Inflammation is everywhere right now. On Instagram, in wellness spaces, in your DMs. Everything from weight gain to brain fog to sore joints is being blamed on cortisol and chronic inflammation, and a growing number of people are convinced they cannot exercise, eat in a calorie deficit, or live normally because it will make their inflammation worse.
So is any of this true? And is an anti-inflammatory diet actually a real thing?
This week Leanne and Susie take on one of the biggest buzzwords in nutrition right now and give it a proper evidence-based look. They unpack what inflammation actually is and why the way it is being described online is often completely inaccurate, what the research on polyphenols and anthocyanins actually shows, and which foods are genuinely worth prioritising if reducing inflammation is your goal.
This episode is proudly brought to you by Queen Garnet, Australia's antioxidant plum. Leanne and Susie share the research behind Queen Garnet throughout this episode, and you can find the full range at queengarnet.com.
In this episode:
- The two types of inflammation and why they are completely different: why acute inflammation from exercise, injury, or illness is a normal and healthy response, and what chronic low-grade inflammation actually looks like and why it develops
- Why a single weekend of eating badly, a glass of wine, or a slice of pizza is not putting your body into a chronic inflammatory state, and the specific lifestyle patterns that do contribute to inflammation over time
- The misinformation that is actively harming people: why telling someone with PCOS that they cannot exercise or diet because it spikes cortisol and causes inflammation is not only incorrect but counterproductive
- Why the Mediterranean dietary pattern consistently outperforms every other approach when it comes to reducing inflammatory markers, and the specific foods driving that result
- A review of a randomized, double-blind controlled trial on Queen Garnet plum juice: what happened to blood vessel function and vascular inflammatory markers when participants consumed a high antioxidant juice alongside a high fat meal, even in a single meal occasion
- A 12-week randomized controlled trial on anthocyanin-rich foods and adipose tissue function: what researchers found about how polyphenol-rich whole foods may influence metabolic processes in fat tissue and why this matters for metabolic health
- What anthocyanins and polyphenols actually are, which foods contain the highest concentrations, and why the bright red, purple, and orange colours in fruits and vegetables are a direct indicator of antioxidant content
- The Queen Garnet Antioxidant Plum Nectar reviewed: why it has approximately six times the antioxidant content of blueberries, how to use it, who it is most beneficial for, and where to find it year-round when the fresh fruit is out of season. Available at queengarnet.com, with a 20% saving on subscription
- Practical daily habits that genuinely shift inflammatory pathways: extra-virgin olive oil, walnuts, herbs and spices, green tea, brightly coloured vegetables, and the case for seven to ten serves of fresh produce every day.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
This week, we're unpacking one of the biggest buzzwords in
nutrition right now, inflammation. Is everybody actually walking around inflamed?
Does an anti-inflammatory diet even really exist? Hi, I'm Leanne Ward.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
And I'm Susie Burrell.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
And together we bring you The Nutrition Couch, the weekly
podcast that brings you everything that you need to know
in the world of nutrition. As well as inflammation, we
dive into the fascinating science on anthocyanins. We review one
of the most researched Australian fruits that you've probably never
even heard of. And to finish us off, we answer
a listener question all about polyphenols. But we are very
(00:36):
excited about this episode today, aren't we, Susie? Inflammation is
trending hard online, and we have quite a few things
to say about this topic, don't we?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
It's really interesting because when we put topics up in
articles online, inflammation goes absolutely crazy, or if you sort
of rank foods according to their antioxidants and as such,
the benefits for inflammatory pathways in the body. And so it's,
I think, a very applicable episode to a lot of
people who are battling the lifestyle conditions, have got chronic pain,
(01:05):
have got things like PCOS, high blood sugar, joint pain,
risk of cardiovascular disease. You know, an anti-inflammatory approach is
the number one diet that regularly comes back as the
key way to intervene and help manage and prevent inflammation,
which we will deep dive in a minute. But we
are thrilled because today we're actually partnering with an industry group,
(01:27):
the Queen Garnett Antioxidant Plum And it's not by chance
we're doing this, Leanne, because, of course, we've brought the
podcast to our listeners for over five years now. And
at times we do partner with groups that we feel
passionately are aligned with the principles and beliefs and evidence
base with which we are so proud to present The
Nutrition Couch. So, yes, we are basically sponsored and brought
(01:48):
to you today by Queen Garnett. And we're going to
share a lot about this product that we really know
has a number of scientific benefits when it comes to
inflammation and adding a lot of nutrition into So we
will mention Queen Garnet through the podcast and for good reason.
It's a very strong product nutritionally because there is the
fresh fruit, which we'll talk about later in the episode,
(02:09):
and also a number of products now that are particularly
beneficial for people who are looking to boost their antioxidant intake.
So thank you to Queen Garnet for coming on board.
We are thrilled to have you partner with us on
this episode.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Absolutely. And now going back to our trending topic of inflammation,
I feel like if you open, whether it's Instagram or TikTok,
you just hit with like, everybody's just inflamed at the moment, Susie,
and everybody's kind of blaming cortisol and inflammation for everything really,
their weight gain, their bloating, their fatigue, their sore joints,
brain fog, whatever it is, whatever symptom you have, it
(02:43):
tends to be linked back to cortisol and inflammation. And
now we're not saying that people aren't suffering with these symptoms.
We're just saying that I guess the term or the
way that cortisol and inflammation is being described often isn't
actually accurate. And I'll tell you a little story. I'm
part of quite a few different local Facebook groups. And
there was this one that I was on the other
day and a lady was commenting about struggling to lose weight.
(03:06):
And she was sort of saying, you know, mom's like, what,
what options do you have? What suggestions do you have?
And some lady commented on it and she said, oh,
I hear you, you know, I've got PCOS. So I
can't go into a calorie deficit because that sparks my
cortisol and causes inflammation. And I can't exercise because that
sparks my cortisol too. So I'm really stuck and I've
got 20 kilos to lose, but I can't do anything
because everything that they suggest causes me inflammation. And I
(03:29):
had this internal battle, Susie. I was like, oh, do
I comment, Susie? Do I get involved? Because we all
know that once you get involved in a Facebook commenting,
it can go down a rabbit hole. You're there forever.
And I just thought, no, no, no, leave it alone.
But fundamentally, it was completely inaccurate. And I was like,
we do know that exercise and controlling your weight are
two of the best things that you can actually do
for PCOS. So there is a lot of misinformation out there.
(03:53):
So what we wanted to start with talking about today,
and a very trending topic we will say is, is
what actually is inflammation. Because as a dietician, we see
two very different types. Firstly, we've got this acute inflammation,
and then we've got this secondary chronic, more low-grade inflammation. Now,
the acute inflammation is somewhat of a good thing, from
(04:14):
a body's response anyway, because it knows how to handle it.
It's very normal. So when we talk about acute inflammation,
we're talking about things like a cut or an infection,
an immune response. Even exercise can cause an acute inflammatory response.
This is not necessarily a bad thing because the body
knows exactly how to handle that. So if you go
and you do a really hard exercise session, yes, you
(04:35):
are actually sparking your cortisol level. That's not inherently a
bad thing. It's not like you're going to walk around
all day in the state of constant inflammation all week
long because you did exercise. So there are some things
that happen to the body that do cause acute inflammation,
and it's not necessarily a bad thing because the body
knows how to react to that and how to sort
of calm those inflammatory pathways down. What is sort of
(04:59):
not great from an inflammatory perspective is this chronic low-grade inflammation.
It's very different to acute inflammation. Now with chronic low-grade inflammation,
these are more, I guess, lifestyle and chronic disease things
that are linked to this low-grade inflammation. Think things like
regularly smoking, very poor nutritional diet, obesity, chronic health conditions,
(05:22):
cardiometabolic issues, poor sleep, lots of stress and constantly, like
if you're just super stressed about one little thing and
that it's, you know, because you've got a big presentation
at work and then it's over, that again is not
going to cause this chronic low-grade inflammation. It's this long-term
type of stress or very, very low activity levels where
you're someone who just doesn't really exercise regularly at all.
