Nutrition & Food Intolerance Coaching with
Gemma Calzada
The Nutrition-Health
Today’s food that was one day considered healthy can be just as poisonous as Snow-White’s apple. In this reality, it is not longer sufficient to have a balanced lifestyle, a healthy diet, eat organic or 5 fruits and vegetable a day. Other elements such as food intolerances, toxicity in the environment and stress from our modern lifestyle have to be taken into consideration. These factors disrupt the way our organism – and particularly our digestive and immune systems - naturally function.
Nutrition-Health looks to identify the origin of a disease, to stop it at its source and to give the organism a chance to recover. Our approach is dedicated to uncovering what food will best contribute to an individual’s wellbeing.
« Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food » - Hippocrates, founder of modern medicine, IV century BC.
Consultations to be healthy again :
- Health assessments and medic
- Recovery program for your organism and to boost your energy level
- Nutrition plan adapted to your specific needs
- Help to find adequate food, plants (and supplements if necessary) to stimulate recovery
- Identify if and how a disease is due to an intoxication
Who is it for?
- People suffering from food intolerance
- People who have a disease and who want to check if it might be caused by inadequate food or intoxication.
- Anybody looking to live in perfect health thanks to their nutrition
LivingGlutenFree
Tips, tools and support to help you to change your dietary habits and your lifestyle.
Does your food intolerance or your child’s disease make you feel overwhelmed and lonely?
No gluten, no lactic products, no eggs, no nuts, no sugar: a diagnosis comes as a sentence and life quickly becomes complicated. It shakes your everyday organization and you need to make changes quickly: from how you shop and cook to how you plan your next vacation.
« I experienced these changes with my family and through LivingGlutenFree, I share what I’ve learned, my experiences and the expertise I developed around nutrition and health. I want to support you on your path to back to health - from the diagnosis to your kitchen. »
My mission :
I want to provide all the information you’ll need to smoothly get used to your new diet so that you can live happily, in peace with any intolerance to food.
To make it very practical and simple for you, I offer :
- Coaching and support to quickly become independent
- Instruction on how to read food labels
- Help to grocery shop
- Recipes and cooking classes
- List of restaurants in the region
Consultations
I speak French, Spanish and English.
I’m accredited by ASCA.
Reservations:
Gemma Calzada
+41 (0) 22 518 07 92
GEMMA CALZADA
Gemma Calzada is a nutrition and dietary detoxicology therapist, accredited by ASCA. Her mission is to improve health through nutrition and to help people suffering from a dietary intolerance to live happily.
Her career began with engineering studies in computer science and electronic systems at the Ramon Llull University of Barcelona. She then worked as a professor at the university and was awarded a research grant in artificial intelligence.
After her pregnancy, she put her career on hold for a few years and devoted time to her family and worked in an association specialized in IT services for non-profit organizations.
Her family health problems led her to the world of nutrition and alternative medicine. Motivated to find solutions, she learned homeopathy and various approaches to nutrition on her own. She created the tips4mums.com blog to share her experiences and findings with other mums. Several years later, she got certified in nutrition at Stelior school of “Nutrition-Diététique détoxicologique” in Geneva.
Today, she offers her personal expertise and scientific academic knowledge in the form of coaching for people who suffer from dietary intolerance. As a nutrition therapist, she can also help people who want to check if the disease they suffer from may be due to an inadequate diet, dietary intolerance or intoxication.
Allergies and food intolerances
What is a food allergy?
A food allergy is an immune system generated defence reaction of a body, against plant proteins (eg pollen) or animal proteins (eg cow's milk), that are harmless under normal conditions. After the initial contact with the specific allergen, but also after a later contact, a person predisposed to allergies produces IgE antibodies. This process, which proceeds without pathological symptoms, is called sensitization. Eventually even minor amounts of food in question will cause an allergic reaction, triggered by IgE antibodies.
What is food intolerance?
