Q : Hey, this. This is Vera Sweeney, and I’m here with Keri Glassman. I just have to ask her right off the bat – how did you come up with the 8 Pillars philosophy?
KG : Okay. So, the 8 Pillars of a Nutritious Life is something that I always say it was sort of just innately in me truly before I was even a nutritionist. And then once I became a nutritionist, I really developed it further. I’ll try to keep a long story short [CHUCKLES]. I’ll go way back even to when I was in college, I always had, this very strong interest in nutrition. I played two sports in college and I remembered when I ate well, I would obviously do better on the athletic field.
And then I remembered I’d also be more motivated to even study and to eat healthy and then I’d sleep better. And it was just always something I remember thinking about and it was something I just always very aware of. Fast forward, my first job was not in nutrition. When I went back to school for nutrition, I learned, obviously, a little bit more about, of course, nutrition, about how it fuels you, obviously, for the athletic field but also just for life.
And then I learned a little bit more — at the time, studying the connection between weight and sleep and stress really was not so popular as it is now. There wasn’t nearly as much, but I did learn a little bit about that. And then when I started my private practice, when someone would come into my office, I just — because, again, because of my own personal experiences, something I always talked to them about from the very beginning was – the full Nutritious Life cycle. So, I always — I’ve been going back almost 15 years, I always ask clients about their sleep and their stress. And then as I learn more and more about nutrition, I just connected it from a level of the physiological level. I always talk to my clients about the physiological connection. For example, when you don’t sleep well, your hunger hormones raise the next day. But you also — and then, behaviorally, you kinda think to yourself, I really want that bagel and cream cheese or I really want that bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich, and that just becomes your habit. So, there’s the behavioral and physiological connection. And so really it’s just developed.
Q : What would your top three tips be to get somebody on the right path?
KG : Well there’s so much you can think about, right? I mean there’s so many. So, top three would probably vary person to person a little bit. But let’s just say top three sort of general tips, I would say to eat as much real food as possible — just eat real food consistently throughout the day. And that sounds really simple, but so many people, especially — you’re a mom, right? Kids are — you know, you’re busy. You’re running around. With Kids hathere’s lots of packaged foods around. You’re running to drop offs, picks ups, running doing lots of different things. Sometimes it’s really hard to just eat fresh real food. So, I would say to really focus on eating whole fresh, real foods, healthy fats, lean protein, and then high fiber-low sugar, um, grains, carbohydrates. Okay? So, that would be the first thing. Then I would also say to really get rid of all sugar and sweets. That is just something that people really absolutely overdo. So, get rid of all the sugar and sweets. And then the next thing I would say, since you’re sort of is on topic today, I would say focu on all the other areas of Nutritious Life. I know that’s a big one and that’s not really one thing, but even just take one of the pillars of a Nutritious Life, like drink up and focus on that with as much sort of diligence as you are with food. So, for example, focusing on Drinking Up, staying perfectly hydrated. And then you can move onto also focusing on the sleep and focusing on the stress. So, if you focus on eating real foods, taking out of the sugar and staying properly hydrated, that’s a good start.
Q : How did you get a line with Ocean Spray and their new — let me just show you the new product PACt.
KG : I had been talking about antioxidants for years. I don’t know if you remember when I wrote a book called the O2 Diet where I focused really heavily on antioxidants. So, cranberries have always been a huge food that I’ve just loved, because of, obviously, all the super power antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits. So, when I met up with Ocean Spray, I thought the product was really cool, because Drinking Up, obviously, is a big pillar of a Nutritious Life. And what’s amazing about PACt is that it contains PACs that have been added to water. PACs are those compounds found deep inside the cranberry that helps to cleanse and purify the body, and they act as antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents. So, I just thought it was a really interesting product with great antioxidant value and goes right along, again, with one of the Pillars of a Nutritious Life, Drinking Up. And so, there you have it.
Q : I wanted to ask you about staying hydrated. Why is it important to stay hydrated year-round?
KG : In the summer, we’re sweaty. We feel thirsty, so we’re — we drink more.
Q : Why is it so important right now in the fall to stay hydrated?
KG : Okay, so the reason — it’s not that it’s more important in the fall than it is in the summer. It’s not more important at all. It’s just that it’s equally important. The reason we emphasize it more is because don’t do it as much in the fall. Most people hydrate more in the summer and they’re thinking about it more and it’s sort of being jammed down into their heads. Drink, drink, drink. It’s hot out. You’re gonna have heat stroke, you know. People are talking about it more and we feel more thirsty. In the fall, when the temperature’s dropping in the winter and you don’t feel as thirsty (because you’re not sitting there outside sweating). So, again, it’s not that it’s more important. It’s that we don’t do as good of a job at hydrating our self. So, we need to be reminded. The reason it’s so important is being hydrated 365 days a year is important for everything from digestion to energy to metabolism to your skin health. It’s important for all of these reasons, so we have to remember to do it all throughout the year.
Q : What fueled you originally? What is the passion behind creating this nutritious life?
