Elmarié Jonker Registered Dietitian Nutritionist

📌 Registered Dietitian in Brits and Hartbeespoort

🍎 For all your Personalised Nutrition Counselling needs

✅️ We are contracted in with all Medical Schemes.

Contact Us:

☎️ 082 342 2032
📩 [email protected]

SUPER SIDE dish
Side dishes are often where a braai can become unhealthy, as the ever-popular starchy options often take preference over a green salad or non-starchy side dish.

The solution?
Use a recipe that is DELICIOUS and TASTY – everyone will be queuing for more. This colourful BROCCOLI SALAD with a cooked mustard dressing is a great alternative for a potato salad or slaw drenched in mayonnaise.
The apple gives it a naturally sweet crunch and any left-over dressing can be used on a green salad the next day.
CLICK here for the recipe: https://www.mydynamics.co.za/recipe/broccoli-salad-with-cooked-mustard-dressing/

TELL US, what’s your favourite healthy side dish for a braai? OR if you are not a regular follower as yet, FOLLOW this page for more delicious, healthy and affordable recipes.

❓️What causes ageing? Is it in our genes? Do other factors play a role?

⚒️ The ability of our body cells to manage 'wear and tear' play a predomimant role, not only in chronic disease development, but also in ageing.

These processes, as well as how our genes play out, are highly affected by lifestyle and food choices. It means that even though you may inherit 'bad' genes, it may be overwritten by healthy living.

⏳️ To stay 'younger' for longer, do the following:

EAT MORE:

✅️ Fish
✅️ Olive oil
✅️ Wholegrains (oats, wholewheat bread, brown rice, quinoa)
✅️ Legumes (chick peas, dry beans, lentils)
✅️ Nuts & seeds
✅️ Deep coloured fruit and vegetables
✅️ Berries
✅️ Green leafy vegetables
✅️ Cruciferous vegetables

EAT LESS:

⚠️ Red meat and eggs
⚠️ Processed meat, cured meat and smoked foods
⚠️ Fried foods
⚠️ Saturated fat (butter, cream, fat on meat)
⚠️ Trans fat (eg pastries, convenience foods, confectionary)
⚠️ Sugar and sweets
⚠️ Refined carbs (eg white bread, white flour products, instant noodles, crisps)
⚠️ Alcohol

DO THESE:

✅️ Regular exercise
✅️ Quality sleep
✅️ Stress management

🔍 Possible factors underlying sweet cravings

▪️Cravings for sweet food items may happen for various reasons, such as hormonal fluctuations (eg menstrual cycle, pregnancy, menopause), emotional stress, depression, lack of sleep, poor gut health or simply inadequacies in how we eat.

▪️These conditions seem to be related to a drop in our 'feel good' hormone serotonin. This hormone is produced predominantly in the gut, which means it is largely influenced by what we eat. So often, management of sweet cravings requires a look into our nutrition.

🔐 How we can resolve sweet cravings

▪️Eat 3 well-balanced meals daily.
▪️Include unrefined carbohydrates (eg wholegrains, legumes), plus lean protein in each meal - do not avoid carbs!
▪️Include plenty of vegetables in meals, choose a variety, and regularly have green leafy ones on your plate.
▪️Eat fresh fruit daily.
▪️Choose nuts and seeds as sources of healthy fat. Watch portions if weight loss is a goal.
▪️Stay hydrated by drinking at least 2 litres of water daily.

📃 We can assist with a well-balanced personalised meal plan to combat sweet cravings.

☎️ Contact us for consultations in Brits and Hartbeespoort: 082 342 2032

🍽 Previously, we shared info about what a balanced diet is. Today, we share an example of a balanced lunch.

🍽 As a general guideline, we recommend that half of your plate should be filled with vegetables and / or fruit, a quarter of your plate with lean protein, and a quarter with whole grain carbohydrate.

🍽 This kind of food plate is calorie-controlled and weight friendly.

🍎 A balanced diet provides daily nutrition for optimal health and prevention of disease.

