Guidelines and Tips health Conscious Healthy Living Nutritional Insights
National Nutrition Week 2024: A Word of Caution to Teachers on Promoting Healthy Eating
As National Nutrition Week 2024 approaches, from 15–19 October, the theme “Eat Right for a Better Life” encourages us to reflect on how we can promote better health through nutrition. [...]
Guidelines and Tips Healthy Living Nutritional Insights
Embrace Spring: The Season of Growth and New Beginnings
As the chill of winter fades and the vibrant colours of spring start to paint the South African landscape, we are reminded of the incredible potential for growth and renewal. [...]
Guidelines and Tips Healthy Living Nutritional Insights
Mother’s Mental Health and Child’s Self-Esteem: What, Why, and How
Since becoming a mom to a little girl, my priorities and perspective have changed dramatically. Now, I not only consider my daughter in every decision I make, but I also [...]
Nutritional Insights
Intuitive Eating for Emotional Wellness: Healing Your Relationship with Food
The connection between food, emotions, and well-being is profound and intricate. For many, food is more than just sustenance; it’s a source of comfort, a way to cope with stress, [...]
Healthy Living
Breaking Beauty: Empowering Youth to Rewrite the Standards
In a world saturated with filtered images and airbrushed perfection, the pressure to conform to unrealistic beauty standards weighs heavily on the shoulders of young girls. From the moment they’re [...]
Nutritional Insights
Reflecting on 31: 31 Life Lessons Learned by Age 31
Hello, Retha here! As I approach my 32nd birthday and navigate the joys of new motherhood, I find myself in a season of self-reflection. With each passing year, I’ve come [...]
Nutritional Insights Guidelines and Tips
Embracing Food Freedom: Nurturing Intuitive Eating on Freedom Day
A. Definition of Food Freedom In the realm of modern dietary discourse, the concept of food freedom stands as a beacon of autonomy and empowerment. It represents a departure from [...]
Healthy Living
Harmony in Eating: Nurturing Well-being through Interoception and Intuitive Eating
In this article, we invite you on a journey toward a healthier relationship with food. Have you ever wondered about the secrets behind mindful eating? Or how to break free [...]
Healthy Living
Nourishing Love: A Self-Love Journey Through Intuitive Eating
Brief Overview of the Cultural Significance of February and Valentine’s Day As February unfolds, a familiar air of romance envelops the month, heralded by the iconic celebration of love—Valentine’s Day. [...]
Nutritional Insights
Embracing Intuitive Eating: A Mindful Approach to New Year’s Resolutions
A Brief Overview of the Traditional “New Year, New Me” Mindset The dawning of a new year often brings with it a surge of enthusiasm for self-improvement, accompanied by the [...]
Nutritional Insights
Embracing Non-Food Traditions: Creating Lasting Holiday Memories
In a world where the holiday season often becomes synonymous with indulgent feasts and excessive eating, it’s crucial to recognise that there are alternative paths to celebrating. For individuals who [...]
Nutritional Insights
Finding Joy in Food: Nourishing Your Body and Soul
As we embark on National Nutrition Week 2023, the theme resonates profoundly: “Feel Good with Food.” This theme encapsulates the essence of a holistic approach to nutrition—one that not only [...]
Nutritional Insights Debunking Myths Healthy Living
Navigating the Complexity of Intuitive Eating and Weight Loss Compatibility
If you’re interested in Intuitive Eating, you may have heard that it’s not compatible with your weight loss goals. You may be wondering why that is, and what Intuitive Eating [...]
Nutritional Insights Guidelines and Tips Healthy Living
Nourishing the Journey: Unveiling the Realities of Breastfeeding and Fueling Mom’s Superpowers
During World Breastfeeding Week, as a breastfeeding mother myself, I aim to shed light on the lesser-discussed challenges. And offer tips to make the journey easier, because every mom deserves [...]
Guidelines and Tips Healthy Living Nutritional Insights
Intuitive Eating at Work: How Corporations Can Promote Healthy Habits through Mindful Eating
During the celebration of Corporate Wellness Week, the principles of intuitive eating should be taking centre stage as corporations prioritise the health and well-being of their employees. This week-long event [...]
