Category Archives: Healthy Eating

Could a vitamin or mineral deficiency be behind your fatigue?

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The world moves at a hectic pace these days. If you feel like you’re constantly running on empty, you’re not alone. Many people say that they just don’t have the energy they need to accomplish all they need to. Sometimes the cause of fatigue is obvious — for example, getting over the flu or falling short on sleep. Sometimes a vitamin deficiency is part of the problem.

Fatigue from stress or lack of sleep usually subsides after a good night’s rest, while other fatigue is more persistent and may be debilitating even after restful sleep.

Here are 3 of the common vitamin / mineral deficiencies leading to fatigue:
Iron. Anemia occurs when there aren’t enough red blood cells to meet the body’s need for oxygen, or when these cells don’t carry enough of an important protein called hemoglobin. Fatigue is usually the first sign of anemia. The first step in shoring up your body’s iron supply is with iron-rich foods (such as red meat, eggs, rice, and beans) or, with your doctor’s okay, over-the-counter supplements.
Vitamin B12. Your body needs sufficient vitamin B12 in order to produce healthy red blood cells. So a deficiency in this vitamin can also cause anemia. The main sources of B12 are meat and dairy products, so many people get enough through diet alone. However, it becomes harder for the body to absorb B12 with age or low stomach acid. Many vegetarians and vegans become deficient in B12 because they don’t eat meat or dairy. When B12 deficiency is diet-related, oral supplements and dietary changes to increase B12 intake usually do the trick. Other causes of B12 deficiency are usually treated with regular injections of vitamin B12.
Vitamin D. A deficit of this vitamin can sap bone and muscle strength. This vitamin is unique in that your body can produce it when your skin is exposed to sunlight, but there also aren’t many natural food sources of it. You can find it in some types of fish (such as tuna and salmon) and in fortified products such as milk, orange juice, and breakfast cereals. Supplements are another way to ensure you’re getting enough vitamin D (note that the D3 form is easier to absorb than other forms of vitamin D).

Stay Informed, Stay Active and Stay Healthy!

Risk factors for health – Metabolic Syndrome

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One of the troubling things about metabolic syndrome is that its risk factors are the same as its symptoms. What this means is that until the symptoms show up you don’t know you are developing this potentially deadly syndrome. The American Heart Association warns, “Many of the risk factors that make up metabolic syndrome have no symptoms until severe damage has been done.”

And that damage puts you at risk for developing heart disease, diabetes and stroke. The best way to see if you are at risk for developing metabolic syndrome is to know your odds. According to WebMD, “people with metabolic syndrome have at least three of the following traits.”

Large waist circumference — Often termed “apple shaped obesity” or “abdominal obesity,” this is an indicator of elevated risk of heart disease. This is : a circumference above 31″ for women and 35″ for men.

Low levels of HDL (“good”) cholesterol — This is the ‘good’ type of cholesterol needed to help remove the bad (LDL) cholesterol from our arteries. Low HDL increases your risk of developing heart disease. Ideal levels are above 60mg% for women and 50mg% for men.

High levels of triglycerides — These are the fats that are found in the blood. Ideally below 75mg%.

Elevated blood pressure — Blood pressure above a 110/75mg reading is considered high and can lead to hypertension and heart disease.

Elevated glucose (blood sugar) levels after fasting — Raised blood sugar levels over time can lead to diabetes and obesity. Ideally 75-80mg%.

Additionally, if you experience the following symptoms, it may be a good idea to consult with your healthcare professional.

  • You feel sluggish after eating.
  • You are still hungry even after eating a balanced meal.
  • You crave carbohydrates, sugars and sweets.
  • You are tired and sluggish, regardless of your level of sleep.
  • You gain weight easily, but have difficulty losing it.
  • Your blood pressure is on a steady incline.
  • Your LDL “bad” cholesterol keeps climbing.
Treatment : Diet and exercise

While metabolic syndrome is a serious health issue, reversing it seems to be as easy as adjusting your lifestyle in two simple ways.

