20: Is organic food or fancy supplements the secret to health?

0:00:00
 Hey, if you're struggling with disordered eating, if you feel like you're constantly trying a diet and don't know what to do, a really good starting point is to read or listen to my book, Your Weight Is Not the Problem. That book, that sweet little book has been on the best-selling list of Amazon Women's Health in Australia for weeks and weeks and weeks. I've had many people, hundreds of people reach out telling me that it has changed their life. So if you are thinking about it, if you're going, oh, I like this podcast, I would recommend giving the book a listen to or reading it the old school way.

0:00:33
 Hello, this is the No Wellness Wankery podcast.

0:00:37
 My name is Jenna D'Apice and I'm joined by dietitian, nutritionist and very lovely person, Lyndi.

0:00:45
 Hello, hello.

0:00:46
 What a nice little intro.

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 I know, I just add a little intro for you.

0:00:49
 I like that.

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 This week, this episode, we love to answer your questions and if you have a question, send it through, nude underscore nutrition on Instagram, send a voice note, send a message and we would love to answer it. This question, it's something I think about a lot.

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 What is our question?

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 Let's listen.

0:01:07
 Hi, Lindy, congrats on launching the podcast and look forward to following along. I did have a couple of questions that it'd be great to get your thoughts on. My first question was about organic food, particularly meat, fruit and veggies. Do you think they're worth the extra cost? My second question was about food supplements. So of course

0:01:35
 individual needs have a big part to play but generally speaking, are there any important things missing from the average healthy Western diet that supplements could help fill the gap for? Thank you, Lindy. Oh, such good

0:01:39
 Organic food. I always, when I'm looking in the grocery shop, it's always next to it, the organic

0:01:43
 vegetables are so much more expensive. And they're tiny. They're tiny and I'm like, is this what I should be getting? Okay, so I would say there is a lot of fear mongering that goes on in the whole organic world space. You heard about like the dirty dozen?

0:01:59
 No.

0:02:00
 Okay, well if you have heard of the dirty dozen, it's like 12 specific pieces of produce that they're like, if you have to go organic, prioritise these first because these are the ones where... I want you to know as well, the modern farming practices in Australia, I'll speak about the landscape that I know, firstly we do have quite strict rules about what products you're use and generally farmers, they know that consumers want to have less pesticides. They're only going to be using it so that they can actually do a certain amount of farming and get a certain amount of product out there and they typically will only do it in certain spots and very often modern farming practices means that they're avoiding these issues from happening in the first place. So they're doing certain things like specific irrigation or they're getting some kind of dehumidifying system so that they can kind of reduce things from happening or they're just using one kind of animal to help reduce pests. So what I'm basically saying is that in Australia they do use things like your pesticides and all the stuff that make it inorganic, but they are, generally every farmer I've ever spoken to, and I've spoken to quite a few, they really are trying to reduce the load of how often they need to do all these things. They're quite conscious of it. And so I think, I can't speak about the American food system, but here in Australia I know that for things to be classified as organic, they have to jump through many, many hoops and it is a very expensive way for a farmer to have to harvest food because you're probably of product from insects getting into it and even everything you use, like the soil and any fertilisers and everything is going to have to be proven organic. I know that in my, I do vegetable gardening at home and I had aspirations of going for an organic little farming system here because I think I was probably affected by that purity idea. It was very, very challenging for me to get enough produce and I would just basically be feeding all the animals in my garden. And part of me was kind of okay with that because I was having fun playing around with it, but my yield was incredibly low. My husband would laugh that I'd pay like $50 per carrot because of my terrible farming practices. And so basically, I think the advent of having these different things that we can add to our foods to make farming more effective has allowed us to feed the masses in a much more affordable rate. So I think that is very useful. Do I think... That's a very complicated way of saying, do I think you need to buy organic? Absolutely not. Do I buy organic? No. Do I think there's a lot of fear mongering that tells us that we need to avoid absolutely every single pesticide.

0:04:50
 I do.

