Live webchat with nutritionist Jane Clarke, Tues 8 Feb, 12.30pm-1.30pm. UPDATE - Jane returning to answer questions she missed tonight - Tuesday 15th Feb 7.30

[GeraldineMumsnet]

We're delighted that nutritionist Jane Clarke is joining us for a webchat at 12.30pm on Tues 8 Feb.

Jane, who is a qualified dietitian, says her mission is to change people's lives through the power of nourishment.

Her latest book, Nourish, explains nutritional needs at every stage of life - children, teens, adulthood, pregnancy, middle age and over-60s.

She runs two dietetic practices (her specialist practice assists patients who have cancer and their families) and advises some of Britain's leading sportspeople.

Grab this opportunity to quiz an expert nutritionist, and join Jane on Tuesday. But if the timing doesn't work for you, post your question here as usual.

[mummiehunnie]

Jane,

I wonder if you could help me please.

Several times it has showed up in blood tests that I have a vitamin D and B6 deficency, the gp has not got an answer to why this is, although I have an underlying genetic connective condition which I wonder could be the cause.

I am quite good with eating veg (various in season fruits) and whole grain food. I have avacado about once a month to top up B6 as I don't like liver which was what the gp recomended. I do eat too much junk on top of regular food though. I drink water, tea, coffee, diet coke and about two units of alcohol at the weekend (g and T) and don't smoke. I do go out in the sun. I have no idea why this keeps happening, and I wondered if you know what could be the problem or how I could make it better?

many thanks

[dinkydalton]

Hi Jane. My nails are very flaky and brittle. In days of old I used to eat a jelly cube but I have been a vegetarian for 20 years so for obvious reasons don't want to consume Gelatine. Could you suggest any other foods or supplements which might help? Thanks

[angelcake99]

Hi Jane.

I am quite a few stone overweight and have PCOS. I have been prescribed slow release Metformin for this.
I am vegetarian and have struggled to control my cravings for sweet foods and high carbs, please could you advise what foods could help with my weight and help me feel satisfied for longer? Many Thanks

[JaneClarke1192]

Testing

[LaraJade]

Hi jane - please can u advise me?
I'm a 34 yr old nurse + work full time shifts.
Am 2st overweight - i want to have energy to go to gym to do cardio + weights.
THE PROBLEM: due to epilepsy i take 2g Epilim Chrono - it works but the side effect is increased appetite. If i don't eat every 4 hours max i feel v faint - not good at work! Also i take 225mg Venlafaxine (anti depressant). These meds, my lifestyle and my chronic depression make me v tired, so i don't have time or motivation to cook.
How can i diet without getting too hungry?
Also due to the Epilim my hair is fine + v brittle which is horrid.

Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks :)

[Jammygal]

Jane I know quite a few of us on here have hypothyroidism. (I have anaemia too) any tips on diet that may help us to get our metabolism back on track. I know lots of us feel the same way, tired , fat and old before our time ;)

[GeraldineMumsnet]

Hello all, thanks for all your questions.

Jane is here at MNHQ (welcome Jane!), so without further ado, over to you...

[silverfrog]

Hello Jane,

what would you recommned by way of calcium intake for a child who is dairy and gluten intolerant (which knocks out a large section of supplements), as well as unable to have any additives (colours/flavours/preservatives) whether natural or not (which knocks out the remaining few supplements...)

said child also has a restricted diet (due to ASD), so the standard "leafy green vegetables" do not go down too well...

[ImFab]

Jane, feel free to ignore my question if you want as I have now been diagnosed with gastritis.

[JaneClarke1192]

hello everyone. it's great to be here-having left my eight year old daughter at school this morning, it's lovely to have a mum's moment before I go off to see my patients. Thanks for all of you who have already sent in questions-I hope my typing is fast enough to be able to get through them all. I would just like to point out that my responses should be taken as a general point rather than any specific advice for any health complaint, as this ensures that your health is protected. If you're at all worried, feel free to contact me via mumsnet or come and see me in my practice.
so here goes...

[JaneClarke1192]

@angelcake99

Hi Jane.

