November 2017

How to Stay Well This Holiday

Aside from washing your hands and getting enough sleep, make these two dietary changes to bolster your immunity this Christmas:

1. Avoid Carb-Loading:

Refined carbohydrates rob your body’s store of vitamins and minerals in order to digest them, so you actually go into debt with each mouthful. Zinc deficiency, and insufficient amount of Vitamins C and E may hinder your immunity.
Sugar decreases the responsiveness of the white bloods that gobble up invading germs – at least for a couple of hours. So if you are nibbling on treats throughout the day, this could effectively take your immunity down a notch or two. Eat more fruits and vegetables instead, to provide antioxidant vitamins C and E. Snack on pumpkins seeds, and increase your meat intake to insure you are getting adequates amounts of zinc.
Eating sugar steals B vitamins from your reserves and thus cripples your liver’s ability to detoxify your body.
Blood sugar dysregulation occurs in the absence of healthy. This in turn creates a free radical build-up, which puts the body into a catabolic (breaking down) state, rather than anabolic (building up)state.
A diet chronically high in too many carbs and not enough fats eventually leads to insulin resistance. Insulin Resistance blocks the anti-inflammatory PG1 pathway, leading to inflammation and disease.
A person with insulin resistance also has mineral resistance because insulin helps carry the minerals into the cells. Since zinc is needed to for healthy immunity, a person with mineral resistance is immune compromised.

Eat Natural, Unrefined Fats:

Omega 3’s are involved in the anti-inflammatory response. Inflammation is a well-known symptom of infectious diseases.
Fatty acids are used to construct the cell membranes of every cell in the body, including white blood cells. In a low-fat diet or diet composed of modern refined oils, the cell membranes cannot be constructed properly. Since that membrane is what allows the cell to communicate and interface with other cells, a poorly constructed white blood cell cannot do its job!
White blood cells also require adequate protein to be manufactured. Healthy fats and proteins often come together. (In nature, meat, dairy, and eggs are a combination of fats and proteins.) A low-fat diet usually means too many carbs and not enough proteins.

in Lifestyle

Can’t get through the day without eating every 2-3 hours? Need a pick-me-up between meals? Optimally, the digestive system should rest for 4-5 hours between eating. The drive to fuel frequently in order to keep energy up can be a red flag for blood sugar dysregulation and may indicate an imbalance of macronutrients.

Nevertheless, there are those times when having compact, shelf-stable food in a purse or backpack, can save you from shakiness, irritability, faintness, or an emerging headache. If you’re going to reach for something, make sure it’s nutrient dense, with a proportionate ratio of carbs, fats, and proteins. Grabbing a snack bar or candy bar with something like 36 grams of carbohydrate will only aggravate the energy bursts followed by bouts of weariness.

These stamina snacks offer you some wholesome, real food nutrition, with plenty of minerals, vitamins, fiber, protein, Omega 3’s, and antioxidants. They contain selenium for the thyroid, zinc for immunity, copper for the genitals, calcium and magnesium for healthy muscle contraction, Vitamin E to scavenge free radicals, and a host of B vitamins to support detoxification. Plus they make up quick as a wink!

Ingredients

1 c. chia seeds

1 c. sesame seeds

1 c. pumpkin seeds

1 c. sunflower seeds

1/2 c. sliced almonds

1/4 c. honey, warmed

2 c. water

2 Tb. dry rub seasoning (or use 1 tsp. each of sea salt, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and chili powder plus 1/2 tsp. each pepper and cumin)

Method

Combine everything in a large mixing bowl. Let stand 5 minutes (while chia seeds absorb water and create a “slurry”).
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Spray paper with cooking spray.
Divide the mixture between the two trays. Place another sprayed parchment (sprayed side down) on top of each tray.
Pressing on the top parchment with your hands, spread and smooth the mixture until it evenly fills the tray.
Bake for 25 minutes. Carefully flip the sheet of cracker mixture over, remove the top parchment, and bake another 25 minutes.
If not crisped and brown, bake 5-10 minutes more. Cut with a pizza cutter.

in Food & Cooking

Is Intermittent Fasting Right For You?

You are what you eat…no, when you eat…er, how you eat! With so much eating advice out there, what is the best approach?

There are as many right answers as there are individuals. There is no one-size-fits-all diet. We’re all unique, right down to our physiology. What plan you should adopt depends on your goals and your body’s needs. That’s why having a nutritional therapist as an advocate can be a blessing.

You might want to try Intermittent Fasting if you have high blood sugars and are insulin resistant.

If insulin is high, you are going to store fat, not burn it. Insulin rises after a meal. It rises dramatically after a high-carb meal because it has to escort all that glucose into the cells for energy. When you are insulin-resistant, the cells won’t accept either the messenger or its package and blood sugars remain too high.

Intermittent Fasting works because insulin can’t spike if you don’t eat, and your cells can become re-sensitized to insulin. In the meantime, you are able to burn off some of those fat stores while insulin levels are reduced.

Red flags for insulin resistance include:

feeling tired after a meal.
needing sweets or a stimulant after a meal.
weight gain.
memory loss.
slow healing.
premature aging.
thyroid hormone imbalances.

You might want to avoid Intermittent Fasting if you are hypoglycemic.

You have to have a certain level of glucose in your blood in order to function. The brain’s primary fuel is glucose, and” if the brain ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.” So a hormone called glucagon works in opposition to insulin to keep blood sugars from dropping too low. The ideal blood glucose level is between 70-90 mg/dL before a meal.

