Are you stressed? So what's the big deal isn't everyone?

Did you set an alarm this morning? Rush out of the house? Run into Traffic? Have a deadline you are rushing to meet?  A stressor is anything that knocks us out of homeostatic balance. A stressor could be skipping breakfast, a 101 degree summer day, anger, lack of sleep, too much work, trauma, allergies, infections, medical procedures, and excessive exercise (serious athletes are putting stress on their body and it is not healthy. If moderate exercise is good more is not better).  Side note here is that in humans we also can have anticipation and denial as stressors.

Stress is a daily occurrence.  It is normal and without stress response our bodies could not operate. The problem is not the small stressors we encounter each day but how we handle these stressors and the chronic stress we encounter.  Note: The biggest stressors in humans and primates are being low on the social ladder and not being able to change an undesirable situation.  The stress response from the Adrenal Glands is the body trying to reestablish homeostasis. It does this by secreting certain hormones, inhibiting others, activating particular parts of the nervous system. What is interesting is that no matter the stressor, whether we are running from an attacker, playing at the park on a hot afternoon, or stuck in traffic, we all turn on the same stress response. The core of our stress response is built around the fact that our muscles will need to work like crazy and we will need lots of energy right now not stored away for body rebuilding later (acute stress). 

Adrenal Glands have two parts the Cortex which is the outer part and the medulla, the middle. The Cortex produces hormones Cortisol and Corticosteroids whose primary functions are to increase blood sugar through gluconeogenesis; suppress the immune system; and aid in fat, protein and carbohydrate metabolism. This is so your body will have all the energy it needs to react fast to a stressful situation.

The medulla or middle produces epinephrine and nor epinephrine which increases heart rate, constricts blood vessels, dilates air passages and participates in the “fight or flight” part of the sympathetic nervous system. All of this is in response to the possibility that we will need our muscles to operate at peak performance. If the muscles are to work their best they will need glucose so the body releases it into the blood stream and if there is not enough in stored supply then fat and protein can be converted. Our digestion is stopped, so all energy can be focused on the muscles. Our heart rate goes up so it can pump blood to the muscles faster, the lungs dilate so more air can be brought in, our pupils dilate so we can see better at night, our blood pressure goes up so blood can get to the muscles rapidly. In addition the pituitary gland and hypothalamus release endorphins and enkephalins to block pain should we get into a fight and clot the blood should we be wounded.

So what happens if we don't have an acute stressor but instead a long term stressor such as a tough family relationship, a boss we can't stand, or just too much work? Obviously we can not sustain the elevated levels of epinephrine and nor epinephrine that we would see if someone started chasing us down the street so in prolonged stressful situations the Gluccocorticoids (specifically cortisol) comes to back up the sympathetic nervous system. So now you have the sympathetic nervous system in control and the Gluccocorticoids to help the body stay in stress longer term. The Gluccocorticoid families primary functions are to increase blood sugar through gluconeogenesis suppress the immune system, and aid in fat, protein and carbohydrate metabolism. It also decreases bone formation.

We know that elevated levels of Gluccocorticoids is a problem on several fronts.

• Gluccocorticoids will keep the blood sugar levels higher so the pancreas secretes more insulin and then blood sugar goes higher and sets up a vicious cycle. Also elevated levels of Gluccocorticoids counteract the release of insulin. Fat, protein, and carbohydrates are not stored but metabolized so the cells are not receiving adequate nutrition for regeneration.
• Elevated Gluccocorticoids weaken the immune system. The adrenal gland cortex produces cortisol and cortisone which are immune suppression anti-inflammatory steroids. Cortisol prevents proliferation of T-cells by rendering the interleukin-2 producer T-cells unresponsive to interleukin-1 (IL-1), and unable to produce the T-cell growth factor. Cortisol also reduces bone formation, causes calcium to leach from the bone, and reduces calcium absorption in the intestine. Cortisol also has been shown to shrink the thymus gland.
• Elevated levels of cortisol reduce reproduction function. In males the hormone system that stimulates sperm production and testosterone levels is inhibited. In females cortisol can shut down androgen production from the adrenal gland which is where where 5% of our estrogen comes from. Also in women stress can shrink fat cells telling the body there is not enough nutrition to support reproduction and finally ovulation is decreased.

The cortex of the adrenal glands produces the corticosteroids but the medulla of the adrenal glands produces Epinephrine and nor epinephrine under stress. These two hormones activate the sympathetic nervous system and are responsible for shutting down digestion, increasing heart rate, increasing blood flow, and increasing oxygen in take. In other words your heart is pounding, your breathing fast, your hands are sweating and shaking.