(05:43):
So this is what we will call, I guess, quote unquote,
bad types of inflammation is this chronic low grade inflammation.
That is not, I ate a pizza on the weekend,
or I had a bit too much chocolate, or I
had a glass of wine. That is not going to
cause your body to enter this inflammatory state, spike your
cortisol and cause you to retain weight and prevent or
(06:06):
block you from losing weight. If you do those things
all the time, perhaps you will find it hard to
lose weight, but it's not going to put your body
in this constant state where it's pumping out cortisol and
it's constantly inflamed all the time. And that's what we
see a lot on Instagram, just single habits, very much
being blamed for cortisol and inflammation, where it's actually not
the case. It's a combination of quite a lot of
(06:28):
these different things. Like we mentioned, poor sleep, stress, poor diet,
low activity levels, smoking, longer term, that is linked to
this low-grade inflammation. So the problem isn't acute inflammation. It's
when that inflammation becomes chronic and it becomes longer term.
That is what is associated with many different types of
chronic diseases and more of the negative health outcomes. Are
(06:50):
you seeing this on your Instagram as well, Susie, when
you open it up? Or is this just me? I'm
in this inflammation world at the moment because of my shoulder.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
No, I think there's a lot of misinformation about it.
And I think what people don't understand is it's not,
as you said, an acute response. It's more patterns over time.
And generally speaking, we see inflammatory disorders on the rise
and the body attacking itself and causing pain, discomfort, disease
over time, poor blood glucose regulation, because often the ratio
of not so ideal is a lot more than what
(07:20):
is ideal because there's what we call pro-inflammatory and then
anti-inflammatory So pro-inflammatory lifestyle variables are things like smoking, alcohol, inactivity,
and of course, high fat, high calorie, dense, high sugar foods,
processed foods, ultra processed foods are all shown at a
systemic level to increase inflammation over time if that is
the dietary pattern. So even if you have a big
(07:42):
fast food meal, yes, in the short term, inflammation is increased,
but it's the pattern and the balance overall that's disrupted.
Then a good example actually is in European countries. So
you would say, oh, Well, French people, they have a
lot of pastry, they have a lot of butter, they
have a lot of wine. Why are they not all
riddled with disease? But they also do a lot of
(08:03):
good things to help buffer that. They might consume a
lot of antioxidants. They might not consume too many calories.
They might buffer it. Or in the case of Mediterranean diet,
their diet is so chock full of antioxidant-rich foods and
omega-3s from seafood that it buffers when they do have
things that are considered not as good. The issue here
in Australia in particular, and I highly sort of westernized
(08:25):
countries like the US, is that our intake of ultra-processed
food is enormous. We're becoming less active than ever before.
We enjoy alcohol. We enjoy fast food. We enjoy sugar.
But we're not as good on the vegetables. You know,
fewer than one in 10 Australians get anywhere near the
recommended minimal intake of fresh fruit and vegetables, let alone
an optimal intake. Again, we have very low intakes of omega-3s. Again,
(08:48):
less than one in 10 of us get anywhere near
the recommended ideal intake of omega-3. So basically, there's a
lot more bad stuff going in than there is good stuff.
And it's that pattern over time that predicts disease. which
is why people in certain European countries in the Mediterranean
have much lower risk of heart disease, much lower risk
of diabetes because they've got the protective effect going. And
(09:10):
from a dietary perspective and our interest is that it's
the patterns that people eat because when people come to
a dietician, they're very quick to point out all the
things they do wrong. You know, I have takeaway once
a week or I drink too much wine when really, ideally,
we would be focusing on what they're doing every day.
What are the meal choices that add up? Not the
treat meals, but that baseline food intake. And it's the
(09:32):
baseline that predicts the body's ability to naturally reduce inflammatory
pathways in the body and fight things like pain, like
blood glucose regulation issues, like high cholesterol, because they're all
pro-inflammatory and fighting the body basically. And that's the interesting thing.
It's not the one-off supplements. It's what you're eating and
drinking each day. It's what you're doing on a daily
(09:53):
basis that create that overall health pattern in the body
rather than, as people describe, shock of cortisol and increasing that.
It's more at a systemic level what's going on. Yeah, 100%.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
It's certainly the case that the boring stuff wins. And
as much as we don't want to hear it, as
much as we'll admit it is boring because we say
do it every day, it's repetition, it's so important. It
is that Mediterranean style of eating, more plant-based eating, more legumes, nuts, seeds,
whole grains, extra virgin olive oil, more exercise, focusing on sleep,
healthy weight, healthy waistline. That boring stuff, as good as
(10:28):
it is for you, it is absolutely the key or
it's the medicine, the magical elixir that everyone's looking for
in a supplement. But unfortunately, it doesn't exist. It is
the lifestyle and nutrition choices that you make on a
daily basis that is ultimately going to lead you down
that sort of pro-war or anti-inflammatory style of eating that
most people are looking for.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Well, I was thinking that I, you know, just thinking
about diets that I routinely see of my clients because
dieting The interest area for people is what are foods
that are anti-inflammatory? You know, so what are the foods
we're constantly recommending? We're looking for really high antioxidant fruits
and vegetables. So brightly colored options have got particularly high
level of antioxidants. We're looking for oily fish, the sardines,
(11:09):
the salmon, and consuming those on more days than not
are all incredibly beneficial at producing that natural anti-inflammatory approach.
But when I am looking at clients' food diaries, particularly
before we start our program, as you'd hope that improve afterwards,
you know, we still, it's the number of ultra-processed things
going in every single day. You know, I think recently
(11:30):
there was statistics to show that children under the age
of two had 60% of their food from discretionary foods.
So it's, you know, it's not only about adding the
good stuff in, it's getting rid of this processed stuff,
the snacks, the biscuits, the treats, the fast food. And
I think people eat them on a daily basis multiple times.
It's not treats anymore. And that's that ratio where it
comes down. And often I think when clients come and
(11:52):
work with a dietician, sometimes they feel better within days
because suddenly they're flooding their system with the natural nutrients
that will naturally fight inflammation without even realizing it. And
that's where it adds up over time and people will
feel better very, very quickly once we've sort of supercharged
their diet with all of these key foods. that we
know really shift the balance of that inflammatory pathway overall.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Yeah, 100%. And when we're talking about inflammation, one, I guess,
really important compound that is actually getting a lot of
attention in the media lately and in different types of
research are a food called polyphenols as well. So that
sort of leads us nicely into our next discussion on
some of the evidence that we have found on anthocyanins
and polyphenols. So we actually have two studies to review today.
(12:37):
Susie's going to do the first one and it is
a high fat meal study and I'll do the second
one around adipose tissue and metabolic health. So I'll hand
over to you Susie to go through our first study.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
We've got a very interesting study published in Clinical Nutrition
back in 2021. But I will just define first. First
of all, Leanne, well done on being able to say anthocyanins.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Because I can't. I've had some practice.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
So I'll just point out to our listeners what these
actually are we're talking about. These are the purple and
red compounds found in food. So things like our berries, cherries, plums,
and purple grapes are the anthocyanins. And they're very, very
high in polyphenols and very powerful anti-inflammatory effects. So we're
thinking if you don't want to have to say it,
it's just anything purple, very, very good for us. That's
(13:24):
the take-home message. But this was a study that was
taking place with 16 individuals. So it was relatively small,
but they were looking at a very specific prescription and
they were obese with a BMI, an average BMI of 30.
So if you're between 20 and 25 and 30, it's
overweight or over 30 obese, keeping in mind that often
we're looking at body fat rather than just weight, but
(13:44):
this was a measure of just on the scales. And
so they had also an average age of 65.9, which
is relevant because of course, that's when a lot of
inflammation rears its ugly head and you're starting to see
a lot more lifestyle disease and certainly a lot more
pain in joints, particularly if you're carrying a lot of weight.