A hypoglycemic drops much lower than that. Getting glucose to the brain becomes an emergency, so cortisol steps in to help glucagon raise your blood sugars back to at least 70 mg/dL. When this happens repeatedly, cortisol actually increases insulin resistance! Fasting in this condition will make matters worse, because cortisol will be produced to keep you from having a sugar emergency, and you may actually aggravate your insulin resistance.

Red flags for hypoglycemia include:

feeling jittery, shaky, or light-headed before a meal.
irritability if a meal is missed.
chronic snacking or need to eat every 2-3 hours.
fluctuating energy (wired & tired syndrome).
easily upset or nervous.
constant cravings for sweets.

You might want to avoid Intermittent Fasting if you have Adrenal Fatigue.

Adrenal fatigue is a condition that develops from chronic cortisol output. It doesn’t matter whether the cortisol is stimulated by emotional stress (think bosses, deadlines, rocky relationships, worry, etc.) or by physiological stress (such as food sensitivities, chronic infections, or high-carb eating). As addressed above, fasting in this state is only going to provoke greater cortisol output.

Red flags for Adrenal Fatigue include:

feeling tired when you wake up, even after a sufficient number of hours.
not being able to fall asleep or stay asleep, or having poor quality sleep.
inability to cope well with normal stress.
unable to recover quickly after exercise, or not able to tolerate exercise.
having an afternoon energy crash.

Are there alternatives to Intermittent Fasting?

You might consider eating different food all the time, instead of going without food intermittently. You could swap everything that contains flour or sugar for vegetables with butter on them. Sound drastic? Well, Intermittent Fasting is drastic, too. If insulin is a problem, then analyze your fat-carb-protein ratios. There has been much focus on balancing carbs and proteins, but proper fat levels are not always addressed.

You could try Eating Rhythms, a system of eating nutrient dense food at roughly 5 hour intervals, designed to normalize blood sugar levels. Under this system, you have a no-carb breakfast (such as avocado and egg), then refrain from snacking until lunch, when you have a healthy protein with some complex carbohydrates and natural, unrefined fat (perhaps a steak salad with oil and vinegar dressing). Don’t eat anything more until dinner, when you again have protein and unrefined carbs, along with healthy fat (maybe fish, cooked vegetables, and butter). Then you do not eat again until breakfast, going a full 12 hours or more with no food overnight.

How do you know it is working?

You will know you are succeeding at controlling your insulin levels not just by your waistline, but by the way you feel satiated after a meal, have sustained energy throughout the day, think clearly and maintain focus, don’t need to snack between meals, no longer crave sweets, have plenty of stamina for your work-out, and experience level moods.

in Lifestyle

Busy Brain?

You might feel that your mind is following a million threads as you flit between tasks without strong focus. Perhaps you toss and turn for hours before falling asleep, or stir after just a few hours of slumber and lie there exhausted but wide awake. Some call it monkey brain. Your legs twitch, you fidget and feel jittery. You’re wired but tired.

If you’ve tried yoga and meditation, but you’re still wound up, you might be interested to know that Busy Brain can be a result of physiological deficits, not just poor discipline.

Phosphatidylserine Relieves Busy Brain

Phosphatidylserine, abbreviated PS, is part amino acid and part fatty acid. It’s a substance used to build the membranes of all the cells in your body. It is especially important in brain function. Because it enhances glucose metabolism and orchestrates cortisol balance, it is your friend for stronger focus, better sleep, and downregulating impulsivity.

While your body can make PS, you depend largely on food to get the raw materials for its manufacture. If you don’t get enough Omega 3 in your diet, you will be compromised in creating this phospholipid that uses fatty acids for its structure. Additionally, the process of assembling PS requires lots of B vitamins. With all the stress you are faced with, and the sugar you eat to keep going when you’re ready to bonk during the day, your stores of B vitamins have been robbed already. If your gut health is compromised, the probiotics that create B vitamins in your digestive tract are likely diminished, leaving you even less able to furnish these critical vitamins.

Eat Fish and Sauerkraut

Supplementing with PS is a temporary solution. While it may address symptoms, it doesn’t really fix the root deficiencies. Of course, it’s imperative that you get a handle on your stress and bust your sugar habit so that the nutrients you need aren’t diverted to these unnecessary distractions. But there are some modifications you can make to your diet, too. The easiest way to get more Omega 3 into your diet is to eat fatty fish (salmon, herring, and halibut) and fish products several times per week, including the traditional remedy, cod liver oil.

Boosting B vitamins the traditional way involves eating probiotic foods. After all, which is more efficient in the long run: having a vitamin factory inside of you, or continually buying that B Stress Complex from now until you reside in an assisted living center?

Sauerkraut is one of the easiest fermented vegetables to make. Here’s a basic recipe:

Basic Kraut Ingredients

1 head of cabbage

1-2 Tb. Unrefined salt

1-2 cups optional ingredients: apples, carrots, beets

1-2 tsp. optional flavorings: crushed garlic, cumin seed, caraway seed, cilantro, red pepper flakes

Basic Kraut Instructions

Finely chop or grate the cabbage (and other optional ingredients) into a large stainless, glass, or plastic bowl. Sprinkle with salt and any additional flavorings. Toss well. Let rest at room temperature until juices are drawn from cabbage, about an hour. Stir vigorously, tamping the cabbage and releasing more juices..

Press firmly into a quart jar, until the cabbage is 2 inches from the top and covered with liquid. Pour any additional liquid from the bowl into the jar to finish filling the jar. It is important that the cabbage remain covered with juices during the fermenting process. Put the lid on, but not too tightly. You want gases to escape. Leave at room temperature for two weeks. Now tighten the lid and transfer to the refrigerator. Enjoy a portion every day. Stores 6 months.

in Education