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

More information on the benefits of Omega 3 Oil

Below is a rather long article about the benefits of Omega 3 oil from a reporter in the UK.  The nuts and bolts of it are,
1) our current eating habits do not contain enough Omega 3 oils and contain too much Omega 6 oils which in combination with refined carbs (bread, sugar, corn syrup, pasta, rice) causes obesity, heart problems, inflammation and other diseases. 
2) Flax seed is very high in Omega 3 oil and low in Omega 6 oil
3) Take Omega 3 oil supplements

In case you want to read the whole article, it's below. I found it interesting but not everyone would.


Nature or nurture? There is an age-old debate about whether performance is primarily ‘in your genes’ or develops in response to training. The common consensus is somewhere in between: that we inherit a set of genes which determine our potential, but it’s our training and nutrition that allow us to reach that potential. However, new evidence suggests this fatalistic approach to our genetic make-up is misplaced; fascinating research is emerging from the world of nutrition to suggest that essential fats in our diet can exert significant control over key metabolic genes in our cells, particularly those involved with fat storage, fat burning and glycogen synthesis. In plain English this means that, while you might not be born with the ideal genetic make-up for your chosen sport or event, correct fatty acid nutrition could help to ‘reprogramme’ your genetic code!
There are two principal essential fats: alpha-linolenic acid (sometimes called omega-3) and linoleic acid (omega-6). These two fats are essential because their chemical structure means that they can be used to make hormone-like substances called prostaglandins, which go on to regulate a host of other functions in the body. However, these fats cannot be synthesised by the body, which is why we rely on getting them ‘ready-made’ from the diet.
The complex structure of the fats also makes them very chemically reactive; put simply, they readily undergo chemical change and ‘fall apart’ when exposed to heat, light or air. This means that storing, cooking or processing foods rich in essential fatty acids (EFAs) inevitably leads to a loss in nutritional value. The problem is that we need more of these EFAs per day than any other single nutrient – measured in tablespoons, not milligrams! And the task of obtaining enough of them in unadulterated form in today’s world of tinned, dried, frozen, fast and processed food is a major challenge.
The best dietary sources of EFAs are nuts, seeds, fatty fish and unrefined whole grains. However, a glance at the table overleaf shows that, while the omega-6 fatty acid is quite abundant, omega-3 is more difficult to obtain. Unless your diet contains significant amounts of seeds and whole grains, it’s likely you’ll be falling short of your optimum omega-3 intake. And simply using more bottled oils, such as soy, rape and walnut oils, on salads and in cooking, may not be the answer either. Commercial oils are inevitably refined, processed and stored, which means that the essential fatty acid content will be partly degraded. Fatty fish, such as mackerel, herrings, sardines, trout and salmon, are rich in two different kinds of omega-3 fats – eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) – which can help to supplement the role of alpha linolenic acid in the body. Notice, though, that olive oil is devoid of omega-3 and very low in omega-6. Contrary to popular belief, olive oil is a very poor source of EFAs!
The role of EFAs in human nutrition has long been recognised; dietary omega-3 and omega-6 fats are needed for the synthesis of prostaglandins, which help regulate certain aspects of metabolism, such as blood viscosity, inflammatory processes, blood cholesterol and fat levels, and water balance. Additionally, it is now widely accepted that a low ratio of EFAs to saturated fatty acids is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD).

New findings on EFAs and obesity

However, more recent research on EFA nutrition has yielded some intriguing new findings. One of these is that increased intakes of these essential fats appear to reduce tissue levels of triglycerides (stored fats), which improves the sensitivity of insulin (the hormone that drives amino acids and glucose into muscle cells), so reducing the risk of obesity and CHD⁽¹⁾. Initially, these beneficial effects of EFAs were thought to be due to changes in the fatty acid composition of the cell membranes, leading to subsequent alterations in hormonal signalling. However, when researchers dug a little deeper it became apparent that something else was going on.

