“Teaching nutrition is my passion”

Chat Leave a comment April 20, 2018 nutritionadsa

 

We chatted to Registered Dietitian Zelda Ackerman who runs Family 1^st Nutrition and is the author of a wonderful book called ‘Eet Reg (Bevry jouself en jou kinders van emosionele eet)’. We wanted to find out why she became a dietitian, what she loves about her work and what the challenges are:

 

Why did you become a Registered Dietitian?

My interest in nutrition started when I was at school. In Grade 8 we learned about nutrients and their functions in the body in Home Economics. This fascinated me and I decided that I wanted to become a dietitian.

What do you enjoy most about the work you do? What are the most satisfying moments?

I enjoy teaching groups of parents and dietitians about nutrition the most! Teaching nutrition is my biggest passion, more specifically teaching about paediatric nutrition.

The most satisfying moment is when a patient tells you how they followed your advice and how good they feel since changing their lifestyle!

What has been your career highlight?

My career highlight was when my book Eet Reg was published in May 2016. It was a great honour to be approached by NB Publishers and be offered a contract to write about what I love.

What are the most challenging aspects of your career?

Staying motivated to make a difference when people do not follow your advice and rather opt for quick fixes (which you know will only last for a few weeks).

How do you cope after a day of nutrition disaster and bad eating choices?

Contrary to what most people may think I am not a health food freak. I eat healthy 90% of the time and I enjoy it! But when I eat junk or unhealthy food I don’t feel guilty or bad about it at all. I enjoy it and go back to eating my normal healthy food the next meal.

If I eat unhealthily for a longer time period, due to for example being with family who eat unhealthy, I’ll eat smaller portions of starch and larger portions veg to get back on the right track.

What are the three things that you think people should stop saying when they meet a dietitian?

• “Oh boy, now I have to tuck in my tummy”
• “You probably only eat healthy foods”
• “I have to come and see you!”   … and then they don’t!

What should clients look out for when deciding which dietitian to work with?

Nutrition is such a broad field and I believe you should look for someone who has personal experience if possible and then lots of experience in the specific conditions / age group that you need advice on.

What are your favourite dish and your favourite treat food?

My favourite food is vegetables. My favourite meal would be one with a few different types of vegetables and a few different types of salads.

I don’t believe in calling any food a treat, because that gives food an emotional connection. As I explain in my book Eet Reg, I believe food should not have emotional connections, but should be only for nutrition. My favourite sweet food is a good quality dark chocolate!

 

If you are looking for a dietitian in your area, please visit the ADSA website

Why breastfeeding and work can, and should, go together

Chat 1 Comment August 1, 2017 nutritionadsa

Returning to work after maternity leave rates as one of the top reasons why mothers stop breastfeeding their babies before they should. The 2017 World Breastfeeding Week runs from the 1^st to the 7^th of August with the aim of uniting all sectors of society in the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding. The campaign, co-ordinated by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA), identifies four critical focus areas, one of which is women’s productivity and work.

Working SA mums are entitled to a minimum of four consecutive months of maternity leave. Many take at least one month of that leave prior to the birth, and then make their return to work when their infants are just around three months old. However, exclusive breastfeeding of an infant from birth to six months is what is recommended as optimal nutrition by the World Health Organisation. Therefore, the only way that working new mums can meet these important health standards is if they can breastfeed or express breast milk for some months at their workplaces.

 

The benefits of creating workplaces that are friendly to nursing mums go beyond just the physical welfare of our new generations. Cath Day, registered dietitian and spokesperson for ADSA (The Association for Dietetics in South Africa) points out: “There is a vast body of scientific research that has shown that breastfeeding, as exclusive nutrition in the first six months and then as a supplementary food for two years and beyond, also protects and benefits the physical health of the mother; while impacting positively on her emotional well-being as she forms the essential bond with her new child. It is clearly in the interests of the employers of child-bearing women to protect, promote and support them during the times when they are breastfeeding because companies need their employees to be healthy and optimally productive.”

ADSA recommends that businesses formalise their support of breastfeeding in the policies, standards and practices of their employee wellness programmes.

So what can businesses do practically to protect and support the nursing mums on their workforce?

