Nutrition for Shift Workers

 Long hours in a vehicle, assembly line factories or secluded work sites can make it difficult to make healthy foods choices. Shift workers often have to work both day and night shifts which can throw off natural body rhythms.

  If you find that your job stands in your way of being healthy here are some suggestions to boost your nutrition daily.

Home Base 

 

Before you leave for work make it a point to have your most nutritious meal of the day.  Include protein, essential fats and a good quality carbohydrate. This fuel will kick-start your energy and also give you the emotional satisfaction that you are beginning your day in a healthy way. 

Food prep is very important. Reliance on fast food is not going to work for long-term health. Get into the habit of prepping the day before will never leave you guessing what you will eat for lunch or dinner.

Bring snack foods that pack the biggest nutrient punch. Nuts, seeds, nut & seed butters, vegetables, avocado, salads, fruit, lean whole grain crackers, rice cakes, good quality protein shakes. Think of food in terms of fuel.  Take advantage of your breaks and fuel up your body. 

Travelling   

Working out of your vehicle makes it extra challenging to eat healthy on a daily basis. Make use of a portable cooler. There are many styles these days, some that plug into your car others that even look like a large handbag. Some ideas to keep in your cooler are veggies and hummus, yogurt with hemp seeds, salad with lean protein and hard boiled eggs. Don't be afraid to pull out that thermos that is sitting in the back of your cupboard. Homemade soups and stews are a great option and will stay warm for hours. If we rely on the diners "special of the day" we lose control of maintaining the healthy balance that our body needs.

Car Cooler

 

Take a few minutes to source out the best food options in your work area. Some fast food chains will sauté their ingredients in water (The Teriyaki Experience); some grocery stores offer a salad bar or hot table with healthy options (Longos, Loblaws). Opt for green leafy vegetables, lean protein and fresh fruit. Avoid salads that are drenched in mayo, unhealthy oils and fried foods. Ask for the ingredient list if you are unsure. Understanding what you are putting in your body is fundamental in being in control of your health.

 Breaks are Sporadic

Health Care Workers, Emergency Response Workers (Police Firefighters, Paramedics) are often not able to eat or drink for hours at a time. It is even more crucial for individuals in these professions to ensure that when they have the opportunity to eat they are reaching for good quality fuel. Often these workers get caught in the negative eating cycle: Worker is hungry but cannot eat ---> feels fatigue---> grabs a coffee because it provides a quick burst of energy and suppresses appetite ---> worker realizes that she/he hasn’t eaten for over 6 hours and is now starving and grabs the quickest thing in sight --->fast food (burger and fries) ---->packaged food (chips, cookies, high-sugar granola bar) ---> FULL & BLOATED. This cycle causes weight gain, mood disturbances, fatigue, a taxed immune system and further health problems. Not to mention less productivity at work.

Baby & Mommy Yummies

Mommies want the best for their baby's tummy, but often overlook their own. With the following simple and creative recipes you can turn homemade baby food into a snack or meal for mommy too!

My son, 8 months old

Rice Crispy Treats ~ Livin' Light Style

Living Light doesn't mean dessert deprivation! 

I have great memories of making the traditional Rice Crispy Squares when I was a kid and licking the gooey remnants of the sticky marshmallow bowl....and then having a sugar stomach ache an hour later! 

So, I've taken the traditional ingredients (white rice krispies, marshmallows, butter and vanilla) and have swapped them for more health promoting ingredients. 

We are keeping the feel-good memories, but subtracting the sour stomach.

This recipe is Toddler Approved :)

Here's the super simple recipe:

In a medium Dutch oven over low heat melt honey, brown rice syrup, sunflower seed butter in large bowl. 

Add in brown rice crispies and stir until even. If you are a chocoholic add in some dark chocolate chips too. Add to a baking pan (coat with some grapeseed oil to prevent sticking) 

Cool for 20 mins before eating.

Makes 1.5 dozen 1- inch squares

1/2 Cup Brown Rice Syrup

1/2 Cup Sunflower Seed Butter or Almond butter

1/2 Cup Unpasteurized Honey (not safe for babies)

3 Cups Brown Crispy Rice

70% Dark Chocolate Chips

Having a hard time getting to sleep at night?