• Elevated levels of epinephrine and nor epinephrine are a problem for several reasons.The over stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system causes uneven wear on the bodies systems which leads to other hormones being disrupted, exhaustion, and fatigue of organs and hormone systems. This causes the desire for stimulants which cycles back into stimulating the adrenal glands.
• If the sympathetic nervous system is activated then digestion is slowed down. So the glucocorticoids are suppressing insulin and metabolizing your nutrient intake and now your digestion is slowed down so you may not be absorbing properly. You need more nutrients now to keep yourself healthy.
• If epinephrine and nor epinephrine are pumping through your body that means your heart is beating faster and working harder. Veins are constricted causing blood to return to the heart with more force. Your arteries are dilated so more blood can get to your muscles but a dramatic decrease in blood flow to non essential parts of the body like digestive tract and skin. If you have chronic stress than it stands to reason that you will have higher blood pressure or hypertension. Also though over time the blood returning to your heart with force will cause the left ventricle to thicken causing it to swell. This puts you at greater cardiac risk. And to make matters worse epinephrine makes circulating platelets more likely to clump together which can lead to atherosclerosis plaque. 

As you can see chronic stress is a major problem on the entire body. Tomorrow I will write about ways to improve your response to stress stimuli and ways to eliminate stress.

Are Carbs More Addictive Than Cocaine? The Body: Details.com

Check out this article about how addictive carbohydrates can be to our body, featured in mens Details magazine

Are Carbs More Addictive Than Cocaine? The Body: Details.com

Insulin isn't the problem; lack of Insulin is the problem!

Lifestyle is a word that gets thrown around a lot in our society. Are you a city slicker, red neck, or hillbilly? Are you a religious zealot, faithful, or agnostic? What kind of house do you live in? What kind of car do you drive? Are you affluent, middle class, low income? Are you a slacker or a workaholic? There are books, TV shows, and movies about lifestyle that people love to take in. Like Lifestyles of the rich and famous or people magazine. There is a lot of noise about our lifestyles but most of it is around superfluous things. What actually matters when we talk about lifestyles is what we do on a day-to-day basis with regard to our physical, emotional, nutritional, environmental, and spiritual needs.

With regard to our physical and nutritional needs I want to correct a notion that I had and I believe many people have and that is, "Too much insulin is the cause of diabetes and metabolic syndromes."  This is actually incorrect, it is the opposite.  

Metabolic Syndrome and type II Diabetes are hormonal problems whereby Insulin is not able to do it's job because cells are over filled with energy, or Insulin is being negated by counter-regulatory hormones.  And in type II diabetes there is also not enough Insulin being made by the Pancreas to lower blood sugar sufficiently. Insulin is not the problem, it is the lack of Insulin or lack of Insulin action that is the problem. Insulin is an anabolic hormone that builds up the body. It does this by transporting Glucose, Amino Acids, and Fatty Acids into the cells, breaking down sugar even further to pyruvate for better absorption, suppressing the liver from making excess sugar, dilating the arteries so more oxygen can reach the cells, and regulating testosterone production.

Glucagon, Catecholamines and glucocorticoids are the counter regulatory hormones. Catecholamines include Epinephrine, Nor epinephrine, and Dopamine. Dopamine, nor epinephrine and epinephrine are the major blood circulating catecholamines. Dopamine is involved in the control of your movements. Epinephrine acts with the sympathetic nervous system to initiate a quick response to stressful situations. And nor epinephrine is a key neurotransmitter in the central nervous system and sympathetic divisions of your autonomic nervous system. Glucocorticoids are naturally-produced steroid hormones that inhibit the process of inflammation and includes Cortisol. Cortisol's primary functions are to increase blood sugar through gluconeogenesis (the process whereby the liver makes more sugar); suppress the immune system; and aid in fat, protein and carbohydrate metabolism. But both Catecholamines and Glucocorticoids stop insulin from being able to store energy in the cells.  (The reason for this will be discussed in a later post)

 

So if STRESS is causing an Insulin resistance problem for many Americans, what kind of stress? Well, that would be Nutritional stress, Physical Stress, Emotional Stress, Chemical stress (aka Environmental), emotional stress, and even spiritual stress. Nutritional stress could be skipping meals or over eating regularly. Physical stress can be from over exercising, lack of sleep or our job if it demands us to be physical. Emotional stress can come from the stress of our relationships or the loss of a relationship. Environmental stress can be from the chemicals in the air or water, tobacco, alcohol, additives in our food. Spiritual stress can be the stress that comes from trying to always be a good person and not acknowledging that we are a whole person good and bad or the stress of feeling like we are always being judged on whether we are a good person, or simply a lack of faith that could be needed to get us through the rough times.