Dietary sources of EFAs

Food	Omega-3 (grams per100g)	Omega-6 (grams per 100g)
Flax	20.3	4.9
Hemp seeds	7.0	21.0
Pumpkin seeds	3.2	23.4
Salmon	3.2	0.7
Walnuts	3.0	30.6
Rape seed	2.1	9.0
Herring	2.0	0.4
Soybeans	1.2	8.6
Butter	1.2	1.8
Olive oil	0.6	7.9
Wheat germ	0.5	5.5
Sunflower seeds	0	30.7
Almond	0	9.2
Olives	0	1.6

They discovered that these fats, particularly those of the omega-3 family, play essential roles in the maintenance of energy balance and glucose metabolism. In particular, they observed a phenomenon known as ‘fuel partitioning’, whereby dietary EFAs were able to direct glucose (from digested carbohydrates) towards glycogen storage while at the same time directing other fatty acids in the body away from triglyceride synthesis (ie fat storage) and towards fatty acid oxidation! In addition, these studies suggested that omega-3 fatty acids have the unique ability to enhance thermogenesis (the burning of excess fat to produce heat), thereby reducing the efficiency of body fat deposition^(2-7). In simple terms, this fuel partitioning phenomenon appears to conserve carbohydrate while simultaneously shedding fat – exactly what most athletes would give their right arm for!
Further study of this fuel partitioning effect led to the discovery that the EFAs were somehow boosting the production of enzymes involved with fatty acid oxidation (such as carnitine palmitoyltransferase, which helps transport fatty acids into the mitochondria of the cells for burning) while at the same time down-regulating the production of enzymes involved in fat synthesis, such as fatty acid synthase ^(8-12).
At first it was assumed that this ‘up-regulation’ of fat burning/glycogen synthesising enzymes and ‘down-regulation’ of fat storage enzymes occurred through hormonal signalling; in other words that the EFAs were somehow altering the cell membranes, causing a change in chemistry and leading to altered enzyme production by the genes responsible. However, these changes in gene transcription occur too quickly to be explained in this way; there seemed to be a much more direct effect. And eventually researchers discovered, to their amazement, that these EFAs were able to control gene expression directly via a steroid-like substance called PPARα ^(13,14).
PPARα is known as a ‘lipid-activated transcription factor’. This means it switches on key genes by binding to DNA, but only when it has been activated itself by binding to lipids such as EFAs. And it turns out that the genes it switches on are precisely those which code for enzymes involved in fat burning! Not only was this a remarkable discovery in itself, it was also the first time science had clearly demonstrated that nutritional components of the diet can exert direct control over the function of genes.
Although PPARα was believed to act as a ‘master switch’, helping to switch on genes involved in fatty acid oxidation and switch off those involved in fat storage, more recent research^(15,16) has demonstrated that the down-regulation of fat storage enzymes occurs because EFAs impair the release of another group of steroid-like substances called ‘sterol response element binding proteins’, or SREBPs for short!^(15,16). One of these (SREBP-1) helps to switch on the gene that codes for a fat synthesis enzyme called fatty acid synthase. However, a different type (SREBP-2) is a regulator of genes coding for proteins involved in cholesterol synthesis, which probably explains why healthy intakes of the EFAs reduce cholesterol ^{(17, 18)}.
The thermogenesis effect of omega-3 fats mentioned earlier is now believed to occur as a result of their ability to activate a gene that codes for a protein called ‘uncoupling protein-3’ ⁽¹³⁾; this protein allows the energy derived from the oxidation of fatty acids to be dissipated as heat, rather than coupled to the metabolic processes in order to do work.

EFAs and athletic performance

The role of EFAs in modifying gene expression and stimulating the phenomenon of fuel partitioning now appears to be scientifically beyond doubt. But how does this translate into athletic performance? Can athletes expect to benefit from metabolic changes brought about by higher intakes of EFAs? Anecdotal reports of increased human performance on high EFA diets abound, but this is a relatively new area of research and hard scientific evidence is thin on the ground.
In 2001 Dr Udo Erasmus (considered by many to be a crusader for the health benefits of EFAs) carried out a study with 61 Danish athletes. After eight weeks of supplementation with a 2:1 blend of omega-3/omega-6 oil, the athletes (selected from a wide variety of sports) showed a significant increase in HDL (healthy) cholesterol levels, a more favourable ratio of HDL to LDL (unhealthy) cholesterol and lower levels of fasting triglycerides. A large percentage of the group also reported subjective improvements in endurance and recovery. However, subjective measurements are notoriously prone to the placebo effect, which means that the results should be interpreted with caution.
Meanwhile, a well-controlled study carried out on football players in 1997 showed no increase in VO2max or anaerobic threshold when diets were supplemented with 2.5 grams per day of omega-3 from fish oils ⁽¹⁹⁾. However, the dose of omega-3 used was very small, and the fuel partitioning effects of EFAs described above could only be expected to improve endurance and reduce body fat – parameters which were not assessed in this study.
Turn to animal and ‘in vitro’ studies, though, and things begin to look much more promising. In a study carried out last year, scientists studied the effects of omega-3 fat supplementation on swimming performance in rats ⁽²⁰⁾. By comparison with a control group of unsupplemented rats, there was a 300% rise in the ‘swimming muscle’ levels of FABP, a protein that binds fatty acids and transports them to the mitochondria for oxidation, but no increase in muscle triglycerides. The researchers concluded that this effect was probably due to an up-regulation of the fatty acid metabolism genes via the PPARα mechanism discussed earlier.
In a study on rat muscle fibres, high omega-3 and omega-6 diets produced 16-21% more muscle tension and up to 32% greater endurance during high frequency stimulation⁽²¹⁾. Moreover, when these rats resumed their standard diets for a period of six weeks, their muscle function returned to the level of un-supplemented rats.
Rat studies on EFAs and body composition also look promising. In a Japanese study, very young rats were fed for four months on a diet containing one of the following ⁽²²⁾:

• 12% perilla oil (very rich in omega-3);
• safflower oil (very rich in omega-6);
• olive oil (rich in mono-unsaturates);
• beef fat (rich in saturated fats).
  

The amount of food consumed and the weight gained was the same in all four groups, but the amount of fat stored, the number of fat cells and fat cell volume were all significantly lower in the omega-3 and -6 groups. Furthermore, the genes involved in fat cell differentiation were significantly down-regulated in the omega-3 group by comparison with the olive oil and beef fat groups! Intriguingly, some human research points to a synergistic effect between endurance training and EFA metabolism. Earlier this year, scientists studying the phenomenon of ‘uncoupling’ in human muscle mitochondria found (as expected) that the genes coding for uncoupling proteins (the ones that stimulate thermogenesis via uncoupled respiration) were activated by omega-3 fats. What surprised them, however, was that after endurance training the stimulating effect of omega-3 fats was even stronger. In other words, omega-3 oils seem to stimulate thermogenesis most effectively in muscles that are endurance-trained!
So where does all this leave athletes? Although there’s a dearth of well-controlled double-blind studies on the interaction of EFA and genes in humans, there’s no doubting the weight of evidence accumulating from animal and in-vitro studies. Numerous studies have demonstrated that western diets containing significant amounts of processed foods and saturated or chemically-altered fats are very low in EFAs, particularly omega-3 fats, creating an unbalanced ratio of dietary omega-6:omega-3 ⁽²³⁾. Typically, this ratio in modern diets is between 10:1 and 25:1, although the World Health Organisation recommends a ratio of between 5 and 10:1. Some nutritional researchers recommend an even higher proportion of omega-3, with as much as a third of total EFA intake from omega-3.

UK dietary advice is conservative

Current UK dietary recommendations are for around 6% of calorie intake to come from polyunsaturated (essential) fats, with around 0.2g per day of omega-3 fats⁽²⁴⁾. However, this figure seems extremely conservative; assuming a total calorie intake of around 2,000 per day, it would equate to 13g of omega-6, giving an omega-6:omega-3 ratio of over 60:1!
The simple fact is that there is very little consensus among nutritionists about how much omega-3 and omega-6 oils are needed in total for optimum health and about the ideal ratio between the two. Pioneers in the field of fatty acid nutrition, such as Dr Erasmus, recommend around 9g per day of omega-6 and 6g per day of omega-3 oils for general health (1.5:1 omega-6:omega-3). This sits well with recommendations from the US National Cholesterol Education Program Diet and American Heart Association that no more than 30% of total calorie intake should come from fat, of which polyunsaturates (omega-3 and 6) should constitute 10% – ie around 20g per day in total.
On the available evidence, this would seem a very good place to start. For the fuel-partitioning effects mentioned earlier, higher intakes of EFA might be required; the animal studies demonstrating this effect supplied EFAs at between 10 and 20% of total calorie intake (22-44g per day in a 2,000 calorie/day diet). The studies on Danish athletes carried out by Dr Erasmus supplemented around 20g of omega-3 and 10g of omega-6 per day.
It’s all too easy to fall short of even the minimum intakes of EFAs required to maintain optimum health, let alone to produce any of the potential benefits discussed here. And this is not just down to the popularity of processed and refined foods. In their efforts to follow a healthy ‘low-fat’ lifestyle, many people, including athletes, have thrown out the ‘EFA baby’ with the bathwater! Below are some dietary tips which can help to boost your EFA intake.