🍎 It includes a variety of foods, providing sufficient amounts of carbohydrate, protein, fat, fibre, water, vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and prebiotics.

It includes all the essential food groups every day:

🌽 Whole grain starch (carbohydrate)
🦈 Lean Protein
🥛 Dairy
🥕 Vegetables
🍌 Fruit
🥑 Healthy fats
💧 Water

We do Personalised Nutrition Plans for Chronic Inflammation.

☎️ 082 342 2032
📩 [email protected]

Some symptoms of chronic inflammation

The FOUR C’s of how to HANDLE CHICKEN the safe and hygienic way …
Chicken can be very susceptible to certain bacteria, which could make you very sick.
By following a few basic rules, you can easily prevent these bacteria from multiplying.

1. CLEAN: wash your hands with hot soapy water before and after working with chicken. Before handling or cutting other ingredients, make sure that your hands, utensils, chopping boards, containers and knives are also clean.
2. CROSS CONTAMINATION should be avoided at all costs. Don’t work with chicken on a board that had other raw meat or fish on before. It’s also best to clean the board, knife and other utensils thoroughly with hot soapy water before using it again.
3. COOK chicken thoroughly, without drying out the lean meat. When testing cooked chicken, the juices should run clear and not be light pink. This way you know that the chicken is cooked through.
4. CHILL and store raw and cooked chicken correctly. Any fluctuations in temperatures could be problematic, so keep the temperature at which chicken is stored as constant as possible. RAW chicken should be kept covered in the fridge for no more than two days, before cooking it. Alternatively, freeze the raw chicken immediately after buying it.
COOKED chicken should cool down completely before being refrigerated or frozen. Be careful when keeping chicken warm for long periods, like on a hot tray, at buffets or in a lukewarm oven.
FROZEN chicken should thaw overnight in the fridge and be cooked within a day. It is advisable to not re-freeze thawed raw chicken. Cooked chicken can be frozen again and thawed once.

CHICKEN – a good choice
How often in a week does your family enjoy chicken?

Choosing healthier sources of protein is an important part of the basic guidelines for a healthier lifestyle that COOKING FROM THE HEART regularly shares.
CHICKEN contains less unhealthy (saturated) fat and is therefore considered a LEAN PROTEIN, and a healthier option than red meat. Yes, the skin of the chicken is where most of the fat is, but that’s easy to remove. During cooking the skin can be left on, to prevent the lean chicken meat from drying out. To keep the meal healthy, we do, however, recommend that you don’t eat the skin.

Chicken is a SUPER VERSATILE and AFFORDABLE cut of meat. It’s a good source of NUTRIENTS like magnesium, iron and many other micronutrients, important for your general health and heart health. There is a long list of delicious chicken RECIPES on the Cooking from the heart website to pick and choose from, ranging from stock and soups to curries, stews, salads and more.
Just CLICK this link and search for ‘CHICKEN’:
https://www.mydynamics.co.za/cooking-from-the-heart-healthy-recipes/recipes/

While some foods cause inflammation, others can fight it. Choose as many anti-inflammatory foods as you can every day.

If you struggle with a condition associated with inflammation, take care of foods that can cause or aggravate it.

🔥 Inflammation is the body's immune response to injury, harmful substances or infection. It is like an army fighting and attacking the enemy. Under normal circumstances, this reaction will help the body to heal, and afterwards the inflammation will be cleared.

🔥 Sometimes, this immune response doesn't stop as it should, but continues. This leads to a condition called chronic inflammation.

🔥 Chronic inflammation may also be caused by lifestyle factors such as smoking, air polution, heavy drinking, poor diet, lack of physical activity, chronic exposure to environmental chemicals, medications, hormones, emotional stress or poor sleep.