How many of us Americans have some of these stressors? I would venture to say all of us. We can't go on skipping meals, loosing sleep, eating chemicals and preservatives, neglecting relationships, and trying to be perfect expecting our health will be fine. When we do these things day-to day and year-to-year we set up a tug-of-war between Insulin and the 3 counter-regulatory hormones that leads to hormone escalation and on to decomposition when the Pancreas can no longer keep up Insulin output. It's really no wonder we have a diabetes crisis in America and other industrialized nations. We go through four or five stages on the metabolic continuum until we end up very sick. The stages are,

• Stage 1- Insulin sensitive: too much energy input. (too much food) but Insulin and response to Insulin is still functioning normally
• Stage 2- Insulin Sensitive: Cells every where but muscle cells are able to take up insulin. Weight gain starting
• Stage 3 – Insulin resistance: Muscle and Fat cells can not take in Insulin but the Liver is still insulin sensitive. High Fasting Insulin, High triglycerides, increased visceral fat, normal blood sugar
• Stage 4- Insulin resistance in the muscles, fat, and liver. No new weight gain low insulin levels, high triglycerides, high blood sugar.

During the healing process it's important to remember that we didn't damage our body overnight so we can not heal overnight. There are stages that we went through getting ill and will have to go back through those stages on our path to health.

Although the number of people in America with Insulin Resistance and Diabetes is high and expected to keep rising there may be hope for slowing progression with education and coaching. As a coach it will be my job to recognize the signs that someone may be headed for Insulin resistance. In order to intervene in this progression without causing more damage I need to work a 5 step program and help clients alleviate stressors.

1. Nutritional stress: It is important to feed people who are Insulin Resistant because if their Insulin is being blunted by the Counter-regulatory hormones they are malnourished. So this first step is a balanced healthy diet with a lot of supplements.
2. Emotional stress: After a proper nutrition program is in place it is important to manage emotional stress. This is a tough one. First the person has to be honest about what stressors they are under. Then once the stressors are identified a plan for how to deal with these stresses needs to be established.
3. Physical Stress: After the nutritional and emotional stressors are dealt with it's time to deal with the physical stress of things like not sleeping, exercising too much or not at all. If dealing with the nutritional and emotional stressors still have not helped reduce the physical stressors like not sleeping, more counseling may be needed.
4. Environmental: After Nutritional, Emotional and Physical stressors have been eliminated one must eliminate environmental (chemical) stressors and these include preservatives, sugar substitutes, caffeine, soda, alcohol, tobacco etc.
5. Spiritual: Finally, then it's time to address the spiritual stressors. Everyone needs to feel they have made a mark, they are important and they are good. It's at this time, after all the other stressors have been dealt with, that people can determine whether they have been true to themselves and what why or why not.

As a health coach it will be my job to identify current health issues and potential health issues and guide my clients through the journey to wellness. Understanding the five aspects of health and how they intertwine is imperative to bringing a client to full whole health. The interconnectedness of our bodies, our mind, our soul, and the environment must be focus when diagnosing and healing.

Want to know what lies in your future?

As part of my Nutritional Health and Wellness Coaching program I read the book The Schwarzbein Principle which I have mentioned in pasts posts.  This book was revolutionary for me because it explained in detail how we can be sick or healthy from the food we eat.  Dr. Schwarzbein is an endocrinologist which means she studies hormonal systems and her book integrates, the science of what happens in our body to the food we eat, our digestive hormones, what role the hormones play, and our stress related hormones.  From this she explains what to do to be healthy and it really made sense.  Nothing about cutting out whole food groups or unrealistic exercise programs. I instinctively felt like the book made sense not just nutritionally but also from a physical perspective. 

I have been to her website, http://www.schwarzbeinprinciple.com.  I highly recommend either her books, videos, or public lectures, she is a wealth of knowledge.  From the site you can also answer a questionnaire about your eating habits and illnesses. Based on that it can tell you if your possibly Insulin sensitive, insulin resistant, have healthy or suppressed adrenal glands, etc.  From the site you can order a testing kit for about $275-$500 that she will send you and then provide detailed analysis as well as recommend a healing plan if necessary.  If I wasn't already doing something similar with my nutritionist I would definitely do the test.

Health problems like Diabetes, Cancer, Heart disease, and Alzheimer's don't happen over night.  They are environmental, hormonal, emotional, and nutritional problems that manifest over time and go undetected until the disease has arrived.  Wouldn't it be beneficial to know if you were on track for a potential problem while there is still time to change course?  The body is not set up to self destruct it is set up to take care of itself. Even if you are sick already health can still be achieved but it's much easier to treat a potential problem with some small changes.  I recommend her site, check it out http://www.schwarzbeinprinciple.com/pgs/testing/testing_overvw_gi.html.