• Use fresh seeds sprinkled on salads, especially hemp, pumpkin and sunflower;
• Use nuts in salads or mixed with raisins as snacks, especially walnuts, pecans and hazelnuts;
• Switch to wholemeal bread – the wheatgerm in whole wheat is a good source of EFAs;
• Eat whole grain breakfast cereals, such as Shredded Wheat, Weetabix and oat flakes, rather than refined cereal, such as cornflakes;
• Use brown rice and wholemeal pasta instead of white varieties;
• Use a cold-pressed seed oil in salad dressings, but make sure that it is fresh and has been packaged in an oxygen-free container that is also opaque to light;
• Eat fatty fish at least once a week. If you can get fresh mackerel, herring or unfarmed salmon and trout, so much the better;
• Don’t rely too heavily on low fat/diet foods and shakes for your calories – these are nearly all devoid of EFAs;
• Choose free range chicken and wild meats where possible – these generally contain higher amounts of EFAs than their intensively-reared counterparts;
• Choose organic free-range eggs if you can get them. Free foraging hens fed on natural foods lay eggs containing up to 30% of the fat as EFAs.
  

If you choose to supplement EFAs additionally, the best way to do this is with a bottle of proprietary seed oil blend. These tend to contain around two thirds omega-3 to one third omega-6. This is the reverse of the recommended dietary ratio, the idea being that you need extra omega-3 because it’s harder to obtain from normal dietary sources than omega-6. Flax seed oil is also an excellent source of omega-3 but contains very little omega-6. Whatever you choose, it should be fresh and packaged in an oxygen-free container that is also opaque to light. Ideally, the oil should have been kept refrigerated since production and should be stored in your fridge and used within four weeks of opening. Remember that EFAs (especially omega-3) are chemically very fragile and spoil rapidly if not stored correctly. For this reason you would be wise to avoid seed oil or fish oil capsules, which will almost certainly have been processed and stored at room temperatures for long periods of time!
Andrew Hamilton

References

1. Metabolism 1998;47:106-112
2. Br J Nutr 2000;83:S59-S66
3. Annu Rev Nutr 1999;19:63-90
4. J Biol Chem 2000;275:30749-30752
5. J Nutr 1998;128:923-926
6. Am J Clin Nutr 1999;70:566-571
7. Biochimie 1998;79:95-99
8. Int J Obes 1997;21:637-643
9. J Nutr 1997;127:2142-2150
10. Am J Clin Nutr 1999;69:890-897
11. Am J Clin Nutr 1999;70:817-825
12. J Nutr 1990;120:544-552
13. J Biol Chem 1998;278:5678-5684
14. J Biol Chem 1999;274:23577-23583
15. J Biol Chem 1999;274:471-477
16. J Biol Chem 1999;274:37335-37339
17. J Biol Chem 2000;275:32379-32282
18. Natl Acad Sci USA 1999;96:1041-1048
19. Scand J Med Sci Sports, 7(1): 25-31, 1997
20. Eur J Appl Physiol, 87(3): 193-201, 2002
21. J Appl Physiol, 80(2): 464-71, 1997
22. J Nutr, 127(9): 1752-7, 1997
23. Am J Clin Nutr: 1991, 54:438-463
24. Food Standards Agency ‘Manual of Nutrition’ 10th edition
    

Inflammation and Disease

So I finished my first lesson of 28 in my Whole Person Health Coaching program.  The first lesson was on inflammation and disease taught by Dr. Barry Sears.  I had heard of the Zone Diet but every other person in the world seems to have the miracle diet so I never paid much attention to that particular diet as a way to loose weight. I mean after all isn't it always just about calories in minus calories out to loose weight?  However, after a weeks worth of reading the handouts, watching the videos, and researching hormonal balance and food, I am now convinced that what Dr. Sears is correct.  We should eat 50g of fat everyday, 100g of protein, and 600 calories of carbohydrates (200-300 of the 600 carbs should come from fruits and vegetables). If we eat this way we will reduce diseases and be a healthier weight. Below is the final write up  I did in order to complete the course and receive Continuing Education Credit hours. Email me if you have any questions.

Please describe how you would apply this information to either a patient/client situation or to your own personal self care:

As a wellness coach I believe it is my job to actively listen to a patient, make educated assessments about their health issues, educate the patient on why gaps in wellness occur, and guide them down a pathway that will lead to improved health. In the beginning of a wellness program I believe it's important to define “Wellness” for the patient, make sure they understand that the current health of Americans could be improved, and outline possible health risks without changes in lifestyle.

I will define wellness for the patient as more than the absence of disease and discomfort. True wellness means all the bodily systems are functioning properly, you feel good emotionally, physically, and you have clarity of thought.

I will then provide some data to illustrate that Americans may not be as healthy as one would think we are, given our tremendous healthcare system.