🔥 Some health conditions associated with chronic inflammation are:

🔸️Alzheimer's, asthma, allergies, arthritis
🔸️Cancer, chronic kidney disease, COVID
🔸️Diabetes
🔸️Fibromyalgia, fatty liver disease
🔸️Gout, Grave's disease
🔸️Hashimoto's, high blood pressure, heart disease
🔸️Inflammatory bowel conditions (Crohn's, ulcerative colitis, gastritis, peptic ulcers, diverticulitis)
🔸️Infertility, insulin resistance
🔸️Lupus
🔸️Metabolic syndrome
🔸️Obesity
🔸️Rumatoid arthritis
🔸️Parkinson's, PCOS, psoriasis

👐 The good news is that inflammatory conditions can be well managed with certain food choices and lifestyle habits.

🔎Keep following us for more info.

To maximize health benefits, eat a wide variety of high-fiber foods.

📌 How many times a day should we eat? Two or 3 or 6 times? Or something else?

The answer will depend on individual aspects, such as:

🍽 Age
🍽 Daily Nutrition requirements for all nutrients: protein, carbs, fat, fibre, water, vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients.
🍽 Pregnancy or lactation
🍽 Physical activity, sport and exercise
🍽 Hunger and satiety regulation
🍽 Energy maintenance
🍽 Blood sugar control
🍽 Mood regulation
🍽 Genetic body clock preference
🍽 Food cravings
🍽 Health condition, eg diabetes / inflammation / epilepsy / gut issues / recovery from illness or surgery
🍽 Medication

FAB FISH CAKES – always a hit!!
We appreciate all your feedback and would love to hear your favourite tinned pilchard recipes.
The Cooking from the heart fish cake recipe has been shared far and wide and everyone loves it!
A tin of pilchards is such a healthy ingredient, that you should always have these on your shopping list and in your cupboard.
PILCHARDS are a great source of lean protein, packed with healthy fats, it’s an excellent source of calcium – yes, do eat those soft little bones in the fish too!

CLICK here for the recipe https://www.mydynamics.co.za/recipe/fish-cakes-with-pilchards/ and have a look at the last tip in the recipe, to see how to turn the mixture into an easy FISH BAKE.

Clients who attend regular follow-up sessions achieve much better results that those who only do the first two sessions.

At follow-up sessions we will:

✅️ Evaluate and discuss progress regarding improvement of symptoms / blood results.

✅️ Track progress of weight-related goals with body composition analysis and discuss results.

✅️ Adjust your meal plan when needed.

✅️ Offer support and motivation to keep you focused.

✅️ Help you learn and understand your body's response to your eating and physical activity between sessions.

✅️ Guide you to establish long-term weight-friendly eating and living.

✅️ Offer solutions to problems such as food cravings, eating at social events or other challenging situations.

✅️ Provide additional eating tips and coping skills.

Need to lose some extra kilo's?

With Spring only 2 months away, now is the perfect time to start your weight loss journey.

Contact us for Professional, Sustainable and easy-to-follow weight loss plans

☎️ 082 342 2032
📩 [email protected]

After your Initial Assessment, the Dietitian will compile a Personalised Nutrition Plan, based on the info you provided.

📒The plan may vary from a formal program with much structure and detail to an informal plan with only small changes to your current eating habits.

⏰️ Will be easy to follow and fit well into your daily schedule.

🎯 Resembles your usual eating habits and food choices, with the needed alterations to achieve your goals or manage a specific disease / health condition.

💊 Includes relevant supplements, if needed.

😋 Considers your favourite foods and food aversions.

🛒 Uses foods available from your local supermarket.

💰 Considers your food budget.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Culture and family tradition friendly.

🍴Suitable for both social and at-home eating.

Serious about healthy living?

Take the DNA Core test and discover your unique genetic make-up to help you make the best diet and lifestyle choices for a healthier You.

Contact Us: 082 342 2032

Dietitians do a nutrition assessment before they can make a recommendation about dietary changes, set goals and compile a personalised nutrition plan.

To be able to do this well, the first consultation will involve collection of information regarding your body composition, blood test results, symptoms and eating habits.