You and I are part of the food chain

In all of my posts I write about eating healthy and what that means but the best way to sum up how to eat is, realize we are part of the food chain and that we need to eat the very same biochemicals of which we are inherently composed.  We are made up of the same elements as those in plants and animals; oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon.  We are not made up of Caramel color, BHT, and diacetyl tartaric acid just to name a few. 
There are 17,000 items in you average grocery store and most of them are food-like substances. Think about  the food chain next time you are at the grocery store. What if we fed the animals food-like substances and nourished the soil with the chemicals in many of the items in the grocery store?  Would we want to put those into our body? If we eat chemicals they are part of the food chain and any ingested chemicals that are not made in the body damage the body.  Chemicals and man made foods can actually damage and change the cells in the body which not only age us faster, they can affect mood, impact behavior, and have affect quality of life.  In the book Food and Behavior by Barbara Reed Stitt she examines how many of criminal offenders live on a diet of high sugar and highly processed food.  She points out that broad studies indicate that many people who show abnormal, anti-social, delinquent, or violent behavior are suffering from brain malnutrition and brain poisoning from living on diets of highly processed food and junk food.
I would recommend that next time your shopping take a look at what your putting in the cart. Is it part of the food chain? Or part of the billion dollar food industry?  If it's part of the food chain enjoy, if it's part of the food industry it's best left on the shelves.

Want to lose fat? Then eat fat.

On Friday I made the case for why you should eat plenty of protein and today I will make my case for why you should eat fat.  DO NOT eat a low-fat diet if you want to loose weight and be healthy.  I realize it has been the suggested way to loose weight for the last 25-30 years however I submit that a low-fat diet doesn't work.  As Americans we eat low-fat cheese, fat free milk, low fat salad dressing, 92% lean ground beef, and very little fatty animals such as duck. But guess what, as a nation our weight is going up, our waist line is getting bigger, we are not lowering our cholesterol, and most of us are over fed and under nourished.  In the book "The Schwarzbein Principle" by Dr. Diana Schwarzbein she explains how fat from animals, fish, nuts, and dairy can helps us loose weight  and be healthier. Below I will share some of the information I learned with you.

WHY EAT FATS:

1. Cholesterol and fats are used by the body as building material and this replenishment must come from dietary sources.
2. Cholesterol keeps your cells permeable so that nutrients can pass through, if you deprive your body of cholesterol your cell membrane structures can become hardened thereby increasing the risk of abnormal cell division and growth, raising the potential for cancer.
3. Cholesterol is also the structural material from which many important hormones are made and upsetting the delicate balance of hormones in the body can lead to a cascade of problems.
4. Cholesterol is essential for your brain keeping the neuro-transmitters functioning properly.

It's hard to believe we should eat fat, after all the company line for 30 years has been "eat less fat and watch your cholesterol". But think back 50-60 years ago.  The advice  back then for someone who gained a little weight and was worried about it was "cut back on the bread and sweets".  That is more accurate. Many of us are told by doctors and mainstream media to eat less fat in order to lower our HDL's and raise our VLDL's and therefore reduce the risk of heart attack.  Unfortunately, this advice came from a medical study done in the late 1979-1980 time frame  called the "Effect of Diet and Smoking Intervention on the incidence of Coronary Artery Disease"  It appeared in the December 12th issue of the medical journal "The Lancet".  the unfortunate part is that the study was interpreted wrong.  The fact that the control group was able to significantly lower their cholesterol had to do with the fact that they also cut back or quit smoking.  At the time it was not known that smoking had an effect on Cholesterol.

If you do not eat enough cholesterol then your body will begin to over produce cholesterol on it's own from the carbohydrates you eat.  Insulin is a very powerful hormone and is actually to blame for clogging arteries as well as fat storage.  A study "Effects of Intraarterial Insulin on Tissue Cholesterol and fatty acids in Alloxan-Diabetic Dogs" proved this point, dogs were infused with insulin into the femoral arteries and all developed plaqueing of the arteries.

There are plenty of things in our lives these days that can contribute to heart disease; stress, over the counter and prescription drugs, age, waist line circumference, lack of exercise, high insulin levels, tobacco, and stimulants, but not cholesterol.  So what I am recommending is that if you want to be healthier and loose body fat, eat a diet that is rich in good protein and fats.  I am not advocating damaged fats like fried foods or hydrogenated oils but simple nature made foods.  The simpler the food the better, eat up.

Watch out there is a fat virus going around!

We humans are not to blame for being overweight, it's not my fault or your fault it's the virus, yeah right.

