.png)
Informed Aging
A podcast about health, help, and hard decisions for older adults.
Informed Aging
Episode 99 Healthy, Happy Holidays: How Food Can Help You Thrive
Happy, Healthy Holidays: How Food Can Help You Thrive
Nutrition expert Catherine Lawrence joins host Robin Rountree to share how food choices can boost your immunity, improve sleep, and reduce stress through the holidays—simple, science-backed tips to help you feel your best and stay well all season long.
https://foodsavedme.institute/
Welcome to Informed Aging, a podcast about health, help, and hard decisions for older adults. I'm Robin Rountree, a former family caregiver. I've worked in the home care industry and now work for the Alzheimer's and Dementia Resource Center. The thoughts and opinions expressed on this podcast belong to me and my guest, not our wonderful employers and sponsors.
Before making any significant changes in your life or your person's life, please consult your own experts. Today we are gonna have a return guest, Catherine Lawrence, with the Food Safety Institute, to teach us about using food to boost our immunity and help us to get through the holiday season without the sniffles. We'll be back right after a word from our sponsors.
Robin Rountree: We are back with Catherine Lawrence. She's a return guest. She's the founder of Food Saved Me Institute. She's a globally recognized nutritionist, 17 years of experience in plant-based nutrition and disease prevention, certified by some big names, Stanford Medicine, Cornell and Harvard, and a board-certified autism specialist.
So you definitely believe food can be a form of medicine
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: Yes. Especially in prevention
for sure, and helping to lower our risk of a lot of of common ailments that we struggle with For sure.
Robin Rountree: Temperatures are starting to drop a little bit. The holidays are not too far away, and typically between the colder weather , we tend to think of ourselves as getting sicker, and then you throw in the stress of the holidays and it's kind of a double whammy, right?
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: Yes, absolutely. I was talking to a friend about doing this podcast and, and we were discussing, she said, well, if you think about what season we're going into this totally makes sense. Lots of overindulgence.
And she's like, of course we're doing everything we can to suppress our immune system.
Robin Rountree: So you are gonna guide us through what we can actually do using what we eat to hopefully get through the end of the year without the, uh, a cold, the sniffles, or anything else that could be spread virally.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: Absolutely it is possible and it can be delicious too, and not feel limiting. I think that's a lot of people's concern. I don't want to eat healthy over the holidays and I don't wanna have healthy habits. But there're some things that we can do that are, are so powerful and I, I would want someone to consider, well, how does it feel to be sick over the holidays and only be able to half participate with your friends and family at these special occasions, or to completely miss out because you can't make the trip or something like that.
I mean, that's something that we all want to avoid for sure.
Robin Rountree: Very valid point. Yeah. I wanna be there for all the celebrations and to have a little bit of all that great food, but, you know, we can balance. Right.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: Absolutely. So where do you wanna start?
Robin Rountree: Well, let's start with breakfast. Is it more than just a glass of orange juice to get us through the season?
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: Yeah, let's talk about some things that can boost our immunity. And I think breakfast is the best place to start because we actually do a thing, a lot of things that can suppress or bust our immunity at breakfast time. And so we need foods with a lot of nutrients, especially during this season.
We're looking for foods that are antioxidant rich. So when I say that, I mean vitamin C, so oranges, strawberries, uh, lemons, peppers, kiwi, broccoli. You know, maybe that's a bowl of fruit at breakfast. Another antioxidant that's really beneficial to the immune system is vitamin E, so this is spinach and broccoli and nuts and seeds, mangoes.
Avocados, sweet potatoes, all really, really good for us. And then betacarotene, those are the orange foods. So mango, you could have some mango at breakfast, that would be great later in the day, maybe you can have some pumpkin carrots, some dark leafy greens. Um, sweet potatoes, as I mentioned, but these three groups, vitamin, c, e, and , betacarotene, should basically vitamin A, these are gonna help us to boost our immune system, and breakfast is a great place to start getting some of these foods in, uh, right off the bat.
Robin Rountree: So, um, you are saying eating the ultra processed food that may be orange flavored is gonna have a different effect in our body than eating the at actual orange.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: Yes, absolutely. Um, as would supplements. We definitely want it from the whole food because I wanna, I wanna circle back to fiber, but let's talk about some less healthy foods for breakfast that would not start us off on, on the right foot as far as, you know, wanting to protect our immunity. And, and one would be these ultra processed um, sugary foods like cereals and danishes and, bear claws and donuts. So, so the ultra process, the high sugary foods, this is not a great way to start the day for many reasons.