It was a randomized double-blind controlled crossover trial. So a
(14:05):
very rigid study, rigid stringent, very good quality study, which
is why there was a small number of people. And
they were specifically looking at the effect of supplementing the
diet with the Queen Garnet plum juice. Now, we are
going to deep dive the Queen Garnet plums in our
review of product today. But basically, this is a very
concentrated antioxidant blend because the Queen Garnet plums, which are
(14:28):
in season early in the year, I think, Leanne, aren't they,
from about January to March, they are in incredibly, incredibly
high in antioxidants with about six times the antioxidants of blueberries.
And blueberries are something we all know to be incredibly
good for us. So you can imagine the concentration of
these antioxidants in this plum itself, but specifically concentrating it
down into the plum juice. And you'll notice in supermarkets,
(14:51):
we're seeing more and more of these antioxidant juices, things
like pomegranate juice, cherry juice for these reasons, because the
health benefits are becoming more and more known And specifically today,
of course, we're looking at the Queen Garnet plum juice
as an intervention point. And then this was compared with
supplementing with apricot juice, so something that doesn't have that level,
that number of antioxidants. So it was a 14-day washout
(15:12):
in between it, where in the study, participants were encouraged
to eat a high-fat and high-energy breakfast. So this breakfast
had 65 grams of total fat, which is a lot.
That is about equivalent to an entire day of fat
for a small female. And 33 was saturated. So really
a fatty breakfast, Leanne. I'm thinking it was probably something
like eggs and bacon and sausages, you know, really heavy
(15:35):
old school breakfast. And alongside that meal, they were asked
to consume a glass, 250 ml, of either the Queen
Garnet plum juice or an apricot control juice. And it
basically gave a truckload of Leanne's favorite, she's going to
say it for me, anthocyanins. And they were basically looking
(15:56):
at what happened in the body after that high-fat meal
when we added in the antioxidants. So they were looking
at the participants' blood and blood pressure responses because what
often happens when there's a lot of inflammation, a lot
of fat around, is that it affects the blood vessels very,
very quickly. So it increases the amount of fat in
the blood. It increases sort of how rigid the blood
(16:18):
vessels are and how good blood flow is. and blood
vessel function, how the body was responding to that. And
then the participants had both control, so they could compare that.
They did a period where they were doing just the
queen garnet juice and a period where they were doing
the apricot juice. And what they found was that high
polyphenol content significantly improved vascular functioning. So it basically helped
(16:42):
to buffer the effect of these high fat meals, even
in a single meal occasion, which is just fascinating in
the sense that certainly not saying that having a juice
is a buffer for a high fat breakfast, but what
it's saying is it's very, very protective in the body
when we do consume high calorie meals with more fat
in them. Even in a single meal, that high antioxidant
(17:04):
juice will help protect the blood vessels and cells. So
simply adding as much fresh food in general, let alone
foods like this, which are extremely high in antioxidant content,
is a very good way for people in modern life
to help ensure that the blood and we're getting the
nutrients we require to help cardiovascular functioning. And over time,
(17:24):
you can imagine why it contributes to a reduction in
inflammatory pathways if that was the effect after a single
meal to improve blood flow and blood vessel functioning just
by adding a single glass of high antioxidant juice to
that breakfast. Now, of course, in an ideal situation, we
wouldn't have clients having these high-fat meals and we would
be having fiber-rich foods, high-protein foods, but you can see
(17:46):
in the absence of that stimulus, even then the benefit
to blood vessels, blood flow, cardiovascular risk over time is
going to be incredibly powerful given that was a one-off meal.
And certainly I've used juices, high antioxidant type juices like
this with clients with high blood pressure for many years,
knowing that there are proven benefits that come even in
the short term by adding such a dose of antioxidants
(18:08):
in which juices offer.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Yeah, absolutely. And alongside the better blood vessel function and
the microvascular function, like you mentioned, there was also a
marker of CRP. So CRP stands for C-reactive protein, and
it's basically a blood marker of inflammation. And that was
actually lower as well, I think four hours after the
meal as well. So many benefits. And we're certainly not saying,
(18:30):
like Susie said, that the plum juice just magically cancels
out all of the calories and fat in a high
fat meal or in a burger. But really what researchers
were asking was, Could these naturally occurring anthocyanins help to
blunt some of that sort of temporary vascular and inflammatory
response that you do typically get after a really high
fat Western style meal? So if you are someone that
(18:51):
does have issues with blood pressure, vascular function, inflammation overall,
it could certainly be an option to try definitely. And
then I guess that leads nicely into our second study, Susie.
So the first one, we wanted to highlight the high-fat
meal study. The second one, I think our listeners will
be quite interested in as well because it is around
(19:12):
body fat and metabolic health. And certainly whenever we talk
about body fat, whether that's fat loss or calorie deficits
and metabolic health, it certainly always gets a lot of interest.
So this one was on adipose tissue and metabolic health.
So the study was the effects of anthocyanins on body
weight and expression of adipocyte hormones, leptin and adiponectin, which
(19:34):
is a little bit of a mouthful in itself. So
the study was a 12 week, it was published in
the journal of functional foods and it's about five years old.
So it followed a 12-week randomized control trial, which we
know is a good, high-quality study in adults living with OCD. obesity.
And basically, participants consumed the Queen Garnet plum juice daily,
(19:55):
or they also consumed a control drink as well in
the other group. And then researchers measured changes in body composition,
metabolic markers, and other hormones produced by fat tissues. So afterwards,
the findings, the group that consumed the anthocyanin-rich plum juice,
the queen garnet nectar, actually had improved adipose, which is
(20:15):
our fat tissue function, rather than simply just affecting their
body weight overall, it actually improved the fat tissue function.
And so I guess the results of the study or
the researchers basically concluded that that anthiocyanin-rich whole foods, and
I think that's really important to remember, the whole foods
may potentially have more benefits from a metabolic health than
(20:35):
a fat metabolism perspective. But they did say that this
was actually quite a small study, so they did want
larger studies. But it basically is just another study that
highlights the growing role and the growing body of evidence
that is investigating these polyphenol-rich foods such as anthiocyanins. rather
than just isolating them in supplements altogether, it is better
(20:56):
where we can to eat the whole food. And certainly
the queen garnet plum, like you said, Susie, isn't available
all year long, but that's why we love this queen
garnet nectar because it's just 100% of the plum juice
concentrated right down, which is actually available all year round
as well. So I think it's just, again, another really
interesting study because I think when people hear body fat
loss or they sometimes immediately think, oh, a weight loss food,
(21:18):
like a magical weight loss food. And we're certainly not
saying that, you know, plum juice magically melts away fat
or magically gives you this anti-inflammatory state within your body.
It is really trying to understand that excess fat tissue
can be metabolically active. And that's what the researchers were
really interested in finding was whether those anthocyanin rich foods
could actually positively influence some of these metabolic processes and pathways,
(21:42):
which they're certainly seeing from the research as well, which
is really interesting. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
And it comes back to dietary patterns overall.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
But yeah, no, it is a really interesting area of research.
All right, Leanne. Well, in an ideal world, we would
all be downing Queen Garnett high antioxidant plums every single day.
But unfortunately, they are only in season early in the
season from January to March. Now, I do encourage my
clients actually to buy as many as they can and
freeze them for a period of time, particularly my clients
(22:11):
who have got a lot of joint pain and rely
on them for that really powerful antioxidant load. But the
good news is that there is this amazing nectar, the
Queen Garnet, the antioxidant fruit nectar, which I'm actually going
to use now for my plantar fasciitis because for any
keen listeners on the nutrition couch, you'll both know that
Leanne and I are suffering from acute pain at the
moment without injuries. And this is a fantastic option because
(22:34):
as I mentioned previously, whenever I've got a client with
high blood pressure and or chronic inflammation, particularly high CRP
on bloods, I'll be trying to add a number of
high antioxidant products into their diet on a daily basis.
