You control your health. It is your responsibility!

Nutrition and lifestyle can make a bigger difference on our health than any medication and a relatively few number of people are actually taking advantage of this avenue for health. Heart disease, cancer, and diabetes are not just a fact of getting older and the causes are primarily not genetic. It's time the public was informed that they have real control over their health. Getting one of the diseases that plague our society today is not arbitrary! It is in direct relation to how we live our lives. We own the responsibility of caring for ourselves and we can not rely on the miracles of modern medicine to keep us healthy. Modern medicine can not keep us healthy! It can keep us from death for an extended period of time but it can not keep us healthy. Most of us are born with health. We have all we need to live a long healthy life but we do not care for our health and nurture it.  So how do we care for our health?

1) Engage in physical activity- A minimum of 30 minutes a day 7 days a week at a medium to rapid pace. Start a walking group, take a dance class, buy a bicycle, learn tennis, anything that keeps us moving. Remember, what is in motion stays in motion. It doesn't have to be hard exercise, it could be two 15 minute walks.

2) Eat Healthy - Nutritional information seems to be all over the map depending on who you ask but since our health is directly linked to our survival and our quality of life, I would encourage everyone to make an effort to seek out the truth about what to eat. Should we seek the truth from RJR-Nabisco or Phillip Morris-Kraft? They would have no reason to bias any information, right? Even the USDA advice should be looked upon critically since their primary roll is to support big meat, big dairy, and big grain processes. I encourage everyone to seek information from sources that are not supported or funded by anyone with something to sell. Seek the evidence of pure research or speak with people who have done the research and you will find that we need to:

• remove complex carbohydrates in the form of processed food (no cookies, crackers, bread, bagels, waffles, candy, ice cream, soda, etc.) from our diet
• remove trans-fats from the diet (and yes that means goodbye fried food)
• include three servings of whole grains a day (brown rice, quinoa, spelt, oats, barley, wheat berries)
• eat as many raw fruits and vegetables as you want
• include 3 servings of lean protein a day
• use good oils (olive oil, canola oil, soybean oil, avocado oil)
• eat nuts
• eat fish
• restrict dairy to one serving a day or less
• limit red meat to 2 servings a week.
• Take fish oil and a multivitamin

  3) Think Spiritually - What is it that we value? What do we want to embody? What we eat contributes to the essence of who we are and what we value. Do we value a disease free body, fit capable body, or a pure body and then we must think about the choices we make and do the correspond with what we value.

4)  Go Green - There are many environmental factors that impact our health such as chemicals in our; food, body products, plastic containers, and air. We should seek to remove as many of these chemicals from our lives as possible so they are not endocrine disruptors. Get back to products that are natural, good for the earth, and good for us. There is wisdom in how our ancestors lived and what they shared with us.

5) Stress is another BIG environmental factor in our health that we should seek to limit. Continuing to release stress hormones causes vitamin and mineral deficiencies and wears our body down. Many times stress is a value system problem.  We may be stressed because we are being asked to act in a way that is in conflict with what we value. Meditation can be a great way of relieving stress or simply setting aside 15 minutes a day to sit alone quietly and breath deeply.

 

What exactly is the mind body connection?

No state of mind exists that is not reflected by a state of the immune system. Body and mind are one, the body is the actual outward manifestation, in physical space, of the mind. Candace Pert's work brilliantly proves the mind body connection which unfortunately today is still not always considered in U.S. Medicine when offering treatment options. The mind is a very complex organ which has as it's primary goal to survive.

Physically it's important to understand, our brain is made up of molecules containing receptors and ligands which are neurotransmitters, steroids, and peptides. Our brain is constantly receiving information through our senses and responding to the cells in the rest of the body through our thoughts and emotions. No two brains are the same and our brain will not be the same from birth to death. Our brains experience two large growth periods, one in early childhood and then again in adolescence. Once hormones are introduced reproduction, as a basic instinct, takes center stage in our behavior until we are older and hormones diminish. Once hormones diminish clearer thinking will return.

Our environment is constantly changing and our brain is always directing our body in how to react. These reactions are recorded experiences and our expressed emotions are fundamentally survival adaptive responses. We must learn recognize these adapted behaviors and forgive some of the behavior we and others engage in, realizing these learned behaviors are how we cope with what threatens us.

