Category Archives: Hormones

Sitting is the new Smoking

 How Can I Fit in Exercise at Work?

Fortunately, the way to cure sitting disease is simple: Wake up your muscles (especially the big ones in your legs, butt and core) with just two minutes of movement every 30 minutes!
Here are 10 ways to integrate a little stand-up into your workday and at home:

Set a timer. Use the alarm clock on your phone to remind you it’s time to rise up. Set it, then put your phone out of reach. When you get up to turn it off, try the moves below. Aim for a walk around every hour. Easy!

Strike a plank pose. We’re big fans of this multitasking yoga pose. It’s the ultimate one-move routine that quickly works three major muscle groups — your arms, legs, and core. Lie on your stomach with your feet together and forearms placed on the ground. Your arms are straight down from your shoulders to your elbows. Your toes are tucked as they are in a push up. Tighten up stomach and glutes. Then raise your body off the floor so you form a straight line from your feet to shoulders — keep your head in line. Hold the position for a few seconds — 25 is good, but 45 is better, and build toward 2 minutes….BRAVO!

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Take a quick walk. Head to the bathroom, water cooler, grab a cup of Joe, or meet a coworker to discuss a work issue. Tiny breaks are proven to help. Extra points for a glass of water!

Challenge yourself. How far can you walk at work and still be back at your desk in two minutes?

Head for the stairs. You’ll burn about 29 calories climbing stairs for three minutes — proof that the steps in your office or home are really exercise equipment hiding in plain sight!

Sit on an exercise ball. Keep the big muscles in your legs, butt, and core engaged while you work by perching on a big exercise ball instead of your office chair. Do it for 10-15 minute periods every hour or two throughout the day.

March in place. Tethered to your headphones? Stand up and start marching. Lift those knees! Keep it up for a minute, then do this…

Stand up, sit down, repeat. Keep your back straight and your arms at your sides or held out in front of you (in other words, don’t push off with your hands). Use your thigh and butt muscles to rise from your seat, then slowly sit down again. Repeat as many times as you can.

Just stand up. Your body works 30 percent harder when you’re on your feet. Try a standing desk at work—they’re available these days. Or get a treadmill desk!

At home: Take a commercial break. Prime time’s 14-21 minutes of advertisements every hour give you plenty of time to move around without missing a minute of your favorite shows.

Get Healthy!

Why we can’t stop eating, and what can we do to beat the habit

Many people falsely believe that weight gain (and loss) is all about calories and willpower.

The fact is, there are biological forces in play.

1. Sugar is a drug. And it’s not just a figure of speech. It has been proven scientifically that sugar has the same negative effects like heroin, cigarettes or alcohol.
Even though people who are obese or overweight have an intense desire to lose weight , they just can’t stop because foods with sugar are addictive.

2. Fat cells in our bodies take in and store excessive amounts of glucose and other calorie-rich compounds. Since fewer calories are available to fuel metabolism, the brain tells the body to increase calorie intake (we feel hungry) and save energy (our metabolism slows down). Eating more solves this problem temporarily but also accelerates weight gain. Cutting calories reverses the weight gain for a short while, making us think we have control over our body weight, but predictably increases hunger and slows metabolism even more.

3. Scientists are increasingly pointing their fingers at a hormone called leptin.

People who are obese have a lot of body fat in their fat cells. Because fat cells produce leptin in proportion to their size, obese people also have very high levels of leptin. Given the way leptin is supposed to work, these people shouldn’t be eating… their brain should know that they have plenty of energy stored.

However… the problem is that the leptin signal isn’t working. There’s a whole ton of leptin floating around, but the brain doesn’t “see” that it is there.

This condition is known as leptin resistance. It is now believed to be the main biological abnormality in human obesity.

When the brain doesn’t receive the leptin signal, it erroneously thinks that the body is starving, even though it has more than enough energy stored.

  • Eating More: The brain thinks that we MUST eat so that we don’t starve to death.
  • Reduced Energy Expenditure: The brain thinks we need to conserve energy, so it makes us feel lazier and makes us burn fewer calories at rest.

