Episode 126 Summary
Introduction - Nicole Moore is a low carb dietitian who has helped numerous clients overcome metabolic health issues by adopting a natural, low carbohydrate approach to eating. In this article, we delve into her journey and insights into the benefits of low carb eating.
The Journey of Nicole Moore - Nicole Moore had struggled with weight issues and poor health despite following the food pyramid and eating legumes and brown rice and avoiding all fats, yet she was unable to manage her weight and felt unhealthy. Eventually after realising that this didn’t work for her she tried the Atkins diet, but she was so afraid of saturated fats that she only ate nuts for a week. This led to a significant improvement in her health. Symptoms such as bloating and tiredness resolved and she began to lose weight, without hunger. Nicole's personal experience of the benefits of low carb eating led her to become a low carb dietitian, helping others to improve their metabolic health through natural eating. She now works at Low Carb Keto Health in Adelaide, with Dr Laureen Lawlor-Smith.
Why the Traditional Diet Pyramid Doesn't Work for the Metabolically Unwell - Nicole Moore notes that the traditional diet pyramid doesn't work for people who are metabolically unwell. More than half of society is metabolically unwell due to the non-caveman diet that we follow. The traditional pyramid may on the surface seem suitable for people who are metabolically well, but for the metabolically unwell, it's not effective. Nicole's low carb approach is therefore an alternative that can improve the health of many people who are struggling with metabolic issues.
The Benefits of Low Carb Eating - One of the key benefits of low carb eating is that it reduces cravings and hunger. The food is actually enjoyable. Low carb eating can help to calm the hormonal chaos in the body, leading to a natural reduction in the obsession with food. This is in contrast to the traditional approach of using strategies or distractions to willpower away cravings or delay hunger.
The Caveman Diet - Nicole likes to refer to her low carb approach as The Caveman Diet. This approach involves eating natural, real food that doesn't stimulate insulin and blood glucose. The diet consists of healthy fats, proteins, and vegetables, and can include delicious meals such as salmon and steak cooked in butter with broccolini covered in almonds and olive oil. Nicole notes that many people are surprised that such a diet can be so delicious and satisfying and yet also effective.
Who Can Benefit from Low Carb Eating - Nicole has helped many clients who have struggled with pre-diabetes, type 2 diabetes, chronic diseases, weight issues, gut problems, migraines, epilepsy, seizures, and chronic diarrhea. Many of her clients who come to her for weight loss also notice additional wonderful effects such as improvements in their chronic pain or bowel function. They leave feeling empowered and in control of their health.
Nicole Moore's journey and insights into low carb eating highlight the benefits of a natural approach to eating - Her low carb approach can help many people struggling with metabolic health issues and improve their overall wellbeing. By focusing on real, natural food, people can experience the benefits of low carb eating and enjoy delicious, satisfying meals.
Nicole Moore will be speaking at the Low Carb Road Show in Adelaide.
Her talk will include:
- A refresher on macronutrients
- Navigating food and nutritional labels
- A Low Carb pantry and fridge makeover
- Navigating supermarkets and aisles.
- Efficient cooking for families with different dietary needs
- School lunch boxes (time permitting)
- Food mood boards for menu planning
Don’t miss out! It’s going to be fabulous. Our goodies bag will include a wonderful delegate’s workbook where you can take notes and return home with a fabulous toolkit of information.
Follow the link below to reserve your place at the Low Carb Road Show.
Book your ticket to the low carb road show! Thanks to our platinum sponsor, LAKANTO
Nicole Moore Bio:
LOW CARB DIETITIAN MNUTR&DIET APD DAA
Nicole has been an Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) for over 20 years. She is a Low Carb Specialist helping people to reverse chronic disease and improve their general health and well being through nutritional therapy. She also coaches, trains and mentors dietitians nationally and regularly presents to GP groups and the general public about the benefits of low carb nutrition and how to practically achieve this lifestyle.