And this is one of it. So this is the
Queen Garnet nectar, which is 100% Australian made and incredibly,
(22:56):
incredibly high in those antioxidant molecules we've been talking about
with plenty of antioxidant research. And yeah, basically a very
smart way to add this antioxidant into your day each
and every day as a bit of a supplement. And
you can find it online and order it so you
can have your dose daily. But you have cooked with
(23:17):
it a lot. You add it to different things as
well just to give a bit of variety. Myself, I
think you can easily just shot it in the morning
with breakfast, which is how I encourage my clients to
consume it. But it's just basically 100% pure fruit nectar
giving that extremely high antioxidant content. And it's actually got
2.7 grams of dietary fiber per serve as well, which
is a great addition to the day. Great for skin,
(23:40):
250 mil serves. I probably would do it. Would you
drink the whole thing or would you do it in
two lots?
Speaker 1 (23:45):
No, I do it in two lots. Yeah, I don't
do the whole thing. It is quite concentrated. So my
favorite way to drink it is just adding it with
some sparkling water. But I certainly get my clients, particularly
those that are big smoothie lovers, cheer puddings, overnight oats, really,
really easy to add the nectar into those sorts of things.
Desserts even, mocktails, as I said, sparkling water, it goes really,
really well in. So per 100 mil, it is 51
calories or about 200 sort of kilojoules. less than a
(24:09):
gram of fat in it. And as you said, a
really good source of fiber and carbohydrates as well. And
the sugars are naturally occurring like any fruit. There are
some naturally occurring sugars in there and it is a
concentrated nectar as well. So it does appear to have
a bit more sugar in there, but that is very
naturally occurring as well. And I will make a point.
You did say this is Australian made. It's actually local
to me. It's Queensland. It's got over 10 years of
(24:30):
university research behind it. And the plums are also bred traditionally.
They're not actually genetically modified, which is, you know, some
foods to get, you know, higher levels of these polyphenols,
et cetera, are genetically modified, but the queen clarinet plums
are not. They do traditional breeding. So it is a
very good, I guess, whole food approach because as we said,
(24:51):
the plums are only really available. You can get them
till about early April. They're coming around. I always think
around Australia day. So that time, like late, late January
until about early April, the fresh plums were available. but
the plum nectar is available all year round at queengarnet.com.
And there's a couple of other different products available. If
you just want the concentrated powder to add into smoothies
(25:11):
or baking, you can do that as well. Just go
and have a look online, but a really, really great option.
And the plum nectar is delicious as well. It's nice
and sweet. So you can, you can water it down
with a bit of water or sparkling water. If you're
not into overly sweet things, or like I said, use
it in your smoothies and your cheer puddings. It's a
great option. True.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
And I think if you're listening and you're thinking, who
is this kind of product for? Well, all of us
will benefit from more antioxidants in the diet for.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Your skin, all those.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
But specifically, if you've got any condition like high blood pressure,
chronically high cholesterol, even though you eat pretty well, if
you have sore joints and joint pain or a specific
injury at the moment, that's another factor. Or if you
are noticing that your CRP has increased over time or
even in peri and menopause and you're noticing that all
(25:55):
of your inflammatory markers are going up on your blood tests,
so that's if your blood glucose level is slowly climbing,
your insulin is up, and your cholesterol levels might still
be in the normal range but they're increasing over time,
I think it's worth adding. You can add about 100
ml shot in the morning is how I would use it.
And you can find– I'm just looking where you get
it from. You just go onto the website and you
(26:15):
can buy– a 10-pack for $ 60, which is actually incredibly
cost-effective and it will be delivered straight to your house.
And give it a go and see if there's benefits.
And I guarantee my clients are massive fans of it. Definitely,
I get great results with blood pressure for this kind
of product. And also, as Leanne described, there's a couple
of powders that you can add to cooking to get
the antioxidant hit too. There's a gut care blend, which
(26:38):
has the Queen Garnet powder with pre and probiotics in there.
And also a nighttime restore, which is Of course, not
to be replaced by our magnesium restore in the nighttime,
but it's another night blend that has the sour cherry
and caramel mile with the powder to help encourage rest
and relaxation overnight. So yeah, you simply go to queengarnet.com
(26:59):
and can find those products there. So a really smart
thing to try and add to your diet if you're
suffering from any degree of chronic inflammation and particularly discomfort
caused by it.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
I'll also say quickly, there's a subscription model on the
website as well. If you subscribe, you can actually save 20%.
So the 10 bottles come down to $ 48 as well
if you're running off a subscription. So if you might
want to share that with your family, if your dad's
got a bit of knee pain, your mom's got diabetes
and you're looking to sort of decrease your inflammation as
well or add in some more antioxidants and polyphenols, that
could be a good subscription for the whole family. Get involved.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
And certainly worth a try. And if you do try it,
let us know and how you're going with it because
the more of these evidence-based food cures that we reach
for the better because I know so many people who
are so happy to go into the pharmacy and spend
a fortune on non-evidence-based supplements. We're here telling you about
this because this has a strong evidence base.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
This is food first.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
This is natural. This is much better than any medicine.
In many cases, you can try particularly things that you're
finding like supplements and spending a lot of money on.
So give this a go first because, as I said,
strong evidence to show the benefits when it comes to inflammation.
All right, Leanne, well, to wrap us up, What are
polyphenols and should we be trying to get more of them?
(28:12):
Which the answer is absolutely yes, but they're in a
wide range of foods. They're naturally occurring compounds found in
generally fresh foods, so things like fruits, veggies, herbs, spices, tea, coffee, cocoa, nuts,
and olive oil. While they're not essential, they are recognized
for the health-promoting benefits in the body and the bright
red and purple molecules found in the queen garnet plum
(28:32):
is just one type of these polyphenols. specifically that bright
color in blackberries, cherries, purple carrots, and of course, queen
garnet plums. So for anyone, again, who is looking at anti-aging,
cellular health, reducing inflammatory pathways, yes, absolutely. The more of these,
the better. And the best example I can think of is,
of course, in the Mediterranean, where the average intake of
(28:54):
olive oil is about 40 to 60 mil per day very,
very high in antioxidants when it's fresh, similar to Australian
extra virgin olive oil. So easy ways and dietary patterns
that I would be encouraging for anyone who is dealing
with disease prevention and reducing inflammation would be to add
one of these very high antioxidant foods, particularly like a juice,
a queen garnet, plum juice in the morning or when
(29:16):
the fruit's in season to the breakfast, a handful of
nuts each day. So things like our walnuts, also seeds, very,
very strong. using a couple of serves of extra virgin
olive oil per day. So there's a lot of debate
around oils in general, but you can certainly cook with
good quality extra virgin Australian olive oil. And I do
find often my women, particularly in Peri, are low. They're
(29:36):
having about 30, 40 grams of fat per day in
their diet when really we need more like 60 to 80.
So use it for cooking, use it as a salad
dressing and invest in good quality Australian extra virgin olive
oil when you can. Herbs and spices in cooking and
things like tea and coffee, but they're better in their
raw natural way. You know, you're much better to have
a herbal tea or a green tea or an espresso
(29:57):
shot than you are to have a double shot chai
latte with vanilla syrup in it. You can see that
that perhaps dilutes the antioxidant benefits. And then each day,
the brighter the color of the fruits and vegetables, the
better they will be for you. So things like purple carrots, broccoli, beetroot,
the brighter the color, the higher the antioxidant content. And
(30:17):
I would be encouraging my clients to have seven to
10 serves of these brightly colored fresh fruits and vegetables daily,
which means at every meal you need one. But in particular,
the oranges, the reds, the purples are extremely good for
us and probably foods we don't get enough of because
you're probably not naturally reaching for purple carrots. The red
cabbage is a great addition that's got that same molecule.
(30:40):
Beetroot can be a little bit more obscure, which is
why beetroot juice is a good choice, but very, very
difficult to find, which is why having something like a
supply of that key juice you're using daily can be
super handy at home. So have a look at that
Queen Garnett website for that because you can subscribe and
have it there. Whereas I find it's very, very hard
to find the high antioxidant juices in supermarkets, unfortunately. So
(31:03):
this is a very convenient and cost-effective option to have
it as sort of your medicinal start to the day.
So you're getting it, particularly in the case of blood
pressure and things, which you do need to have it
regularly to see the benefits.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
Yeah, really important point. So absolutely, we're big fans of polyphenols.
