By. Dr Chantell Groenewald (M. Tech Hom UJ)
 
Difficulty losing weight is an issue that troubles many individuals at some point in their lives, if not most of their lives. In the past, mainstream medicine would have you believe that it is a simple equation of ‘eat less, exercise more’. An energy expenditure equation lifestyle can be very frustrating with little to no weight loss to show for your efforts. 
 
In my practice, I focus on healthy living, whole foods and weight loss that is a side effect of a healthy lifestyle. The 5 most common obstacles to weight loss I have encountered are as follows:
 
1. Oestrogen dominance: This is a common issue today, aggravated by processed hormone loaded and antibiotic fed livestock. Xenoestrogens (harmful oestrogen derived from external sources) are found in our make-up, body products, plastic containers, meat, chicken, dairy and vegetables (pesticides). Higher than normal oestrogen levels (or rather higher than normal oestrogen vs. progesterone ratio) is responsible for weight gain and difficulty losing weight. Ageing alone contributes to higher than normal oestrogen levels starting from the age of about 35. 
 
2. Thyroid dysfunction: Hypothyroidism refers to lower than normal levels of the hormone T4, which is responsible for our metabolism. Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) increases when circulating levels of T4 is decreasing, so some people might have normal levels of T4 with elevated levels of THS, which is called sub-clinical hypothyroidism. Both hypothyroidism and sub-clinical hypothyroidism will cause difficulty losing weight. 
 
3. Chronic stress: Chronic stress is responsible for chronically elevated cortisol levels. Cortisol is known as our fight and flight hormone, but it’s role in the functioning of our bodily systems is much more broad. Cortisol plays a role in immunity, metabolism, hormone production and insulin sensitivity. Chronically elevated levels of cortisol causes sluggish digestion, insulin resistance, poor immunity and issues with hormone production. All of the above will favour weight gain. 
 
4. Leaky gut: A leaky gut is the root cause of chronic inflammation which affects all the other systems in our body. There is an inflammatory cascade which perpetuates the formation of fat cells in the presence of inflammatory markers, so a very oversimplified explanation is that chronic inflammation makes you fat. 
 
5. Insulin resistance: Increased abdominal fat is linked to increased insulin sensitivity and decreased weight loss. Being overweight thus makes you more resistant to weight loss.
 
All of these obstacles to weight loss can easily be addressed through a tailored nutritional and diet lifestyle plan. There is no one size fits all and most women with obstacles to eight loss are left disappointed after following the latest diet trend. Each woman is an individual and should treat their  weight loss journey as such.

By: Dr. Chantell Groenewald (M.Tech Hom UJ)
 
What is inflammation?
Inflammation is our body’s immune reaction following damage to tissue, to localize and eliminate the injury or infection. Acute inflammation has many triggers including:

• Viruses and bacteria
• Physical or chemical injuries
• Chronic allergies and
• Autoimmune reactions

This acute response is crucial to life, however when inflammation become chronic then it negatively impacts our health. Chronic inflammation happens when the triggering substance is not entirely eliminated, this can include but is not limited to:

• Repeated acute inflammatory reactions
• Obesity
• Auto-immune diseases
• Smoking
• Alcohol use
• Leaky gut
• Poor diet and lifestyle
• Chronic stress and
• Long term exposure to certain irritants

 
Chronic inflammation damages healthy tissue. Most adults have chronic inflammation that goes undetected by physicians, fuelling disease. Research suggest that chronic inflammation either promotes or is the direct cause of many diseases including:

• Cancer
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Diabetes
• Heart disease
• Cognitive decline
• Female hormonal issues including endometriosis
• Hypertension
• Osteoporosis
• Alzheimer’s disease and
• Parkinson’s disease, to name a few.

 
What role do our genes play in inflammation?
Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFA) and Interleukin-1 (IL-1) play a key role in the regulation of inflammation. Some individuals have variations in their nucleotide base pairs that favours the expression of IL-6, IL-1 and TNFA which in turn promotes inflammation. While most underlying causes of inflammation can be addressed, we cannot change our genes, so these individuals need to take special care in terms of diet and lifestyle interventions to combat inflammation.
 
What are the special investigations to identify inflammation?

1. DNA Analysis. Optimizing health based on genetics. Our DNA is made up of only 4 building blocks, adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine. These nucleotides form base pairs. Human DNA consists of more than 3 billion nucleotide base pairs, 99% of which are identical in each human (which is what makes us human). Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) are variations in a single nucleotide that make up the remaining 1% of our DNA. DNA analysis gives us insight into these SNP’s which effects the functioning of our genes that can have profound effects on our health. Understanding SNP variations can allow us to tailor a diet and lifestyle program to each individual’s needs to compensate for the gene variations and to promote health.
2. Blood tests include C-reactive protein (CRP) and Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). CRP is an inflammatory marker that can be increased in several diseases including infections, inflammatory diseases and heart disease. Moderately elevated levels of ESR is a good predictor of inflammation. These blood tests can give you insight into the state of inflammation within the body.