Nicole has first hand experience living the low carb lifestyle. She discovered the benefits of it for herself over ten years and continues to live the low carb life today.
Connect with Nicole Moore at Low Carb Keto Health: https://lowcarbketohealth.com.au/
https://www.facebook.com/lowcarbketohealthandlife
https://www.instagram.com/lowcarbketo.health/
SPECIALIST CLINICS AT BLACKWOOD HOSPITAL
Level 1
13 Laffers Road
Blackwood SA 5052
PHONE
(08) 8463 0608
Show notes:
Episode 126 - A dietitian going against the grain
Dr Mary Barson: (0:11) Hello, my lovely listeners. I'm Dr. Mary Barson. And I'm Dr. Lucy Burns. Welcome to this episode of Real Health and Weight Loss.
Dr Lucy Burns: (0:23) And I'm Dr. Lucy Burns. Welcome to this episode of Real Health and Weight Loss. Gorgeous ones it’s Dr. Lucy here this morning, and I have a brilliant guest, who I think will blow your mind. There are not many around, so I'm very honoured to have a low carb dietician speaking with us today, and I would love to welcome to the podcast, Nicole Moore. Nicole, welcome.
Nicole Moore: (0:42) Thank you, Lucy, thank you so much for having me. And yes, we are a rare breed. So.
Dr Lucy Burns: (0:47) I know.
Nicole Moore: (0:49) So yeah, it's great to be here today, having a chat with you.
Dr Lucy Burns: (0:53) Oh. Absolutely. And, you know, and I'm, I'm so pleased, you're able to come on, because you're right. I mean, you, you know, to quote, a low carb pun that's quoted often, you do go against the grain within your industry. And I think for anybody who consults with you, you know, incredibly fortunate to have an open minded, well versed low carb dietitian.
Nicole Moore: (1:16) Yeah, absolutely. I think, you know, look, it's so important in any sort of field of science and nutrition, is to, we have to be on top of what the you know, and I don't even think would call it ‘new research’ these days, you know, low carb and ketogenic diets, there's so much research out there. Virta Health, CSIRO, you know, we have to be, as nutritionists and dietitians, we need to be on top of that. And there's so many people looking for that connection point. And it's so disappointing when they'll go in to get some advice about a low carb program, and they're sort of put in a box to say, look, that's really bad for you. And let's look at the diet pyramid, which has been around for such a long time. And as I always say, to new grads that I speak to, is, you know, how is it that you're being taught what I was taught 20 years ago? I mean, surely science is clearly changing. And if we don't, you know, evolve with the new research out there and understand it, then, you know, we aren't doing what we're meant to be doing, which is keeping the public aware and educated on the new options that are out there. And again, I use the word ‘new’, but I think, as you would know that it's not new, you know, there's always new stuff emerging, but it's not new science. I'm so passionate about making sure that my clients are connected with that and that they have, you know, me opening their arms and so excited when they come in, saying ‘Oh finally someone that's going to help me on this journey and not shun me away to say it's bad for you!’ So, yeah, I'm very passionate about it. I love it. I love it and tell me how did you then break away from the herd
Dr Lucy Burns: (2:50) I love it. I love it and tell me how did you then break away from the herd and become the unicorn that we’re so pleased you are?
Nicole Moore: (3:01) Look, I think my journey actually started as, you know, as I was studying dietetics because, to be frank, I was, you know, struggling with my own weight loss journey, and, you know, following all the things I was taught, I think I always envisioned myself and I still remember the vision of, you know, I'm in the lounge room literally running on the treadmill, while other friends of mine who’re dieticians are sitting on the couch, you know, eating, you know, whatever, and I'm there, you know, eating my legumes and my brown rice and you know, everything was fat free. I remember eating cheese, I don't even know if it was around now, which was 99% fat free. And to be frank, it was like eating plastic.
Dr Lucy Burns: (3:37) Yes. I ate those! Those Krafts!
Nicole Moore: (3:39) Remember that!