Not all pathological symptoms occurring after consuming food are a food allergy. The difference is that they are not a result of immune system reaction. Unlike in case of an allergy, there is no sensitization phase in the presence of food intolerance: the reaction may appear at first contact. Because of the mechanisms of origin, a distinction is made between enzyme related intolerance (congenital or acquired) and pharmacological intolerance. Lactase deficiency of genetic origin, causing diarrhoea and abdominal cramps after consuming milk is most common enzyme related intolerance. In people who are particularly susceptible, pharmacological sensitivities appear as a result of excessive consumption of foods rich in natural pharmacologically active substances, called biogenic amines (eg histamine). The affected persons react with the same symptoms as an allergy sufferer after eating certain foods such as strawberries, cheese, wine, citrus fruit or sweets, some food additives. Food intolerance can be diagnosed by tests. The patients are then advised to adopt adequate behaviour (avoid certain foods or submit to appropriate medication) based on a detailed history, a short term elimination diet and a test of provocation.
Prevention of allergy in the infant, toddler and adolescent
Primary prevention
These recommendations apply to children "at risk" whose parents, brothers or sisters suffer from allergies.
Smoking
During and after pregnancy, to ensure an environment free of tobacco, quit smoking
Breastfeeding
For 4 to 6 months, only breastfeeding, if possible
Instructions for breastfeeding women:
Balanced diet, no special treatment is necessary
Dietary supplements:
Avoid introducing dietary supplements until 6th month. Avoid allergenic foods (cow's milk, eggs, fish, nuts, soy) until the 12th month of life
Hypoallergenic milk products in substitution for breast milk, if breastfeeding is not sufficient or not at all possible during the first 6 months of life
Pets
No acquisition of new pets, furry or feathered, no pets in the rooms
House Dust
Ensure a dust free environment, especially in the household, as much as possible.
Secondary prevention
Recommendations for children and adolescents already sensitized or suffering from allergic symptoms. Measures identified contribute to raising awareness and help avoid other allergic conditions.
Smoking
Ensure an environment free of tobacco and give up smoking.
Pets
No acquisition of new pets, furry or feathered, no pets in the rooms.
House Dust
Introduce all anti-mite measures at home. If sensitization to mites has been demonstrated, use mattress cover impermeable to dust/mites.
Career Choice
Avoid occupations in the high risk environment, to prevent allergic symptoms in the workplace or the development of other allergies.
Diet
If, because of the demonstrated food allergy, an elimination diet is prescribed for a child or possibly to a nursing woman, they require regular medical supervision and support of a dietician.
Immunotherapy
Various studies have shown that specific immunotherapy (also called hyposensitization) is effective not only in the treatment of hay fever and some forms of bronchial asthma, but it even has a preventive anti-allergic effect. It allows, among other things, to limit the emergence of new sensitizations and allergies. In children, immunotherapy is performed at the age of five.
Talking about two rather common food intolerances
How?
Gluten intolerance
Requires elimination all of food products containing gluten. Cereals like wheat (wheat, spelt), rye and barley will be removed. These three grains will be replaced by others that do not contain gluten: oats, rice, maize, millet, buckwheat, and flours made from potato, soy, lentils, peas, tapioca, chestnuts. The list of ingredients on packaged food products will inform us if gluten is present in the food.
Omit therefore:
• all kinds of breads, cookies, cakes, pastries, which are not specially made with gluten-free flours,
• various kinds of pasta, ravioli, common flour, wheat germ, infant products containing any of the three cereals,
• Other foods that may contain gluten, such as sauces prepared with flour (white sauce), pancakes, soufflés with flour,
• many manufactured goods made with flour containing gluten, fish, canned meat, baby food jars, soup cubes and packages, spreads in a tube or box, chocolates, ice creams and puddings, some chocolate drinks.
• In general, it is advisable to give as much as possible natural food prepared at home with known food without gluten.
To facilitate daily routines in the family, it is useful to reserve a locker in a cupboard in the kitchen or a small cabinet which will contin only special gluten-free foods. These foods can be consumed by the whole family: it simplifies preparation of the meals and is a psychological support for anyone who is liable to the plan.
One can also find gluten-free products in the pharmacy, health food stores and supermarkets: bread, pasta, cakes, etc..
Lactose intolerance
Lactose is a disaccharide, or a "double" sugar molecule that is found in milk and its derivatives.
