> Low Glycaemic Index

> Low Glycaemic Load

> Nutrient Dense

> Carbs that minimise the effect of after-eating (postprandial) spikes in blood sugar.

> Carbs that do not demand high insulin levels thus preserving pancreatic function

NB: Discuss a fibre formulation with one of our practitioners. These can decrease the impact of meals on after-eating glucose elevations which over time damage proteins including elastin and collagen in skin, your organs and blood vessels. Ageing-well and decreasing the risk of disease involves blunting what happens in your blood stream after eating the so-called postprandial effects. 

> The right amount of protein that takes into consideration: 
1. If you are less than 65 years of age
2. If you are older than 65 years of age 
3. The level of your physical activity 
4. The cutting-edge findings of Protein Leverage discovered by Professor Stephen Simpson and Professor David Raubenheimer from the Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney and Oxford University, will be taken into consideration. 
 

>Avoiding processed meats like Bacon, Hot Dogs that are associated with cancer
 

>The right type of protein - plant based predominantly with oily fish ideal +/- grass fed meat. There are many vegan options now for protein and free-form amino acids as well that can help with weight management and to support muscle mass. 

NB: Discuss Activ8Health's Essential Amino Acids (EAAs) with one of our practitioners which provide all the amino acids your body cannot produce. These are very low in calories and can be used effectively in weight management programs 

> Phytochemicals are plant chemicals

> These plant chemicals have a powerful effect on your DNA

> This effect is called hormesis

> Diversity in phytochemicals is key

> Each meal should be rich in a variety of plant colours for both physical and mental health 

NB: Discuss phytochemical-packed powder preparations with one of our practitioners that can be mixed in smoothies or just in water. Eating a phytochemical-rich whole diet and boosting phytochemicals makes sense as there are thousands of compounds from a variety of plant sources that are highly protective of cells and tissues in your body. The problem is the poor diversity of food in the Western diet. 

Fibre-Rich means more than the simple fibre found in breakfast cereals or a Chemist.

Fibres are known as prebiotic foods for your bowel organisms. 

Fibre intake should include diversity as well and your diet should include: 

• Soluble Fibre
• Insoluble Fibre 
• Resistant Starch 
• Mucilage
• Gums 

NB: Discuss our fibre-packed powder preparations with one of our practitioners. Activ8Health has a formulation that provides wonderful fibre diversity from a wealth of novel fibres. Fibres are prebiotics that act as food for the gut microbiome. The Western diet is not only low in the quantity of fibre consumed but also low in fibre diversity putting the bowel at risk for many diseases even cancer. View the types of fibre here. 

> High in Omega-3's

> Lower in Omega-6's

> Higher in monounsaturated fats

> To include Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCTs)

> To avoid high intakes of saturated fats

> To avoid trans fats completely

NB: Discuss testing your Omega-3 Omega-6 levels with one of our practitioners. We havev a range of Omega-3 supplements to boost up your levels as an imbalance of Omega-6 to Omega-3 is an absolute risk for systemic inflammation a fact backed by a wealth of research. 

> The only way science has been shown to extend healthspan and lifespan is to restrict calories

> Feast-signalling (excess food) stimulates the mTOR cell multiplication pathway and this constant "noise" pushing cells to divide and increase in numbers can lead to trillions of DNA errors just in one day. This can significantly increase your risk for many cancers and chronic diseases. You simply 'burnout' from over consuming vast amounts of unnecessary calories. 

> The CRON diet can help shift the body from a feast signal where there is an immense push for cellular multiplication and fat gain to cellular repair and maintenance. The CRON principle is a delicate balance between the energy needs of the body that are sufficient with periods of intraday fasting but importantly it is a dietary philosophy that ensures you are sufficient in all the vitamins, minerals, trace elements, essential fatty acids and fibre for your body to thrive.

> This can be helped by intraday fasting but importantly it can be greatly helped just by clever changes in your diet to ensure a lower carb, protein and fat intake. Your specialist Activ8Health Dietitian can help you greatly here through an advanced dietary management program that collects data on your nutrient intake to make personalised recommendations (Personalised Nutrition)

> CRON is all about Nutrient-density and adequacy not volume or energy density which is not the aim if you want to live a long life hopefully disease free for as long as possible (a long healthspan)

NB: Even though intermittent fasting and CRON diets are extremely beneficial for your body, there is always the risk of micronutrient insufficiencies. Supplementing with a practitioner-only multivitamin and mineral supplement, Omega-3's, a phytochemical blend and a diverse fibre blend will ensure your body will have the necessary micronutrients to function optimally. Our Dietitian's will ensure your whole diet is as optimal as they can get it but deficiencies in whole foods due to farming practices, transit times from paddock to plate, loss of micronutrients in storage, from UV light or cooking means there are many factors that conspire against micronutrient adequacy in whole foods. 
 

> Avoid eating erratically

> Avoid late night meals

> Disrupting Circadian rhythms by eating at the wrong time can powerfully increase cardiovascular risk. This has been shown time and again in shift workers⁵

> Food eaten at the wrong time have have a profound impact on diurnal variations such as blood pressure 

> Eating food at the wrong time may also have a significant impact on receptor sensitivity to glucose the next day 

> High sugar and carbohydrate foods will cause a large rise in blood glucose that may stay elevated throughout the night damaging cells and tissues and increasing inflammation. 

> Eating late at night may also disrupt sleep patterns, create dyspepsia (Reflux/GORD) and produce sleep-disordered disease states. 