0:04:51
 I do think there is due diligence done to make sure that anything that is added to our food is done so in a considered way. And I don't, even if I'm buying berries or something, which is part of the so-called dirty dozen, I'm not buying them organic because I personally can't afford it. And I would say I'm probably, I'm quite a privileged person and even if I can't afford it, I think the people who can afford organic is a very small minority in Australia. So I think fundamentally the priority is to make sure you're eating enough fruit and vegetables and to not fear them and not to think that there's something horrible lurking in them. Washing your produce is just a smart thing to be doing anyway and I think personally

0:05:33
 I could probably wash a little bit more than I do. This is what I was going to ask about. I know I'm not the best at washing things and I know some people, you see them on Instagram as do their weekly vegetable wash and they soak them and they soak them in different things. Is there any benefit in doing that?

0:05:50
 No, not much scientifically. I think maybe it's making them feel better about it. You know, like for example, I don't know if you've heard the expression that one bad apple can make, you know, all it takes is one bad apple. Do you know where that expression comes from? So all produce releases something called ethylene and it's like a gas that gets released from it.

0:06:08
 It'll ruin the rest of the fruit.

0:06:09
 Exactly. So if you want that apple in a pile, it'll make all the apples go bad. Anyway, so basically what they do on apples is they do put a thin film on them. If you've ever scratched an apple, it's got a waxy film on it. Now that is completely safe to eat, but people who don't believe it's safe, and I just want to say it's a belief system, it's not rooted in any science, otherwise we wouldn't be having that on the apples that we sell in our stores, they believe it's bad for you and they then go and soak it, which perpetuates this whole idea that just eating an apple like it normally is, is bad. And this is what happens in nutritionism, is they just really just create fear out of things that don't need to be made into fear. And if it makes that person feel really good and they get such joy from soaking their vegetables and it makes them a better person, great. But I think me thinking about like...

0:06:56
 If it adds an extra step and stops you from eating fruits and vegetables, it's not going to be helpful.

0:07:01
 Yes. And beyond that, do I actually think we should be fearing modern farming practices? I don't. I think in Australia there's a huge idea of like all this GM stuff and fearing all that and I just don't think that's the reality of what's happening. Farmers are good people. Farmers are people who are generally caring a lot about our environment. They are trying to get a good amount of healthy food to us and I just feel like, I don't know, I don't think we need to buy organic. I don't and I would rather you spend your money just trying to eat lots of fruits and vegetables and that's the way to go.

0:07:40
 I think, yeah, it definitely, the price of it, it's just probably just not worth it.

0:07:45
 Yeah, and if you can afford it and it brings you joy, do it. I don't care.

0:07:48
 You do you.

0:07:49
 You do you, but you don't need to. And then to answer your final question.

0:07:54
 Yes.

0:07:55
 Supplements, what are we missing in our diet? So can you get everything from a normal, healthy Western diet? So if you're looking at the Australian dietary guidelines, and they're pretty similar to most of the Western dietary guidelines around the world, yes, you're absolutely gonna be able to get everything that you need. The problem is that most people don't eat according to the guidelines. And so typically what we find in people who are very ultra health-focused is they're not eating nearly enough whole grains or legumes. So they tend to not have enough fiber in their diet. That can be one of the issues. Or certain kind of things for gut health when you go on those low-carb kind of diets. Sometimes people can go low on calcium. I think it's one quarter of Australian women don't get enough calcium. And I hear a lot of people don't have enough iron. And iron is another one particularly amongst young women. If you're an athlete or you've got your period, you're going to have more of a risk. And I don't know about you, but I personally don't love red meat. I kind of have to decide that I should eat it because I don't really cook it at home. So I think it's more about, no, you don't need to take a supplement. But if you find that you personally have certain foods that you prefer not to eat, I think you might want to consider whether or not you do need to be supplementing. Now let's say you're a vegetarian and you're a young female and you have periods, I would then, I'd be going to the doctor and getting a blood test to make sure that you're getting enough iron. And just in case you don't know how important iron is, it's a really crucial one, iron helps your body transport oxygen around your bloodstream.

0:09:28
 That sounds important.

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 It's important, which means it gives you energy, which means you can function and think.

0:09:33
 I've seen people like that, iron deficiency, they're always really tired.

0:09:37
 Super tired and lethargic and trudging through life. You can think about how many other things this can affect. So I think getting your iron checked is a really important one and calcium is another really important one for young women. Getting dairy three times a day is the way that we're going to be getting enough calcium. I think a lot of people don't get that. And remembering that, let's say you're having coffee, coffee prevents how much calcium you're going to be absorbing within that drink. Your coffee doesn't count as a source of calcium.

