note of your waist size. That’s the reason why the clothes manufacturers use it so much, because it’s just so telling on our overall body shape. Within certain limits, we can use this one measurement to see if we are carrying too much body fat.

If you are male, of average frame size, and over 100cms (which is about 40”) around the waist, you are obese. For you ladies, the same would be true if you are over 90cms (which is about 36”) around the waist.

Now during a diet, measuring your waist size can be a better indication of fat loss than say, watching the scales. However, when used properly, knowing your BMI can be a really useful tool, however I must say that this: that there are many of the BMI calculators that you find online just aren’t accurate enough, as they only take into account your height and weight. Fortunately, the one on the Low Carb Monthly website is, as you would expect, more accurate. So I would recommend you use that one.

Anyway, I’ve got to say watching that percentage go down each week can be really encouraging, even if it’s only by a little bit!

Well, that’s all we’ve got time for this time – don’t forget to send in your Burning Question – after all, it could be YOU whose winning that coveted three months’ free access to Low Carb Monthly.

Next time, we’ll be looking at breaking bad habits to make your fat loss more successful and we’ll have an unusual website to have a look at.

Anyway, this is Mark Moxom wishing you all the very best until next time on Dropping the Fat.