Get your zzzzzz's with these foods 

Miranda on The Marilyn Denis Show - January 25, 2012 

Check out these sleep Q&A's 

Sleep Panel Q&A - Miranda on The Marilyn Denis Show - January 25th, 2012

Here's some extra info on the Do's & Don'ts of Eating for a Better Night's Sleep

Do’s

·      Choose foods at dinner that are easier to digest and higher in Tryptophan, Melatonin, Calcium, Magnesium & B Vitamins: Beans, lentils, whole-grains (quinoa, millet, brown rice, wild rice) raw & cooked veggies (leafy greens) lean proteins (chicken, turkey, tofu, eggs, shrimp, halibut, tuna)

·        Eat 4 hours before you go to bed. Your stomach should not be too full, but not too empty. Digestion slows down while asleep, and a full stomach may interrupt sleep.

·         Choose lower glycemic foods (gradual rise of blood sugar) brown rice, sweet potatoes, beans, and fruits and vegetables. Lower then 55 on the rating scale.

·         Eat a small unrefined complex carbohydrate with protein post-dinner snack 1 hour before bed to help increase production of sleep inducing brain chemicals and to fortify the body’s nighttime energy reserve.

Don’ts

·      Eat a heavy meal late at night.

·      Eat hard-to-digest proteins, (beef, pork) eat these earlier in the day

·      Go to bed on an empty stomach, as a completely empty stomach may wake you up with a grumbling belly.

·      Drink coffee, tea, and cola with your dinner. The caffeine will be sure to keep you up. Don’t drink a caffeinated drink past 4 p.m.

·      Eat sugary snacks and foods with food coloring or other artificial flavors. They can give nightmares and can cause interrupted sleep.

·      Eat any food that doesn’t sit well with you personally. If you eat something and it often gives you a physical or emotional reaction, avoid it or it may disrupt sleep.

·      Eat spicy foods late at night

·      Eat gas producing foods, keep you and your partner awake

**Eating every 3-4 hours throughout the day will help to keep you feeling balanced and you won’t gorge at dinner. Choosing easy-to-digest foods will help you to ease your body into rest mode to encourage detoxification and repair**

 

Safe Snacks

·      Banana – contains Tryptophan & Magnesium, potassium: all helpful for activating the calming and sleep-inducing brain chemical serotonin.

·      Almonds/Almond milk -supplies tryptophan, magnesium and protein that can help maintain a stable blood sugar level while sleeping.

·      Whole Grain Hot or Cold Cereal

     Hot: Oatmeal, Brown Rice Cereal (Bob’s Red Mill)

     Cold: Millet Puffs, Whole O’s

         With unsweetened almond milk or rice milk or plain yogurt

-       Contains B vitamins, calcium & tryptophan to ease the body into    

relaxing and encourage sleep.

·      Ancient Grain Crackers (Mary’s Crackers) add some goat cheese, or hummus to dip - Complex carbohydrate-rich foods increase the availability of tryptophan in the bloodstream, increasing the sleep-inducing effects

·      Edamame Beans, soy milk, soy nuts, - helpful in fighting hot flashes at night due to the estrogen-like compounds if that’s keeping you up

·      Hard Boiled Egg  -a quick, rich protein snack helpful in keeping your blood sugar stable throughout the night. (don't forget to have it with a small complex carb..spelt crackers)

·      Brown Rice Cake with Pumpkin Seed Butter  - high amount of tryptophan in pumpkin seeds, great complex carb for increase of tryptophan

 

·      Nuts/Seeds  -  Sachi Inchi seeds have 8 times the amount of tryptophan then turkey.  Chia seeds have good levels too. Omega 3 fats are helpful for reducing stress and relaxing the nervous system.

·      Sour Cherries, fresh, dried or pure juice are one of few food sources of melatonin, which has been found to promote better sleep and lessen the effects of jet lag. Since melatonin is found in small quantities in the body, a slight increase can produce great results. There is 13.5 nanograms (ng) (one billionth of a gram) of melatonin per 1 gram of cherries, which is higher than the amount normally found in the blood.