• Cardiovascular disease is still the major killer of middle-aged men and by far the leading cause of death for Americans overall. For about half of those who die from heart disease, the very first Symptom is sudden death.(1)
• About 250,000 sudden cardiac deaths occur every year.(2)
• U.S. Cancer deaths will jump 45% in the next two decades from 1.6 million in 2010 to 2.3 million by 2030.(3)
• 68 percent of Americans are overweight and 33.8 percent are obese. Additionally around 17 percent of children and adolescents aged 2-19 were considered obese.(4)
• America's Diabetes epidemic has grown by 33 percent in the last decade.(5)

After I provide a few examples of the American health crisis I will make sure the patient understands what is most important - all of the conditions listed above, plus others, can be improved and even reversed with better nutrition. Heart disease, Cancer, Alzheimer's, Obesity, Diabetes, Asthma, Allergies, and all medical termed “itis” conditions are caused by or impacted by what is termed “Silent Inflammation”.

I will define for the patient what inflammation is,the process of how it happens, and differentiate between classical and silent inflammation. Inflammation is a biological response, at a cellular level, happening in the body that involves pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory hormones. When the body detects a foreign presence the cells leak Histamines causing the capillaries to leak plasma so the micro-phage cells can get to the site of the problem and destroy the cells in question. Cellular destruction is great part our immune system that helps to fight off bacteria and viruses but some times our body's great immune system turns on itself causing good cells to be destroyed and causing the acceleration of the aging process and disease. Silent Inflammation is a chronic inflammatory state happening in the body that operates below the threshold of pain so it can go on for years or decades virtually unnoticed until a disease state is presented. I will emphasize virtually unnoticed because if the patient is in tune with their body they might have noticed there were warning signs that things were not all that well. At this point I will question them to think about any warning signs they may not have thought much about until now. For example, frequent heart burn, digestive and bowel problems, frequent illnesses or infections and lack of energy just to name a few. Silent Inflammation is dangerous because it's chronic and goes unnoticed. Classical Inflammation, like an ankle sprain, is painful but Silent Inflammation kills.

I will inform the patient about the 3 blood tests that can be utilized to determine if Silent Inflammation is happening in the body and encourage the patient to discuss these with their physician when the go for their next checkup. .

• AA/EPA ratio in the body - Aracadonic Acid and Eicosapentaenoic Acid are pro-inflammatory and Anti-inflammatory hormones so if the levels are high inflammation is occurring. A good number is less than 3.
• Insulin level – The higher the Insulin level the more pro-inflammatory fat your body is storing. A good number would be less than 10 uU/mL
• Triglycerides/HDL – Are you carrying more “bad fat” that is causing more inflammation? A good number would be 2 or less.

At this point if the patient has been in pain or prescribed an anti-inflammatory by their doctor they will most likely ask the question about using anti-inflammatory drugs. I will explain that while there are over-the-counter and prescription drugs that can reduce Silent Inflammation, Aspirin, NSAID's, and Cox 2 inhibitors, these drugs work well to suppress the Pro-inflammatory Eicosanoids but the problem with these drugs is that they suppress not only the pro-inflammatory hormones but also the anti-inflammatory hormones. Long term use can result in a poor immune system, bone marrow suppression, Osteoporosis, heart attack, heart failure and even death. So I would not recommend long term use of any anti-inflammation drugs. They may be OK to start off with but diet is the best long term way to manage inflammation related disease.

It will be important for the patient to know what happens, in the body, to the food we eat and what causes silent inflammation. This way if the patients hormone levels are considered good right now they can keep them that way over time or if needed improve them. I will explain there are three hormones in the body that change every time we eat and they are Insulin, Glucagon, and Eicosanoids. Insulin is stimulated be eating Carbohydrates and causes the body to hold onto glucose and store it in the body. Glucagon is stimulated by protein and it causes the body to release stored energy. Eicosanoids are signaling hormones that say if more Insulin is needed or if the body should release Glucagon, and even if pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory reactions need to occur. I will emphasize the key to controlling silent inflammation is controlling insulin. And also emphasize that the causes of silent inflammation all stem from the western diet where we have made food cheap and processed in the last 100 years. We do not eat like Americans did 100 years ago. (Since 1985 the average American has increased their calorie consumption by 300 calories each and 93 percent of the added calories are in the form of sugar, omega 6 fats, and refined grains.(6))

I will explain to the patient that the causes of silent inflammation are three-fold,