The first is diet. Excessive consumption of simple carbohydrates is a main contributor to metabolic syndrome. They cause the pancreas to release too much insulin into the blood stream, which causes more cravings for simple carbs, weight gain, energy drops, and eventually diabetes. Next is to ramp up your exercise. Engaging in exercise at least 20-minutes daily is another sure-fire way to reduce weight and reduce blood sugars.

Be Healthy.

How Protein Can Help You Lose Weight Naturally

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 Kris Gunnars

Chef Presenting a SteakProtein is the single most important nutrient for weight loss and a better looking body. A high protein intake boosts metabolism, reduces appetite and changes several weight-regulating hormones.

Protein can help you lose weight and belly fat, and it works via several different mechanisms.

This is a detailed review of the effects of protein on weight loss.

Protein Changes The Function of Several Weight Regulating Hormones

A higher protein intake actually increases levels of the satiety (appetite-reducing) hormones GLP-1, peptide YY and cholecystokinin, while reducing your levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin. By replacing carbs with fat and protein, you reduce the hunger hormone and boost several satiety hormones.

This leads to a major reduction in hunger and is the main reason protein helps you lose weight. It can make you eat fewer calories automatically.

Digesting and Metabolizing Protein Burns Calories

Digesting and metabolizing protein takes 3-4 times the calories as for carbs, and 10 times the calories required to metabolise fats.

Protein Makes You Burn More Calories

Due to the high thermic effect and several other factors, a high protein intake tends to boost metabolism. It makes you burn more calories around the clock, including during sleep.

Man Holding a Piece of Chicken

A high protein intake has been shown to boost metabolism and increase calories burned by about 80 to 100 per day.

Protein Increases Satiety and Makes You Eat Fewer Calories

Happy Brunette Holding ScaleYou end up eating fewer calories without having to count calories or consciously control portions.Numerous studies have shown that when people increase their protein intake, they start eating fewer calories.

This works on a meal-to-meal basis, as well as a sustained day-to-day reduction in calorie intake as long as protein intake is kept high.

In one study, protein at 30% of calories caused people to automatically drop their calorie intake by 441 calories per day, which is a huge amount .

So, high protein diets not only have a metabolic advantage – they also have an “appetite advantage,” making it much easier to cut calories compared to lower protein diets.

Protein Cuts Cravings and Reduces Desire for Late-Night Snacking

Cravings are the dieter’s worst enemy. They are one of the biggest reasons why people tend to fail on their diets.

Another major problem is late-night snacking. Many people who have a tendency to gain weight get cravings at night, so they snack in the evening. These calories are added on top of all the calories they ate during the day.

Interestingly, protein can have a powerful effect on both cravings and the desire to snack at night.

This graph is from a study comparing a high-protein diet and a normal-protein diet in overweight men:

Protein Reduces Cravings

The high-protein group is the blue bar, while the normal-protein group is the red bar.

In this study, protein at 25% of calories reduced cravings by 60% and cut the desire for late-night snacking by half!

Protein Makes You Lose Weight, Even Without Calorie Restriction

Protein works on both sides of the “calories in vs calories out” equation. It reduces calories in and boosts calories out. For this reason, it is not surprising to see that high-protein diets lead to weight loss, even without intentionally restricting calories, portions, fat or carbs.

In one study of 19 overweight individuals, increasing protein intake to 30% of calories caused a massive drop in calorie intake:

Protein, Calories and Weight Loss

In this study, the participants lost an average of 11 pounds over a time period of 12 weeks. Keep in mind that they only added protein to their diet, they did not intentionally restrict anything.

A higher protein intake is also associated with less belly fat, the harmful fat that builds up around the organs and causes disease.

Interestingly, a higher protein intake can also help prevent weight regain. In one study, a modest increase in protein intake (from 15 to 18% of calories) reduced weight regain after weight loss by 50%.

So not only can protein help you lose weight, it can also help you keep it off in the long-term.