0:10:05
 That milk doesn't count.

0:10:07
 It doesn't. But let's say you're having some yogurt or you're having some other... We used to have glasses of milk as a snack or cheese, but the nutrition world tells us cheese is bad. It's not, by the way. Just making sure that you are just trying to get these things. I always find it very interesting how the nutrition world can demonize these foods that actually mean we're less likely to get all of the nutrients that we need. Like when the nutrition world tells us that fruit is fattening but we know we need two serves of fruit a day to get in all our vitamin A, vitamin C, all of those nutrients. Nutrition world tells us we're not allowed to have fat, unlike you know salad dressings bad for us but salad dressing helps us absorb fat soluble nutrients. Anyway I just think it's very interesting. So if you feel like there are whole food groups that you're missing, I would make an appointment with a doctor to go and get a blood test.

0:10:56
 So if you get like a blood test, they can run through kind of where you're lacking. Can they see things if you're not having enough fiber in a blood test?

0:11:02
 No, but when you go to the toilet, you're going to be able to know that. So, okay, can you be cool about the stool? That's my like a little vibe for you. Can you be cool about the stool? Yeah, like, okay, firstly, everyone looks at their poo. I think everyone should look at their poo. It's a good thing to do. And so you just want to make sure that there's something called the Bristol stool chart. Bristol, B-R-I-S-T-O-L. Please go Google it now. And you're basically just going to see a chart of what different poos look like. And you want- They do cute cartoons. It's not gross. Yeah, it is cute. And they compare it with- With chocolate. With chocolate. And you don't want to be a Malteser because you're going to be quite constipated if you're a Malteser and you don't want to be like a milkshake, that's not good either. No, we want to be like much more sausage-like. Yeah, much more Mars Bar-esque.

0:11:43
 Mars Bar-esque and not like crunchy.

0:11:44
 You know, you can be like a crunchy or like too hard, but basically you just want it to come out normally and that's going to be a good indication of your bowels and also that you're going regularly. Now, what is constipation? Constipation might be, you know, if you have two bowel movements a day and you don't poo for one day, that could be constipation for that person. Some people, their definition of regular is every second or third day anyway. Is that constipation for them or is that just their normal habit? So your definition of diarrhea or constipation is probably determined by what your usual bowel movements are.

0:12:19
 So checking in yourself and if things change.

0:12:21
 Exactly. Or if you're chronically not getting enough fibre and let's say you just upped all your fibre very instantly, you might get some diarrhoea and some negative gut symptoms. So you do want to get to the point where we are nice for on the Bristol stool chart and maybe a daily bowel motion would be nice, making sure we're drinking enough water. And just again, looking at your wee as well as another thing, we want it to be nice, clear, kind of like yellowy but not dark coloured and you don't want to have like a very strong smell to it and that's a really good thing to know that you're actually healthy. No one talks about this, which is why I think we need to be talking about stuff. Everyone goes to the toilet, so let's make sure we're cool about it still.

0:12:56
 So if you're going to the toilet properly, had a blood test, eating a varied diet, everything, then you don't need to pay for supplements.

0:13:03
 No, and I just want to say that in the industry, nutrition professionals, we refer to supplements often as expensive urine because anything that your body already has, it's hopefully going to excrete out. But notice that your body, like your liver, is going to need to first process through those nutrients, so you're kind of creating an extra load on your body that you don't need. So not only is it expensive, but you're placing that load on your body. And so I think we've got to get out of this habit of just like supplementing for the sake of it, just as an in-case or like an insurance policy. It's just like extra things to process and get through yeah exactly I don't think it I don't think that's a good thing to be doing and so just get like just go get a blood test it's a good thing to do and then just see what you need if you need anything and just being mindful if you're missing out on anything in your diet generally but you can get everything you need from your diet and sometimes you have to boycott wellness crappy advice so that you can actually make sure you're getting all your nutrients. I love that question and if you don't if you can't afford organic food then you're like probably 98% of the world and that is so fine. 99.99% of people I think.

0:14:09
 If you have any questions, please hit up Lindy on Instagram, nude underscore nutritionist. We'd love to hear your questions.

0:14:16
 Leave us a review wherever you listen to your podcasts. Thanks guys.

0:14:20
 Bye.

0:14:21
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