Meet the Dietitian: Karla Pretorius

Chat Leave a comment October 28, 2019 nutritionadsa

Not only is Karla Pretorius a Dietitian; she is also a Protea netball player, vice-captain and announced as the Player of the Tournament at the Netball World Champs earlier this year! Thank you Karla for flying the Dietetic flag high.

 

Karla Pretorius:

My participation as an elite netball athlete in the professional world of sports has increased my awareness and understanding of the indispensable importance of nutrition in the lives of both individuals and communities. The effective implementation of nutrition knowledge can drastically enhance the quality of every individual’s life, including athletes performance and overall wellbeing.

My path first crossed with nutrition as a science during my undergraduate studies at the University of the Free State (Kovsies) in Bloemfontein. I would later also complete my masters in dietetics and nutrition at the institution. This quaint city, located in the wide-open gold plains of the Free State proved to be a great learning experience, both on and of the court.

Balancing full-time studies with the close to year-round netball season, both domestically for Kovsies and the Free State Crinums and nationally for the Proteas proved challenging at times. Although challenging, the opportunities presented by netball could not be turned down. With support from various stakeholders and determination, I was able to manage both. I strongly encourage all athletes to pursue further studies whilst working towards their personal sporting goals. With hard work, a good balancing act and support it can be done. Also, do not be ashamed to ask for help and assistance along the way. I am most grateful for the time spent at Kovsies, playing for the university team in the Varsity Cup Netball league and at the University Sport South Africa Games.

At the end of 2016, I was approached to join the Sunshine Coast Lightning netball club in their inaugural season in the Australian premier league, the Suncorp Super Netball League. This marked my entry into the sport as a Professional Netballer. The club managed to secure two consecutive wins in the premier league in 2017 and 2018. We are currently continuing our campaign for the 2019 season, after a month-long break for the 2019 INF World Cup in Liverpool. The Spar Proteas, which I am honoured to vice-captain, excelled in the tournament by managing a win over number 2 ranked Jamaica and achieving an overall 4th place.

Noting that Netball is not a professional sport in South Africa, many athletes wanting to pursue a career as a professional netballer are necessitated to look abroad for opportunities in professional leagues, most notably in Australia, England and New
Zealand.

And that is what I did, firstly with a move to England to represent Team Bath, and later on the Sunshine Coast Lightning in Australia. The move abroad also meant that I had to temporarily sacrifice my professional career as a full-time dietician.
Remaining informed of developments in the field of dietetics and adding to my skills and knowledge compelled me to read towards my masters, enrol for online courses, and to do community volunteer work abroad.

Dietetics and nutrition should be incorporated in every high-performance sport and environment, including netball. From my experience, I found that the importance thereof is underestimated and valued in South African netball. There is a clear difference in the value-added to the role and profession of a dietician in the amateur league of netball in South Africa compared to the professional league in Australia.

The main objective for our team dietician, and myself, is to ensure that I am ‘nutritionally healthy’, whereby my performance is maximised. This is achieved by the development and implementation of practical nutrition strategies, guidelines and policies. The rewards of effective use and implementation of nutrition strategy have ensured that I reach my goals, enhance my performance and recovery and minimise
injury risk.

 

Meet the Dietitian: Community service series

Chat Leave a comment October 14, 2019 nutritionadsa

Dietetics might have been my plan B, but it turned out to be the (B)est plan yet!

 

By Carmyn Gast

 

Nutrition has been known to play a key part in good health since the time of ancient Greeks, with Hippocrates famously writing “Let thy food be thy medicine, thy medicine be thy food” in the 5^th century BC. However, the profession of dietetics itself is relatively young, having only been put in the forefront of patient care by Florence Nightingale and Alexis Soyer during the Crimean War in the 19^th century. And it was only in 1974 in South Africa that the Health Professions Act officialised Dietetics as a profession.