Protein Helps Prevent Muscle Loss and Metabolic Slowdown

Woman Standing on The Scale, FrustratedYou probably don’t really want to lose “weight.” Instead, you want to lose body fat, both subcutaneous (under the skin) fat and visceral (around organs) fat.

However, when you lose weight, muscle mass tends to be reduced as well.

Another side effect of losing weight is that the metabolic rate tends to decrease, so you end up burning fewer calories than you did before you lost the weight. This is often referred to as “starvation mode,” and can amount to several hundred fewer calories burned each day.

Eating plenty of protein can reduce muscle loss, which should help keep your metabolic rate higher as you lose body fat.

Strength training is another major factor that can reduce muscle loss and metabolic slowdown when losing weight.

For this reason, a high protein intake and heavy strength training are two incredibly important components of an effective fat loss plan.

Not only do they help keep your metabolism high, they also make sure that what is underneath the fat actually looks good. Without protein and strength training, you may end up looking “skinny-fat” instead of fit and lean.

How Much Protein is Optimal?

The DRI (Dietary Reference Intake) for protein is only 46 and 56 grams for the average woman and man, respectively. This amount may be enough to prevent deficiency, but it is far from optimal if you are trying to lose weight (or gain muscle). Or even just stay healthy!

Man at a Restaurant Eating Steak

Most of the studies on protein and weight loss expressed protein intake as a percentage of calories. According to these studies, aiming for protein at 30% of calories seems to be very effective for weight loss.

You can find the number of grams by multiplying your calorie intake by 0.075. For example, on a 2000 calorie diet you would eat 2000 * 0.75 = 150 grams of protein.

You can also aim for a certain number based on your weight. For example, aiming for 0.7-1 gram of protein per pound of lean mass is a common recommendation (1.5 – 2.2 grams per kilogram). It is best to spread your protein intake throughout the day by eating protein with every meal.

Keep in mind that these numbers don’t need to be exact, anything in the range of 25-35% of calories should be effective.

Even though eating more protein is simple when you think about it, actually integrating this into your life and nutrition plan can be difficult.

I recommend that you use a calorie/nutrition tracker in the beginning. Weigh and measuring everything you eat in order to make sure that you are hitting your protein targets. You don’t need to do this forever, but it is very important in the beginning until you get a good idea of what a high-protein diet looks like.

Protein is The Easiest, Simplest and Most Delicious Way to Lose Weight

Man Holding Piece of Raw SteakWhen it comes to fat loss and a better looking body, protein is the king of nutrients.

You don’t need to restrict anything to benefit from a higher protein intake. It is all about adding to your diet.

This is particularly appealing because most high-protein foods also taste really good. Eating more of them is easy and satisfying.

A high-protein diet can also be an effective obesity prevention strategy, not something that you just use temporarily to lose fat.

By permanently increasing your protein intake, you tip the “calories in vs calories out” balance in your favor.

Over months, years or decades, the difference in your waistline could be huge.

However, keep in mind that calories still count. Protein can reduce hunger and boost metabolism, but you won’t lose weight if you don’t eat fewer calories than you burn.

It is definitely possible to overeat and negate the calorie deficit caused by the higher protein intake, especially if you eat a lot of junk food.

For this reason, you should still base your diet mostly on whole, single ingredient foods.

Although this article focused only on weight loss, protein also has numerous other benefits for health. See https://drlilykiswani.com/10-science-backed-reasons-to-eat-more-protein/.

And Stay Healthy!

Probiotics Destroy Toxic Chemicals In Our Gut For Us

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It is an awesome fact of nature that we have trillions of organisms within our body – containing completely foreign DNA – some of which break down toxic chemicals that we humans have created to kill other things, but are now killing us, e.g. pesticides. Who are these strange helpers?

Bacteria!

Wait. Aren’t bacteria supposed to harm us? Aren’t they the enemy in the endless war against infection?