Dr Lucy Burns: (3:40) Kraft 99% fat free singles that were, yes, seriously, like a piece of vinyl.
Nicole Moore: (3:47) Yeah, I'd eat my vinyl and eat all my fat free food. And I was still struggling with my weight. I was always hungry, or I call the word hangry, which is hungry and angry. I was constantly suffering from gut issues. And I was so tired all the time. And, you know, I questioned why I felt that way and why I struggled with my weight when I ate less and moved more. And I guess that frustration delved into my own practice where I still behind the scenes struggled with my weight and felt ashamed as a dietitian that I couldn't shift the kilos that I wanted. There I was stripping away the calories of every single client that came in and all these women were struggling. And the more I read and looked at insulin resistance, the more I started to see that there was a background in hormonal issues that were causing this and I remember and I won't name where I worked in a certain Hospital in Adelaide, and I remember the chief dietitian there saying in a group meeting, “Now just want to let you know that, you know, if you ever hear the word insulin resistance, it's like hen's teeth, you know, it doesn't exist”. And, you know, I was flabbergasted as to, I didn't quite understand and that's how it evolved.
(4:55) I think I feared fat so much that I got to this point where I said, ‘I can't keep living this life’. But then I've got to understand what's going on. And I said, Well, you know, I was always told, ‘don't have Atkins diets because they'll kill you’. And I thought, ‘Well, you know what? You know, I'm not feeling well, I need to try a different path’. So I thought, I'm going to try Atkins, but I feared fat so much, the only fat I was not so concerned about with not so I went, I'm just going to eat nuts for a whole week. And you know, I said, ‘Well, I feel fat anyway. So if I eat fat for a whole week, and I get fatter, what does it matter, because I'm not feeling great anyway?’ And that was my shift. I ate nuts all week. And for the first time ever, my gut wasn't bloated, my energy was better. I wasn't hungry, and I shifted some weight. And that's how my journey started. And, you know, I just started to read and learn and implement it in my own life. And here I am today, you know, in my low carb keto health clinic, working with health coaches and a low carb doctor, in this amazing team to support people in this journey. And yeah, that's how it really eventuated. And, you know, I cannot practice, you know, the traditional diet because for people who aren't, who were metabolically unwell, and we know so many people are metabolically unwell because of the non-caveman diet that we’re now following. That, you know, the traditional pyramid doesn't work. If you've got metabolic health, and you're just, you can eat and you know, clearly we know, skinny fat, but you know, generally the metabolically well, the diet pyramid’s fine, you know, but for the metabolically unwell, it's not fine. And unfortunately, more than half of society is metabolically unwell. So that is why I'm where I'm at today, because of my own struggles, I guess. And so there's nothing I don't have a strategy for because I live it, I breathe, and I still to this day, you know, have to watch what I do and understand low carb and live it because I have insulin issues myself. So that's why I'm here today doing what I do.
Dr Lucy Burns: (6:57) I love that. I love it. And you're right. I mean, I think for a lot of people who are health practitioners, it's almost like you could stumble across low carb in desperation. And it sounds a little bit like you started it similarly to me, which was, at the time for me, entirely about weight loss. Like, I just thought, ‘Oh my God, I've got to do, you know, I'll give it a go. The last hurrah’. And it wasn't until that beautiful light bulb moment of realising that you don't have to eat vinyl, you don't have to have steak that is so lean tastes like leather, that you can actually have real amazing, delicious, incredible food that keeps you full.
Nicole Moore: (7:41) Absolutely. I think I always say to my clients that come in as like, you know, when they finish the consult, they go, ‘Wow, who doesn't like this food?’ and I said, ‘Who doesn't like, you know, having salmon and you know, steak with a little bit of fat cooked in butter, you know, with broccolini covered and almonds, and, you know, olive oil’. And I remember a client saying to me, you know, she was sitting next to someone and they said, ‘You look amazing, you look so well, and you've lost so much weight, and what sort of diet are you on?’ And you know, the client just pointed to her plate and she had a rack of ribs and a big side of broccolini, which she put some butter on. And that person looked at and said, what sort of diet is that? Like, that can't be a diet?