I mean, especially energy, but specifically not for immunity. And then also high fat foods suppress our immune system
Robin Rountree: Oh.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: they can have a lasting effect beyond just that meal. So that can affect, for example, our nitric oxide production, which is, we're having a, a high fat meal, then that's gonna require more nitric oxide and that's gonna make us tired.
That kind of gives you that food hangover. You know, I know during the holidays, uh, we tend to take a lot more naps and it's
Robin Rountree: Yes.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: we're having these high fat foods, but also the fat in these foods directly suppresses the immune system. And so if breakfast looks like a bunch of bacon, you know, and, and, and things that are, um, maybe if we're having like hash browns , or like fried potatoes of some sort and bacon and eggs, just in that one meal, we're getting a lot of fat and we're getting pretty much no antioxidants, which are gonna be protective for us. And so that's going to, you know, one glass of orange juice is not gonna make up for, for that high fat meal. So wherever we can, um, eat low fat during the holidays, that's going to be very beneficial for our immune system because coffee is such a common part of breakfast.
And yes, I have coffee as well. I try to limit it. And, um, caffeine, if we have too much of it, you know, small amounts, not a big deal. But again, during the holidays when we're indulging , large excessive amounts of caffeine suppress the immune system. I've read in places that the amount of caffeine in one soda, suppresses the immune system by about 33% for eight hours.
Robin Rountree: Really? Yeah.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: yeah, I know, you know, several members of my family will have. Several cups of coffee in the morning.
That's just how they start their day. So we got a lot of caffeine going there throughout the day. If you have some soda that's caffeinated, now you're adding, and there's a lot of reasons not to have the soda, but just looking at the caffeine and then maybe we're gonna have some chocolate, we're gonna get even more caffeine.
And so I think in the holidays it's easy for that stuff to kind of sneak in. And then if you think about, oh, I've just had this high fat meal and now I've got this, you know, this food coma coming on, what do we, what do we reach for more caffeine in the way of soda or um, coffee. Or even goodness, the energy drinks as well.
And so we need to be thinking, okay, caffeine too much. Caffeine can suppress the immune system. Too much fat can suppress the immune system, and it's definitely not how we wanna start our day. I would say.
Robin Rountree: All right, so back to the caffeine thing, which I did not realize that was suppressing my immune system. Very rude. 'cause it tastes so good.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: I'm sorry for the bad news. Yeah.
Robin Rountree: But, um, lack of sleep that also suppresses the immune. Is that correct?
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: Absolutely for several reasons. I mean, one is that while we're sleeping some of our, that's when some of our organs are kicking in and they're detoxing to remove some of these carcinogens and things, our digestive system needs a rest.
And typically it only gets rest from digesting when we are sleeping. The digestive system actually needs 13 hours of rest. Um, and, and most of us are not getting that in sleep. And then we just wake up and start eating and then we end our day eating right. And so. So sleep helps our digest. It helps us to stop eating,
Robin Rountree: Right.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: is beneficial for the immune system as well. And then it also helps us to, clear our brains. Basically, when we get an adequate amount of sleep, our brain can detoxify and remove things that are harmful to it, harmful compounds. And so that's really important too, as far as being, um, alert and present over the holidays. And I, and people ask me all the time, what is adequate sleep?
Men need at least seven hours of sleep a night, seven to eight hours. Um, is important for men and women. We actually need more. The research shows that we need eight to nine hours of sleep every night.
Robin Rountree: Yes.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: But you know, a lot of people, especially during the holidays, you know, you get over committed and you wanna do this and you wanna do that, and then maybe you are, you're eating late, which interrupts sleep. Or maybe you're having alcohol or you're having more caffeine because you're tired.
And so these things can interrupt our sleep. They can delay our sleep. So it is very common for people to get less sleep over the holidays. They come out of the holiday season actually being tired. And that that doesn't leave enough energy and resources for our body to use to fight invaders like bacterias and viruses that we will come across and be exposed to during this period.
Robin Rountree: Yeah. And, uh, lack of sleep makes you cranky and you can't fight off the in-laws with a, without saying something.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: stress. Then you have more stress. When we get. we get less than six hours of sleep, it actually stimulates our hunger the next day.
It increases our cravings for like refined carbs and sugars, I mean by up to 50%. So. So now we're in a snowball. We didn't get enough sleep, so now we're gonna have more caffeine during the day. And now we know our cravings are gonna be all messed up because our leptin, our ghrelin hormones are mixed up from not enough sleep.