Well, when our immunity fails, some can grow out of bounds opportunistically. But they respond to the environment within which they are raised, not unlike most other creatures. Provide organic, wholesome vegetables, for instance, and you have a hotbed of positive activity in your gut. Provide sugar, processed foods and an increasing burden of chemicals and it can get ugly in there!

Also, believe it or not, ancient bacteria teamed up with our cellular ancestors eons ago to produce the energy-producing organelles within our cells called mitochondria. So, are we really that different from bacteria? No, on some level, we ARE bacteria, spurning some researchers to describe us as “meta-organisms,” composed as we are of many different living systems working symbiotically.

So, let’s look at some of the amazing feats of these friendly bacteria….

  1. Bisphenol A Toxicity: Absorption/Excretion – Bisphenol A (BPA) is an increasingly omnipresent petrochemical derivative with endocrine-disrupting properties (i.e. it messes up your hormones!) and is found in thermal printer receipts, all world paper currency, plastics, and many other consumer goods. Sadly, it is not a matter of whether or not you will be exposed, but to what degree. Enter the probiotics Bifodobacterium breve and Lactobacillus casei.  Probiotics “…reduced the intestinal absorption by facilitating the excretion of BPA, and that these probiotics may suppress the adverse effects of BPA on human health.”
  2. Bisphenol A Toxicity: Degradation – Novel, bisphenol A-degrading bacterial strains were isolated from the traditional Korean fermented cabbage dish known as kimchi.
  3. Insecticide Toxicity – Here comes kimchi to the rescue again!  In 2009, the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry revealed that the rather nasty insecticide chlorpyrifos (CP), which has been linked to neurological effects, developmental disorders and autoimmune disorders, may be no match for the bacteria that make possible kimchi fermentation.
    These toxin-munching superheroes were found to degrade four other insecticides:
  1. Coumaphos – Insecticide
  2. Diazinon
  3. Parathion
  4. Methylparathion

If you think the chemical-munching and degrading abilities of probiotics are amazing, then consider that probiotics perform thousands of vital functions within our body, and have been clinically researched to prevent and/or reduce the symptoms of close to 200 different diseases.

Make sure to consume fermented foods or probiotic supplements, and Stay Healthy!

10 Reasons Why You Should Take Supplements

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Dave Asprey

Why should you take supplements:

1. Your Diet is not nutritious enough

Grains and most forms of modern dairy  can deplete nutrient stores and interfere with nutrient absorption.  They are toxins in themselves, which increases your nutrient needs.

2. Soil Depletion

Improper farming practices deplete the soil of nutrients.  When plants are repeatedly grown on the same land, the soil loses nutrients faster than they can be replaced.  Over time, the plants have fewer nutrients to grow.  Fertilizer contains just enough nutrition for the plant to survive until harvesting, but not enough to support human health.  This results in plants that have 75% fewer micronutrients.  In addition, most plants are not harvested fresh.  They sit on trucks, shelves, and counters for weeks before being eaten.  Over time, the nutrient content of these plants decreases.

Most modern fruits and vegetables are grown to increase their sugar content, not their nutrient value.  As a result, most of the common fruits and vegetables are artificially high in fructose and sugar and lower in key nutrients.

When plants contain fewer nutrients, the animals that eat these plants are also malnourished.  A study published in the Journal of Nutrition and Health found copper levels in the UK have dropped by 90% in dairy, 55% in meat, and 76% in vegetables.

3. Water Depletion

Water is also depleted of minerals due to modern production methods.  There is a huge variation in the mineral content of bottled and tap water, with tap water generally having more.  Water filters remove important minerals such as magnesium, which was a main source of magnesium for early humans.  If you don’t use a filter and you don’t have a well, it’s likely you’re consuming dangerous amounts of fluoride and/or are deficient in magnesium.  This could explain why people who drink water higher in calcium than magnesium develop more myocardial infarcts and ischemic heart disease.

