Cassandra Bendall | Ideal Nutrition

11 Apr 2017

Prebiotics and Probiotics: What You Need to Know

Did you know that we have 100 trillion bacteria living in our gut?! While that may leave you feeling a little squeamish, don’t fear! These little guys are on our side, they play important roles in many metabolic, nutritional, physiological, and immunological processes which keep us healthy. This includes acting as a barrier to prevent “bad” bacteria from invading and causing illness and producing nutrients that we can’t make ourselves (vitamin K, B12, folic acid, short-chain fatty acids). There is continual evidence that suggests incorporating prebiotics and probiotics into our diet is beneficial for keeping a healthy balance of “good”…

18 Jan 2017

By Cassandra Bendall

5 Easy Ways to Include More Extra Virgin Olive Oil in Your Diet

Move over coconut oil, the real superfood is in the house! Extra virgin olive oil is the new and emerging health trend that we should be encouraging everyone to try! With an array of health benefits associated with its consumption, along with its delicious taste, there is no wonder we are going crazy over drizzling olive oil all over everything! Extra virgin olive oil is a key component of the Mediterranean dietary pattern and is considered the healthiest choice of olive oil. Multiple intervention trials have used extra virgin olive oil as their primary dietary fat and have seen a…

18 Dec 2016

By Cassandra Bendall

The Survival Guide for Honours: Tips and Tricks

Have you thought about doing Honours? Whether you are a nutrition student or a dietitian, the option to do Honours in Nutrition is available to anyone who has done undergraduate or post-graduate studies in this field. I completed my Honours year in 2016 at La Trobe University and I ended the year with First Class Honours. My thesis was titled, ‘The Effect of the Mediterranean Diet on Visceral Fat in Australian Patients Post-Cardiac Event’, we aimed to explore whether the Mediterranean diet could reduce visceral fat at 3-months and whether this effect was sustained or larger at 6 months…

04 Dec 2016

By Cassandra Bendall

The Mediterranean Diet: Everything You Need to Know

What is the Mediterranean Diet? The Mediterranean diet is a way of eating based on traditional foods and drinks of the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean diet was first established three decades ago as a cardio-protective diet in the Seven Countries Study. Keys and co-workers found that residents in Crete in Greece had the lowest mortality from heart disease and this was positively associated with their dietary pattern. This traditional dietary pattern is characterized by an abundance of plant-based foods such as leafy green vegetables, tomatoes, onions, garlic, herbs, whole grain cereals, legumes, nuts and seeds, olive oil…