Yep, you heard me there is a fat virus going around, just check this link from Fox News, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,482788,00.html you know Fox News is never wrong. OK I'm probably going to get blasted if anyone reads this post but I've got to write it anyway. Virus or no virus we are what we eat. If we eat a sandwich as big as our head, chips and a soda or greasy hamburgs, fried chicken, french fries while flying down the highway at 70mph we are going to be in trouble.

OK the sarcasm is over and I am going to take a stand on what we should eat to be healthy and explain why. My statements may go against some pretty big organizations such as the American Heart Association, the USDA food pyramid, and some others but if you read the book “The Schwarzbein Principle” by doctor Diana Schwarzbein I think you would agree that what she says make scientific sense. Today I am going to focus on Protein and why it should be a big part of your diet. Tomorrow I'll tackle the issue of eating fat.

If you want to be healthy and achieve your healthy weight, What do you eat?

• Protein (Meat, poultry, fish, dairy, soy, limited legumes, select grains)
• Fats (from fish, meats, dairy, nuts seeds, vegetables) (Do not eat processed fats)
• Non-starchy vegetables (lettuce, peppers, mushrooms, asparagus, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, etc.)
• Fruits and starchy vegetables (any fruit and carrots, sweet potatoes, yams, beets, corn, peas)
• Grains (only whole grains – Brown rice, Quinoa, wheat bread, rye bread, oatmeal)
• Desserts (in very small quantities)

What eat meat, dairy? Yes protein is important. Protein and fats are used in the body for rebuilding muscles and cells.  Insulin is the hormone that  directs the storage of excess sugar in the muscle and fat cells.  Protein and fats do not stimulate the secretion of insulin.   Insulin is produced when too much sugar enters the blood stream from carbohydrates (carbohydrates are fruit, grains, starchy vegetables, and sweets).  Below are some reasons you should eat a lot of protein,

1. Protein contains 20 amino acids, 10 of which your body can make the other 10 you must take in.
2. Protein and fat are the building blocks of our cells and we need a constant supply of protein for rebuilding and hormone production.
3. Proteins called immunoglobins are the substances of you immune system.
4. Your cells rely on proteins and fats in REAL food to replenish tissues within your body. Without real food you will damage the cells in your body. Real food is not man made and doesn't come in colorful packaging.
5. There is a difference between 100 calories of rice crisps and 100 calories of good protein. A calorie is measured as the amount of energy required to raise one gram of water one degree Celsius. To determine this scientists broke down the food chemical bonds completely, underwater and then measured the change in temperature of the water from the heat generated during these chemical reactions. The problem is that 100 calories of carbohydrates in you body have to be used immediately or stored but since proteins and fats can be used for building blocks not just energy their ends up being less energy that needs to be stored.
6. If you eat protein your body can build lean muscle mass and so you will have more insulin receptors in your muscles and less chance of being insulin resistance
7. When you don't eat enough protein and fat your body uses it's own protein for survival and bones, hair, and nails become dry and thin.
   
   So in case you missed the point here whether there is or is not a “fat virus” it is important to eat a balanced diet but a very different balance than the USDA food pyramid. Think of it as a square divided into 4 equal parts, protein, fat, vegetables, carbohydrates. You should eat 25% of your daily intake from each and you will be healthy, a healthy weight, and nourished as long as your digestive system is working properly.

Can I get out of this life alive?

Nope, dammit. Aging is a natural occurrence where our system of cellular rebuilding slows down and our bodies break down more material than they rebuild. Over the course of a life time everyone develops insulin resistance you would expect a 95 year old person might would be insulin resistant or diabetic. However, so many younger people are struggling with insulin resistance and diabetes because of “Accelerated Metabolic Aging” as described in Dr. Diana Schwarzbein's book “The Schwarzbein Principle”. Accelerated Metabolic aging can be stopped or prevented and is caused by lifestyle factors we already know are not good; poor diet, alcohol, caffeine, lack of exercise, stress, tobacco, drug use.

Below is a look at why we struggle with this epidemic.

The brain is is like a dictator and needs constant nourishment but just the right amount. So Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas that does two things. First it alerts the liver to high amounts of sugar coming into the blood stream from the small intestine. This way the liver doesn't allow it to pass to the brain and experience the dictator's wrath. Second, insulin stows away sugar into cells thereby decreasing blood sugar. After years of high carbohydrate (carbohydrate being, fruit, grains, starches, sodas, sweets, alcohol) meals it translates into excess sugar in the body. Cells then are so filled with sugar they can not hold anymore so they start to close their receptor doors. Since the blood sugar is still too high the pancreas secretes even more insulin and the cells react by closing even more receptor doors. This is known as insulin resistance. When too many cell doors are closed to sugar storage extra sugar is in the bloodstream is diverted to fat. When the fat cells and muscle cells are closed the sugar remains in the bloodstream and you have diabetes.