I think we all should be eating them. Like Susie said,
they're not actually technically considered essential nutrients, but certainly they
are very well recognized in research for their huge role
in supporting long-term health, inflammation pathways, et cetera. So the
goal is really to eat the rainbow. As corny as
that sounds, that is absolutely the key message we have
(31:35):
said as dietitians for decades and decades. We don't chase
one superfood alone. We don't chase one super magical elixir
or supplement alone. The goal is to certainly eat a
wide variety of different brightly colored plant foods every single day,
rather than just focusing on one nutrient or one supplement.
So the more of these plant compounds that you can
(31:55):
get in, the better it will be for your overall health.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
And most importantly, on top of that, cut back on
the ultra processed food. If you're having more than one
snack food a day of bars, biscuits, chocolate biscuit after dinner,
they're all ultra processed foods. And the less of that
we have in the diet when it comes to inflammation,
the better it is to let the high antioxidant foods
do their natural work.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
Absolutely. All right. Well, that wraps up and brings us
to the end of another episode of the Nutrition Couch
for another week. So thank you so much for your
support of the podcast. It means the world to us.
And we hope that you go and support our proud
podcast sponsor as well, the Queen Garnet Plum today. And
we will see you in next week's episode.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
Have a great week.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Bye.
This week, we're unpacking one of the biggest buzzwords in
nutrition right now, inflammation. Is everybody actually walking around inflamed?
Does an anti-inflammatory diet even really exist? Hi, I'm Leanne Ward.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
And I'm Susie Burrell.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
And together we bring you The Nutrition Couch, the weekly
podcast that brings you everything that you need to know
in the world of nutrition. As well as inflammation, we
dive into the fascinating science on anthocyanins. We review one
of the most researched Australian fruits that you've probably never
even heard of. And to finish us off, we answer
a listener question all about polyphenols. But we are very
(00:36):
excited about this episode today, aren't we, Susie? Inflammation is
trending hard online, and we have quite a few things
to say about this topic, don't we?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
It's really interesting because when we put topics up in
articles online, inflammation goes absolutely crazy, or if you sort
of rank foods according to their antioxidants and as such,
the benefits for inflammatory pathways in the body. And so it's,
I think, a very applicable episode to a lot of
people who are battling the lifestyle conditions, have got chronic pain,
(01:05):
have got things like PCOS, high blood sugar, joint pain,
risk of cardiovascular disease. You know, an anti-inflammatory approach is
the number one diet that regularly comes back as the
key way to intervene and help manage and prevent inflammation,
which we will deep dive in a minute. But we
are thrilled because today we're actually partnering with an industry group,
(01:27):
the Queen Garnett Antioxidant Plum And it's not by chance
we're doing this, Leanne, because, of course, we've brought the
podcast to our listeners for over five years now. And
at times we do partner with groups that we feel
passionately are aligned with the principles and beliefs and evidence
base with which we are so proud to present The
Nutrition Couch. So, yes, we are basically sponsored and brought
(01:48):
to you today by Queen Garnett. And we're going to
share a lot about this product that we really know
has a number of scientific benefits when it comes to
inflammation and adding a lot of nutrition into So we
will mention Queen Garnet through the podcast and for good reason.
It's a very strong product nutritionally because there is the
fresh fruit, which we'll talk about later in the episode,
(02:09):
and also a number of products now that are particularly
beneficial for people who are looking to boost their antioxidant intake.
So thank you to Queen Garnet for coming on board.
We are thrilled to have you partner with us on
this episode.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Absolutely. And now going back to our trending topic of inflammation,
I feel like if you open, whether it's Instagram or TikTok,
you just hit with like, everybody's just inflamed at the moment, Susie,
and everybody's kind of blaming cortisol and inflammation for everything really,
their weight gain, their bloating, their fatigue, their sore joints,
brain fog, whatever it is, whatever symptom you have, it
(02:43):
tends to be linked back to cortisol and inflammation. And
now we're not saying that people aren't suffering with these symptoms.
We're just saying that I guess the term or the
way that cortisol and inflammation is being described often isn't
actually accurate. And I'll tell you a little story. I'm
part of quite a few different local Facebook groups. And
there was this one that I was on the other
day and a lady was commenting about struggling to lose weight.
(03:06):
And she was sort of saying, you know, mom's like, what,
what options do you have? What suggestions do you have?
And some lady commented on it and she said, oh,
I hear you, you know, I've got PCOS. So I
can't go into a calorie deficit because that sparks my
cortisol and causes inflammation. And I can't exercise because that
sparks my cortisol too. So I'm really stuck and I've
got 20 kilos to lose, but I can't do anything
because everything that they suggest causes me inflammation. And I
(03:29):
had this internal battle, Susie. I was like, oh, do
I comment, Susie? Do I get involved? Because we all
know that once you get involved in a Facebook commenting,
it can go down a rabbit hole. You're there forever.
And I just thought, no, no, no, leave it alone.
But fundamentally, it was completely inaccurate. And I was like,
we do know that exercise and controlling your weight are
two of the best things that you can actually do
for PCOS. So there is a lot of misinformation out there.
(03:53):
So what we wanted to start with talking about today,
and a very trending topic we will say is, is
what actually is inflammation. Because as a dietician, we see
two very different types. Firstly, we've got this acute inflammation,
and then we've got this secondary chronic, more low-grade inflammation. Now,
the acute inflammation is somewhat of a good thing, from
(04:14):
a body's response anyway, because it knows how to handle it.
It's very normal. So when we talk about acute inflammation,
we're talking about things like a cut or an infection,
an immune response. Even exercise can cause an acute inflammatory response.
This is not necessarily a bad thing because the body
knows exactly how to handle that. So if you go
and you do a really hard exercise session, yes, you
(04:35):
are actually sparking your cortisol level. That's not inherently a
bad thing. It's not like you're going to walk around
all day in the state of constant inflammation all week
long because you did exercise. So there are some things
that happen to the body that do cause acute inflammation,
and it's not necessarily a bad thing because the body
knows how to react to that and how to sort
of calm those inflammatory pathways down. What is sort of
(04:59):
not great from an inflammatory perspective is this chronic low-grade inflammation.
It's very different to acute inflammation. Now with chronic low-grade inflammation,
these are more, I guess, lifestyle and chronic disease things
that are linked to this low-grade inflammation. Think things like
regularly smoking, very poor nutritional diet, obesity, chronic health conditions,
(05:22):
cardiometabolic issues, poor sleep, lots of stress and constantly, like
if you're just super stressed about one little thing and
that it's, you know, because you've got a big presentation
at work and then it's over, that again is not
going to cause this chronic low-grade inflammation. It's this long-term
type of stress or very, very low activity levels where
you're someone who just doesn't really exercise regularly at all.
(05:43):
So this is what we will call, I guess, quote unquote,
bad types of inflammation is this chronic low grade inflammation.
That is not, I ate a pizza on the weekend,
or I had a bit too much chocolate, or I
had a glass of wine. That is not going to
cause your body to enter this inflammatory state, spike your
cortisol and cause you to retain weight and prevent or
(06:06):
block you from losing weight. If you do those things
all the time, perhaps you will find it hard to
lose weight, but it's not going to put your body
in this constant state where it's pumping out cortisol and
it's constantly inflamed all the time. And that's what we
see a lot on Instagram, just single habits, very much
being blamed for cortisol and inflammation, where it's actually not
the case. It's a combination of quite a lot of
(06:28):
these different things. Like we mentioned, poor sleep, stress, poor diet,
low activity levels, smoking, longer term, that is linked to
this low-grade inflammation. So the problem isn't acute inflammation. It's
when that inflammation becomes chronic and it becomes longer term.
That is what is associated with many different types of
chronic diseases and more of the negative health outcomes. Are
(06:50):
you seeing this on your Instagram as well, Susie, when
you open it up? Or is this just me? I'm
in this inflammation world at the moment because of my shoulder.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
No, I think there's a lot of misinformation about it.
And I think what people don't understand is it's not,
as you said, an acute response. It's more patterns over time.