Dr Lucy Burns: (8:22) Yeah, yeah.
Nicole Moore: (7:41) You know, because the concept is we should be eating leather and vinyl and eating no fat and eating point cookies and, and shakes. And you know, because it isn't a diet, it's just, you know, eating really good food that doesn't stimulate and worse and insulin and blood glucose. So you know, she was like, ‘Yeah, this is my diet, we'll call it,’ and then, you know, her friend was like, ‘That's just crazy’. And, you know, the other thing I think I always hear people say is, you know, they come in and they go, ‘Nicole, I feel really guilty.’ And I'm like, ‘Why?’ And they go, ‘Because I'm not hungry. And I'm not craving, but I'm losing weight. It's very weird.’ And, you know, I go because, you know, the magic happens, you know, when you start low carb, suddenly you're not driven by cravings and hunger, you realise that there's a hormonal chaos going on in your body. And that when you calm that, with a low carbohydrate approach, you know, suddenly food isn't an obsession, and it's not something I have to teach out of people. It's very, very natural. And I remember spending so much of my practice trying to teach people to delay their hunger and cravings. Go watch the birds. Go wash your hands, take some breaths, and we knew it never would work and they'd come back and go, ‘Well I tried all that Nicole and I still had the block of chocolate and four slices of bread with butter because I was starving.’ It's just beautiful to see how people just naturally flow into and I call it always caveman, you know, you know, when you lived in a cave, you know what ran past that cave? And it wasn't a bowl of porridge.
Dr Lucy Burns: (9:53) Yeah, absolutely.
Nicole Moore: (9:55) You know, it was an animal. So yeah, it's a natural eating process, really. And it's so nice to see people just naturally benefit from eating low carb for sure.
Dr Lucy Burns: (10:06) I totally love that. And I think I said in a podcast not that long ago, you know, as ex-points-counter, you know, I knew the points of everything. And there were days where I'd run out of points. And the only option I had was to go to bed. It was like, ‘Oh’, and so you'd go to bed because and it's like, what, what, who lives like that? Like, that's not a life.
Nicole Moore: (10:30) Yeah, absolutely.
Dr Lucy Burns: (10:32) And the other. The other thing I love is that sometimes I completely relate to your clients, saying, I feel a bit guilty, because I often feel like I'm eating restaurant food. You know, restaurant food used to be sort of this special food that you'd have, and you might have some creamy something or other with it. And here I am eating restaurant food every day. Maybe not necessarily plated up like restaurant food!
Nicole Moore: (10:56) Certainly not in my house.
Dr Lucy Burns: (10:58) No, no, no, no, I'm definitely no Masterchef contender. And in fact, we're often talking about our, our hashtag, which is #uglyfood. Just to counter the idea that your food has to be beautifully presented in order to be delicious and nutritious.
Nicole Moore: (11:14) Absolutely.
Dr Lucy Burns: (11:15) So, Nicole, the type of people that you work with, who do you work with, mainly?
Nicole Moore: (11:22) In terms of clients, I guess? Yes, we see, you know, look, a lot of people who have been struggling with pre diabetes or type two diabetes, you know, just a lot of chronic disease, you know, they come in, and they're that metabolic bundle, I call it, you know, they come in, and they've got, and they've had it for years, you know, their blood sugars are going up. But the doctors often, you know, if they're not in that low carb space, go, ‘Look it's going up, but it's not. It's on the high end, but it's okay’. And you can see they're not there yet.
Dr Lucy Burns: (11:51) You're not there yet.