Important to note here that Insulin is secreted only when alerted because of carbohydrates entering the blood not fat and protein.

Insulin is one of many hormones in the body and when it is out of sync other hormones will follow like a domino train. Increased Insulin can lead to increased adrenaline and cortisol levels which aggravate the problem even further by wasting away muscle which has more insulin receptors than fat.

Luckily the body is very resilient and the problem can be corrected. To correct the problem one would need to go very low carbohydrate, eat plenty of protein and fat in order to build muscle, and exercise to build muscle

Is your digestive system functioning properly? Would you know?

It is amazing to me that each day very little time is spent thinking about what we eat. Assuming we have access to food, we often think about what to eat from the perspectives of taste, weight loss, or ingredient avoidance but we don't really think about what food combinations will give us the best fuel and extend health. So if we spend very little time considering our bodily needs at that moment and long term we spend even less time thinking about what happens in our body once the food is eaten. Here are a couple reasons we should think about what happens in that black hole between our rib cage and our anus.

1. Majority of how well nourished we are has to do with what happens between our mouth and our anus. It's not all what we buy or order.
2. Your digestive system is one of the most important immunological functions
3. The largest single complaint that brings people to the Emergency Room is digestive problems.

How many of us have heard about a friend or family member who has been diagnosed with an illness such as Cancer, Diabetes, heart disease, etc. and we think “Wow I can't believe that has happened to her! She only ate organic, vegetarian, and always exercised. I guess it doesn't matter what we eat so I'll have the beer, nachos, and what's for dessert?” What we eat matters but there are two other steps in nutrition that are also very important and those are absorption and assimilation. Here is a quick run down of what happens when you eat.

• You smell, see, anticipate food and your body starts to secrete digestive enzymes in the mouth and stomach
• You chew – your teeth and salivary amylase (spit) start to break down food into manageable pieces
• Bolus (food mixed with Saliva) moves down the esophagus to the stomach
• The stomach secretes Hydrochloric acid to lower the pH so pepsin is activated. These acids breakdown the peptide bonds of the food and kill bacteria
• Food mixed with gastric juices (this mixture is called Chyme) moves into the duodenum (the upper part of the small intestine). In the duodenum the stomach acid is neutralized and secretions from the liver and pancreas break down the chyme even further into the tiniest particles.
• Food then moves to the jejenum (the second 3^rd of the small intestine) and food now in the form of maltose, sucrose, lactose, and glucose is being absorbed through the epithelial cells lined with micro villi.
• Food is absorbed into the portal vein and sent to the liver for direction and further purification (some long chain fatty acids can not cross the brush barrier into the portal vein and are transported via the lymph system to the liver)
• At this point any waste from all this break down is directed to the large intestine. The large intestine takes one more crack at digestion but mainly wages a war against the bacteria in the food waste. The large intestine also removes the water from the waste and absorbs this water back into your blood stream That's right, water in you body is water that has gone through the digestive system into the colon and is now being reabsorbed back into the blood. Now you're starting to see that it might be important to eat as cleanly as possible.
• The final step is assimilation - Assimilation is the process by which nutrients are passed through the membranes which surround each living cell For this process to take place, cells, especially their membranes — must be healthy.

Setting aside the hormonal components of nutrition and just looking at the digestive system it's no wonder we visit ER's most with digestive complaints. So much can go wrong, excess hydrochloric acid backing up into the esophagus (indigestion), too much bacteria in the stomach (salmonella), ulcers of the duodenum if the acid is not neutralized properly, tares in the intestinal wall from anti-inflammatories, alcohol, or allergy causing foods, over taxed livers from too many toxins in the food, colon's without the right bacteria to kill the bad bacteria before being reabsorbed, or cells with hardened membranes caused by low-fat diets (more later on this topic).

What can be done to promote better digestion?

1. Eat organic clean food
2. Eat a balanced diet with fiber from fruits and veggies to keep things moving
3. Eat Greek Yogurt or take pro-biotic supplements for the colon
4. Take a Glutamine supplement to repair tears in the small intestine
5. Take vitamin C to help you immune system
6. Consider doing a cleanse or taking an anti-fungal to get rid of yeast in your body
7. Eat slowly and never eat when you are stressed or angry.

