Interview with Esther Blum
Ms. Esther Blum is a Registered Dietician with a functional spin. She is the creative force behind the Living Gorgeous blog and a Best-Selling author and THIS WEEK she has released her fourth book, “Cavewomen Don’t Get Fat”. We’ve recieved word that it is slated to hit the New York Times Best Seller list! Go, Esther!!! I had a chance to sit down with Esther to discuss the multiple parallel connections between good digestive health and the approach she takes in her newest book.a
1.Esther, in just a few sentences, give us an idea of what your newest book, ?Cavewomen Don?t Get Fat? is about
CAVEWOMEN DON?T GET FAT is the Paleo book for carb lovers! This is the first Paleo book that is specifically target women?s bodies, hormones and lifestyle. A lot of women shy away from the Paleo way of eating because they cringe at the thought of giving up carbs. My books enables a woman to determine her own unique carb tolerance and fat-loss formula?for life.
2. While reading your book, something that struck me was the similarities between the eating and lifestyle practices you recommend and how they support the approach for gastrointestinal health that I advocate, including eating low-allergen foods that are right for you, which may be different than what works for your friends, your family, your spouse and so forth. Can you talk a bit about how the plan in your book helps people target and eliminate inflammatory, allergenic or otherwise inappropriate foods?
My Paleo Chic plan naturally clears out some of the more allergenic foods rich in gluten and lectins. So this means taking a much-needed break from grains and legumes and instead focusing on carbohydrates and starches like fresh fruits, vegetables, sweet potato, winter squash, and Jerusalem artichokes. Both grains and lectins contain anti-nutrients that inflame the gut and impair the body?s ability to absorb nutrients; eliminating these anti-nutrients enables the gut wall to heal, improves neurotransmitter production and nutrient status in the body, and can even change body composition! But quenching your inner inflammatory fires is essential, since the gut rules your metabolic roost.
Gluten is the protein found in wheat and other grains that is essential for the process of leavening. Gluten breaks down the microvilli that line our guts and allow for the efficient absorption of food in the small intestine. When these fingerlike projections become damaged or destroyed, we experience uncomfortable and distressing symptoms such as bloating, gas, pain, constipation, and diarrhea. If the damage is severe, we might succumb to a condition called ?leaky gut syndrome,? which is when the contents of the intestines?food particles and toxins?actually leak out of the bowel and into our bloodstream. This can then trigger a host of autoimmune conditions. Other autoimmune diseases exacerbated by gluten consumption are Crohn?s disease, lupus, and multiple sclerosis. Studies show that cutting gluten from the diet lessens the severity of these very serious conditions.
Lectins, tiny proteins that are ubiquitous in nature, are found in all plants, particularly legumes, as well as in animals. These carb-binding, potent fungicides protect seeds from molds and insects. Think about that for a moment: lectins are basically naturally occurring pesticides. When we eat foods that are high in lectins, we are, in essence, eating a toxin, and lectin overload aggravates a number of health problems, including Crohn?s, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, Hashimoto?s thyroiditis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and arthritis. Ingesting too much lectin can also cause depression, as serotonin is actually secreted in the intestines.
Most globally, lectin contributes to weight gain by disrupting the body?s ability to break down and metabolize glucose. When this happens, the hormone insulin can?t do its job and, once again, we pack on the pounds.
Lectin also blocks the healthy flow of digestive hormones and makes metabolizing lectin-rich foods (legumes, soy, green peas, corn, potatoes, and especially wheat germ) tricky. Lectins can increase our appetite, make us feel bloated and out of whack, and mess with the body?s ability to extract nutrients efficiently.
The double-whammy of gluten and lectin intolerances leaves many feeling fatigued, fat, and out of sorts. Although there are tests for gluten and lectin intolerance, I suggest to my clients that they just give these foods a rest for a month or so and see how they feel. Many see and feel remarkable changes: increased regularity, less bloating and gas, and a feeling of being sated and even-keeled in such a short amount of time. They quickly get the message of how invasive and annoying gluten and lectins are.
If you can make the leap and go all-out Paleo for just one month, I can guarantee that you?ll get such an amazing glimpse at your glamorous, irresistible new self that you will never, ever want to go back to your old way of eating.