And generally speaking, we see inflammatory disorders on the rise
and the body attacking itself and causing pain, discomfort, disease
over time, poor blood glucose regulation, because often the ratio
of not so ideal is a lot more than what
(07:20):
is ideal because there's what we call pro-inflammatory and then
anti-inflammatory So pro-inflammatory lifestyle variables are things like smoking, alcohol, inactivity,
and of course, high fat, high calorie, dense, high sugar foods,
processed foods, ultra processed foods are all shown at a
systemic level to increase inflammation over time if that is
the dietary pattern. So even if you have a big
(07:42):
fast food meal, yes, in the short term, inflammation is increased,
but it's the pattern and the balance overall that's disrupted.
Then a good example actually is in European countries. So
you would say, oh, Well, French people, they have a
lot of pastry, they have a lot of butter, they
have a lot of wine. Why are they not all
riddled with disease? But they also do a lot of
(08:03):
good things to help buffer that. They might consume a
lot of antioxidants. They might not consume too many calories.
They might buffer it. Or in the case of Mediterranean diet,
their diet is so chock full of antioxidant-rich foods and
omega-3s from seafood that it buffers when they do have
things that are considered not as good. The issue here
in Australia in particular, and I highly sort of westernized
(08:25):
countries like the US, is that our intake of ultra-processed
food is enormous. We're becoming less active than ever before.
We enjoy alcohol. We enjoy fast food. We enjoy sugar.
But we're not as good on the vegetables. You know,
fewer than one in 10 Australians get anywhere near the
recommended minimal intake of fresh fruit and vegetables, let alone
an optimal intake. Again, we have very low intakes of omega-3s. Again,
(08:48):
less than one in 10 of us get anywhere near
the recommended ideal intake of omega-3. So basically, there's a
lot more bad stuff going in than there is good stuff.
And it's that pattern over time that predicts disease. which
is why people in certain European countries in the Mediterranean
have much lower risk of heart disease, much lower risk
of diabetes because they've got the protective effect going. And
(09:10):
from a dietary perspective and our interest is that it's
the patterns that people eat because when people come to
a dietician, they're very quick to point out all the
things they do wrong. You know, I have takeaway once
a week or I drink too much wine when really, ideally,
we would be focusing on what they're doing every day.
What are the meal choices that add up? Not the
treat meals, but that baseline food intake. And it's the
(09:32):
baseline that predicts the body's ability to naturally reduce inflammatory
pathways in the body and fight things like pain, like
blood glucose regulation issues, like high cholesterol, because they're all
pro-inflammatory and fighting the body basically. And that's the interesting thing.
It's not the one-off supplements. It's what you're eating and
drinking each day. It's what you're doing on a daily
(09:53):
basis that create that overall health pattern in the body
rather than, as people describe, shock of cortisol and increasing that.
It's more at a systemic level what's going on. Yeah, 100%.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
It's certainly the case that the boring stuff wins. And
as much as we don't want to hear it, as
much as we'll admit it is boring because we say
do it every day, it's repetition, it's so important. It
is that Mediterranean style of eating, more plant-based eating, more legumes, nuts, seeds,
whole grains, extra virgin olive oil, more exercise, focusing on sleep,
healthy weight, healthy waistline. That boring stuff, as good as
(10:28):
it is for you, it is absolutely the key or
it's the medicine, the magical elixir that everyone's looking for
in a supplement. But unfortunately, it doesn't exist. It is
the lifestyle and nutrition choices that you make on a
daily basis that is ultimately going to lead you down
that sort of pro-war or anti-inflammatory style of eating that
most people are looking for.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Well, I was thinking that I, you know, just thinking
about diets that I routinely see of my clients because
dieting The interest area for people is what are foods
that are anti-inflammatory? You know, so what are the foods
we're constantly recommending? We're looking for really high antioxidant fruits
and vegetables. So brightly colored options have got particularly high
level of antioxidants. We're looking for oily fish, the sardines,
(11:09):
the salmon, and consuming those on more days than not
are all incredibly beneficial at producing that natural anti-inflammatory approach.
But when I am looking at clients' food diaries, particularly
before we start our program, as you'd hope that improve afterwards,
you know, we still, it's the number of ultra-processed things
going in every single day. You know, I think recently
(11:30):
there was statistics to show that children under the age
of two had 60% of their food from discretionary foods.
So it's, you know, it's not only about adding the
good stuff in, it's getting rid of this processed stuff,
the snacks, the biscuits, the treats, the fast food. And
I think people eat them on a daily basis multiple times.
It's not treats anymore. And that's that ratio where it
comes down. And often I think when clients come and
(11:52):
work with a dietician, sometimes they feel better within days
because suddenly they're flooding their system with the natural nutrients
that will naturally fight inflammation without even realizing it. And
that's where it adds up over time and people will
feel better very, very quickly once we've sort of supercharged
their diet with all of these key foods. that we
know really shift the balance of that inflammatory pathway overall.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Yeah, 100%. And when we're talking about inflammation, one, I guess,
really important compound that is actually getting a lot of
attention in the media lately and in different types of
research are a food called polyphenols as well. So that
sort of leads us nicely into our next discussion on
some of the evidence that we have found on anthocyanins
and polyphenols. So we actually have two studies to review today.
(12:37):
Susie's going to do the first one and it is
a high fat meal study and I'll do the second
one around adipose tissue and metabolic health. So I'll hand
over to you Susie to go through our first study.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
We've got a very interesting study published in Clinical Nutrition
back in 2021. But I will just define first. First
of all, Leanne, well done on being able to say anthocyanins.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Because I can't. I've had some practice.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
So I'll just point out to our listeners what these
actually are we're talking about. These are the purple and
red compounds found in food. So things like our berries, cherries, plums,
and purple grapes are the anthocyanins. And they're very, very
high in polyphenols and very powerful anti-inflammatory effects. So we're
thinking if you don't want to have to say it,
it's just anything purple, very, very good for us. That's
(13:24):
the take-home message. But this was a study that was
taking place with 16 individuals. So it was relatively small,
but they were looking at a very specific prescription and
they were obese with a BMI, an average BMI of 30.
So if you're between 20 and 25 and 30, it's
overweight or over 30 obese, keeping in mind that often
we're looking at body fat rather than just weight, but
(13:44):
this was a measure of just on the scales. And
so they had also an average age of 65.9, which
is relevant because of course, that's when a lot of
inflammation rears its ugly head and you're starting to see
a lot more lifestyle disease and certainly a lot more
pain in joints, particularly if you're carrying a lot of weight.
It was a randomized double-blind controlled crossover trial. So a
(14:05):
very rigid study, rigid stringent, very good quality study, which
is why there was a small number of people. And
they were specifically looking at the effect of supplementing the
diet with the Queen Garnet plum juice. Now, we are
going to deep dive the Queen Garnet plums in our
review of product today. But basically, this is a very
concentrated antioxidant blend because the Queen Garnet plums, which are
(14:28):
in season early in the year, I think, Leanne, aren't they,
from about January to March, they are in incredibly, incredibly
high in antioxidants with about six times the antioxidants of blueberries.
And blueberries are something we all know to be incredibly
good for us. So you can imagine the concentration of
these antioxidants in this plum itself, but specifically concentrating it
down into the plum juice. And you'll notice in supermarkets,
(14:51):
we're seeing more and more of these antioxidant juices, things
like pomegranate juice, cherry juice for these reasons, because the
health benefits are becoming more and more known And specifically today,
of course, we're looking at the Queen Garnet plum juice
as an intervention point. And then this was compared with
supplementing with apricot juice, so something that doesn't have that level,
that number of antioxidants. So it was a 14-day washout
(15:12):
in between it, where in the study, participants were encouraged
to eat a high-fat and high-energy breakfast. So this breakfast
had 65 grams of total fat, which is a lot.