Nutritional Insights
Celebrating Dieticians Week: Honouring the Diverse Faces of Dietetics
Dieticians Week is an annual celebration that shines a spotlight on the incredible work and expertise of dieticians worldwide. This year, we embrace the theme, “the faces of dietetics”, acknowledging [...]
Nutritional Insights Guidelines and Tips Healthy Living
Intuitive Eating for beginners: A non-diet approach to eating that focuses on listening to your body
Intuitive Eating for beginners In recent years, Intuitive Eating has gained popularity as a new approach to health and wellness, especially as people are starting to reject traditional dieting methods [...]
Nutritional Insights Healthy Living
Food & Your Mood: How Food Affects Mental Health
Our physical health is significantly affected by the foods we consume. But did you know that food can have a direct impact on our mental and emotional well-being too? The [...]
Nutritional Insights Healthy Living
The importance of good nutrition in early childhood
Good nutrition is vital in early childhood development. Children require a delicate balance of foods at the right time to develop and reach their full potential. Intuitive eaters that listen [...]
Nutritional Insights Healthy Living
10 tips to keep healthy during your pregnancy
There is a lot of information that the Internet, books, and family and friends want to share with you about pregnancy. This can be overwhelming, to say the least. How [...]
Nutritional Insights Healthy Living
Eating healthy during your pregnancy
A healthy diet is an important part of a healthy lifestyle but it is especially vital while pregnant. The nutrients, vitamins and minerals, are all used up by the body, [...]
Nutritional Insights Healthy Living
Understanding the emotional connection between feelings and food
Racing to the snack cupboard at the end of the day for something to make you feel better? You’re not alone. Many of us indulge in emotional eating at some [...]
Nutritional Insights Medical Conditions
Cognitive dissonance and eating disorders
In the field of psychology, cognitive dissonance is the perception of contradictory information. It occurs when there is a discrepancy between one’s beliefs and one’s actions, producing a feeling of [...]
Nutritional Insights
How to boost our self-esteem
Having healthy self-esteem comes with many advantages. It influences our motivation, mental well-being, and overall quality of life. However, it can become problematic if our self-esteem levels are too high [...]
Nutritional Insights
Explaining habituation and how it affects diet
Habituation is a great way to get comfortable with intuitive eating. When we try to get control over our eating we often cut out and remove ourselves from certain foods. [...]
Nutritional Insights
What is Obesophobia?
Obesophobia (also known as pocrescophobia) is an intense, overwhelming fear of gaining weight or getting ‘fat’. It is a specific phobia (fear), and type of anxiety disorder rather than an [...]
Nutritional Insights
Get to know us at En Bonne Santé
“Un bon repas adoucit l’esprit et régénère le corps”, this is a French saying, which means, “ A good meal softens the mind and regenerates the body”. As dieticians we [...]
Healthy Living Nutritional Insights
Changing your mind-set of food rewards for children
Food rewards are common practice in South Africa. One of the first questions I ask a patient when they step into my office is ‘What does your relationship with food [...]
Nutritional Insights
How to avoid the snack trap
In family movies, like Home Alone, we see those sneaky traps, where the child lightly rakes leaves over a hole and then when the bad guys step on the leaves, [...]
Healthy Living Nutritional Insights
Mindful eating vs gulping down food
We all have those days when we are strapped for time to sit and savour a meal. Sometimes we eat in the car in traffic. Other times we eat on [...]
Guidelines and Tips Nutritional Insights
Complementary Feeding
Adventure awaits with complementary feeding! Are you and your little one ready? If you have children of your own, you might be familiar with the term complementary feeding. If not, [...]
Medical Conditions Nutritional Insights
Obesity in a Nutshell
According to the South Africa Demographic and Health Survey 2016 Key Indicators Report, 68% of women, 31% of men and 13% of children in South Africa are overweight or obese. [...]
Guidelines and Tips Healthy Living
Lunchbox ideas for growing kids
As parents or caregivers, we are the single most important influence on our children’s food choices. Thus, we have the amazing privilege to be role models when it comes to [...]
Nutritional Insights
Legumes: The under-rated “superfood”
Does the word legume sound foreign to you? I would not blame you if it does! After all, it is one of the food groups least consumed by South Africans. [...]