I am quite a few stone overweight and have PCOS. I have been prescribed slow release Metformin for this.
I am vegetarian and have struggled to control my cravings for sweet foods and high carbs, please could you advise what foods could help with my weight and help me feel satisfied for longer? Many Thanks

PCOS is a tough condition manage, as the body can be cruel making you crave the foods which unfortunately not only don't make you feel great, but actually because of their effect on blood sugar and insulin levels make the symptoms of PCOS worse. Generally with PCOS the thing we try to achieve is a steady blood sugar level as this helps to keep the hormone insulin levels steady too.
as a vegetarian lentils and beans are great satisfying foods, which contain a combination of carb and protein, which can help you feel satiated but not too heavy-so delicious dishes like lentil soup, full of vegetables can be a wonderful lunch, or little chickpea rissoles go well with a big green leafy salad for a comforting supper. You may also like to try using more nuts and seeds as these say toasted on top of a salad or steamed curly Kale with a dollop of hummus can help make it all taste great and above all keep you satisfied for longer, ultimately helping you to control your weight. Finally, there is a traditional remedy for helping ease sugar cravings which seems to work well with a lot of my patients with PCOS, and that is to sniff something vanilla based, such as vanilla essence or a perfume based around vanilla, as vanilla really helps to kick sweet cravings-strange but it seems to work!

[ItsGraceAgain]

Hi, Jane.
I've got CFS/ME and want to get better.

I eat a lot of meat, fruit & veg, and I take a multivitamin + mineral supplement plus Omega3 and Vitamin C. Do you know of anything else (affordable) that could help support my poor, tired system?

Thanks.

[strawberrycake]

Hi Jane,

I've posted on here a lot about my 8 month old son's feeding issues. He's reluctant to eat, screaming or gagging to avoid it. He's particularly bad with liquids/ bottles. I've tried changing temperatures and textures finger/ spoons etc. but I'm at a loss with him. After a stomach bug he's refused to eat for 8 days and lost nearly 1.5lb (9th to below 2nd centile for weight, and he's a long baby). He's always gained poorly and fed poorly, he started above the 75th centile for weight. He's allergic to dairy/ soya too. I'm not sure what to do for next steps with him. He's picked up on eating a bit as of last night but it's still a long way from normal. He can go days on just water and a few rice cakes, a good day thought is around 8-10oz of milk and two small meals. HE's encouraged a lot gently and sits with us for meals.

Thanks.

[JaneClarke1192]

@Jammygal

Jane I know quite a few of us on here have hypothyroidism. (I have anaemia too) any tips on diet that may help us to get our metabolism back on track. I know lots of us feel the same way, tired , fat and old before our time ;)

what a combination-as you say being deficient in thyroxine and anaemic is bound to make you feel exhausted. I just wonder what you're doing to correct your anaemia as although it takes a few weeks for iron deficiency( which is the most common form and therefore I'm assuming it is the type your referring to of) anaemia to correct, if you can get your iron levels up in your diet, along with your vitamin C intake up, you should soon start to feel much stronger. the iron rich foods are really the meat based, so this means lean steak, eggs, dark green leafy vegetables such as spinach, curly Kale and soya-which could be soya milk or the soya proteins. if you can boost the amount of these in your diet, then slowly but surely your anaemia should correct itself. I mentioned vitamin C, as this vitamin helps your body to absorb the iron-so this could practically mean simply squeezing some fresh lemon onto a spinach salad or using a little finely grated orange rind in a vinaigrette dressing made with a walnut oil before you toss it into a rocket salad to serve with some thinly sliced roast beef.
I tend to prefer the herbal iron supplements such as Gentle Iron, and floradix rather than the harder prescribed supplements, as these tend to be gentler on the gut.
On the thyroid side, you may have read that some people find that having a diet rich in iodine can help improve symptoms, which would mean eating more seaweed and seafood, but i would just caution against taking iodine supplements unless you've had specific advice from a clinical dietitian, as they can have adverse effects on your thyroid gland, so it's just worth a little caution.

[Aitch]

can i have two questions, please? (greed a perennial prob).