So being a dietitian means that you’re also a pioneer in this profession – an exciting but sometimes frightening experience. Which is exactly what I felt like when I walked into the very rural district hospital in KwaZulu Natal on the first day of my community service year. As the only dietitian in the hospital, I was immediately given all of the responsibilities of running an entire Dietetics Department. From consulting with and managing all the in-patients and out-patients, to budgeting and controlling all the nutritional feed stock, to auditing the hospital kitchen and the surrounding clinics, to supervising and assisting the Nutrition Advisors (something unique to KwaZulu Natal), to doing seemingly never-ending administration tasks and statistics, to training fellow health care professionals on nutrition, to advocating for patients’ nutritional health at meetings, to learning the local isiZulu language to be able to communicate with patients – there was (and still is) always something more to do and something more to learn.

The most important thing I have learned thus far is to always remember your heart. The nature of our job is to deal with people, and people are extremely complex and they often only encounter us when they’re not feeling well. Unfortunately the public healthcare system is under immense pressure in our country so most health care professionals only spend a handful of minutes with each patient before moving on to the next patient. So I consider it a privilege that, as a dietitian, I get to spend more time with patients. It gives me great joy to be able to sit down, talk with and really get to know my patients. After all, food and nutrition is such a personal thing – it gives you a real understanding of a person and their life. And this enables you to meaningfully and effectively help a patient to reach and maintain their optimal nutritional status. And a healthy happy patient makes for a very happy heart.

Sometimes the importance of dietitians is undermined and poorly understood, but as pioneers, it is up to us to continually show and prove our worth as a profession. And hopefully sometime in the near future the rest of the world will catch up and wake up to the most important fact that we already know – that food is life. In the meantime, let’s show them how it’s done!

 

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Carmyn had the wonderful initiative to take a photo and add a caption each day of her Community Service Year to document the real and ‘unfiltered’ journey. See more on Intstagram @BecomingAnRD.

 

First day out to the clinics #Day10 #BecomingAnRD #scenicroute #roadtrip #longroad #landscape #blueskies #mountains #Drakensberg

Some days I forget how lucky I am to be working in such a beautiful setting… Yes, it’s rural and in the middle of nowhere. Yes, the resources are limited and the circumstances are trying. Yes, there is sadness and heartbreak when patients pass away/ you can’t help them in more ways. Yes, I can barely understand/ speak the local Zulu language. BUT the people are friendly and welcoming, and the natural environment is breath-taking. Each and every day has beauty in it, you just have to find it. This aloe is flowering just outside my office and is proof that something beautiful can still emerge from harsh circumstances. #Day78 #BecomingAnRD #dietitian #dietitiansofig #nutritionexpert #rurallife #nature #aloe #naturalbeauty #outdoors #flowers #hope #indigenousflowers #hardyflowers

 

Make Eating Whole Foods a Way of Life

Chat 1 Comment October 9, 2019 nutritionadsa

Despite what we know about the impact of food choices on our health, overweight and obesity are still on the rise in South Africa, alongside a host of preventable diseases that can be attributed to unhealthy lifestyles. Thanks to our industrialised food system, and far greater, ultra-processed and fast food choices aimed at our ‘convenience’, we’ve got further away from eating the whole foods that are really good for us. This is the message that a coalition of health professional associations, including the Department of Health, is highlighting in October across both National Nutrition Week and National Obesity Week.

The 2019 theme, ‘Make eating whole foods a way of life’ aims to focus the country’s attention on the importance of consuming a mostly plant-based diet of mainly unprocessed and minimally processed foods. Whole grains, fresh vegetables and fruits, legumes, nuts and seeds are health-promoting foods that are nutrient-dense, high in fibre, and free from food additives, added sugar, fat and salt. Whole foods offer a wide range of choice and enable a family lifestyle centred around healthy eating choices, that for children, can help cement these healthy lifestyle habits for years to come.

Carol Browne of the Nutrition Society of South Africa (NSSA) points out that the risks of unhealthy diets and lifestyles start in childhood and build up over our lives. She says, “Approximately 13.3% of South African children under 5 years of age are overweight or obese; and according to the 2012 South African Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (SANHANES), 14.2% children aged 6 to 14 years are overweight or obese. The situation amongst adults is even worse, with the 2016 South Africa Demographic and Health Survey finding that 68% of women and 31% of men in South Africa are overweight or obese. Severe obesity which is life-threatening affects around 20% of women and 3% of men. Unhealthy diets and a lack of physical activity are contributing to a considerable burden of disease in our country.”