Functional Medicine

If you have a chronic illness like Asthma, Allergies. Arthritis, Diabetes, or Depression and are taking continuous medicine for it you should consider finding a doctor who practices functional medicine.  Functional Medicine is a holistic approach to healing your illness instead of medicating it.  You can be cured if you remove the injurious stimuli.  Functional Medicine is a type of medicine that is practiced by an M.D. or D.O. who aims to find the cause instead of medicating the symptoms.  www.functionalmedicine.org is a website that enables you to find a doctor in proximity to your zip code. Below is information I have copied from Dr. Mark Hyman's web page describing the approach.  If only this way of thinking was taught in our very rigid medical school system.  We spend a lot of money in the U.S. on treatments and finding cures for illness, doesn't it make more sense to prevent the illness in the first place?  (Sigh), I wish medical schools taught prevention and medical researchers researched ways to prevent illness but alas there is no money in it so why would we want to do that?  Enjoy Dr. Hyman's  info below.

Inflammation is "hot" topic in medicine. It appears connected to almost every known chronic disease -- from heart disease to cancer, diabetes to obesity, autism to dementia, and even depression. Other inflammatory diseases such as allergies, asthma, arthritis, and autoimmune disease are increasing at dramatic rates. As physicians we are trained to shut off inflammation with aspirin, anti-inflammatory medication such as Advil or Motrin, steroids and increasingly more powerful immune suppressing medication with serious side effects. But we are not trained to find and treat the underlying causes of inflammation in chronic disease. Hidden allergens, infections, environmental toxins, an inflammatory diet, and stress are the real causes of these inflammatory conditions.
Autoimmune diseases, specifically, now affect 24 million people and include rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, thyroid disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and more. These are often addressed by powerful immune suppressing medication and not by addressing the cause. That's like taking a lot of aspirin while you are standing on a tack. The treatment is not more aspirin or a strong immune suppressant, but removing the tack.
It you want to cool off inflammation in the body, you must find the source. Treat the fire, not the smoke. In medicine we are mostly taught to diagnose disease by symptoms, NOT by their underlying cause. Functional medicine, the emerging 21st paradigm of systems medicine teaches us to treat the cause, not only the symptoms, to ask the question WHY are you sick, not only WHAT disease do you have.
I recently participated in a group discussion with a conventional doctor, a rheumatologist, and patient with an autoimmune disease, and one of my patients who was cured of a complex autoimmune disease by addressing the causes. The focus of the other doctors, however, was on how to suppress the inflammation with medication, not finding and treating the cause. Functional medicine is a different way of thinking about disease that helps us understand and treat the real causes of inflammation instead of finding clever ways to shut it down. Medicine as it is practiced today is like taking the battery out of a smoke detector while a fire burns down your house!
When my patient described how he cured his autoimmune disease by finding and eliminating the causes of inflammation in his diet and environment, it was dismissed as a "spontaneous remission." In the face of a paradigm-shattering medical case, these docs were hardly curious and quickly dismissive, describing what was shared as anecdotal.
My patient on that panel, a hard-working 46-year old father of three was once so inflamed he could barely function. By treating the underlying causes of his inflammation he is now in vibrant good health, enjoying his life with his kids and fully capable of caring for them.
Stories like these (and the many others I have shared in my blogs, books, and on television) are not anecdotes but a giant compass pointing us in the direction we should be looking to find answers to our health problems.

Low Serotonin?

Can't concentrate? Feel tired? Not sleeping well? Craving carbs (sugar, alcohol, fruit, chocolate, crackers, chips, bread, etc)? Not waking feeling happy and rested? You my friend may have low serotonin levels in your brain.  
Serotonin is responsible for communicating the various needs of the brain cells between the body and the nervous system. Serotonin is one of the major neurotransmitters that affects mood. Our lifestyles today are not ones that leave us with healthy levels of serotonin in the brain. A rush of serotonin stored in our brain is released every time we;

• eat man made carbohydrates
• eat a low fat diet,
• take over the counter or prescribed medications (yes even the anti-depressants)
• drink soda, drink coffee, tea
• eat sweets
• drink alcohol
• are stressed
• smoke cigarettes

This is problem!  It's a problem because it can lead to insulin resistance, weight gain, diabetes, and can set up a vicious cycle of addiction.  All of the activities above either cause a rush of insulin into the blood stream or increase adrenaline which wastes away lean body mass and prevents your body from storing fat in the fat cells.  Muscle and fat cells, with open insulin receptors, are required for insulin to store excess sugar the brain can not immediately use.  If  you want to feel good, loose weight, and stop the noise in your head telling you to crave certain things (mine are coffee, chocolate, and wine) you need to boost the Serotonin in your brain.  

