Author Archives: Tim Cassettari

Is eating low-fat an effective way to lose weight?

August 5, 2015 By in Nutrition that works Tags: , , Leave a comment

Research has shown the low-fat diet can fare worse for weight loss when compared to numerous other diets, including:

One of the biggest developments in nutrition science is this: the conventional low-fat diet may be one of the least effective dietary strategies to both manage your weight and promote good health.

Why? The unifying theme that explains the advantage of each of the other diets is simple: they reduce the intake of carbohydrate-rich foods that are highly refined and low in nutrients. When we eat low-fat, we more often than not default to these sorts of foods.

Note that these foods include some sugary foods such as soft drinks, juices and confectionary. But they also include some starchy foods such as refined grains and flours like white bread, white rice, refined cereals and refined crackers. The constant spike in our blood sugar that a high consumption of these foods produce results in significantly poorer health over time, except in the leanest and most active of individuals.

Of course, it is far too simplistic to say that all carbohydrate-rich foods result in weight gain and poor health.

A vegetarian diet, for example, is typically a low-fat, high carbohydrate diet. It is consistently associated with lower body weight and better health. A key difference is the quality of the carbohydrates eaten. The vegetarian diet is typically rich in carbohydrates from minimally processed plant foods, such as legumes, fruits, starchy vegetables and fibrous grains.

The problem is not carbohydrates per se, but that the quality of our carbohydrate choices today are usually poor.

Sure, enjoy some highly refined and nutrient poor low-fat foods for enjoyments sake.

But please don’t eat large amounts of them because you think they are helping you to lose weight.

5 common beliefs that undermine our happiness

August 2, 2015 By in Change your thinking Tags: , 5 Comments
  1. I should be concerned about my fears and dwell on the possibility of them occurring.
  2. It is easier and best to avoid my life’s difficulties, than it is to face them.
  3. I must be loved, or well liked, by almost everybody in my life.
  4. I must achieve, be or have this for me to be worthy, adequate or loveable.
  5. It is always bad when things are not the way I would have liked them to be.

Notice it is not the external events, doings of others or our own shortcomings that directly result in our unhappiness.

Rather, it is how we perceive and understand these to be, that is the primary problem.

5 foods almost all of us need to eat more of

July 29, 2015 By in Nutrition that works Tags: , 4 Comments

1. Vegetables
2. Fruits
3. Fibrous grains (such as oats, wholemeal bread and high fibre cereals)
4. Legumes (beans and pulses such as baked beans, kidney beans and lentils)
5. Nuts & seeds.

Each of these foods truly nourish our body and research shows time and again that their consumption is strongly linked to our health.

Notice they are not all low in fat, low in sugar, low in calories or low in carbohydrates.

But they are all minimally processed plant foods that together form the base of a diet rich in quality fats, quality carbohydrates, dietary fibre, resistant starch, vitamins, minerals and an array of different antioxidants.

When we eat them consistently we improve the way our body functions right down to the cellular level, and in this way not only benefit today, but markedly reduce our long-term risk of weight gain, heart disease and diabetes too.

Enjoy all foods. Especially plants.

The science of love and kindness

July 26, 2015 By in Boost your happiness Tags: , , 2 Comments

Scientific research has shown how generating the feelings and thoughts of love and kindness changes us, for the better.

It not only cultivates positive emotions within us, such as joy, gratitude, contentment and hope, but it develops who we are as a human being. When we practice love and kindness, we become more self-accepting, mindful, experience greater social connectedness, improved physical health, greater purpose in life and enhanced long-term happiness.

The thing about love and kindness is that it is not a fixed trait we are born with. Rather, it is a practice we can actively develop.

Here’s one way: in a quiet space, imagine intentionally directing feelings of love and kindness from your heart to yourself and others. Start with a focused attention on just you, followed by your loved ones, your friends, strangers and then finally all beings. Throughout, simply authentically wish each group good health and happiness.

This very exercise brings about the scientific benefits described above.

Personally, this practice is one of my favourites for cultivating a life of health and happiness, and my antidote for any feelings of isolation or distrust I may have. It is a simple exercise that we can all do, and has changed my life for the better.

When we open our hearts with love and kindness, we not only grow as human beings and improve our own lives, but we of course create the opportunity to enhance the lives of others, and collectively make the world a better place.

The problem with dieting

July 22, 2015 By in Quit the dieting Tags: 1 Comment

Is that it very often causes overeating. The restriction, stress and deprivation associated with limiting what your body desires can leave us eating more calories and gaining more weight than before we started.

The alternative is to allow ourselves to enjoy the foods we want in moderation. To be aware of how hungry we are, how much we’ve had and what we really feel like eating.

“I can have this if I want, but do I really feel like it?”

The irony of giving ourselves the total freedom to eat what we desire is that with time we end up desiring it less.

Healthy mind, healthy body

July 19, 2015 By in Holistic health Tags: , 3 Comments

It is well-known that our emotions, both positive and negative, have a direct effect on our physical health. By definition, emotions have a physiological effect on our body, and it is in this way that they can strongly influence our health and vitality.

Feelings of chronic stress, anxiety or hopelessness, as just some examples, can increase the strain on our cardiovascular system and our risk of heart disease. Feelings of joy or excitement, on the other hand, strengthen our immune function and significantly lower our risk of colds and flu.

What is less well-known, but even more important, is that these emotions are influenced directly by how we think. We feel stressed because we think we can’t cope. We feel anxious because we think all about how it could go wrong. And we feel hopeless because we think that we will never find another way if this way fails.

Scientific findings show that optimism, which is the thinking process that concludes good things will happen, is associated with better cardiovascular health, and may also reduce cancer risk. This is an effect that parallels the benefits of high fruit and vegetable consumption.

Our mind and body are deeply connected. A desire to cultivate a healthy body starts with a desire to cultivate a healthy mind.

Doing what you love

July 16, 2015 By in Get motivated Tags: 1 Comment

One of the most important lessons I’ve learnt in life is to be the person that you want to be, and to have the belief that you are worthy, deserving and capable of being exactly that.

Today, I’m excited to announce that after much thought, reflection and self-doubt, I’m following my highest excitement and moving in a new career direction. Instead of waiting around indefinitely for an employer to tell me that I’m capable of more, I realised that what I was actually waiting for was for me to hear those exact same words from myself.

As part of my new career direction, I’ll be blogging consistently about cultivating a life of health and happiness. This is something I’m passionate about creating for not only others, but also myself, and is what I’ve spent the last ten years of my life studying and reading about.

Please feel free to subscribe to my blog and share it with your friends and family. I hope that it will help you on your journey and potentially make you think about your own life in a new and different light.