Food is pretty awesome, but let's face it, it isn't always so easy to make healthy choices (especially when we are craving something!).
So, we sat down with Chloe Paddison, registered dietician, certified lifestyle health coach, founder of Cureative Nutrition, and just a pretty awesome person to talk about healthy nutritional choices that can help you be your best self!
Can food really help boost your immune system?
Yes! Absolutely!
(We'll give you that one Chloe, it was pretty obvious!)
Are there certain foods that we should be focusing on for immune system health?
Vitamin C and Zinc sources are two of the most notable. There are plenty of options for both micronutrients, but significant sources of Vitamin C are peppers, cantaloupe, citrus fruits (whole fruits, not juice), strawberries, and pineapple. And for zinc: OYSTERS! Wheat germ, roast beef, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds.
Wow! That's a great list! Lots of Fresh foods, which is great, but what about those who might be living in areas where that isn't so easy to come by? Is it OK to take supplements?
Supplements are definitely better than nothing. I encourage vitamins for almost everyone because, even if we are focusing on whole foods, the food industry and mass production really compromise the nutrient content of our food
Now, are there some foods we should avoid? Foods that might hurt our immune system?
There is very little evidence that highly processed, high sugar foods actually suppress the immune system, but there is the potential.
I like to think of it more as if we are focusing on the foods that are empty calories (highly processed with little vitamin/mineral content) and not focusing on the nutrient dense food, we are not doing our immune system any favors.
We, as a global community, are going through a difficult period. As a nutritionist, what would be your advice to people looking to use food as a way to stay healthy (and ideally sickness free) that we may not have already talked about?
How we prioritize our nourishment and fueling in our busy, distracted culture - the number one issue I focus on with clients is learning to coexist their nutrition practice with their demanding lives. When we skip meals, or eat meals that have little thought to how, when or why we eat, we are not only sacrificing our opportunities to properly fuel, but we are creating detrimental food behaviors that affect weight and risk for chronic disease.
Thanks Chloe - That was definitely some great advice!
About the author
Chloe, a registered dietitian and certified lifestyle health coach from beautiful Savannah, Georgia, is the founder of Cureative Nutrition - a private practice offering a range of services from personalized nutritional counseling, culinary therapy, recipe and menu development, and motivational speaking engagements. The meaning behind the name Cureative Nutrition is driven by her passion to carefully curate the health information and strategies she presents to each individual client. The name cleverly blends curate + cure + creative - the perfect representation of how she serves her clientele.
Her passion is coupled with a strong education - receiving her Bachelor of Science degree in Dietetics with a minor in Health Promotion from Appalachian State University and dietetic residency in personalized nutrition and counseling from the Ohio State University.
Chloe expanded on her love for food and nutrition by training under chefs in San Francisco, England, and Australia - further developing her passion for whole-food based nutrition practices, coupled with the psychology of behavioral modification.
In 2015, she presented alongside Dr. T Collin Campbell, nutrition expert and author of The China Study, at the film release of Fed Up - a documentary exploring the controversies of added sugar in the diet. In her over ten years of experience in nutrition with a focus on intuitive eating psychology, weight management, and eating disorder recovery, Chloe worked as a dietitian for Memorial Health University’s Bariatric department in Savannah.
She currently practices for St. Joseph’s Candler in the Center for Disease Management, specializing in the lifestyle management of diabetes, obesity, and eating disorder recovery. Chloe also consults for various corporations and clinics, including Arcadia Hospice and Memorial Health Hospital in Savannah, developing and coordinating their new grant-funded Lifestyle Medicine Clinic.
You can find Chloe on instagram or facebook for more nutritional advice & recipes!