1. Increased Consumption of refined carbohydrates - which increases Insulin levels in the blood (This alone is not enough to cause Silent Inflammation)
2. Increase vegetable oil consumption – Corn Oil, Soybean, sunflower, safflower (These Omega 6 oils combine with the Insulin to convert the Carbohydrates to Aracadonic Acid which is a pro-inflammatory fatty acid)
3. Decreased Omega 3 consumption through fish oil - Omega 3 oil blocks Insulin from glucose storage, has strong Anti-inflammatory properties, and not to mention makes you smarter

I will encourage the patient to eat in the “Zone”, a low glycemic diet and explain that to eat in the Zone is to eat so the body keeps a consistent balance of Insulin and Glucagon. I will emphasize the “Zone” is a medical state of being in balance hormonally not a fad diet designed to loose weight . I will spend a lot of time with the patient explaining the Zone Diet created by Dr. Barry Sears and show how it incorporates reduced refined carbohydrates, Omega 6 fatty acid reduction, and Omega 3 supplements. When a patient is eating in the Zone they will receive enough carbohydrates, protein, and fats at each meal to avoid spikes and valleys in the Eicosanoid hormones.

I will draw out the Zone diet pyramid and compare it to the USDA recommended pyramid highlighting the Zone pyramid was developed by doctors with science at its foundation without special interest and food industry lobbyists. The Zone food pyramid consists of vegetables on the bottom followed by fruit (these are your carbohydrates), Next comes protein, then oils (primarily Omega 3), and finally grains and sweets. When eating in the Zone one should eat small meals and consume fruit or vegetables and 3 – 4oz of protein at each meal. I will explain to the patient that there are two ways to look at how they can eat in the zone,

1. Divide the plate into 3 equal portions and on 1/3 of the plate put protein the size of your palm and then pile the rest of the plate with non starchy vegetables and fruit.
2. Or think of it as a 1-2-3 program. 50 grams of fat 100 grams of protein, and 600 calories of carbohydrates each day divided over 3 meals and 1 or 2 snacks. At least 200 of the 600 carbohydrate calories should come from not starchy vegetables. The other 400 calories can be used for grains and fruit so people don't feel too limited.

If the patient can make only one change I will recommend they TAKE PURE FISH OIL SUPPLEMENTS up to 7.5g a day! But I strongly recommend following all these guidelines,

• Never go more than 5 hours without a zone meal or snack
• Eat a zone balanced breakfast within one hour of waking up
• Make sure one third of your plate is protein at every meal
• Stop eating refined carbohydrates
• Eat 300 of your 600 carbohydrate calories from vegetables
• Take fish oil supplements

And finally, I will recommend the patient go to their library and check-out “Mastering the Zone” by Dr. Barry Sears and “In Defense of Food” by Michael Pollan so they can get a better understanding of the state of our food industry and how to eat for optimal health.

________________________________________________________________________

¹ Brody, Jane E. Hunt for Heart Disease Tracks a New Suspect. New York: Times 2004

² Brody, Jane E. Hunt for Heart Disease Tracks a New Suspect. New York: Times 2004

³ Steenhuysen, Julie U.S. Cancer diagnosis will Jump 45 Percent by 2030. Chicago: Reuters 2009

4 Steenhuysen, Julie 68 percent of Americans overweight, 33.8 percent obese. Chicago: Reuters 2010

5 Sears Dr. Barry Ph.D. The Anti-Inflammation Zone - Reversing The Silent Epidemic That's Destroying Our Health. Copyright 2005

6 Pollan, Michael In Defense of Food. Copyright 2008

Enrolled with the National Institute of Whole Health

Now that my 28 day cleanse is finished it's time I find ways to create internal peace, tranquility, health and happiness.  I do feel a little better having been "Cleaned" however, it did not lead to some enlightenment or feeling of tranquility.
So in an effort to make wellness changes to my life and explore a new career path I have enrolled in a Health and Wellness Coaching program at the National Institute of Whole Health. http://www.wholehealtheducation.com/about-niwh/ I will take the following 24 courses, listed below, and would like to share my learning with you.  Each course includes a lecture, assigned reading, study notes, and an assignment I must submit. The assignment is a description of what I learned and how I will apply that information as a health coach.  It must be between 1,000-2,500 words centered around the stated course objectives. So every week I will post my assignment so you can see what I am learning and maybe learn something you can use to make your life healthier. This weeks topic is Inflammation and Disease and I will post my assignment on the blog next Monday.