In this way… eating more and exercising less is not the cause of weight gain, it is the consequence of leptin resistance, a hormonal defect.

For the great majority of people, trying to exert willpower over the leptin-driven starvation signal is next to impossible.

Losing weight reduces leptin, so the brain tries to regain the lost weight. The reduced leptin makes the brain think it is starving… so it initiates all sorts of powerful mechanisms to regain that lost body fat, erroneously thinking that it is protecting us from starvation.

This is the main reason so many people “yo-yo” diet… they lose a significant amount of weight, only to gain it back (and then some).

Leptin resistance can be caused by inflammation, and by high leptin levels themselves.
A key to reversing leptin resistance, is reducing diet-induced inflammation.

There are several things we can do:

  • Avoid processed food: Highly processed foods may compromise the integrity of the gut and drive inflammation..
  • Eat Soluble Fiber: Eating soluble fiber can help improve gut health and may protect against obesity.
  • Exercise: Physical activity may help to reverse leptin resistance.
  • Sleep: Poor sleep has been implicated in problems with leptin.
  • Lower  triglycerides: The best way to lower triglycerides is to reduce carbohydrate intake.
  • Eat Protein: Eating plenty of protein can cause  weight loss. There are many reasons for this, one of them may be an improvement in leptin sensitivity.
  • AVOID SUGAR. Every time you want to add it into your drinks or buy packaged products (remember that most products, even if they taste salty, they still contain amounts of sugar), think – would you add heroin into your coffee or would you give it to your child or loved ones? Changing the way you see sugar and realizing the disastrous effects will help you in eliminating sugar from your meals.
  • No more soda and other sweetened drinks
    Try to replace any type of bottled soda or juice with water. Soft drinks can cause untold damage. Replacing juices with water will help you stay hydrated, you will feel much more relaxed, your sleep will be more peaceful and your brain will also send you signals of good disposition. Don’t fool yourself with diet sodas… Even though they are advertised as no calories and no sugar,  they are synthetic products made in a lab, loaded with chemicals.
  • Avoid packaged food.
  • Stop being fooled by “healthy” foods.
    ‘Fat-free’, ‘sugar-free’ – are all poor choices. They usually contain sugar, artificial sweeteners or a ton of chemical additives to make them palatable.

Take Home Message

Obesity is not caused by greed, laziness or a lack of willpower. There are strong biochemical forces at play… which are mostly driven by changes in the environment, and particularly the Western diet.

The truth is… everywhere this diet goes, obesity and chronic disease follows. Not because this diet turns people into gluttons and sloths, but because it alters our biology in a way that changes our behavior.

CHALLENGE YOURSELF TO STAY OFF SUGAR AT LEAST FOR ONE DAY AND TELL ME HOW IT WAS.

Be Healthy. And Stay Healthy.

 

 

Should you give your child Pediasure?

Do you want your child to be healthy?

Obviously yes, isn’t it? If you are considering giving, or are actually giving your child Pediasure in an attempt to boost his nutritional status, please read on.

These are the actual ingredients in chocolate Pediasure:

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ingredients:
WATER, SUGAR (SUCROSE), CORN MALTODEXTRIN, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, HIGH OLEIC SAFFLOWER OIL, SOY OIL, COCOA POWDER (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, MEDIUM-CHAIN TRIGLYCERIDES; LESS THAN 0.5% OF: SHORT-CHAIN FRUCTOOLIGOSACCHARIDES, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, MAGNESIUM PHOSPHATE, CELLULOSE GEL, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, CALCIUM CARBONATE, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, POTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, POTASSIUM CITRATE, SALT (SODIUM CHLORIDE), CHOLINE CHLORIDE, SOY LECITHIN, MONOGLYCERIDES, C. COHNII OIL, ASCORBIC ACID, CELLULOSE GUM, CARRAGEENAN, m-INOSITOL, TURMERIC, POTASSIUM HYDROXIDE, TAURINE, FERROUS SULFATE, dl-ALPHA-TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, L-CARNITINE, ZINC SULFATE, CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE, NIACINAMIDE, FD&C RED#3, MANGANESE SULFATE, THIAMINE CHLORIDE HYDROCHLORIDE, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE, RIBOFLAVIN, CUPRIC SULFATE, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, FOLIC ACID, CHROMIUM CHLORIDE, BIOTIN, SODIUM SELENATE, SODIUM MOLYBDATE, POTASSIUM IODIDE, PHYLLOQUINONE, CYANOCOBALAMIN, AND VITAMIN D3.