These concerns are shared by the Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa (HSFSA) which reports that every day 225 South Africans die of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Only a small proportion of the deaths are age-related. HSFSA’s CEO, Professor Pamela Naidoo says, “South Africa has one of the highest rates of overweight and obesity in the world, a major contributor to diabetes which in turn is a risk factor for CVD. We have to understand the link between making poor food choices on a daily basis, being at an unhealthy weight and the risks of disease and early death”. Bianca Tromp, registered dietitian at the HSFSA states: “Many South Africans don’t think twice about consuming large amounts of sugary drinks, salted snacks and ultra-processed fast food meals. This constitutes a daily diet that while overly dense in energy is actually dangerously nutrient-deficient.”

President of ADSA (Association for Dietetics in South Africa), Dr Christine Taljaard-Krugell points out that prevention of overweight and obesity in South Africa is urgent and requires multi-disciplinary collaboration. She says: “As national government departments, industries, academia, non-governmental organisations, health professionals, communities, households and individuals we have to urgently, actively and collectively turn towards the actions that are needed in order to address obesity, to ensure better health for all South Africans. Many of these actions can be linked to what we do – physical activity – and what we eat. As this week’s message focuses on the consumption of whole foods, it is important that each and every role-player, from government level to the individual level, re-think and creatively contribute to enable households to truly make eating whole foods a way of life.”

The campaign is also supported by MaTCH, the Maternal, Adolescent and Child Health Institute, an indigenous non-profit organisation providing a broad range of HIV and TB-focused assistance. Lenore Spies, the technical advisor of MaTCH says: “Limiting the intake of ultra-processed foods and rather eating mainly whole foods plays an important role in a healthy pregnancy as well as ensuring good nutrition for children, families and those whose immune functioning may be compromised. A diet based on a variety of whole foods; which are foods in, or close to, their natural state, provides us with a broad spectrum of nutrients we need to safeguard our health.”

Another important aspect of healthy eating is getting into the habit of reading the ingredient lists on the labels of the prepared food and drinks that you buy. An ultra-processed food or drink is one that usually has five or more ingredients listed on the label, and typically a number of these are not recognisable as foods you would use in home cooking. Rebone Ntsie, Director of Nutrition at the National Department of Health says, “Ultra-processed foods typically contain a wide range of food additives such as stabilisers, emulsifiers, preservatives, flavourings and colourings. These are the opposite of whole foods, which are unprocessed like fresh vegetables or minimally processed such as brown rice. We should make our drink of choice clean water instead of sugary drinks. In addition, we should plan and prepare more home cooked suppers so we have extra for our lunches and snacks the next day.”

Strategies to make eating whole foods a way of life include:

• Enjoy a variety of unprocessed and minimally processed food choices – Make sure that the vegetables, fruit, whole grains and legumes make up around 80 percent of your daily food intake. Make at least one day a week all meat-free with plant-based meals.
• Eat plenty of vegetables and fruit every day – Eating a variety of vegetables and fruit every day can help prevent chronic diseases, including heart disease, high blood pressure, strokes, some types of cancer, aging related eye diseases and type-2 diabetes. These foods also contribute to a strong immune system.
• Eat dry beans, peas, lentils and soya regularly – Naturally high in plant proteins, micronutrients and dietary fibre, soya and legumes such as beans, split peas and lentils make excellent substitutes for meat or can stretch a meat dish further. They can also be used to make soups, salads and side dishes.
• Plan and prepare healthy home meals rather than buying ready-to-eat meals and snacks or eating out frequently – Eating healthy home-cooked meals ensures that you are in control of the ingredients that go into your family’s meals. It helps save money spent on ultra-processed and fast foods.
• Always check food and beverage labels to read what is in your food and drink – Knowing how to read labels is very important in making the healthier choice when choosing foods. Product ingredients are listed by quantity, from the highest to lowest amount, so watch out for foods that have sugar, salt or fats listed in the first three ingredients.

By focusing on whole foods as a way of life, we can ensure that our families are eating the vegetables and fruits, legumes, seeds, nuts and whole grains that are essential to build and sustain healthy bodies.