To help your Dietitian with this assessment, you'll be asked to provide the following info:

▪️Details about your diagnosis / medical condition / body weight condition
▪️Relevant blood results
▪️Names of all current medications and supplements you use
▪️Your current lifestyle and details of your eating habits and food choices
▪️Your family traditions around food and eating
▪️Your food likes and dislikes
▪️Your physical activity level
▪️Types, duration and frequency of exercise sessions
▪️Your work schedule

To prepare for this session, make sure you have good knowledge about:

▪️Your current eating habits and specific food products you use
▪️Your goals for health, nutrition or body weight
▪️How you want the Dietitian to help you

CHICKEN MASALA to warm you up!
Say chicken curry and you have everyone’s attention – such a huge SA favourite. The delicious combination of spices makes this recipe extra aromatic. Potatoes are often used but do try sweet potatoes or butternut as an alternative. You can make this masala as fiery as your family prefers, so add more chilli if you want, or for a milder curry, omit the chilli powder and use a mild curry powder.
Here is the RECIPE LINK: https://www.mydynamics.co.za/recipe/masala-chicken-with-potatoes/

We are part of the Bestmed Tempo Wellness program.

Each member > 16 yrs qualify for 2 consultations at our practice.

This is a great opportunity to assist with your Nutritional Health goals.

Call us for appointments: 082 342 2032

A visit to a Dietitian will provide you with expert Nutrition Counselling on how to manage a nutrition-related health condition, eg overweight / obesity, or chronic condition (eg diabetes / PCOS / digestive problem) or to improve your energy levels or sport performance.

HOW THE DIETITIAN WILL ASSIST YOU:

✅️ Helping you understand the relationship between your symptoms / diagnosis / health condition / level of performance, and nutrition, and how to address it.

✅️ Providing correct and relevant nutrition information.

✅️ Providing a Personalised Nutrition Plan and assist with skills and practical guidelines.

✅️ Offering follow-up guidance and motivation, while tracking results

WHICH APPROACH WILL BE USED?

In my Practice, I use a holistic, client centred approach, which includes:

✅️ A series of visits
❌️ One visit only

✅️ Individualised assessment and treatment
❌️ Generalised one-size-fit-all approach / lists of foods to eat and avoid

✅️ Focus on food patterns, which include a variety of foods, as well as your favourite foods
❌️ Focus on single food choices

✅️ Guidance, tracking and motivation
❌️ Policing of what you do

📌 I chose Dietetics because Nutrition impacts our health and well-being in so many ways. It's a fascinating science, but also an art to implement it in people's lives - I just love that challenge!

🔎 Nutrition Science continues to grow and are becoming more and more specialised and personalised.

❤️ I love helping people and see them getting better and healthier.

👐 Dietitians Week celebrate all Dietitians in their unique roles and contributions to improve the health of our people through Nutrition.

Are you afraid of eating carbs?

While some carb foods should be restricted (eg sugar, syrup, sweets, cold drinks, white bread, refined cereals), we need to include healthy carbs in our daily diet.

Health benefits:

✅️ Optimal energy levels
✅️ Better gut health and regular bowel movements
✅️ Better mood
✅️ Help reduce inflammation
✅️ Help prevent and manage chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, gout and fibromyalgia
✅️ Better sport performance

Healthy carb foods:

🌽Whole grains:
Oats, whole kernel corn, pearl wheat, pear barley, quinoa, wholewheat couscous, brown rice, Bulgar wheat, polenta (yellow maize meal)

🍠Carb rich vegetables:
Sweet potato
Baby potato

🥪 Wholegrain breads and crackers:
Low GI bread
Rye bread
Provita
Ryvita

🍜 Pasta:
Wholewheat pasta
Pulse pasta

🫘 Legumes:
Dry beas, eg kidney beans, black beans
Lentils
Chick peas

Registered Dietitian Practice in BRITS and HARTBEESPOORT

️We specialise in:

✅️All Nutrition-related conditions.
✅️Personalised Nutrition Plans and Professional Advice
✅️Long term Follow-up, Motivation & Support

☎️ 082 342 2032