1. What are your thoughts re weaning babies? (disclosure: BLWer here but faaaar from hardcore).
   

1. DH, the poor lamb, has just been diagnosed with psoriasis, it literally appeared a fortnight ago and he is in misery. what can we do nutritionally to help him?
   

oh and i think you are tremendously pretty with sparkly eyes. hope your dd is well, she is also gorgeous.

[JaneClarke1192]

@FunnysInTheGarden

Hi Jane. Always loved your no nonsense approach to food. So how come they replaced you with that idiot John Briffa at The Observer? I followed your columns avidly, but hate The Biffa's rather holier than thou take on 'What's In Your Basket' I mean, will nothing please the man? 'Ooooh porridge........you do know that it will raise your blood sugar and then cause it to crash with hideous consequences don't you' In the common parlance of MN FFS.

So Jane, when are you coming back? We need you!

Oh I do miss the Observer-I LOVED writing for them!It does feel a long time ago though, I was childless and lived in a minimal factory which would no way look the same now that I have gorgeous 8 year old Maya!!
I made the decision 2 years ago when I moved out of London to step away from writing a twice weekly column as i just didn't want the pressure( having been a columnist for 10 years) and also wanted to treasure my time with Maya, as it's going sooo quickly. But I hope you enjoy my articles as I feel inspired to write them and my new book, as I have to say having the flexibility to write Nourish without the pressures of a newspaper editor breathing down my neck was lovely.

[Aitch]

oh yes you were great in the nobserver, briffa was one of reasons i stopped getting it. (and that cocktail girl annoyance)

[littlehayleyc]

Hi Jane,

I just wondered whether you could give me an idea of how much my 3 and half year old should be eating? We did baby led weaning, and he used to eat anything but now is very fussy and often goes to bed without a proper dinner. He tends to want the same old things like beans, spaghetti, sausages and fish fingers, and rarely tries anything new. He also doesn't like any sauces or things mixed in. Eg he'll eat rice and peas separately but not mixed together ?! Is it a normal phase?

[Jammygal]

Jane ty for reply regarding iron......it doesn't matter what I do I just can't increase my levels....but will give your tips a go.
My 5 yo son has a nut, seed, egg and penicillin allergy . Do you have any tips for him?

[fullmoonfiend]

Oh I have come late to the party and you have a zillion questions to answer - Can you come back again some time and do Q and A? :)

[CuppaTeaJanice]

Hi Jane,

Do you think Gillian McKeith's pitiful performance on 'I'm a Celebrity' has had a detrimental effect to the reputation of the nutritionist/dietitian practice? ie. Is the public more likely to now think that good nutrition is of little benefit if one of it's more famous champions is looking old and haggard and fainting all over the place?

[JaneClarke1192]

@philmassive

Hi Jane, my ds is 7 and will only eat an extremely limited selection of foods - sausages, pasta, olives, orange juice, steak, chicken, ketchup, bread, tuna, cheese and tomato pizza, and rubbish like crisps and sweets. He doesn't eat any fruit or vegetables in their proper form and he steadfastly refuses to try new things and even sometimes refuses familiar things if they look different or have a different texture.
I do try to buy the best versions of what he will eat like high meat content sausages and organic ketchup but I know he must be enormously lacking nutritionally and I think he must often be hungry and bored by such a limited diet. He won't eat versions of the foods he does like ie he eats pasta and tuna but won't have tuna and pasta bake. He hates 'wet' food.
Do you have any tips to encourage him to try new foods and would you recommend a vitamin supplement for him? Also from reading on here other people's experiences I do wonder if he has some sort of disorder. Can you explain how I could go about finding out if this is the case?
Thanks