KG : In 7th grade science class I said to my friend, I need almonds. My body must really need Vitamin E. She said you are the biggest nerd ever. I definitely didn’t know what Vitamin E did or was, but obviously I’d read it somewhere and I just had this interest. So, cleary there was a connection. There was just an innate interest. It was just something I was always passionate about. And, like I mentioned before, I was an athlete, so there was always a little bit of an interest in sort of fueling your body properly. And I always had interest in food. I always enjoyed food. I mean who doesn’t enjoy food. [CHUCKLES] But I enjoyed being in the kitchen. And so, I just always had a really big passion for really maintaining a healthy body weight, which, of course, when I gained weight in college and had a lot of fun in my twenties, I did become even more interested in that. But also I had an innate interest in just how you fuel your body best and really the science behind it all. So, I really always had that interest. And then, I’ll spare you, because of the whole career path, but, I was born to do this.
Q : There’s a passion behind it all.
KG : Always.
Q : And I love that you concentrate on the best rather than just being in those super skinny jeans.
KG : Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Q : What made you want to get involved with Ocean Spray?
KG : When Ocean Spray came to me and this was obviously a drink with cranberries with the antioxidants, something that was able to be extracted the PACs, which are the compounds in cranberries, extracted them and added them to water. It’s just a really cool, great tasting product that helps you hydrate. I mean water, obviously, super powerful and healthy on its own, but for people that want maybe a more meaningful way to hydrate and it’s a great option.
Q : Why do you believe food affects mood?
KG : Food absolutely affects mood, I mean from so many, so many different levels. I mean one thing, first of all, what you’re eating. I mean there’s a lot of different ways to eat, but let’s just start with the most simple. Think about when you don’t — when you haven’t eaten and you have low blood sugar and you’re irritable, right? You’re irritable. You’re crank. That’s like the most basic. So, eating foods that are high in fiber and control your blood sugar, you stay fuller longer. You’re more satisfied. Protein keeps you more satisfied as well. That alone can help just control your mood. But then other foods that also affect your mood are gonna be things like, Omega-3s: for example, fatty fish, like salmon and flax, things with Omega-3s, walnuts. Those are also going to affect your mood. There’s actually a little bit of Omega-3s in the seed of the cranberry, which is actually kind of cool. Most people don’t think of that. Omega-3s affect your mood cognition. That’s why they’re so important during the third trimester of pregnancy.
Omega-3s are hugely important. And then antioxidants in general help fight inflammation on the brain. So, that’s also important for longer term, you know, mood and mind connection. And then there’s also — Vitamin C helps reduce stress. There’s so many different factors for your nutrition and mood. And sugar, we know, increases inflammation and is bad for your mood.
Q : When you say no sugar, do you mean —
KG : No added sugar.
Q : But is sugar a bread?
KG : That’s a really good question. So, yeah, so something like white bread, you have to think of a slice of white bread like basically eating jelly beans. It’s gonna break right down. When you chew it, if you chew it in your mouth, think about ch– like chew, chew, chew, chew – it’ll taste sweet. White bread is basically – the most simple way to think about it is that it really just breaks down. It just takes a little bit longer, but it breaks down into jelly beans pretty much. It’s really the same thing. It’s really just sugar.
Q : But whole wheat —
KG : So, whole wheat bread, I mean first of all, there’s some really junky whole wheat breads that have a lot of added sugar and artificial colors and are yuck. So, there’s a lot of that in whole wheat breads, but let’s just pretend it’s a great whole grain, you know 100 percent whole grain bread. Let’s say it’s like a great one, that still, if it’s carbohydrates, it eventually breaks down, but it’s got fiber in it. It’s got protein in it. It’s got a lot of vitamins and minerals. That’s okay. There’s no added sugar. But still it breaks down. Whole — regular white bread, again, breaks down faster and it’s basically just pure sugar. So, when I say no sugar, I mean no added sugar, like, the obvious candy, cakes, cookies, but I also mean no refined carbohydrate products that are all sugar, like white pasta, bread, and rice. But I also would say that that still does mean that you can’t overdo fruit even though it’s obviously healthy for us. You can’t overdo that sugar.
Q : It mentions in here that there are 80 milligrams on PACs in each bottle. Is there a daily recommended allowance to fulfill that?
KG : So, that’s a really good question. There isn’t a daily recommended amount of PACs.
Q : So, when they use the term superfood to describe almonds, for example, would this be the superfood equivalent?
KG : Exactly. That’s a good way to think about it.
OCEAN SPRAY (Sharon) : So, we have tons of research that talks about proanthocyanidins, and cranberries one of the only traditional fruits that have the A-type proanthocyanidins. So, when we research, it always says four ounces a day for that benefit. So, if you drink a bottle, you will get that same benefit as cranberry juice.
Q : And then just I wanted to know what your favorite fitness classes were?
KG : Oh, that’s funny. I was just talking to somebody about that last night. So, I love a lot. I love to go to all different new classes, but I love Exceed. It’s got a little bit of rowing, a little bit of kettle balls. So, it’s like a combination. You know, you go from your kettle bells to your TRX to your rowing. So, a lot of body weight workout, body weight work stuff going on. So, I love that. So that’s called Exceed. And I also like SLT, which is, they describe it like Pilates Plus. So, SLT, strength, lengthen, tone. I like that a lot. And then, I mean I always love running. I also spin here and there, but I do that more for just like fun to music for the vibe. But like something like an XLT and then Exceed is what I feel like really changes body. I really wanna go to the gym that trains at the American Ninja Warrior People! I love being active. If I could be active seven days a week, I would.