NIWH Study Guide

Inflammation and Disease

Mindful Listening – Part I

Physics and Philosophy – Part I

Physics and Philosophy – Part II

Brain Function & Nutrition

Digestive Function & Nutrition

Metabolic Syndrome

Adrenal Function and Stress

Psychology of Stress

Obesity: Hidden Factors

Immune Function

Nutrition: Food Bio-Chemistry

Cultural Diversity

Muscles and Bones

Exercise Physiology – Part I

Exercise Physiology – Part II

Exercise Physiology – Part III

Brain Function & Behavior

Nutrition Research at Harvard

Cardiac Whole Health

Living with Illness

Whole Person Nutrition – Part I

Whole Person Nutrition – Part II

Functional Medicine

DONE!!!

I am done with this cleanse, thank God! There are some definite positives from this experience and some negatives.
First the positives,
1) It showed me that my diet was not as clean as I thought it was and now I can change it for the better.
2) My appetite has shrunk which is good since I was eating too often.
3) It broke two BAD habits, wine and snacks every night.  The best thing you can do for your body to help it keep clean is to not eat or drink anything but water after dinner. It needs 8 hours to digest you last meal and another 4 for your liver to remove whatever toxins were in the food you ate.
4) I learned  it's ok to be hungry sometimes and how to deal with it
5) I lost 13 pounds, 3 inches around my waist, and I have 6 pack abs even though I haven't done a sit up in years.
6) My hair and skin look great

Now for the negetives,
1)  I am not sure this did anything to improve my food allergy situation which is the whole reason I started this cleanse. During the cleanse I more often than not I had allergy symptoms like I had eaten the foods I am allergic too.  It might have given me new allergies and I don't know if any of the old ones got better.
2) The first week is SOOO hard
3)  It is very limiting
4) The soups SUCK
5) You feel awful, like you have the flu, quite a bit
6) It is 28 days of hell as far as I'm concerned

I guess the positives out way the negatives but I am really thankful this is over.  I am going to eat Clean 5 days a week from now on and do a 14 day cleanse every 6 months to make sure my old habits don't return and hopefully with the help of my Natural Path Dr. I will overcome some of these food allergies.
NOW WHERE ARE THE NACHOS!!!

I can't believe this one

So Sunday was Elimination day and of course that was an experience.  Don't take too much Castor oil, not good!  Anyway, Monday was great, I got up and went to my Nia class, ran errands, did some cleaning, and that night I went to my first and only Chi Kung class, the class isn't going to run because there were only two people signed up, then I came home and did some reflexology watched tv and went to bed. When I woke up Tuesday morning I felt like I had the flu!  Massive headache (and I don't get headaches), lethargic, and cold.  I couldn't bring myself to do much of anything except lay around.  So it seems like every other day I feel awful because once again today I feel fine.
I was searching online yesterday about why I might be feeling so bad on day 25 when I came across a page called My Clean which is a support network for people doing this cleanse.  I emailed support and explained how I was feeling and asked if I should be feeling differently by day 25 and after some back and forth exchange she told be I wasn't eating enough!! No shit, really? She said the book is a guide and I can eat anything as long as it is not on the NO list.  WHAT?  That opens up so many more choices and it would have been nice have read this in the book.  She also sent me 21 new recipes!! I don't know whether to be thankful or pissed.  I thought I was following it to the letter and to find out that is is the starting place and then you need to customize it for you would have been nice to know earlier.
Oh well, only 3 more days and now I will be snacking on on veggies between meals.

Elimination Day, YUCK.

For the last couple days  I have been blogging about how I could tell toxins were being released from my tissue because I was feeling crappy.  Yesterday my headache was so bad I went back to Dr. Junger's book to see what it was all about, I didn't remember a section on feeling really lousy.  And what I found out is that when toxins and mucus are released in your body they must be eliminated via bowel movements or else they will remain in you colon until your body can reabsorb them.  For me the whole point of this cleanse is to get rid of some allergic reactions and clean out my body so when I read this I realized why I was feeling so bad, apparently by now I should be having a BM several times a day and taking lots of Psyllium Fiber to absorb the toxins.  I had only taken Psyillium twice and I was not "Eliminating" often enough. So last night I took more Psyllium powder along with 3 Senokot tablets and lots of water and went to bed.
When I woke up  no "elimination" so I chugged a large glass of salt water to give my stomach a salt water bath which was gross but still no "elimination"  so I went to CVS this morning at 8:30am in my PJ's and bought Castor Oil. I had never taken Castor Oil before but now I can tell you, it is disgusting.  I took a half a shot glass of Castor Oil followed by a glass of water and waited 45 minutes as instructed, nothing. Another half a shot glass of Castor Oil followed by a glass of water and waited 45 minutes, nothing.  So I decided that if blueberries make my 5 year old go to the bathroom I should eat half of a bag of frozen blueberries and I did.  30 minutes later still nothing.  I was about to give up when "Oh Lord did the Castor Oil start working"  It has been a ROUGH day.  Lots of  "Elimination" today, I haven't been able to leave the house. BUT, even though I can't keep anything in my stomach I feel A LOT better. Hopefully now I can take the Psyllium powder twice a day and my Senokot at night for the next five days and I will flush out the toxins.