Five Tips to combat inflammation:

1. Heal your gut: “Disease begins in the gut” Hippocrates. Our gut is a constant source of inflammation due to bacterial overgrowth, poor diet and nutrition as well leaky gut syndrome. A good gut cleanse or detox can help heal the gut lining and reduce inflammation.
2. Omega 3: Omega 3 is a potent anti-inflammatory substance that can down regulate inflammation. A Mediterranean style diet is the ideal source of omega 3, including foods such as avocado, oily fish, olive oil and olives to name a few. If your diet is deficient in omega 3 then you should consider a supplement.
3. Liver support. Increased inflammation causes increased stress on phase 1 detoxification of the liver. Your healthcare professional can recommend various supplements that can support the liver.
4. Eat a pound of vegetables every day. SNP’s impacts the genes in which they are found, which in turn affects our biochemical pathways. Eating enough vegetables packed with phytonutrients and antioxidants can help combat the gene variations and, in this way, rewire our biochemical pathways. Try to incorporate both raw and cooked veggies with each meal and make sure you include the entire colour spectrum of vegetables.
5. Weight management. Losing weight can combat inflammation. Fat cells in our abdomen, called visceral adipocytes, secrete pro-inflammatory markers which causes chronic low-level inflammation. We are all unique and lose weight in different ways, some people need a low-calorie diet or a high intensity training program to mobilise fat stores. Intermittent fasting, low carbohydrate eating plan or ketosis might be for you, or it may not. Find the program that works for you and do not be discouraged with slow and steady weight loss, some SNP genes are prone to difficulty losing weight and in these instances, slow and steady wins the race.

To find out more about DNA analysis, gut health, weight loss and inflammatory related chronic diseases, please do not hesitate to contact us.
 
Article by Dr. Chantell Groenewald M. Tech Hom (UJ)
Instagram: @the_female_health_homeopath

(By Dr. Chantell Groenewald M. Tech Hom UJ)
 
What is a food intolerance?
A food intolerance refers to a hypersensitivity reaction to specific foods vs a food allergy which is an IgE immune mediated allergic reaction. Symptoms associated with food intolerances include but is not limited to:

• Bloating
• Flatulence
• Stomach ache
• Runny nose
• Reflux
• Diarrhea
• Nausea
• Weight gain
• Wheezing
• Cough
• Hives
• Headache
• Migraine and
• Irritable bowel syndrome.

 
What causes food intolerances?
There are several reasons that you may have a hypersensitivity reaction to specific foods, which we will discuss now. Before we do, it is important to remember that the health of our gut plays a vital role in protecting us from food intolerances. The role of our digestive tract is to form a barrier between the outside of our gut and foods that we ingest. Food is broken down and molecules are selectively transported across the gut barrier. When this gut barrier is damaged (leaky gut syndrome), unwanted molecules escape into our bloodstream often causing an inflammatory reaction. This adverse reaction is not necessarily because of a food intolerance to that specific food but rather because a substance has entered the bloodstream where should not have.
 
There are several other structural abnormalities as well as bacterial overgrowth or parasitic infections which can contribute to or aggravate food intolerance reactions to specific foods. In the absence of any of the above-mentioned issues, specific foods contain various substances which you can react to causing a food intolerance. This includes naturally occurring substances such as amine containing foods as well as substances added to foods such as additives or preservatives. These substances include but are NOT limited to:

• Amines found in cheese
• Caffeine found in coffee
• Toxins such as aflatoxins found in under cooked beans
• Sulphites which are used as a food preservative
• Amines such as histamine which naturally occurs in certain foods such as fish
• Salicylates which occur naturally in most plant-based foods
• Gluten, a protein found in certain grains such as wheat, barley and rye
• FODMAPs a group of short chain carbohydrates found naturally in many foods. FODMAPs are poorly absorbed in the small intestines and travel to the large intestines where they cause bloating and draw water into the digestive tract which causes diarrhoea and bloating

 
Another cause of food intolerance can occur when our digestive tract lacks specific enzymes needed to break down food substances. Lactose intolerance is the best example of such a food intolerance. In the absence of the enzyme lactase, lactose found in dairy products cannot be broken down by our digestive tract, causing abdominal discomfort.
 
What are some of the most common food intolerances?

• Diary
• Gluten
• Caffeine
• Alcohol
• Yeast
• Corn
• Wheat
• Soy
• Additives and preservatives, to name a few.

 
How to treat symptoms associated with food intolerances?
The first step to treating food intolerances is to identify which foods you are sensitive to. This can be done via a food intolerance test. These foods should then be avoided for several weeks to months and then reintroduced in a specific manner as part of a food elimination diet. Healing the gut with a gut cleanse diet, insures that toxic food reactions due to leaky gut syndrome is also addressed and eliminates chronic gut inflammation which further exacerbates food intolerances and food allergies.
 
What is a food Intolerance test?
There are various tests available to identify food intolerances. The Nutrismart food intolerance rapid test is based on an IgG4 reaction to food substances. It tests 56 of the most common food allergens with 1 drop of blood and you will have your results within 30 minutes.
 
For more information on the Nutrismart food intolerance rapid test, a food elimination and gut cleanse diet, please contact The Naturopathic Health Care Center for more information.  
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