Nicole Moore: (11:53) ‘So we'll wait a little bit longer’. You know, they're on the cusp, or they're in the cusp. So we get people who've struggled with their weight. I mean, that's the big one, right? They come in, and they're, they've got guilt, and they have shame. And they're bingeing and they're struggling with cravings, they feel awful. They've got gut problems, you know, so they've got this metabolic bundle of health conditions coming in, and they've had enough and they've searched out for us at Low Carb Keto Health, because, as I'm sure you know, they're looking for that different door, because why keep opening the same door if it's not working for you. So they come in, in desperation, say I'm done and dusted with the whole points. And I'm done with, you know, counting calories, and I've done it all. And you know, they're sitting there with BMIs of 30 plus really uncomfortable with all this inflammation, whether it's in their skin, in their gut, they're getting headaches, they're sluggish, they're tired, they can't drop weight, their blood sugars are elevated. And they just in desperate moments of saying, ‘Please help me,’ and, you know, I guess they have that moment when they come in where I go, ‘You know what, this isn't your fault.’ You know, this is about insulin and insulin resistance. And we're going to, we're going to help you reverse that and make you feel well, and literally, within two weeks, they come back going, ‘Why didn't someone tell me about this, you know, 10 years ago!’ People with type two diabetes coming in going, ‘I cannot believe my blood sugars have dropped two millimoles. I've gone from eight to six. I've never been able to do that in the last 10 years.’ And you know, it's a no brainer for us low carb specialists that we know that's going to happen.
(13:36) You know, this is why we started Low Carb, Keto Health, is to give people the opportunity to search for a team that supports them. And we're there to really help people who are ready for that journey. And, you know, to dive in and be taught how it should be and make sure there's medical support, because we know how important that is. And for me to be able to work with, you know, medical teams like yourself and Dr. Laureen Lawlor-Smith, who will be also presenting at your Low Carb Road Show. It's so amazing. And as you guys, you know, to be able to work with dieticians that actually are going to support your message is so important and health coaches. So that's the people that come through the door and you know, we also get migraine sufferers, you know, we know people with epilepsy and seizures, you know, people coming in to say we want this nutritional support or medical support because they see it working, you know, gut IBS, diverticulitis, inflamed guts, where people are desperately struggling with chronic diarrhoea. For years. It's impacted their life to the point they can't work and they come in and now within four weeks, the inflammation in the body starts to drop and they cannot believe they have their life back in four weeks.
(14:51) So you know, these are the stories that myself and Dr. Lawlor-Smith walk past in the hallway and high five each other because we get so excited. So, when someone comes in after four weeks, and they feel well, so it's those unwell people that come in, and you know, we see the benefit. So that's the clientele that come through our door. And we just love the stories we see every day of improvement in inflammation and even things that people go, ‘Well, I came in for weight loss, but I've just got to tell you, you know, the pain in my fingers has gone’, or, you know, ‘I'm pooping, you know, too much information’. I had a client yesterday, ‘I'm giving you too much information. But my God, my poop is so good’. You know. So these are our amazing clients that come in and the stories we get every day.
Dr Lucy Burns: (15:41) Yes, and I love it because I can hear the excitement in your voice. And it really does revolutionise a practice, when you see “success”, and for our listeners, I'm using air quotes, because for a lot of people, their mind is around success being purely tied to weight loss. And it's actually we need to do a little mind shift. It's not about weight loss as the sole goal. Weight loss is like a happy side effect of changing what you eat. And then all the other things improve as well. So Nicole, you're speaking at Low Carb Adelaide, which I'm very excited about, which is April 29th. And can you give us a little brief intro as to what you're going to be sharing with the audience?