So now we're just going to eat worse and consume more fat. And it's, so then it's this cycle, right? And I, I think that's what a lot of people fall into during this period. Another interesting thing to note that goes along with immune system is this is heart attack season. It really is because, because we are overindulgent, you know, but the period, and basically in December, but the highest week of the year for heart attacks
is between Christmas and New Year's because we're overindulging, we're not sleeping enough. We're not eating foods that promote good health and, and good immune system and good blood flow and cardiovascular health. And so, so there's a reason that statistically this is, the most dangerous period of the year.
Robin Rountree: I have a feeling right now someone is listening and going, well, , how now I'm stressed about not sleeping on top of everything else, but it's, you know, you navigate which change you can make. Right? You're not saying act like a monk during the holidays.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: No. And family, you know, I think we all have unique family experiences and,
Robin Rountree: Yes.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: some of mine are beneficial and, and, you know, build me up. And then I have some family experiences over the holidays that are incredibly stressful. And so I just, I just want us to have these tools to think about, you know, everything that we're talking about that boosts the immune system. It also helps us to manage stress. So something that I like to do, I don't wanna miss out on time with my family. Um, but it gets a little chaotic, right? And so something we can do to boost our immune system is going for a walk. You know, and that also gets us outside and nature gets us exposed to vitamin D, which is good for the immune system.
It gets us moving. It's good for our digestion. And you can bring some of the family with you who might benefit from that walk as well. And it's just a change of, it's just fresh air on your face and it just helps to kind of regulate that nervous system because we have to acknowledge that our environment is often different during this period too. You know, it's not, maybe it's not your calm house.
Maybe you got all this family in town and, and you're just trying to get through it. I'd like to talk about some other dietary things that we can do,
Robin Rountree: Yeah.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: So, so one thing that I think is really exciting, there's so much new research coming out about the gut microbiome. About 70% of our immune system. lies in our gut. And so
Robin Rountree: Wow.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: right? If our gut is not healthy, then our, our immune system is likely weak. And so the best thing we can do, and this is, this is how I approach our holiday meals, truly is, you know, I'm looking for nutrients, like we mentioned the antioxidants and some B vitamins.
But primarily just to keep it simple, I just focus on fiber. Fiber is what? Builds our gut, it builds our gut microbiome and it helps our digestion stay regular, which a lot of people struggle with during the holidays with constipation and IBS and things like that. And so having more of the side dishes over the holidays really makes a difference, because those are gonna have vegetables in them and beans and fiber is only found in plants. And what it does, it helps to feed our good gut bacteria. And these are the guys who are literally on the front lines fighting these infections and viruses and bacteria and, and all of these things that enter our body, especially during this, this colder holiday season. That fiber is what fuels the guys that feed 'em. This is our good army. And so when we can eat a lot of fiber during the holidays, that's going to keep us feeling better. It's gonna give us better sleep, it's gonna give us more mental clarity, and it'll be boosting our immune system so that we're not sick because don't know about you, Robin, but I am cranky when I'm sick
Robin Rountree: Mm. Yeah.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: yeah,
. And, and depending on the dynamics in your family, the, the women kind of run the holidays in mine
Robin Rountree: Mm-hmm.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: and so, my mother's kind of the matriarch, you know, she's cooking, she's got the plans and all this, and I'm in that middle role there between her and then the children. So if I'm sick or not feeling a hundred percent, that's just gonna, I'm just gonna spiral. You know? That is, that is not a good time for us to get sick. And so truly looking, I, I think keeping it the simplest is just. Looking at fiber, trying to get more beans, more whole grains, more vegetables, more fruit, because all of these antioxidants are attached to the fiber in the food.
And so, so if we can just look at, okay, where can I get, um, where can I get more fruits and vegetables? Can I add something to this dish or this meal to add a little bit more fiber? And these foods are gonna be naturally low in fat, and so that's going to be beneficial as well for boosting our immune system.
And that's, that's what we do.
So a lot of times we'll just have an afternoon smoothie. I'm like, you know what we need, we need some nutrients. And it's not coming in the dinner that grandma's making tonight. So we're gonna have, we're just gonna have a smoothie that everybody loves, you know, and it's filled with fruit.
And then I always throw in some spinach. They don't notice. You can't really taste spinach. You can put
Robin Rountree: Right.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: powder in it. And I put, water or a non-dairy milk and then I just, you know, if you have some on hand, I like to put like chia seeds and flax seeds.
