Annelie Smith - Specialist Dietician

I am a Registered Dietician with more than 13 years of experience in solving nutritional problems.
I am registered with the Health Professionals Counsel in South Africa (www.hpcsa.co.za) which means that Medical Aids pay for my services, but it also means that I have to stay abreast of latest scientific developments through continuous professional education, to stay a member.
I am also a member of the Association for Dieticians in South Africa. (www.dietetics.co.za).

Over the years my interests have varied depending on the location of my practice. I have extensive experience in sports nutrition and worked for many years with athletes. The main reason I found this challenging was because I worked with motivated people who wanted to push the limits to improve their performance.

More recently my interest has extended to improving people’s “relationship” with nutrition.

For most people there are 4 prime relationships with eating:

Clients embark on a journey of exploring these concepts and the role that food and nutrition plays in their lives. Through solving physical and emotional problems and challenges with food, people find that they can focus on more important things in their lives and live life to the fullest.

The Illness / Wellness Contuum

diag1

The diagram above sums up the goal of my treatment programme and workshops, namely to reach a high level of wellness.

Products:

I stock Nutrilite Health products. To find out more about products go to www.nutrilite.com

specialize in the Prevention of:

Heart disease, premature ageing, certain cancers, metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus.

Treatment of:

Disordered eating habits, Overweight, polycystic ovarian syndrome,(www.4woman.gov/faq/pcos.htm) Diabetes mellitus, heart disease, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, stress syndrome, metabolic syndrome.

Optimal health for:

Sports performance, pregnancies, adolescents, children, adults and elderly.

Special skills and training:

I am a registered dietician with Healthnet. I have been trained in the implementation of specialized nutritional plannes with the use of genetic screening. (Called “Nutrigenetics”)

For more information visit www.genecare.co.za

Workshops: Aims of workshops:

Group interaction (Numerous studies show that group interaction is very different from individual consultations and problems are often solved on a different level in a group than individually or with one therapist.
The aim of the workshops are to spend a few hours discussing latest nutritional information, each person will be able to participate and analyze his/her personal relationship with food.

Workshops are followed up with individual or group sessions. (Optional but recommended)

For details of the next workshop, please contact me on (021) 531-8302 or 082 457 5701

What is the metabolic syndrome?

The metabolic syndrome is characterized by a group of metabolic risk factors in one person. They include:

Abdominal obesity (excessive fat tissue in and around the abdomen)
Atherogenic dyslipidemia (blood fat disorders — high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol and high LDL cholesterol — that foster plaque buildups in artery walls)
Elevated blood pressure
Insulin resistance or glucose intolerance (the body can’t properly use insulin or blood sugar)
Prothrombotic state (e.g., high fibrinogen or plasminogen activator inhibitor–1 in the blood)
Proinflammatory state (e.g., elevated C-reactive protein in the blood)

People with the metabolic syndrome are at increased risk of coronary heart disease and other diseases related to plaque buildups in artery walls (e.g., stroke and peripheral vascular disease) and type 2 diabetes. The metabolic syndrome has become increasingly common in the United States. It’s estimated that over 50 million Americans have it.

The dominant underlying risk factors for this syndrome appear to be abdominal obesity and insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is a generalized metabolic disorder, in which the body can’t use insulin efficiently. This is why the metabolic syndrome is also called the insulin resistance syndrome.

"Acquired factors, such as excess body fat and physical inactivity,
can elicit insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome in these people."

Other conditions associated with the syndrome include physical inactivity, aging, hormonal imbalance and genetic predisposition. Some people are genetically predisposed to insulin resistance. Acquired factors, such as excess body fat and physical inactivity, can elicit insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome in these people. Most people with insulin resistance have abdominal obesity. The biologic mechanisms at the molecular level between insulin resistance and metabolic risk factors aren’t fully understood and appear to be complex.

How is the metabolic syndrome diagnosed?
There are no well-accepted criteria for diagnosing the metabolic syndrome. The criteria proposed by the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III), with minor modifications, are currently recommended and widely used.

The American Heart Association and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommend that the metabolic syndrome be identified as the presence of three or more of these components:

Elevated waist circumference:
Men — Equal to or greater than 40 inches (102 cm)
Women — Equal to or greater than 35 inches (88 cm)
Elevated triglycerides:
Equal to or greater than 150 mg/dL
Reduced HDL (“good”) cholesterol:
Men — Less than 40 mg/dL
Women — Less than 50 mg/dL
Elevated blood pressure:
Equal to or greater than 130/85 mm Hg
Elevated fasting glucose:
Equal to or greater than 100 mg/dL

AHA Recommendation for Managing the Metabolic Syndrome:

The primary goal of clinical management of the metabolic syndrome is to reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Then, the first-line therapy is to reduce the major risk factors for cardiovascular disease: stop smoking and reduce LDL cholesterol, blood pressure and glucose levels to the recommended levels.

For managing both long- and short-term risk, lifestyle therapies are the first-line interventions to reduce the metabolic risk factors. These lifestyle interventions include:

Weight loss to achieve a desirable weight (BMI less than 25 kg/m2)
Increased physical activity, with a goal of at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity on most days of the week
Healthy eating habits that include reduced intake of saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol

Contact Details: Tel: (021) 422 5133 Fax: (021) 422 4933 Cell: 082 457 5701 E-mail: a_smith@xsinet.co.za Office in Town: 701 Commerce House 55 Shortmarket Street Cape Town Office in Pinelands: 8 Ringwood Drive Pinelands 7405