> The timing of food intake has been greatly neglected putting individuals at great risk for many long-term disease states 

> Fasting is the only way to allow cells, proteins and your DNA  to repair

> However, there is a fine line between fasting and malnutrition

> Our approach is intraday fasting supported by a lower calorie diet that is nutrient-dense to support this approach of preventing a 'feast signal' throughout the day that leads to cell and fat proliferation putting you at risk for becoming overweight, obese, increasing visceral fat, chronic diseases, cardiovascular disease, cancer and Alzheimer's. 

> Over-consumption of food for no good reason increases the risk greatly for a multitude of diseases and indeed you will age faster through many food-related mechanisms from protein glycation to oxidative stress. 

> Our Dietitian's will guide you to a nutrient-dense diet supported by supplements that make sense in a world where food is engineered for quantity not quality i.e. where nutrient deficiencies are rife for a multitude of reasons. 

CRON principles will apply as these will help decrease the postprandial (after-eating) blood changes that damage the body meal-after-meal. 

> It is axiomatic that exercise is vital for good health

> Most people engage in aerobic forms of exercise (walking, running, swimming, dancing, treadmill etc., but strength training is critical for long-term health

> For every 5 kg loss in grip strength the 7 year death risk jumps considerably¹.

> Muscle loss (sarcopenia) begins in your late 20's and from 30 years of age we lose 5% of our muscle mass per decade and this accelerates from age 70 years¹.

> More muscle mass means better blood glucose control, the release of muscle chemicals called myokines that can decrease inflammation and help brain health through myokines like BDNF.

> For non elite athletes it doesn't matter if you lift a light weight for 20 or 30 times or a heavier weight for 5 times¹.

> Our team can help support exercise through exercise-specific supplements

> Unfortunately eating a health diet may not provide all the nutrients you need!

> The vast number of people on the planet eat poor diets. To even challenge this notion makes no sense when around 60% of individuals in countries like Australia and worse still the USA and UK are overweight or obese. 

> Around 95% of people don't get anywhere near their basic 5 servings and vegetables where the majority of vitamins, minerals, trace elements and fibre comes from 

> To think that mythical "optimal diet" is the norm out in the real world is a fanciful concept. Read Multivitamins - The Science to understand the untold harms caused by right-wing views on supplementation 

> Food is affected by poor soils. Depleted soils means nutrient depleted plant foods and poor nutrients in animals consumed who also eat nutrient-depleted plants

> Michael Pollan stated that you will need to eat 4 apples today to get the iron content of one apple in the 1940's².

> Soil degradation, poor soil nutrient levels, fertilizers, transport, cold-chain breaches, nutrient leaching due to cooking, storage, herbicides, pesticides, natural decay of micronutrients such as Vitamin-C, Ultraviolet damage to some nutrients through clear containers, food grown for yield and not nutrient density all conspire towards nutrient-depleted foods we consume.

> Supplements are just being realistic to ensure we have optimal levels of all our critical nutrients. A deficiency in just one nutrient will mean the body will 'rob Peter to pay Paul' and this nutrient shuffle is called the Triage Mechanism.

So all you do is cannibalize your own tissues to ensure critical organs like your heart and brain or kidneys keep on working for as long as possible in a nutrient-depleted food environment.

This means a shorter lifespan in a weakened state.

Non-immediately vital organs will suffer such as the bones (osteopenia/osteoporosis), muscle (sarcopenia/muscle loss/frailty), tissues (weakened tendons, ligaments and cellular structures) and a decrease in organ size (decreased function of the liver, kidneys). 

Postprandial 'hits' are essentially what happens to your blood and body even after one meal. 

From oxidative stress, to glycation and AGEs to a spike in inflammation in the body after eating, to the effects that meal may have on the gut microbiome and whether the mTOR cellular multiplication pathway is driven, will all depend upon the composition of that meal. 

A high carbohydrate intake for example will produce a high and perhaps prolonged blood glucose spike and this causes glycation of proteins damaging them to create Advanced Glycation Endproducts (AGEs)

ALL food is damaging. Why?, food is nothing more than a mass of chemicals that provide nutrients for cell metabolism but also the energy needed by the body to power cells and tissues. The problem is that creating energy from food produces free-radicals (oxidative stress) that slowly damages the body over time. It is analogous to a factory producing something that also produces pollution in the process. This 'pollution' consists of damaging charged particles created in the mitochondria as energy is extracted to create ATP

These postprandial effects make up a great deal of the damage caused by food in prediabetics and diabetics

Every meal matters and each meal is essentially a nail in your coffin. The smart thing to do is limit this damage by decreasing unnecessary energy intake (the CRON concept) and to ensure each meal is packed with antioxidants to 'mop' up as many of those damaging free radicals that are produced in the body.

Inflammaging is a concept where the body produces more inflammatory cytokines as we age⁴.

This inflammation increases as we get older as mitochondrial numbers drop, energy production becomes less efficient and where CoQ10 an important mitochondrial respiratory chain component diminishes making energy extraction more dangerous as more free radicals can emerge in the process of creating ATP energy.

We can support the mitochondria in many ways and optimise your Omega-6 to Omega-3 intake by measuring these levels and guiding you towards correction of any imbalance which is rife in Western societies. Omega-6 predominance predisposes you towards systemic inflammation.

Compounds such as Turmeric, antioxidant rich culinary herbs, nuts, seeds etc. can contain compounds that can dampen inflammatory processes. 

There are also many special foods that can have specific effects on disease states and these will be incorporated where appropriate. 

Your mental state towards food intake

> This may be related to weight loss or a food addiction to fast-foods or sweets, soft drinks etc.

> The Activ8Health approach is to look for barriers by drawing upon the expertise of a Psychologist to assist in understanding the psychological basis for these barriers and to then overcome them.