I wouldn't panic and don't think that he has a disorder, as frustrating as it is, I think it's just one of those phases he will grow out of. It may well take going around to a friend's house where he's served tuna and pasta bake and nothing else is on offer, for him to click out of being so specific over what he will and won't eat. I know it may feel as if he's lacking in essential nutrients, but the test of this is really if he is thriving, feeling well, enjoying activities, etc, as the body will tend to grab more of an essential nutrient, rather bizarrely if you don't have that much of it-this can be the case with minerals like calcium, which if you don't have that much in the diet, their intestine absorbs a high proportion of what it's offered. so unless he is flagging, then I would assume that he at the moment is getting enough to keep him healthy. It's a tough line to tow but I have to say having treated lots of children who are fussy eaters, the more clear you can be about just offering that one food and not then offering something else if he doesn't eat it, the more likely he is to finally, albeit after some tantrums I'm sure and some pretty miserable meals, realise that he needs to tuck in.
incentive charts also work well, even at 7, so he can work his way towards something he'll love, if he tries a few mouthfuls etc. finally, I know it's not easy but try as much as you can to eat the same food as him and with him, as this can help build up his desire to please you.
I'm going to sneak in a mention about sugar if you don't mind here, as I see lots of you have written in worried about the amount of sugar you're giving your children. Sugar is a very divisive and judgmental issue as some of us much prefer not to give many sweet things, such as sweet drinks and biscuits, whereas other parents think we're being overly strict and risking a backlash. I so often see that overly sweet foods, such as refined sweets and drinks don't make children feel great, so my feeling is why would I want to give a child something that does this? Every parent has a right to choose what they give their child and yet other parents can be so overly critical if you don't go along with what they do. the only caution I would offer is being too strict when they're at friends parties or houses and everyone else is eating the sweet stuff you'd rather your child wouldn't eat-try to let them have some as they'll rebel if you don't and you also run the risk of them then starting to feel they need to hide the food from you, which is a path best avoided if you can. Limit as much as you can and just see it as a blip as you'll know they'll soon be back on the nourishing stuff at home.

[JaneClarke1192]

@Rindercella

Hi Jane

Unfortunately I won't be online when you are on this webchat but I would really appreciate your advice.

My DH has advanced prostate cancer (spread to lymph nodes & widespread bone metastases). He has been to the Penny Brohn clinc and we are trying to follow the Bristol Diet to help him as much as we can. Unfortuantely he sometimes struggles to eat due to his illness and treatment. I cook everything from scratch for him, with lots of lentils, vegetables, (little) fish and occasional chicken. He has totally cut out diary from his diet and has now started to eat gluten free bread.

What other advice would you give? In your experience is this diet helpful? If so, how can it help? Is there anything else I could be doing to help him? He sometimes (actually, frequently) finds food very difficult to digest. Do you have any advice on how better this could be managed?

I know my husband's cancer will not be cured, but what can help to make him more comfortable and his life more bearable?

MNHQ, I understand that I have asked more than one question, but I'm desperate.

I'm so sorry to hear about your husband. I work a lot with patients with cancer, be this prostate cancer or cancers of all sorts, in my practice in central London, so if you would like to come and see me, I would be delighted to help you put together a strategy to help ease some of your husbands symptoms.
Food can be a wonderful way to ease a lot of the symptoms of cancer but I have to say that there is so much scare mongering around the links between dairy and cancers, when recent studies show that cancer rich foods such as yoghurt and milk can actually have a cancer protecting effect. i don't mention this to confuse you, just to highlight that it's such a complex area which I would love to be able to support you more through. as a starting point there is a chapter in my new book Nourish on cancer, so this may give you a few ideas and pointers.

[philmassive]

Thanks Jane, will try the incentive idea.

May also hatch a plot with ds's friend's Mum to give him an unusual tea!

Thanks for the reply.

[JaneClarke1192]

@Aonach

I just wanted to say that as a Dietitian I so pleased that Mumsnet are using a credible person and not a 'nutritionist' . Like Trilian I wish you had put it in the title thought.

Nutritionists are entirely unregulated where dietitians have studied between 4 and 6 years at uni with clinical placements and are HPC regulated to only provide evidence based advice.

Well done mumsnet and Jane for raising the profile of Dietitians.

Whilst I love being a Dietitian, the problem with the word is that it still to many creates an image of a holier than thou white coated professional who hands out diet sheets. I know we're not, but the reason I often refer to myself as a Nutritionist is that it helps people to feel that I'm all about Nourishment and Nutrients, the foods you can eat, rather than putting people on diets. As you say though, there are so many nutritionists out there who have no qualifications and many people are thinking that they're professionally qualified. I therefore like to use Nutritionist and Dietitian, but realise that it's a bit of a mouthful!