Nicole Moore: (16:28) Sure. Well, I like all things to be practical. I think, you know, there's a lot of science out there. And at the end of the day, it's like, ‘What the heck do I eat?’ So I'm going to, I guess, hopefully give people an amazing low carb toolbox. I'll probably do a little bit of a refresher on macronutrients, because everyone's always like, ‘What, what's macronutrients?’ I'm gonna make this so practical. It's about, you know, navigating food labels, you know, working out what products are going to work for you. I'm going to talk about doing the low carb pantry and fridge makeover and giving you some tips and hints about that. Navigating supermarkets, I think that's really important to understand, because all of this is how we get that low carb food in our life. So I want to go through, you know, aisles and shopping lists, supermarket efficiency, I think it's important, and how to avoid having to cook twice. You know, that's that fear of everyone going, ‘Oh, Nicole, the biggest problem I have is I've got this child that wants this and that person that wants that. And as a mum that works full time that has two kids, a husband who’s Sri Lankan, and I've got my parents in law, who are living with me, one’s vegetarian, one doesn't eat beef, my daughter's middle low carb, my son's keto, if I can do it, anyone can do it. So I'm going to bring all of the tools so you don't have to cook 10 meals in an evening. And look about how we can be efficient in the kitchen, how we can eat the same as the whole family and still be low carb.
(17:54) I'm going to do a little bit about school lunch boxes, if I can fit it into my time. I think that's really interesting to just visualise how we can do this for kids and give them flexibility, but still not give them the, you know, high carb lunch boxes that they're getting. And my last one, and I won't delve too much because I want it to be intriguing, but I'm going to do food mood boards. And it's a little bit about menu planning and how I do it, because I show my clients how I do this food mood planning and they love it. So I'm going to sort of finish off with that. And if I can give people a practical toolbox where they can walk out and go, ‘Okay, there's one thing there or 10 things there that are going to make my low carb life doable’, because this is life. This isn't a diet. This isn't something you do for three weeks. This is life and we can live it, eating out, eating with the family, you know, how do we manage, you know, social events. So I'm going to try and package all that in my time to give a low carb toolbox to everyone.
Dr Lucy Burns: (18:57) Oh, that's brilliant. I love it. I love it and the Adelaidians you are in for a treat. And one of the things that we're providing at the low carb Roadshow is a goodie bag. And in the goodie bag is a delegate's workbook. So every speaker will have a little bio, but a place for people to take notes. So when you leave the Low Carb Road Show, you will have a workbook full of practical ideas that you can refer back to, because we all know that sometimes you go to these things and then you forget what was said or you can't find your notes. So you wrote on a bit of paper and so, you'll actually go back with a really practical booklet full of all the speakers' information and yours sounds brilliant.
Nicole Moore: (19:41) Excellent. Sounds awesome.
Dr Lucy Burns: (19:44) Awesome. Well, lovely listeners. Thank you so much, Nicole, that was brilliant. I'm so excited. If you're wanting to purchase tickets to the Low Carb Road Show, you can just go to our website, www.lowcarbroadshow.com and click on Adelaide if you're in Adelaide or if you want to travel to Adelaide and come and hear Nicole and her fantastic talk.
Gorgeous ones have a beautiful day, and Nicole once again thank you so much.
Nicole Moore: (20:10) No problem thanks so much for having me and you know I'll do a little plug and say if you guys want to, you know, get some support from me because I know we're a rare breed is to visit me at lowcarbketohealth.com.au I’m happy if you flick me an email and all I want to do, as we all do is just help everyone out there live this life and be healthy and be our age Lucy and not have all these health problems that so many people have.
Dr Lucy Burns: (20:38) Absolutely. And again, Adelaidians, Low Carb Keto Health. It's a wonderful clinic. I know Laureen very well. She's a gorgeous doctor. Nicole is a fabulous dietician. They have Jody as a health coach. They're an incredibly supportive, beautiful team. So you know if you are looking for in person support in Adelaide, definitely go check them out, Low Carb Keto Health. So my lovely listeners that ends this episode of Real Health and Weight Loss. I'm Dr. Lucy Burns.
Dr Mary Barson: (21:14) And I'm Dr. Mary Barson. We’re from Real Life Medicine. To contact us, please visit rlmedicine.com.
Dr Lucy Burns: (21:25) And until next time, thanks for listening. The information shared on the Real Health and Weight Loss podcast, including show notes and links provides general information only. It is not a substitute, nor is it intended to provide individualised medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, nor can it be construed as such. Please consult your doctor for any medical concerns.