4. Low Calorie Diets Are Low Nutrient Diets

Consuming a low calorie diet means you’re consuming fewer total micronutrients.  Humans are designed to consume a large amount of calories, and it doesn’t make you fat.  When you eat less (as everyone says you should), it’s easy to become malnourished.  When you’re consuming low quality foods, you have to eat even more to obtain the right amounts of nutrition.  This is one more example of why food quality matters.

What do we mean by low calorie?  According to this study most diets require 27,575 calories to supply all the essential micronutrients.  If you’re eating less than that, you’re deficient in nutrients.

Animal foods are generally higher in calories and nutrients, so it’s no surprise that’s where the majority of calories came from in early human development.  Since the modern trend is to reduce the consumption of animal foods, people are consuming fewer nutrients.

Pesticide-treated vegetables are lower in phenolics than organic ones.  This is because polyphenols are produced as a defense against bugs and pathogens.  When there is no reason to defend themselves, the plant stops producing polyphenols.   Fresh fruits and vegetables grown at home in well fertilized soil are going to be higher in nutrients than USDA organic versions.

There is also evidence that glyphosate – RoundUp herbicide – chelates minerals in crops on which it is sprayed. Unfortunately, organic is not always possible due to financial or logistical reasons.  Even when you can find organic foods, they aren’t necessarily better.

6. Grain-fed Meat & Conventional Dairy

Compared to grass-fed meat, grain-fed meat is abysmally low in antioxidants, micronutrients, fatty acids, minerals, and vitamins.  Grains are not a food for humans or herbivorous animals.  When herbivores are fed grains, they become malnourished, just like humans.  Grain-fed meat and farmed seafood can also serve as a carrier for more toxins, which increases nutrient needs.

Raw, unpasteurized, unprocessed, full-fat dairy can be good for you, but the kind most people buy at the grocery store is not healthy.  The majority of nutrients in milk are found in the fat (cream).  When you remove or reduce the fat, you are removing and reducing the nutrient content.  Pasteurization destroys some of the nutrients in both skim and full fat milk.  Conventional dairy is also high in aflatoxin and other mycotoxins that were in the cattle’s feed.

If you eat grain-fed meat or conventional dairy – supplementation is a good idea.

7. Toxin Exposure

Your body needs nutrients to deal with toxins.  When more toxins are present, you need more nutrients.  If you’re living in a cave or the garden of Eden, this will be less of a concern.  If you’re like the rest of us mortals – you’re exposed to a litany of toxins on a daily basis.

Here are just some of the things your body has to contend with:

    1. Xenoestrogens (plastics, BPA, some molds, petroleum products).
    2. Industrial solvents and cleaners.

Our bodies weren’t designed to deal with these toxins using only nutrition from food. They just weren’t. So if you plan to get your nutrition only from food, you should plan to get your toxins only from the Garden of Eden. Good luck with that.

8. Nutrient Absorption Declines With Age

Several studies have shown kids need more nutrients to support growth, and older people need more nutrients due to malabsorption.  As people age, they often begin taking medications which can interfere with nutrient absorption.  This means you need to take more nutrients in the most absorbable form possible.

9. Exercise Increases Nutrient Needs

Athletes often think tons of exercise is the key to a long and healthy life (it’s not).  They are among the first to denounce supplements as unnecessary, often with the idea that exercise is the best medicine.  I don’t advocate high amounts of exercise, but this is an important point.  If you’re doing enough exercise to substantially deplete energy reserves, you’re also using more nutrients for energy production and recovery.  As a result, athletes are at an even higher risk of nutrient deficiencies.  Since many athletes eat a low nutrient, high toxin diet – this is a serious concern.

10. Supplements May Help You Live Longer

Aging is a natural process, but it’s not fun.  If there are supplements than can delay this process, why not take them? There is good reason to believe a higher intake of nutrients may prolong life. If supplements can buy you a few more years of quality life, why not take them?

11. Expense & Health

Whether we like it or not, our diet is not sufficiently nutritious. Avoiding supplementation due to the cost factor is false economy.

Choose supplements wisely and Stay Healthy.