What Does A Nutritionist Think About Your Diet?

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One thing we all got during this quarantine season is more time. Life felt like mere flashes of light before this pandemic, and then suddenly we were all asked to hit the brakes. No one knew how long we would have to be confined in our homes, but it was clear that we were going to have more time with our families, and even more time for ourselves.

With the sudden surge of time handed to us, it was an opportunity for people to improve themselves coupled with the motivation of coming out of quarantine a much healthier person. Some may have tried Chloe Ting’s programs, some are practicing Yoga with Adrienne, or on your 22nd day with Blogilates, and with those programs, influencers have also partnered it with meal or diet plans, which is why a lot of people are on a variety of diets right now, and so we at Healtheneo got curious about what a Nutritionist really think about different eating habits, and diets such as Intermittent Fasting (IF) or Ketogenic diet.

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Once again, this nutrition article will be guided by Mr. Gilbert R. Gonzales Jr., RND, Clinical Dietician, Certified ServSafe Food Handler, from Metro North Medical Hospital.

All questions will be based on the results from our Focus Group Discussion and survey. To start this article, let’s talk about the most common answer we got when we asked people how their eating habits are when they are stressed.

1. A lot of people who are under stress either skip meals or binge, why should people avoid binge eating?

First, let’s define what binge eating is, it is when people consume large quantities of food very quickly, even when not hungry, and to the point of being uncomfortable. From this, you get so much calories, even more than our daily caloric requirements, and this is why people who binge gain weight because it becomes hard to control and observe your own eating habits when you are used to consuming food like this. 

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2. Is it okay to skip meals for a whole day?

Definitely not. Skipping meals is only going to destroy your metabolism. Our bodies are designed to withstand starvation for a specific period of time. We have energy reserves such as the glycogen reserves in our liver and muscles, and it’s not going to last the whole day. If you deplete your reserves, you have to replenish, not just the energy for your body, but also your glycogen reserves.

3. What happens when you skip meals, then binge eat after?

Excess caloric intake during binge eating will cause unwanted weight gain since there is a tendency that we can exceed our optimal caloric intake during binge eating.

During prolonged starvation, your body will first use glucose in your blood, next is your glycogen reserves, then fat, and lastly muscle tissue, so it is really not advisable that you starve your body the whole day because this puts your bodies under extreme stress -- and we must always remember that it will do whatever it takes to survive the whole day, and since our brain uses 60% of our energy resource in one day, you can just imagine the stress you're putting it through just for us to focus/achieve our tasks.

4. How can someone tell if they are feeling the negative side effects of skipping meals?

Madalas manghina, mababa ang BP and blood sugar, you cannot think straight, nauuhaw, overall feeling of apathy and lethargy. Labored ang work. There are tasks that are harder to do when you are lacking energy.

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5. What do you think are the best kind and worst kind of diets for you?

Okay first, we have to talk about the word diet. Diet has been used so much in terms of losing weight, when in fact the word diet means what you consume. 

You can’t pinpoint whether a specific kind of diet is good or bad -- if your diet is not apt for your body’s requirement, then it is already a bad diet.

We must understand that there is no predetermined diet that is good for you. It’s highly individualized. You can’t just make a diet that you can apply to the whole country.

Our caloric and nutrient requirements are all so different, so that is the only way that you can maximize a diet, is if it is based on the person's laboratory, anthropometrics, clinical, and dietary data.

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6. What do you think about diets such as the Ketogenic Diet?

It is not a weight loss diet.

You lose weight when you are on keto because your energy is not readily available from fat as compared to carbohydrate sources. If you are on Keto, diba you are eating a lot of fats, and your energy source is ketone bodies. This diet is designed for epileptic patients, because the fat from doing your ketogenic diet has anti-inflammatory effects for patients who are epileptic patients.

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7. If one wants to lose weight, how effective is cutting carbs altogether?

I am not a believer of cutting carbs altogether.

They put carbs in a bad light, and I must say that it’s not carbs that makes a person gain or lose weight. Our weights change depending on adding or cutting the calories we put in our bodies.

When you cut carbs, binabawasan mo yung readily available glucose in your body, so your body is suddenly forced to use fats and proteins for your energy source. Our bodies are not used to using protein, fat, or sodium for energy, so that’s why if you are gonna cut everything in your diet, then there will definitely be a caloric deficit.

A major side effect to cutting carbs is Cardiovascular disease - acquired through consuming more fats, red meats, animal fats, there can be a higher risk for acquiring ASHD and CVD.

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8. What is the common mistake that people make that causes them to fail at their chosen diet?

It can be psychological, meaning they can follow for one or two weeks, then motivation is gone. 

As a nutritionist, we always have to push our patients to pursue their optimal diet. I always have to tell them facts, such as going back to their laboratory test, and convincing them that this is only to improve their quality of life and well being. 

I admit that it’s very hard to resist bad habits, so you can set a cheat day for yourself, but always in moderation. Your food should always have MoVaBa, (Moderation, Variety, and Balance)

Writer’s note: MoVaBa is discussed on our previous article with Dr. Gilbert, if you haven’t read All About Food: Nutrition 101 from a Clinical Dietician! Okay, back to the article!

If magreklamo ka, I suggest that you think of your goal.

For every one step forward, there is an improvement, but if you take a step back, mas malaki nawawala cause hindi ka nag improve. 

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9. Is calorie counting and portion sizes universal?

Like I said, it differs from person to person, and even from country to country since portion control differs for countries.

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10. What is the one best piece of nutritional advice you can give?

Itutulad ko siya sa financial capability or financial security, kailangan natin lahat mag invest. We must invest into eating healthy and well balanced meals at an early age, because when we get older, we want our bodies to be strong to avoid chronic illnesses, such as cancer or cardiovascular disease.

It is not too late to choose healthier alternatives when it comes to the food that we eat. Let’s build a good foundation for ourselves, so we can improve the quality of our lives.

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Note: Healtheneo wants to send our gratitude to Mr. Gilbert Gonzales for being open to sharing his knowledge with us as an aid to inspire others to take a step towards a better health.