Here is a list of ways to start;  (courtesy of Dr, Diana Schwarzbein - author of The Schwarzbein Principle)

• Eat a diet that includes proteins, real fats, non starchy vegetables, and carbohydrates (notice carbs are listed last, they should be the smallest portion of your diet and consist of fruit and whole grain)
• Take B vitamin, calcium, and Magnesium supplements (At least the RDA)
• Take 250-300mg of St. John's Wort starting once a day and building up to 3xs a day
• 1,000mg 2x's a day of essential fatty acids (Here we go again, I recommend Fish oil or flax seed supplements.  You probably get enough Omega 6's but not enough Omega 3s)
• 25-50mg of 5-hydroxy -tryptophan at bedtime (5-HTP available over the counter)

Ok so I have started the fish oil and the St. John's Wort and will start the other vitamins next week.  My goal is to give up caffeine, wine, and chocolate by April 1st and not feel horrible.  If you read my 28 day cleanse posts you know I felt awful during the whole cleanse and I didn't even give up the morning coffee. So I'm hoping for the best and giving this a shot.  (P.S. I'm putting my husband on this regimen also and for those of you who know him you know it's probably a good thing)

Prevalence of Celiac's disease for average, healthy people is 1 in 133

Please Read!! Prevalence of  Celiac's disease for average, healthy people is 1 in 133

I was surprised to learn yesterday that Celiac's disease is not nearly as rare as many of us believe, one out of 133 people have Celiac's. And a significant number of people with celiac disease - 60% of children and 41% of adults, according to one study - do not exhibit any symptoms, which include but are not limited to diarrhea or constipation. The consequences however do occur and they have a profound effect on the brain.
Below are some statistics about Celiac's disease, damage it can cause in the brain if undiagnosed, and ways to reverse the damage. After reviewing the Brain Health by lecture, by Dr. Perlmutter through my course with the National Institute of Whole Health and doing just a bit of research I have uncovered the following information;

Carol M. Shilson, executive director of the center of Celiac disease at the University of Chicago says 
"Because it is a lifelong genetic disease that can be passed on, it's important to get a proper diagnosis," Shilson said. "And you have to be eating a regular diet (with gluten) or all the diagnostic tests will be rendered invalid."  There is a simple blood test that your doctor can have done that will definitively tell you if you have a gluten intolerance and although you may not have the intolerance you can still have a wheat allergy and or a sensitivity.
Some further facts: • Prevalence of gluten intolerance for average, healthy people is 1 in 133; for people with first-degree relatives (parent, child, sibling) who are celiac, 1 in 22; and for those with second-degree relatives (aunt, uncle, cousin) who are celiac, 1 in 39.
Estimated prevalence for African-, Hispanic- and Asian-Americans is 1 in 236.
• Celiac disease affects at least 3 million Americans.
• Once diagnosed, gluten intolerance is for life, and the only treatment is elimination of gluten from the diet.
• A significant number of people with Celiac disease - 60% of children and 41% of adults, according to one study - do not exhibit any symptoms, which include but are not limited to diarrhea or constipation.
• The average length of time it takes for a person with symptoms to be diagnosed with celiac disease in the United States is four years.

If you have an undiagnosed gluten intolerance it can lead to

• ADHD
• Alzheimers
• Brain Atrophy
• Dementia

These disorders can manifest from an undiagnosed celiac's disease by causing silent inflammation in the body specifically in the brain.  There is a long scientific explanation but the short of it is that in a person sensitive to gluten there is a reaction to Gliadin (a protein in Gluten) that causes an Immune System cross reaction with the small bowel tissue and it interferes with vitamin and mineral absorption.  See Dr. Perlmutter's blog here http://renegadeneurologist.com/mayo-clinic-discovers-potential-link-between-celiac-disease-and-cognitive-decline/.
I would encourage everyone to go to their doctor and request a Gluten Sensitivity Test, that is health care! If we wait until problems present we are not caring for our health but healing or medicating an illness. If you are Gluten Sensitive and you did not know it chances are that your vitamin and mineral absorption has been affected.  You may want to consult a holistic nutritionist but at the very least I would recommend that you start taking the supplements below. Dr. Perlmutter recommends these supplements for the prevention of Alheimers and since there is a link between Celiac's disease and Alzheimer's your brain and immune system may be starved. Since these are natural substances there are far less side effects than with prescribed medicines and more benefits.

• High quality purified fish Oil supplements - DHA is critical to building a brain, numerous studies recognize the importance of DHA essential fatty acid in te developing brain. Also DHA is an anti-inflammatory fat
•  B12, B3, B6 vitamins 100mg
• Vitamin C 800 mg
• Vitamin E 400IU
• Ginko Biloba 60 mg
• Co Q 10 60mg
• Magnesium 400mg
• Zinc 20mg