Assimilation occurs in the body in the small intestine and is conditioned by the presence of a sufficient amount of intestinal lactase which is a digestive enzyme.
Lactase hydrolysis, ie splits the lactose into its two constituent digestible sugars, glucose and galactose, which are then absorbed.
People who are lactose intolerant or do not produce enough lactase (partial or total alactasia). Consequently, the lactose passes into the intestine without being digested and its presence causes gastrointestinal disorders.
The most common symptoms of lactose intolerance are:
- Bloating
- Diarrhoea
- Abdominal pain
- Abdominal cramps
- Vomiting (especially in children)
- Constipation
Most people with lactose intolerance suffer only one or two of these symptoms. These disorders can occur in some cases already 15 to 20 minutes after ingestion of food containing lactose or occur after several hours or even on the next day. Depending on the amount of lactose absorbed and severity of intolerance, they can last up to several days.
Do not confuse milk allergy and lactose intolerance
The confusion between intolerance and milk allergy. Since the two phenomena are completely different, it seems useful to mention briefly their characteristics:
- Intolerance is caused by the total or partial absence of the enzyme (lactase in this case) which is responsible for the digestion of a nutrient or its metabolism (assimilation of lactose). Intolerance does not initiate an immune system response.
- Allergy, on the contrary, is characterized by an immune reaction against a food allergen or "food allergens", usually a protein (in this case, milk proteins, the most important are: casein, alpha-lactalbumin, beta-lactoglobulin). Milk allergy is more serious condition than lactose intolerance.
Only the doctor is able to make a definitive diagnosis.
In the absence of a treatment to "cure" or, to restore the production of lactase, the best way to avoid problems generated by intolerance to lactose is obviously to exclude the "sugar milk ". Unfortunately it's not as easy as it sounds! In fact, lactose is often present where we least expected: deli, bakery items, soups, juices, cereals and breakfasts, medication, which often contain lactose as an excipient.
It is therefore necessary to take a look at the composition of foods. What complicates judgement for people with lactose intolerance is that one component of a product may itself be composed of several ingredients that are not mentioned on packaging (eg preparation of fruits, caramel, etc..). In addition, under some legislation, it is not necessary to declare lactose as an ingredient if it does not exceed a certain percentage. When lactose is used as an excipient (drugs), it is often not mentioned on the packaging. Homeopathic globules may also be based on lactose. Do not hesitate to ask your pharmacist for details. He has the possibility to check with the manufacturer or to offer you a lactose-free substitute.
Complete elimination of lactose is not so easy. However, most of lactose intolerant people suffer from a partial deficiency of lactase and not a total absence. It is therefore necessary to get a rough idea of your own lactose tolerance by consuming dairy products and then observing the onset of symptoms. By testing individual, we must not forget that the severity of symptoms depends on the amount of residual intestinal lactase, the amount of lactose consumed and the conditions of ingestion (for example, if lactose is ingested on an empty stomach, with or without other foods). This explains why symptoms can vary significantly not only between individuals, but also from one moment to another.
People with partial deficiency of lactase can thus concentrate on the consumption of foods low in lactose: homemade yoghurt (no addition of milk powder in order to increase the dry matter), hard cheese, and milk with reduced content of lactose (by using lactase microbial hydrolysis).
For those who suffer from severe lactose intolerance, excluding lactose from their diet is the best solution. Since there is lactose free milk and yogurt, lactose free cheese, and many alternatives (soy-based products,) a lactose-free diet has become easier to follow and does not cause much deprivation.
Another solution is to compensate lactase deficiency by ingesting synthetic lactase. Such supplements should be taken half an hour before a meal "at risk" and will normally allow normal digestion of lactose-containing products. Some people use daily intake of lactase in tablet, powder or drops, others will choose this solution when dining out or in connection with invitations where it is not always easy to avoid the consumption of lactose. From the moment one knows the origin of his disorder, that lactose intolerance is diagnosed, it is quite possible to live "normally" and to enjoy variety of food.
For more information please consult with your doctor, allergist or dietician
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The nutritional education of our children
Fats in our diet
The Dietary Fiber
Patricia Forrer , Diététicienne diplômée ES, +41 76 739 72 29