·      Grapes  - Nebbiolo grapes have the highest amounts of melatonin – found in Barolo wines.

·      Lemon Balm Tea (my fav!) - helpful in calming and reducing anxiety. This herb is used for nervous agitation, sleeping problems, functional gastrointestinal complaints.

Healthy Lunch Box Ideas for Everyone!

Miranda Making Jax Snacks - Healthy Smoothie

Live Light Juice Bar In the News

http://www.mytowncrier.ca/coffee-shop-gets-juicier-and-healthy.html

Check us out in the Town Crier Leaside-Rosedale

Don't take their word for it come by as see for yourself!  

Located in Mountain Bean Coffee Co. 660 Eglinton Ave East Toronto (Bayview & Eglinton) 

• 10 Health-Designed Fresh Juices & Smoothies
• Healthy Snacks 
• Wraps & Sprouted Salads 
• Weekly specials
• Private & Group Grocery Tours
• Individual Consults 
• Wellness Seminars

Grilled Cheese ~ Livin' Light Style

My son adores grilled cheese sandwiches like most kids do. 

I've changed it up slightly to make it easier to digest, but still gooey-good.

Traditional grilled cheese sandwiches  call for butter, those conveniently packaged cheese slices or what I like to call food-colored fake cheese and white bread (sugar). It's so simple to take a traditional item like a grilled cheese and swap the unhealthy ingredients for more health promoting ones. 

 

   

Instead of White Bread substitute for an alternative like Spelt Bread. Stone Mill is popular in most mainstream grocery stores. Spelt is higher in B vitamins and a light enough bread that your kids won't think it's that healthy ;)

Instead of food-colored fake cheese swap it for cheddar goat cheese. Goat cheese is the easiest dairy product to digest. It's properties are closest to mother's milk and it melts well!

  

  

Instead of butter try grape seed oil. It's high in anti-oxidants and has a high smoke point. 

Instead of sugary Ketchup

try letting your kids dip it in some healthy hummus

or salsa. Usually, as long as they are dipping all is good!

Top 10 Eating-Out Nutrition No-No's

 It's fun to explore a variety of different foods and restaurants, but keep in mind these nutrition no-no's when you eat-out!

1) Drinking liquids with our meal. Drinking too much when eating dilutes digestive enzymes and slows down digestion leading to bloating, gas, etc. 

Eating Correction: no more pop, or other carbonated beverages. Drink only 1/2 glass of room temp water if you must drink. Try drinking 1/2 hour before and 45-1 hour after a meal

2) Improper Food Combining : Stop eating fruit after a meal! Eating fruit with or after a starch or a protein can cause fermentation in the gut, which leads to us feeling more bloated and hungrier sooner than we would if we skipped the fruit.
Eating Correction: Eat fruit in isolation 30 minutes before a meal or 45 min after. The only exception is papaya, pineapple and mango because of natural digestive enzymes that exist in these fruits.

3) Eating something sweet or cold after a meal. Cold foods like ice cream should be avoided right after a meal as anything cold or hot can also slow down digestive function. 

Eating Correction: If you are craving a sweet cold treat wait 45 minutes to give your digestive organs some time to do their thing.

4) Assuming the named menu item is healthy without asking. Too many fast food restaurants will label their meals with misleading names like "grilled chicken" when many of these dishes contain more sodium and calories. If you are watching what you are eating make sure no matter where you go you can judge for yourself if the food is healthy.  

Eating Correction: Read nutrition facts at a fast food joint or if ordering at a restaurant make sure to ask what kind of sauces are used, is there cream? butter? etc.  If so, you can make it healthier just by asking.

5) Ordering too much food. I know it often all looks so good and we are so hungry by the time we get to the restaurant, but we often go overboard with the amount we order. An appetizer, entree and dessert these days can equal to a ton more food than is necessary for us to eat. We then feel sluggish, bloated, cranky and sometimes even mad at ourselves, which can lead to a negative emotional connection to food and lack of energy for exercise. 

Eating Correction: If you are out with another person, try ordering 2 appetizers, 1 entree and 1 dessert (30 mins later) or skip dessert all together. This way you won't get as full and you can still have variety.