3. The Microbiome – that colony of healthy-giving, beneficial bacteria that resides in our gut – is all the rage in mainstream media and health, fitness and Paleo blogs. We?re learning that the microbiome does it all from keeping digestion running smoothly to balancing hormones, optimizing cholesterol and impacting body composition, mental state and the likelihood of developing chronic disease. How does your approach support the health of our beneficial bacterial friends?
It takes more than just food to feed your belly right; you also need to keep your gut healthy with probiotics. Probiotics are the ?good? bacteria that live inside our intestinal tracts, such as lactobacillus and bifidobacteria. They keep our guts and immune systems healthy and also help us stay regular. Nowadays, the bacteria inside the intestinal tract are considered to be their own separate organ. These bacteria weigh about three to four pounds, amounting to billions of bacteria that populate the gut. Every day we naturally shed and turn over some of those bacteria through our bowel movements, and more colonize in their place. Both men and women have ?good? bacteria and ?bad? bacteria that maintain an intricate balance within the gut. Certain lifestyle factors can disrupt this delicate balance, such as stress, excessive alcohol and sugar, a low-fiber, high-sugar diet, and medications like antibiotics and oral contraceptives.
My Paleo Chic plan encompasses a whole-foods diet that is rich in fiber and will help build good bacteria. Garlic, plain yogurt (assuming that you tolerate dairy), kombucha tea, and ground flax seeds are all functional foods that can help create a healthy gut environment. And taking a probiotic supplement daily is also beneficial.
4. To me, books about food are ultimately books about digestion. In addition to supporting beneficial bacteria and helping readers find the right foods for them, in what other ways does your book help people support their digestive health?
The foundation of good gut health is stress management, and I address that quite a bit in my Paleo Chic plan. Stress depletes stomach acid and flattens out the delicate walls of the GI tract, leading to food allergies and a leaky
gut. So I suggest that you incorporate at least ten minutes of deep breathing into your day (bedtime is always my fave time to unwind) and take a yoga class twice a week. Another great way to manage stress is to exercise at least three to four times a week and do one thing every day that makes your heart sing, like blasting your favorite music, dancing around the house, calling a good friend, or spending quality time with family or friends.
5. What do you enjoy most about writing?
What gives me the most joy about writing is making nutrition fun and sexy. My first mentor, Robert Crayhon, taught me so much about injecting humor into science. I try to make biochemistry simple, straightforward, and accessible. Most people don?t need to know about the Krebs Cycle, but they do need to know what do eat and what to cook.
6. Please tell readers where to find you: blogs, social media, products, etc. we can?t get enough of Living Gorgeous
Please visit my website and online store at www.livinggorgeous.com, find me on Twitter @EstherBlum, and on Facebook: www.facebook.com/livinggorgeous.
Thank you so much, Esther!
Esther Blum is a Registered Dietitian, Holistic Nutritionist, and bestselling author. She has just released her fourth book, Cavewomen Don’t Get Fat (Simon & Schuster, 2014). Prior to this, Esther authored Eat, Drink and Be Gorgeous: A Nutritionist’s Guide to Living Well While Living It Up, Secrets of Gorgeous, and The Eat, Drink, and Be Gorgeous Project.
Widely respected as an industry expert, Esther was featured in the 2011-2012 edition of Sutton Who’s Who in Healthcare. Esther was also voted Best Nutritionist by Manhattan Magazine. She has appeared on the Today Show, the ISAAC show, ABC-TV, FOX- 5’s Good Day NY, Fox News Live, CW11 morning news, Martha Stewart Radio, Lime Radio, and Bloomberg Radio. A self-titled Food Fashionista, Esther is an in-demand authority frequently quoted in InTouch, Time Magazine, The New York Post, The Los Angeles Times, In Style, iVillage, Martha Stewart Weddings, Bazaar, Self, Fitness, Marie Claire, Cosmo, Delicious Living, Time Out New York, Women’s Health, Body and Soul, Clean Eating, and Health.
Esther received a Bachelor of Science in Clinical Nutrition from Simmons College in Boston and is a graduate of New York University, where she received her Master of Science in Clinical Nutrition. Esther is credentialed as a registered dietitian, a certified dietitian-nutritionist and a certified nutrition specialist (CNS), a license of the American College of Nutrition (ACN)’s certifying arm, the Certification Board for Nutrition Specialists (CBNS). She is also a member of the American Dietetic Association, Dietitians in Functional Medicine, Nutritionists in Complementary Care, and the Connecticut Dietetic Association.