Our Limbic brain is where information from the senses is stored, translated, and sent up to the higher brain for action. It is often referred to as the emotional brain because it is the axis where sensory information is converted to survival adaptive responses shown as behavior. The Limbic brain contains a high concentration of receptors and peptides. Candace Pert states” Neuropeptides and their receptors thus join the brain, glands, and immune system in a network of communication between brain and body, probably representing the biochemical substrate of emotion.” It could be that spontaneous healing is the result of the Limbic brain receiving a healing message so clearly that the peptides alter the direction of cells in the immune and endocrine system.

A lot of study has been done on neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, endorphins and many others as a pathway for drugs both illegal and prescription. In these studies it has been shown that altered neurotransmitter levels can be the cause of addictions. If your neurotransmitter levels are low in the body using certain drugs can release stored neurotransmitters until eventually you are depleted. This is how an addictive cycle is set up with drugs such as extascy, cocaine, and heroine. A big release happens when the pathway is opened and after the high there is a an extreme low so addicts get high again trying to feel the same way. Neurotransmitters can become low without the use of heavy illegal drugs. Much of our American diet leads to low serotonin levels and many antidepressants and other prescribed drugs can also deplete neurotransmitter levels.

Spiritually, we can impact our emotions and our immune system by exposing ourselves to goodness. There have been studies such as the “Mother Theresa effect” that show a bolstered immunogloblin 1A just by the presence of goodness or a study that found people diagnosed with a disease lived longer if they had a support network. The value we put on ourselves and our relationship with others can have a positive emotional and immunological response.

Our bodies and mind are one. “All emotions are healthy, because emotions are what unite the mind and body. Anger, fear, sadness, the so-called negative emotions, are as healthy as peace, courage, and joy. To repress these emotions and not them flow freely is to set up a dis-integrity in the system, causing it to act at cross-purposes rather than as a unified whole.

Is dairy in the U.S. safe to consume?

Is dairy in the U.S. safe to consume? The USDA recommends adults have three servings a day and our children are pushed to drink milk by their parents, doctors, and schools but the milk of today is not at all the same as the dairy our ancestors ate.  The growth hormones and estrogen given to cows cause rapid cell division and the hormones end up in the milk. According to a Harvard School of Public Health researcher, Dr. Walter Willett, No one is manning the shop keeping track of exactly how much of these hormones ends up the milk.  He and colleagues have done studies that show there may be more harm than good done from dairy consumption, that it may be better to take calcium supplements, and that low vitamin D may be the real health problem.  Below is a link to an article about some U.S. dairy and the cancer link.

http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2006/12.07/11-dairy.html

The Science of how High Fructose Corn Syrup Can Kill You!

Dr. Mark Hyman is a family physician who has spent his career looking for the root causes of chronic diseases and medically treating people as whole humans not individual diseases.  He writes a great article about the propaganda campaign the Corn Refiner's Association is underwriting to tell Americans that High Fructose Corn Syrup is the same as sugar and that used in moderation it is not a health risk.  In the article he outlines the science of how the molecular structure of HFCS is different than simple sugar and the health risks that it poses.  If you are unsure of whether you should STAY AWAY from High Fructose Corn Syrup read this article,

5 Reasons High Fructose Corn Syrup Will Kill You

What happens when we engineer food?

If you have not paid much attention to what is happening to the food production in the U.S. you might want to start now. According to the Human Genome Project, a government initiative out of Oak Ridge National Laboratories, 53% of the crops grown in the US are genetically modified.  Since 1996 genetically modified food has exploded in corn, cottonseed, and soybeans to name a few.  I would be very suspicious of GM food since we also have more people than ever suffering from food allergies, autoimmune diseases, autism, and behavioral problems. Below you can read some of the reasons there is an effort to get the Millions Against Monsanto campaign going. If you are not sure about what the problems with GM food are, read on:

#1 Monsanto's Bt-toxin, in its Bt-producing GMO corn and cotton (used in food in the form of cottonseed oil), was found by Canadian doctors in the blood of 93% of pregnant women and 80% of the umbilical blood of their babies.