Healthy Living
How to tame your hunger hormone
Hunger is often seen as the enemy and therefore by association the hunger hormone, ghrelin, is demonised and ostracized.
Healthy Living Nutritional Insights
Nutrition and our immune system
Finding ourselves amid the third wave, we, as South Africans, are unfortunately reminded again that the Covid-19 virus is still going to be with us for quite some time. Even [...]
health Conscious Healthy Living Main Dish Nutritional Insights Recipe
Chicken and mushroom risotto
This delicious recipe is a hearty, delicious and affordable meal that is also packed with vitamin D. Similar to when humans are exposed to sunlight (or a sunlamp), mushrooms convert [...]
Guidelines and Tips Nutritional Insights
Tighten your belt Healthy eating on a budget
While we applaud our president for his response to the coronavirus pandemic, it is no secret that the Covid-19 lockdown has hit South Africans hard, especially financially. And while we [...]
Guidelines and Tips Nutritional Insights
Healthy eating during lockdown: How to instil healthy habits and behaviour in your children
With lockdown slowly being phased out we realise that things might take a while before returning to ‘normal’. Parents are perhaps worried about the eating habits and health of their [...]
Guidelines and Tips Nutritional Insights
Vitamin D
We are blessed with a wonderfully comfortable climate in South Africa, and in this sunny and warm weather there has not been an immediate threat or need to look at [...]
Debunking Myths Medical Conditions Nutritional Insights
Celiac Disease
We have all heard about gluten and that some people react adversely to it. One specific group of people are at the top of the list of affected individuals, and [...]
Nutritional Insights
Children watching healthy TV cooking programs: Almost 3 times more likely to choose healthy foods
The Research article “Watching TV Cooking Programs: Effects on Actual Food Intake Among Children” published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behaviour was such a great piece and can [...]
Debunking Myths Guidelines and Tips Healthy Living Nutritional Insights
Health At Every Size, Body-Acceptance and Lizzo: what does the Dietician say?
Guidelines and Tips Healthy Living Nutritional Insights Seasonal Articles
How to avoid falling off the wagon over this festive season
Medical Conditions Nutritional Insights
Diabetes: Protect your Family
On 14 November 2019 it is World Diabetes Day and marks the second year of a two-year theme focusing on “The Family and Diabetes”. This year the slogan for the [...]
Guidelines and Tips Nutritional Insights
Make Eating Whole Foods a Way of Life
In South Africa, National Nutrition Week and National Obesity Week are celebrated every year from 9 – 15 October and 15 – 19 October respectively to create awareness among consumers [...]
Nutritional Insights
How sweet is your sweetener?
he dangers of excessive consumption of sugar is well documented and how it negatively affects the health status of individuals but even more so for diabetics have been a focus [...]
Nutritional Insights
IV vitamin therapy – Yay or Nay?
IV or intravenous infusion are just a fancy way of saying getting a drip – therefore getting your vitamins via a drip. Whether you are hungover, feeling a bit flu-ish, [...]
Nutritional Insights
Pregnancy: What to do in terms of exercise and nutrition
Gerné Swanepoel – Doula and Fitness instructor pre- and postnatally Retha Harmse – Registered Dietician For Pregnancy Awareness Week 2019, Gerné and I collaborated to shed a bit more [...]
Guidelines and Tips Healthy Living Nutritional Insights
Binge Eating
In this digital age where social media is constantly bombarding us with what the ‘norms’ should be for beauty and the ideal body shape, it is not surprising to see [...]
Main Dish Nutritional Insights Recipe
Festive Feast
The festive season is usually a time for family gatherings, reflecting on the past year as well as planning and resting for the year to come. Perhaps not as deep, [...]
Healthy Living Nutritional Insights
Carb Conscious
Everyone has either heard of, encountered or are confused by the different types of carbohydrates. However, not all carbohydrates were created equal. Carbohydrates are manufactured by plants and are a [...]
Healthy Living
My honest review of Virgin Active’s 24-hour challenge
In the last week of October, I received an email from Virgin Active inviting me to take part in a challenge for that month. There were three to choose from: [...]
Healthy Living Nutritional Insights Seasonal Articles
How to prepare for a healthier festive season
We all know what it is like when a busy year is coming a close and the festive season is rapidly approaching. Everyone is rushing to get all the tasks [...]