I work with people one-on-one in my clinic and speak around New Zealand holding education seminars.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT YOUR JOB?
I love that I get to help people and that I get to see that people’s lives are changed for the happier and the healthier. It can be the simple things like a 76-year-old driving an hour to thank me for helping him, or a young mother thanking me for helping her finally get pregnant. For me it’s really about helping people.
I also really love the challenge of clinical nutrition, researching metabolic pathways and trying to understand why things are not working the way they are meant to work, and then understanding how to make them work better. It’s incredibly satisfying.
THREE SIMPLE TIPS THAT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN OUR LIVES
• Firstly, seeing that most people would like to lose little bit weight, the first tip I would give is to help weight loss. And the tip around this would be to chew more. Chewing more is one of the best things to help people lose weight. I had one client where all I changed was his chewing and he the lost 20kg in 10 weeks. Ideally I’d like for people to chew to a liquid — it’s one of the hardest things to do, but if you can, it really helps naturally control portion size.
• My second tip is around increasing energy levels. The tip is to drink more water. How much water should you be drinking? I recommend people drink 0.033 litres per kg of body weight. So if someone’s 60kg, he or she should drink 2 litres of water a day, 75kg - 2.5 litres a day, and 90kg - 3 litres a day. Water is hugely important for energy, as soon as you think you are tired, you’re probably thirsty.
• The third tip is to eat a big breakfast, ideally a cooked breakfast. This sets up the metabolism for the day and helps stop snacking on non-foods through the day.
COMMON HEALTH PROBLEMS THAT PEOPLE COME TO YOU FOR HELP WITH
People come to us for all sorts of reasons from weight loss or more energy, all the way through to complex, chronic health issues such as cancer. Generally speaking 90 percent of people come with a specific health concern that they want to deal with, 5 percent are already super healthy and just want to continue to live that way and 5 percent are elite world-class athletes looking to find that the edge to their performance.
FIVE FAVOURITE FOODS
• Number one favourite food would have to be leafy greens. I don’t mind what kind of greens they are, as long as they are green and edible — get into them. Leafy greens are the most nutrient-dense plant food and it’s all about nutrition.
• Sauerkraut because it’s packed full of nutrition and beneficial bacteria (probiotics).
• Raw milk is a nutritional powerhouse, one of the most complete foods on the planet and a great source of beneficial bacteria (probiotics).
• Beef — New Zealand has some of the best grass-fed beef in the world. I believe beef to be a powerhouse of nutrition, particular protein.
• Organ meats, particularly liver which is the storehouse for nutrition of the animal and one the best food sources of soluble vitamins and B vitamins.
Five foods to avoid• Breakfast cereals — they’ve got a very high glycaemic index that means they turn to sugar in your blood very quickly.
• Deep-fried foods — no surprise there. The high heat damages the fat which means that then when it goes in your body it damages you.
• Sugar and anything that contains processed sugar. Sugar really is the biggest evil. We should be avoiding it not only for weight loss but also for protecting against disease and Type 2 diabetes.
• Gluten-containing foods — 70 percent of light-skinned people have some degree of gluten intolerance leading to health concerns such as joint pain and fatigue.
• This one is not food, but is really important to avoid it and that’s plastic drinking bottles. Many plastic drinking bottles are only stable for one time use and so continued refilling means they break down leeching Xeno-estrogens into the water causing hormonal imbalance and weight gain in many people, especially women.
ADVICE SPECIFICALLY FOR NEW ZEALANDERS
Get your vitamin D levels tested. Over 80 percent of New Zealanders have vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D is so incredibly important for everything. If you have anything wrong with you, get your vitamin D levels tested.
• Ben Warren is renowned internationally for his work. He did a TedX Talk last year and 60 Minutes have also followed him for the extreme health transformations he has achieved in people with some of the most dire health conditions.