It'll all blend up. It's all that's got omega threes. And so now we have like this nutrient rich smoothie that will, sustain us and give us that like steady level energy before we go into what I know sometimes is gonna be a high fat, not so healthy meal. And, and that really helps us with that, especially with the afternoon slump that I think a lot of people experience during the holidays.
Just the, a little bit, if you can just have a little green smoothie, get some, get some fruits and vegetables. Let that be your natural boost of energy and kind of stop that cycle that gets started with, I'm tired, I need more caffeine, not gonna get enough sleep. tired, I need more caffeine, I'm going to eat poorly, not get enough
Robin Rountree: Right, right. So what a great idea. You know, if you know you've got the big dinner at seven o'clock, around two or three, have that smoothie and if it's got the fiber, it's gonna fill you up and you won't like attack your dinner plate and you might just eat a little bit less and feel better.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: Yes. Yeah, it, it really does help. I know there's a lot of anxiety sometimes going into the holidays about, I don't wanna gain weight or anything like that. The average American gains one to two permanent pounds that they will never lose. Um, between Halloween and New Year's, if you think about that. Like, and that
Robin Rountree: That that clocks.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: right. And so then that's how our, , we gradually, um, gain this weight over time that, that we're not losing. And so if you have anxiety around that and we have someone in our family who is a, compulsive, uh, overeater, I would say he's a stress eater, which a lot of us are. So he'll have, um, some beans, he'll have something very high fiber before what he knows is gonna be like a less healthy meal. And so just having, um, a cup of beans is very, very helpful for him. I, I use this when I'm really stressed out. I tend to just eat, eat, eat.
Robin Rountree: Mm-hmm.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: that's gonna make me feel better.
So, so I'll have some beans before that meal. And what it does, it helps me to feel more full, but less on edge also, so I can have a little bit of all of the things that my, my mother made, that are delicious, but I don't have to overindulge in them and, and just the, there's so much fiber in beans having that
half a cup or a cup really changes how I experience the meal and it reduces my calorie and fat consumption. And so that can really help people who, who feel a lot of anxiety over, over weight gain in the holidays.
Robin Rountree: Okay.
All right, so as we head into the craziness of the holiday, we're gonna try to sleep more. We're gonna work in those fruits and vegetables. Um, and we are gonna maybe cut back on our coffee. And the big tip for me is you're gonna pregame not with alcohol, but with a fiber filled snack before you hit the big dinner or the big event.
So Temptations will be down and take that walk after dinner.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: Yeah.
Robin Rountree: Yeah.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: some little easy changes where you can still enjoy the holidays without hopefully getting sick and without, carrying on, permanent health issues
Robin Rountree: Yes
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: Right. So you feel good about it. Mm-hmm.
Robin Rountree: and no heart attack to end the year. Let's hope.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: Yeah, that's our goal for sure.
Robin Rountree: Well, tell me how we can learn more through, uh, the Food Save Me Institute.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: Oh, thank you. So our website is Food saved me.
Institute, or you can go to fsm institute.org and we have online nutrition and cooking classes and we've got, we've actually got a whole online class, um, called Immune Boosters and Busters, where I go into this in more detail and I provide some recipes and, and demonstrate how to make those.
We have a class on sleep better, stress less. It's really popular.
Robin Rountree: I bet.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: We have lots of. online classes and then some free downloadables if you're thinking, wow, I need some help getting fiber or leafy greens into my day, or, you know, healthier foods for my kids. We've got a ton of free downloadables there on the website that you can get for free and maybe share with your family. So you can go to fsm institute.org and find out more information.
Robin Rountree: All right. Or Food Saved Me Institute. Right.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: Yes. Mm-hmm.
Robin Rountree: Wonderful. And they are a nonprofit and science backed research, and you aren't gonna go there and they aren't gonna try to sell you a ton of supplements or things that you may or may not eat. Neat.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: Nope. Our goal is education in the community, making it free and as low cost as possible so we can just share this really important information. Catherine,
Robin Rountree: always a joy to have you on the podcast. Thank you for the great information.
Katherine Lawrence, Food Saved Me Institute: Thank you.
Please make sure to subscribe to our podcast, Informed Aging, and tell your family and friends about us.
If you'd like to support the work that we do at the Alzheimer's and Dementia Resource Center, go to ADRC Cares.org/donate. You can find us at facebook.com/informed Aging. That's it for now. Looking forward to our next visit.