National Nutrition Week and National Obesity Week Partners are:
• National and Provincial Departments of Health http://www.health.gov.za
• Department of Basic Education (DBE)www.education.gov.za
• SA Military Health Services (SAMHS)
• Maternal, Adolescent and Child Health (MaTCH) http://www.match.org.za
• The Association for Dietetics in South Africa (ADSA) http://www.adsa.org.za
• The Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) http://www.cansa.org.za
• The Nutrition Society of South Africa (NSSA) http://www.nutritionsociety.co.za
• The Heart and Stroke Foundation SA (HSFSA) http://www.heartfoundation.co.za
• Consumer Education Project (CEP) of Milk South Africa http://www.rediscoverdairy.co.za
• Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGC-SA) http://www.cgcsa.co.za
• Humane Society International (HSI) http://www.hsi.org

For additional information on how to make eating whole foods a way of life, including tips and recipes, visit http://www.nutritionweek.co.za

Thai Meatballs with Green Salad and Corn

Chat 1 Comment October 4, 2019 nutritionadsa

Serves 4 – Makes 16 mini meatballs

 

Ingredients:

• ½ small onion, very finely chopped or grated
• 5 ml fresh crushed garlic and ginger mix (1 t)
• freshly ground mixed peppercorns to taste
• 10 ml fish sauce or soya sauce (2 t)
• 10 ml soft brown sugar (2 t)
• 90 ml fresh coriander leaves, chopped (6 T)
• 400 g extra lean beef mince or ostrich mince, or a mix of both
• 60 ml oats (4 T)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 100 g washed mixed lettuce leaves
• 30 g fresh rocket leaves (3 handfuls)
• ¼ English cucumber
• 150 g  baby tomatoes
• 250 g tinned sweetcorn, drained (1 x 410g tin, drained)
• 15 ml  sweet chilli sauce (1T) (optional)

 

Instructions:

1. Place the grated onion, garlic and ginger, ground peppercorns, fish / soya sauce, sugar and chopped coriander leaves in a bowl. Mix all the ingredients.
2. Add the mince, oats and beaten egg, and mix well, ensuring that all the ingredients are well mixed into the meat. If the mix does not stick together add another tablespoon of oats.
3. Using 1 tablespoon of mixture at a time, roll the mix into 16 small balls.
4. Gently heat a frying pan that has been sprayed with aerosol non-stick cooking oil.
5. Place the mini meatballs side by side into the lightly greased pan.
6. Cover with a lid or aluminium foil.
7. Cook on low heat for 7 minutes until the underside of the meatballs are brown.
8. Turn all meatballs and cover again. Cook for 5 minutes until the other side of the meatballs is browned.
9. Remove the meatballs from the pan and leave to cool while assembling the salad.
10. To make the salad, divide the salad leaves, sliced cucumber, tomatoes and rocket onto 4 dinner plates, add the drained sweetcorn and the cooked meatballs and serve with a drizzle of sweet chilli sauce.

 

NUTRIENTS PER SERVING

Energy                                     1372 kJ

Protein                                     25.1 g

Carbohydrates                       18.5 g

Total sugars                            6.3 g

added sugar                           3.7 g (chili sauce (optional) & sugar)

Total fat                                   17.5 g

Saturated fat                          6.7 g

Fibre                                         4.8 g

Sodium                                     429 mg

One serving is equivalent to 1 carbohydrate, 3 protein and ½ vegetable.

 

Dietitian notes:

Remember that red meat immediately increases the fat content of any dish, even if you use the extra lean beef mince as we recommend in this recipe. Only four mini meatballs made with lean beef mince contain 17.5 g fat per serving. Using ostrich mince, however, reduces the fat content to 6 g per serving for 4 mini meatballs. So it is important to “dilute” red meat with lots of vegetables (salad) and a little starch (sweetcorn).

 

We would not suggest that you especially buy sweet chilli sauce for this recipe as this may tempt you to use it in other recipes or on food which will only add to the added sugar content. If you don’t have sweet chilli sauce then feel welcome to omit this ingredient or use ½ diced kiwi fruit or ½ grated apple for a little sweetness instead. Alternatively, you could also use light chutney.

 

A wonderful tasty recipe from Cath Day from her recipe book alongside Gabi Steenkamp – Food for Sensitive Tummies.

#foodforsensitivetummies

@cathsday

@dietitian_cathD