• Uphold the Law – Corporates must recognise and facilitate the legal rights of SA breastfeeding mothers enshrined in the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. Up until their babies are six months old, working mums are entitled to two, paid 30-minute breaks every work day for breastfeeding or expressing milk.
• Know and promote the benefits of breastfeeding – “It helps to have employers who are knowledgeable about why breastfeeding is so important and a commitment to protecting, supporting and promoting breastfeeding in the workplace,” says Cath Day. “As part of the employee wellness programme, registered dietitians can be engaged to make presentations to all staff on the advantages of a breastfeeding-friendly work environment and how to make it happen in your company. The straightforward facts and the inarguable science go a long way to reducing the discomforts and stigmas people might attach to breastfeeding.”
• Provide the place – Nowadays it is widely regarded as completely unacceptable for breastfeeding mums to have to lock themselves in a public toilet, or their car, to breastfeed or express milk at work because they have nowhere else to go. Many companies realise that a breastfeeding-friendly workplace means providing a secure and comfortable space for working mums to spend their 30-minute breastfeeding breaks. Preferably, this private room should have a door that locks, comfortable seating, plug points for breast pumps and a refrigerator for the safe storage of breast milk.
• Be flexible and adaptable – Part-time, flexi-time or temporary work-from-home plans can be very effective solutions for breastfeeding mums, and should especially be employed by companies who provide no proper facilities for the legal breastfeeding breaks in their workplace.
• Offer child-care facilities – A number of progressive companies with a clear focus on employee engagement provide workplace child care facilities for the babies and small children of their employees. This is ideal for breastfeeding mums as they can more easily and quickly breastfeed their infants and need to express less milk.

ADSA spokesperson Zelda Ackerman, whose areas of expertise include baby and child feeding, urges new working mums to know their rights and to get the support that they need from their bosses and colleagues so that going back to work doesn’t become a barrier to the continued breastfeeding of their infant. “It is really important for South Africa as a country to transform to a culture of being breastfeeding-friendly in every environment,” she says, “We have to consider the potential health burdens of being a country with exceptionally low rates of breastfeeding, and turn this trend around. From the family home to the work environment to society at large, breastfeeding mothers need support.”

Zelda’s top tips for breastfeeding mums returning to work include: 

• Before your return to work, give yourself enough time to get to grips with finding the pump that works best for you and regularly expressing milk – and give your baby enough time to get used to expressed breast milk. Time and practice will help you both to establish this as a stress-free routine before the big change up ahead.
• Also, ahead of time, build up a stock of breast milk at home – it can be refrigerated and frozen. Stored breast milk should always be dated, and you retain more nutritional quality if you refrigerate it immediately after you have expressed.
• On your return to work, have straightforward conversations with your bosses and/or team members, as necessary, so that they are clear about your breastfeeding goals and needs. Be clear about your legal right to two, paid 30 minute breastfeeding breaks each working day, and establish with them how this is going to work best for you and what accommodations you will need.
• If you encounter resistance or lack of support in your workplace, get help rather than give up breastfeeding. Other working mothers in your workplace and HR personnel may help to raise awareness of the importance of your continued breastfeeding. External sources of help can include breastfeeding support organisations and registered dietitians.
• You can reduce discomfort from engorgement and pace your two breastfeeding breaks optimally at work if you arrange your workday mornings so that you give your baby a good feed that ends just before you leave for work; and then breastfeed your baby again as soon as you get home. Co-ordinate this well with your baby’s caregiver so that they don’t feed the expressed breast milk just before you get home. If you are breastfeeding a baby older than six months of age, make sure your caregiver doesn’t provide late afternoon snacks so that your child is ready for a good breastfeed when you get home from work.
• Be patient and resilient. Our modern world doesn’t necessarily make breastfeeding easy, natural and stress-free. But it is as important as it has ever been to both you and your baby. The science is clear, the more you can; the better for you, your baby and our society at large.

10 Healthy Ways to Survive the Festive Season Eating Frenzy

Chat Leave a comment December 15, 2016 nutritionadsa

Every year the festive season arrives and all our healthy eating plans go out of the window. There is no doubt that time to relax and enjoy ourselves is important to our well-being, but we tend to over-indulge in rich foods, sweet treats and alcohol. At the same time, we are cutting back on regular physical activity and staying up too late, too often.

This is not to say that we shouldn’t allow ourselves to indulge a little, but allow for eating in moderation and maintaining a varied diet. Ditching your weight loss or weight management plans, or letting go of your health conscious habits over the festive season stresses both body and mind. Of course, you want to enjoy yourself, and it’s certainly not the time to feel deprived, but you can avoid the holidays becoming an extended binge by using strategies to moderate the inevitable excesses.

We asked a team of registered dietitians from ADSA (Association for Dietetics in South Africa) to give us their top tips on how to balance holiday fun with staying healthy, and here’s what they have to say:

Surviving holiday parties: Don’t attend a party on an empty stomach – grab a small healthy snack before you go. When you get there, don’t rush to eat – socialize and settle into the festivities before you eat and keep your socializing away from the buffet table or appetizer trays – to help limit nibbling. (Cheryl Meyer)

Eat mindfully: The buffet table is an invitation to eat all you can, so first survey what is available, choose the foods you really want to eat, and then move away. Eat slowly, focusing on enjoying the taste and smell of each bite. (Jessica Byrne)

Eat what you love, leave what you like. Be picky – don’t deny indulges, but only eat treats that you really love – avoid “wasting” calories on non-favourites. Think quality rather than quantity. (Cheryl Meyer)