That is about equivalent to an entire day of fat
for a small female. And 33 was saturated. So really
a fatty breakfast, Leanne. I'm thinking it was probably something
like eggs and bacon and sausages, you know, really heavy
(15:35):
old school breakfast. And alongside that meal, they were asked
to consume a glass, 250 ml, of either the Queen
Garnet plum juice or an apricot control juice. And it
basically gave a truckload of Leanne's favorite, she's going to
say it for me, anthocyanins. And they were basically looking
(15:56):
at what happened in the body after that high-fat meal
when we added in the antioxidants. So they were looking
at the participants' blood and blood pressure responses because what
often happens when there's a lot of inflammation, a lot
of fat around, is that it affects the blood vessels very,
very quickly. So it increases the amount of fat in
the blood. It increases sort of how rigid the blood
(16:18):
vessels are and how good blood flow is. and blood
vessel function, how the body was responding to that. And
then the participants had both control, so they could compare that.
They did a period where they were doing just the
queen garnet juice and a period where they were doing
the apricot juice. And what they found was that high
polyphenol content significantly improved vascular functioning. So it basically helped
(16:42):
to buffer the effect of these high fat meals, even
in a single meal occasion, which is just fascinating in
the sense that certainly not saying that having a juice
is a buffer for a high fat breakfast, but what
it's saying is it's very, very protective in the body
when we do consume high calorie meals with more fat
in them. Even in a single meal, that high antioxidant
(17:04):
juice will help protect the blood vessels and cells. So
simply adding as much fresh food in general, let alone
foods like this, which are extremely high in antioxidant content,
is a very good way for people in modern life
to help ensure that the blood and we're getting the
nutrients we require to help cardiovascular functioning. And over time,
(17:24):
you can imagine why it contributes to a reduction in
inflammatory pathways if that was the effect after a single
meal to improve blood flow and blood vessel functioning just
by adding a single glass of high antioxidant juice to
that breakfast. Now, of course, in an ideal situation, we
wouldn't have clients having these high-fat meals and we would
be having fiber-rich foods, high-protein foods, but you can see
(17:46):
in the absence of that stimulus, even then the benefit
to blood vessels, blood flow, cardiovascular risk over time is
going to be incredibly powerful given that was a one-off meal.
And certainly I've used juices, high antioxidant type juices like
this with clients with high blood pressure for many years,
knowing that there are proven benefits that come even in
the short term by adding such a dose of antioxidants
(18:08):
in which juices offer.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Yeah, absolutely. And alongside the better blood vessel function and
the microvascular function, like you mentioned, there was also a
marker of CRP. So CRP stands for C-reactive protein, and
it's basically a blood marker of inflammation. And that was
actually lower as well, I think four hours after the
meal as well. So many benefits. And we're certainly not saying,
(18:30):
like Susie said, that the plum juice just magically cancels
out all of the calories and fat in a high
fat meal or in a burger. But really what researchers
were asking was, Could these naturally occurring anthocyanins help to
blunt some of that sort of temporary vascular and inflammatory
response that you do typically get after a really high
fat Western style meal? So if you are someone that
(18:51):
does have issues with blood pressure, vascular function, inflammation overall,
it could certainly be an option to try definitely. And
then I guess that leads nicely into our second study, Susie.
So the first one, we wanted to highlight the high-fat
meal study. The second one, I think our listeners will
be quite interested in as well because it is around
(19:12):
body fat and metabolic health. And certainly whenever we talk
about body fat, whether that's fat loss or calorie deficits
and metabolic health, it certainly always gets a lot of interest.
So this one was on adipose tissue and metabolic health.
So the study was the effects of anthocyanins on body
weight and expression of adipocyte hormones, leptin and adiponectin, which
(19:34):
is a little bit of a mouthful in itself. So
the study was a 12 week, it was published in
the journal of functional foods and it's about five years old.
So it followed a 12-week randomized control trial, which we
know is a good, high-quality study in adults living with OCD. obesity.
And basically, participants consumed the Queen Garnet plum juice daily,
(19:55):
or they also consumed a control drink as well in
the other group. And then researchers measured changes in body composition,
metabolic markers, and other hormones produced by fat tissues. So afterwards,
the findings, the group that consumed the anthocyanin-rich plum juice,
the queen garnet nectar, actually had improved adipose, which is
(20:15):
our fat tissue function, rather than simply just affecting their
body weight overall, it actually improved the fat tissue function.
And so I guess the results of the study or
the researchers basically concluded that that anthiocyanin-rich whole foods, and
I think that's really important to remember, the whole foods
may potentially have more benefits from a metabolic health than
(20:35):
a fat metabolism perspective. But they did say that this
was actually quite a small study, so they did want
larger studies. But it basically is just another study that
highlights the growing role and the growing body of evidence
that is investigating these polyphenol-rich foods such as anthiocyanins. rather
than just isolating them in supplements altogether, it is better
(20:56):
where we can to eat the whole food. And certainly
the queen garnet plum, like you said, Susie, isn't available
all year long, but that's why we love this queen
garnet nectar because it's just 100% of the plum juice
concentrated right down, which is actually available all year round
as well. So I think it's just, again, another really
interesting study because I think when people hear body fat
loss or they sometimes immediately think, oh, a weight loss food,
(21:18):
like a magical weight loss food. And we're certainly not
saying that, you know, plum juice magically melts away fat
or magically gives you this anti-inflammatory state within your body.
It is really trying to understand that excess fat tissue
can be metabolically active. And that's what the researchers were
really interested in finding was whether those anthocyanin rich foods
could actually positively influence some of these metabolic processes and pathways,
(21:42):
which they're certainly seeing from the research as well, which
is really interesting. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
And it comes back to dietary patterns overall.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
But yeah, no, it is a really interesting area of research.
All right, Leanne. Well, in an ideal world, we would
all be downing Queen Garnett high antioxidant plums every single day.
But unfortunately, they are only in season early in the
season from January to March. Now, I do encourage my
clients actually to buy as many as they can and
freeze them for a period of time, particularly my clients
(22:11):
who have got a lot of joint pain and rely
on them for that really powerful antioxidant load. But the
good news is that there is this amazing nectar, the
Queen Garnet, the antioxidant fruit nectar, which I'm actually going
to use now for my plantar fasciitis because for any
keen listeners on the nutrition couch, you'll both know that
Leanne and I are suffering from acute pain at the
moment without injuries. And this is a fantastic option because
(22:34):
as I mentioned previously, whenever I've got a client with
high blood pressure and or chronic inflammation, particularly high CRP
on bloods, I'll be trying to add a number of
high antioxidant products into their diet on a daily basis.
And this is one of it. So this is the
Queen Garnet nectar, which is 100% Australian made and incredibly,
(22:56):
incredibly high in those antioxidant molecules we've been talking about
with plenty of antioxidant research. And yeah, basically a very
smart way to add this antioxidant into your day each
and every day as a bit of a supplement. And
you can find it online and order it so you
can have your dose daily. But you have cooked with
(23:17):
it a lot. You add it to different things as
well just to give a bit of variety. Myself, I
think you can easily just shot it in the morning
with breakfast, which is how I encourage my clients to
consume it. But it's just basically 100% pure fruit nectar
giving that extremely high antioxidant content. And it's actually got
2.7 grams of dietary fiber per serve as well, which
is a great addition to the day. Great for skin,
(23:40):
250 mil serves. I probably would do it. Would you
drink the whole thing or would you do it in
two lots?
Speaker 1 (23:45):
No, I do it in two lots. Yeah, I don't
do the whole thing. It is quite concentrated. So my
favorite way to drink it is just adding it with
some sparkling water. But I certainly get my clients, particularly
those that are big smoothie lovers, cheer puddings, overnight oats, really,
really easy to add the nectar into those sorts of things.
Desserts even, mocktails, as I said, sparkling water, it goes really,
really well in. So per 100 mil, it is 51
calories or about 200 sort of kilojoules. less than a
(24:09):
gram of fat in it. And as you said, a
really good source of fiber and carbohydrates as well. And
the sugars are naturally occurring like any fruit. There are
some naturally occurring sugars in there and it is a
concentrated nectar as well. So it does appear to have
a bit more sugar in there, but that is very
naturally occurring as well. And I will make a point.