6) Adding too many condiments or sauces (that are full of sugar or fat) to our healthy food. Even if you do your best to order that gorgeous looking salad, if you are drenching it in a processed dressing (bad fat) you are contributing to potential imbalances to your health. Ketchup is probably the most overused condiment, which adds many empty calories to a meal.  

Eating Correction: ask for pure olive oil and vinegar and substitute the ketchup for real salsa.

7) Eating dinner too late. Although making a reservation late makes it a little easier to get ready and excited for the evening, eating a heavy meal late can throw off the body's natural way of detoxifying. For example, it takes us about 10 hours to digest beef. Say we eat it at 8:00 p.m. we are still digesting our food by 5 a.m. The body can't spend time on detoxing if it is busy digesting. 

Eating Correction: If you want to eat late make it a smaller meal that the body can work on digesting easier. Try to avoid heavy meats late at night and keep the lighter proteins, veggies and light carbs on your plate.

8) Feeling embarrassed to stay on track with your healthy lifestyle when with a group of people. Many feel that they will look stupid if they choose a healthy meal or ask for a substitute when eating out with their friends. 

Eating Correction: You health is #1 and there are probably others at the table that will secretly be really impressed when you care about your health and it may even inspire them to do more for themselves.

9) Eating only for taste. We often only think in terms of if we like it or not, but we forget about the basic concept that food is our fuel and if we don't start re-training our palate to like a variety of tastes we may deny our body of good overall health. 

Eating Correction: To get started try eating at least one meal a day where you are only thinking about your health. Before you know it you will love the taste of healthy food and all of your meals will be based on your health.

10) Not eating enough raw foods. We tend to overcook everything and forget that raw food contains potent enzymes and nutrients that can really benefit us. 

Eating Correction: Try eating 50% raw and 50% cooked at your next meal and every meal if you want to do something really exciting for your health!

Miranda Malisani
Holistic Nutritionist, Founder of Live Light Nutrition
Nutrition Expert for The Marilyn Denis Show on CTV
miranda@livelightnutrition.com
www.livelightnutrition.com

Wheatgrass Shots & Health Benefits with Miranda Malisani

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Miranda Malisani's Top 5 Snack Bars

HEALTHY CHOCOLATE FLOURLESS CAKE

One of my fav things to do is spend one-on-one time with my son in the kitchen. In this video we made a healthy version of a flourless chocolate cake.

Here's the recipe:
1 Cup Pumpkin
1 Cup Almond Butter
1/3 cup Unpasteurized Honey
1/3 cup Dark Chocolate Chips
2 tbsp Raw Cacao
1 tsp Baking soda
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1 Egg (Omega 3)
Combine together and bake for 30 mins at 350

Miranda on Slice!

If you missed me on Gail Vaz-Oxlade's Princess

You can check out the Link here 

Miranda on Princess

Family Nutrition Overhaul 

Do your kids view you as a health-nag?

Do you feel that your efforts are totally ignored?

Do you feel confused about what products are really best for your family?

Miranda specializes in helping families make healthy changes together. As a wife and a mother, Miranda understands the demands of a busy schedule and trying to juggle keeping a family healthy.

Miranda offers the following 6 week family package:

• Home visit with pantry purge and discussion (min. 2 hour visit)
• Private grocery store tour 
• Subsequent visit 
• in-home sample cooking
• one-on-one time with each family member
• weekly check-ins 

January Special $695

**travel fee may apply**
contact miranda@livelightnutrition.com 416-846-4887

New Year, New You Package

Live it! 

Making a lifestyle change requires nutrition info and action to carry it out! This package is designed to ensure you stick with it. 

Miranda will coach you for 6 weeks and will include:

 

• Initial consultation with specific recommendations designed for you. (in person)
• Includes sample menu plans

• Weekly check-ins with diet diary review (not in person)

• Private Grocery Store Tour 

• Subsequent Visit

• Unlimited emails

January Special $450
Appts at 660 Eglinton Ave East, Toronto



 Contact: miranda@livelightnutrition.com or 416-846-4887