Make water your MVP (most valuable player) this holiday season:  Jazz it up with lemon, cucumber or even fruit cubes like watermelon ice cubes, adding an element of holiday indulgence to plain water. Also try plain fruit or herbal tea for a change.  Water and tea can help fill you up preventing holiday overeating or even overindulging in alcohol or fizzy drinks, both loaded with calories/ energy. (Hlanzeka Mpanza)

Balance less healthy meals with healthy ones: Choose only one less healthy item or meal per day.  For example: one day an English breakfast, the next day an ice cream and the next day a take away, but not all three on one day. Ensure the other meals are healthy by eating lots of fresh vegetables and fruit. (Zelda Ackerman)

Be a snack smuggler: Travelling, shopping and lack of routine during the holidays can lead to skipping meals, or grabbing that seemingly convenient fast food. To keep your appetite in check, never leave home without a snack. Fruit makes a refreshing and no fuss snack, and a small packet of unsalted nuts can easily fit in your handbag for when the hunger hits. (Jessica Byrne)

Avoid after-dinner nibbles and snacks: Those chocolates and biscuits that come out after an indulgent lunch or dinner are unnecessary calories and will probably only make you feel more uncomfortably full. (Lila Bruk)

Have your cake and eat it too: If you do have one of the many sweet treats on offer, keep your portion size as small as possible and choose the healthiest of what you can find. For example, generally fruit-based cakes and desserts are better choices, so an apple tart would be a better option than a chocolate cake, especially if you don’t eat all the pastry. (Lila Bruk)

Start your day with a wholesome breakfast: Have a low GI breakfast such as oats, wholegrain cereal or wholewheat toast with avocado or eggs. This will not only keep you satisfied, your sugar levels stable and hunger pains at bay, but will also prevent you from snacking on sugary treats that are empty calories with little nutrients. (Lucinda Lourens)

Get moving with friends and family: Spend quality time with friends and family these holidays, but instead of catching up over coffee and cake, make the most of the warm weather and plan to do something where you can be active together. Meet for a walk on the beach or get a group together and go for a hike. Go for a swim, or get the whole family involved in a post-lunch stroll around the neighbourhood. (Jessica Byrne)

This ADSA NutritionConfidence recipe, created by Chef Vanessa Marx, is perfect for keeping your health on track this holiday, while still indulging in delicious festive food: “Grilled Ostrich Fillet with Egyptian Dukkah and Cucumber Raita”.

Ostrich is a truly South African and healthy alternative for the braai this festive season! The raita bursts with flavour while being low in sugar and fat. Ostrich meat is a great alternative to other ‘red meat’ sources. Classified as a ‘white meat’ due to its fat content, it’s low in fat (even lower than some chicken cuts) and saturated fat; but also a good source of biologically available iron. This makes a great pairing with the “Spinach, Beetroot and Pomegranate Salad”.

It is never too early to change to a healthy lifestyle

Chat Leave a comment July 18, 2016 nutritionadsa

We are sharing success stories to find out why people decide to see a dietitian, what happens on the journey, what the hardest part of that journey is and what results are achieved.

It is never too early make lifestyle changes and start a nutritional journey that will benefit you for the rest of your life.  This week we chat to 16-year old Chad Niebur, who started seeing Registered Dietitian Zelda Ackerman last year:

Tell us about your journey with the dietitian?

The journey with my dietitian was definitely a very insightful one. We’d usually arrive in the morning just before we headed off to the grocery store to stock up on the newest list of food products suggested, and reducing the amounts of some of the others that we’d usually buy. From the first to the last session, there was always something new to learn. A new food item to add, another one to reduce. We’d be asked how the week prior went, if we were keeping up with our exercise regime, etc. All and all, it was very insightful and much more easy going than I expected.

Tell us about your results?

My results were definitely more prominent than I expected. Within two months I went from baggy tracksuit pants and to skinny jeans. I can remember within the first three weeks losing just over four kilos, and went on to lose much more over time.

What was the hardest part of the journey?

The hardest part of my journey was cutting out Coca-Cola, but over time I grew to miss it less and less. To this day I don’t drink Coca-Cola at all, nor do I miss it.”

What are the top three tips you can share?

• Find a healthy substitute to you favourites drinks and snacks. I replaced Coca-Cola with carbonated water and a low-cal fruit juice concentrate.
• Don’t really make a big deal out of it, treat it as something you’ll be doing for the rest of your life and you’ll come to accept, get used to, and genuinely favour it over the way you used to live.
• Try and get the rest of the family involved, it’s definitely easier since there will be a lot less junk food in the house.

Feedback from Chad’s dietitian, Zelda Ackerman

Few patients really make a complete lifestyle change, and Chad really did! He changed his eating habits and became much more active. He used the eating plan as a guide, not as something that controls him. He learned to make healthy choices and be in control of his own eating habits. His mother was extremely supportive without being controlling, an attribute that is vital for parents to help their children attain an ideal body weight. I am very proud of Chad and his mother Sharrin.

To find a Registered Dietitian in your area visit: http://www.adsa.org.za/Public/FindARegisteredDietitian.aspx