You did say this is Australian made. It's actually local
to me. It's Queensland. It's got over 10 years of
(24:30):
university research behind it. And the plums are also bred traditionally.
They're not actually genetically modified, which is, you know, some
foods to get, you know, higher levels of these polyphenols,
et cetera, are genetically modified, but the queen clarinet plums
are not. They do traditional breeding. So it is a
very good, I guess, whole food approach because as we said,
(24:51):
the plums are only really available. You can get them
till about early April. They're coming around. I always think
around Australia day. So that time, like late, late January
until about early April, the fresh plums were available. but
the plum nectar is available all year round at queengarnet.com.
And there's a couple of other different products available. If
you just want the concentrated powder to add into smoothies
(25:11):
or baking, you can do that as well. Just go
and have a look online, but a really, really great option.
And the plum nectar is delicious as well. It's nice
and sweet. So you can, you can water it down
with a bit of water or sparkling water. If you're
not into overly sweet things, or like I said, use
it in your smoothies and your cheer puddings. It's a
great option. True.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
And I think if you're listening and you're thinking, who
is this kind of product for? Well, all of us
will benefit from more antioxidants in the diet for.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Your skin, all those.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
But specifically, if you've got any condition like high blood pressure,
chronically high cholesterol, even though you eat pretty well, if
you have sore joints and joint pain or a specific
injury at the moment, that's another factor. Or if you
are noticing that your CRP has increased over time or
even in peri and menopause and you're noticing that all
(25:55):
of your inflammatory markers are going up on your blood tests,
so that's if your blood glucose level is slowly climbing,
your insulin is up, and your cholesterol levels might still
be in the normal range but they're increasing over time,
I think it's worth adding. You can add about 100
ml shot in the morning is how I would use it.
And you can find– I'm just looking where you get
it from. You just go onto the website and you
(26:15):
can buy– a 10-pack for $ 60, which is actually incredibly
cost-effective and it will be delivered straight to your house.
And give it a go and see if there's benefits.
And I guarantee my clients are massive fans of it. Definitely,
I get great results with blood pressure for this kind
of product. And also, as Leanne described, there's a couple
of powders that you can add to cooking to get
the antioxidant hit too. There's a gut care blend, which
(26:38):
has the Queen Garnet powder with pre and probiotics in there.
And also a nighttime restore, which is Of course, not
to be replaced by our magnesium restore in the nighttime,
but it's another night blend that has the sour cherry
and caramel mile with the powder to help encourage rest
and relaxation overnight. So yeah, you simply go to queengarnet.com
(26:59):
and can find those products there. So a really smart
thing to try and add to your diet if you're
suffering from any degree of chronic inflammation and particularly discomfort
caused by it.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
I'll also say quickly, there's a subscription model on the
website as well. If you subscribe, you can actually save 20%.
So the 10 bottles come down to $ 48 as well
if you're running off a subscription. So if you might
want to share that with your family, if your dad's
got a bit of knee pain, your mom's got diabetes
and you're looking to sort of decrease your inflammation as
well or add in some more antioxidants and polyphenols, that
could be a good subscription for the whole family. Get involved.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
And certainly worth a try. And if you do try it,
let us know and how you're going with it because
the more of these evidence-based food cures that we reach
for the better because I know so many people who
are so happy to go into the pharmacy and spend
a fortune on non-evidence-based supplements. We're here telling you about
this because this has a strong evidence base.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
This is food first.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
This is natural. This is much better than any medicine.
In many cases, you can try particularly things that you're
finding like supplements and spending a lot of money on.
So give this a go first because, as I said,
strong evidence to show the benefits when it comes to inflammation.
All right, Leanne, well, to wrap us up, What are
polyphenols and should we be trying to get more of them?
(28:12):
Which the answer is absolutely yes, but they're in a
wide range of foods. They're naturally occurring compounds found in
generally fresh foods, so things like fruits, veggies, herbs, spices, tea, coffee, cocoa, nuts,
and olive oil. While they're not essential, they are recognized
for the health-promoting benefits in the body and the bright
red and purple molecules found in the queen garnet plum
(28:32):
is just one type of these polyphenols. specifically that bright
color in blackberries, cherries, purple carrots, and of course, queen
garnet plums. So for anyone, again, who is looking at anti-aging,
cellular health, reducing inflammatory pathways, yes, absolutely. The more of these,
the better. And the best example I can think of is,
of course, in the Mediterranean, where the average intake of
(28:54):
olive oil is about 40 to 60 mil per day very,
very high in antioxidants when it's fresh, similar to Australian
extra virgin olive oil. So easy ways and dietary patterns
that I would be encouraging for anyone who is dealing
with disease prevention and reducing inflammation would be to add
one of these very high antioxidant foods, particularly like a juice,
a queen garnet, plum juice in the morning or when
(29:16):
the fruit's in season to the breakfast, a handful of
nuts each day. So things like our walnuts, also seeds, very,
very strong. using a couple of serves of extra virgin
olive oil per day. So there's a lot of debate
around oils in general, but you can certainly cook with
good quality extra virgin Australian olive oil. And I do
find often my women, particularly in Peri, are low. They're
(29:36):
having about 30, 40 grams of fat per day in
their diet when really we need more like 60 to 80.
So use it for cooking, use it as a salad
dressing and invest in good quality Australian extra virgin olive
oil when you can. Herbs and spices in cooking and
things like tea and coffee, but they're better in their
raw natural way. You know, you're much better to have
a herbal tea or a green tea or an espresso
(29:57):
shot than you are to have a double shot chai
latte with vanilla syrup in it. You can see that
that perhaps dilutes the antioxidant benefits. And then each day,
the brighter the color of the fruits and vegetables, the
better they will be for you. So things like purple carrots, broccoli, beetroot,
the brighter the color, the higher the antioxidant content. And
(30:17):
I would be encouraging my clients to have seven to
10 serves of these brightly colored fresh fruits and vegetables daily,
which means at every meal you need one. But in particular,
the oranges, the reds, the purples are extremely good for
us and probably foods we don't get enough of because
you're probably not naturally reaching for purple carrots. The red
cabbage is a great addition that's got that same molecule.
(30:40):
Beetroot can be a little bit more obscure, which is
why beetroot juice is a good choice, but very, very
difficult to find, which is why having something like a
supply of that key juice you're using daily can be
super handy at home. So have a look at that
Queen Garnett website for that because you can subscribe and
have it there. Whereas I find it's very, very hard
to find the high antioxidant juices in supermarkets, unfortunately. So
(31:03):
this is a very convenient and cost-effective option to have
it as sort of your medicinal start to the day.
So you're getting it, particularly in the case of blood
pressure and things, which you do need to have it
regularly to see the benefits.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
Yeah, really important point. So absolutely, we're big fans of polyphenols.
I think we all should be eating them. Like Susie said,
they're not actually technically considered essential nutrients, but certainly they
are very well recognized in research for their huge role
in supporting long-term health, inflammation pathways, et cetera. So the
goal is really to eat the rainbow. As corny as
that sounds, that is absolutely the key message we have
(31:35):
said as dietitians for decades and decades. We don't chase
one superfood alone. We don't chase one super magical elixir
or supplement alone. The goal is to certainly eat a
wide variety of different brightly colored plant foods every single day,
rather than just focusing on one nutrient or one supplement.
So the more of these plant compounds that you can
(31:55):
get in, the better it will be for your overall health.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
And most importantly, on top of that, cut back on
the ultra processed food. If you're having more than one
snack food a day of bars, biscuits, chocolate biscuit after dinner,
they're all ultra processed foods. And the less of that
we have in the diet when it comes to inflammation,
the better it is to let the high antioxidant foods
do their natural work.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
Absolutely. All right. Well, that wraps up and brings us
to the end of another episode of the Nutrition Couch
for another week. So thank you so much for your
support of the podcast. It means the world to us.
And we hope that you go and support our proud
podcast sponsor as well, the Queen Garnet Plum today. And
we will see you in next week's episode.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
Have a great week.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Bye.
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