#2 The authors of the Canadian study conclude that the women and their babies were exposed to Monsanto's GMO Bt-toxin through a "normal" non-organic Canadian diet, including non-organic (so-called "natural" and "conventional") meat, egg, and dairy products from animals fed Bt corn.

#3 Monsanto's GMO "Bt" corn and cotton plants are engineered to produce a insecticide in every cell of the plant that kills insects by breaking open their stomachs.

#4 Mice fed Monsanto's Bt corn had elevated levels of immune system substances that are also higher in humans who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis, cancer, allergies, Lou Gehrig's disease, autoimmune disease, and colitis.

#5 Young mice in the same study had elevated T-cells, which are increased in people with asthma, and in children with food allergies, juvenile arthritis, and connective tissue diseases.

#6 Monsanto's GMO Bt-toxin has properties of known allergens - it actually fails the World Health Organization's allergen screening tests.

#7 Monsanto's GMO Bt-toxin has been found to bind with the small intestines in mice and with intestinal tissue in rhesus monkeys.

#8 In addition to its GMO "Bt" crops which are engineered to produce insecticide, Monsanto also produces GMO "RoundUp Ready" crops, engineered with a bacterial DNA that allows it to survive otherwise deadly doses of its herbicide RoundUp.

#9 In the only human feeding study ever published on GMOs, Monsanto's GMO "RoundUp Ready" soybeans were found to transfer Monsanto's "RoundUp Ready" DNA to the bacteria living inside human intestines.

#10 According to Jeffrey Smith of the Institute for Responsible Technology, the transfer of Monsanto's GMO Bt DNA to human digestive bacteria could create a "living pesticide factory" that could be responsible for the "increase in gastrointestinal problems, autoimmune diseases, food allergies, and childhood learning disorders - since 1996 when Bt crops came on the market."

Is exercise really necessary? Can't we just eat better and be healthy?

The short answer is, yes we need exercise not just better eating to attain better health. Here is the long answer of why. 

Our muscles use ATP as their sole source of fuel and ATP is made in the muscle cells by anaerobic respiration. Oxygen determines how much ATP will be made in the muscles so fitness is how much oxygen can be consumed in the muscle cell mitochondria. Regular exercise has a major impact on the ability to be healthy and stay healthy. Regular exercise lowers blood lipids, strengthens and makes the heart bigger, lowers blood pressure, increases the size of the muscle mitochondria for better metabolism, decreases the rate of fatigue, strengthens the bones, and shifts your body composition from fat to lean muscle mass reducing metabolic syndromes. There is no down side to exercise so it must be part of any healthy lifestyle.

Nutritionally, carbohydrates and fats can both be used to make energy and using fat sounds good but carbohydrates are more efficient and better for performance. It takes about 30 minutes of exercise for fat to start supplementing the carbohydrates for energy. Most people aren't running marathons although some do and so I illustrate that we only have 1500 calories of stored carbohydrate energy and if we burn about 100 calories per mile we will run out of carbohydrate fuel after 15 miles and have to utilize our 70,000 calories of stored fat energy. Which is harder and it's called hitting the wall when your body makes the switch. More glucose during the race is needed.

Emotionally, exercise improves mood by releasing endorphins, the feel good neurotransmitters. According to a Mayo Clinic study it also helps improve mood by reducing immune system chemicals that can worsen depression and it elevates body temperature which has a calming effect It also makes you happier throughout the day if you're not as fatigued by each stressor. You feel better if you accomplished something and you did something good for yourself.

Environmentally, you want to exercise where the air is as clean as possible since you will be sucking a lot into your lungs. Also you want to train where you will be competing if you are an athlete. If you are running a race in Denver the oxygen percentage in the air is lower or if you train in New England and then run a race in Texas it's important to realize how your body will react and what alterations you might need to make.

Some religions claim the body is a temple. I think this is a good way to think about the vessel that allows our spirit to inhabit it. Each spirit is on this earth for a limited amount of time in this body. If we respect our spirit we must respect our body. Taking good care of our our spirits' vessel requires proper nutritional fuel and oxygen to make the muscles work. Exercise makes use of the great food we eat and allows us to consume more oxygen, making the vessel strong. It's important to respect our essence, our unique spirits and the body that carries it.