I Think It's Working!

I think the cleanse is working! Two days ago I woke up feeling awful, yesterday I woke feeling a little less awful, and today I woke up fine. My hair is soft and shinier, skin is clear and smooth, I have lost 11 pounds, and "I think" my body is releasing the toxins and pollutants is has been holding onto. I say "think" because I have yet to have the really gross need-to-stay-by-the-bathroom day that so many people describe in way to much detail sometimes with accompanying photos. Dr. Junger describes this as internal mucus being released from all over the body and ending up in the colon causing a gross body flush.
The odd thing is that I usually feel fine all day until after dinner and then from 7pm until I go to bed I get all the allergy symptoms that I would get if I ate a soy cheese pizza topped with sunflower seed and corn chips. I hope this last week I really start to flush this allergy mucus build up so I will know it's done what I had hoped it would.

The Final week

A few days ago I wasn't sure this cleanse was doing what I had hoped, which is remove the toxins from my body, but the very next morning Dan and I both woke up feeling like we had been out all night drinking.  After 40oz of water I felt much better. This morning I woke up feeling not-so-great once again but not as bad as yesterday so I am hopeful that the toxins are clearing out. 
Feeling awful yesterday morning and a little less awful this morning has given me a renewed interest to see it through.

I'm so done with this stupid cleanse

I am so done with this cleanse already!! I guess I was stupid not to realize that while cleansing I would feel like crap while the toxins are leaving my body.  My head hearts and my eyes are so itchy and red. 
Also, I want to chew something for a long time.  The fish, vegetable, and green tea lunch was fine for a while but now I want a big ol'plate of Nachos and a margarita. I am so bored with it already. I'm starting to think "is this really doing anything for me other than improving my appearance."
I guess I'll just keep plugging along, I only have 8 more days to go.

Cleanse Day 17

Day 17 of this cleanse and it's getting boring!! The soups are awful, did I mention that?  I want something greasy and tasty and a glass of wine like crazy.  I guess I am detoxing because yesterday and today I had a head ache, I was cold and today I had an upset stomach.  The good news is that I have lost 10 pounds in the last 17 days, my hair is soft and getting shinier, my skin feels soft and my complexion is clear.  My poor husband has been doing this cleanse with me and hasn't lost a pound and usually all he has to do is not drink beer for one day and he loses 5 pounds.
I called the National Institute of Whole Health today and am going to enroll in their Nutrition and Wellness Coaching 10 month course with the hopes that while I am taking this course and volunteering at the local YMCA I will find my new career path.

half way through

Ok, so Today marks the half-way mark on my cleanse.  I have done the cleanse for two weeks and had two slip-ups.  Both occurred this past week which by the way was a very stressful week;  two feet of snow, extended house guests, Olivia home from school, and my schedule all out of wack.  Breakfast and lunch are no problem but the soup for dinner is a problem because cold veggie soup is awful. After my pizza slip-up on Thursday I  decided I will to  fix the soups so I can continue. Friday I made Carrot Ginger soup and instead of 4 cups of room temperature water I used 4 cups of Organic no sodium chicken broth.  I also boiled the chicken broth then put it in the blender  with the vegetables so the soup was at least warm when I ate it.   I will do that from now on and even heat it a little more after it's blended.  Better a loss of nutrients than not working the cleanse.  Anyway, my natural path doctor has me on a ton of vitamins right now.
Even with these slip-ups I feel great. The cleanse has done several things for me; I have dropped 7 pounds (5 of which I added during the holidays) and I am MUCH slimmer because I am eating very little sodium, my skin is starting to look brighter and younger, my hair is starting to feel softer, I have learned to like fish, (other than shellfish which I already liked), my appetite has decreased so I am now eating correct portions, and the best part is I have learned a clean way to eat and I no longer have cravings for sugar, cheese, and processed foods. 
One note, I originally started this cleanse to try and rid my body of things that cause my allergies to flair up with the hope that my immune system would stop over-reacting to everything and I would no longer be allergic to the 40 foods I am currently.  I don't know if this will happen in one month.  I may have to eat clean for much longer to see that happen. As long as I can eat a real dinner I am fine with that, I guess.