CONTAINS SOY AND MILK INGREDIENTS.

To be healthy:

1. Ask yourself, before consuming anything, anything – could I find this in nature? was this alive at some point?

2. If at all consuming packaged food, list of ingredients should be very short, with NO additives. For example: Ingredients on a label of oats: 100% Natural whole grain quality oats. That’s it. 1 ingredient. No additives / flavorings/ preservatives / whatever. The larger the list, the greater the chance of chemicals added. Would you want to give your child chemicals?

3. Ingredients are listed in order of prevalence. After water, the first ingredient is sugar. Remember that ‘sugar is a poison‘. Sugar makes your child fat.

Corn maltodextrin, although a carbohydrate, has little to no nutritional value. The health benefits of this ingredient are debated. On one side, corn maltodextrin is considered “natural” as it originates from corn . However, this product is still a carbohydrate, having similar caloric value as table sugar. Diabetics need to consume with caution as maltodextrin acts similar to glucose in the body.

In addition, corn maltodextrin most probably is obtained from genetically modified corn or GMO corn. A recent study revealed that GMO corn caused organ damage.

4. The oils. High oleic safflower oil is a less expensive oil from hybrid plants, with insufficient length of usage to confirm safety. Soy oil has 25% monounsaturated fats, which are prone to oxidation and can cause oxidative damage. The C. cohnii oil (algae) & M. alpina oil (fungus) used in many infant formulas are treated with hexane solvent, acid, and bleach. Some infants have experienced serious adverse reactions to these additives.

5. Soy protein isolate –  some people are concerned that the isoflavones it contains could affect a child’s growth and reproductive development. Soy is one of the most genetically modified crops.

6. A LOOOONG list of chemicals.

 

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Why not just give your child a glass of fresh, unpasteurised milk?

 

 

 

Dirt Poor: Have Fruits and Vegetables Become Less Nutritious?

 
It would be overkill to say that the carrot you eat today has very little nutrition in it—especially compared to some of the other less healthy foods you likely also eat—but it is true that fruits and vegetables grown decades ago were much richer in vitamins and minerals than the varieties most of us get today. The main culprit in this disturbing nutritional trend is soil depletion: Modern intensive agricultural methods have stripped increasing amounts of nutrients from the soil in which the food we eat grows. Sadly, each successive generation of fast-growing, pest-resistant carrot is truly less good for you than the one before. A landmark study on the topic by Donald Davis and his team of researchers from the University of Texas (UT) at Austin’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry was published in December 2004 in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition. They studied U.S. Department of Agriculture nutritional data from both 1950 and 1999 for 43 different vegetables and fruits, finding “reliable declines” in the amount of protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, riboflavin (vitamin B2) and vitamin C over the past half century. Davis and his colleagues chalk up this declining nutritional content to the preponderance of agricultural practices designed to improve traits (size, growth rate, pest resistance) other than nutrition.
 

The Organic Consumers Association cites several other studies with similar findings: A Kushi Institute analysis of nutrient data from 1975 to 1997 found that average calcium levels in 12 fresh vegetables dropped 27 percent; iron levels 37 percent; vitamin A levels 21 percent, and vitamin C levels 30 percent. A similar study of British nutrient data from 1930 to 1980, published in the British Food Journal,found that in 20 vegetables the average calcium content had declined 19 percent; iron 22 percent; and potassium 14 percent. Yet another study concluded that one would have to eat eight oranges today to derive the same amount of Vitamin A as our grandparents would have gotten from one.

What can be done? The key to healthier produce is healthier soil. Alternating fields between growing seasons to give land time to restore would be one important step. Also, foregoing pesticides and fertilizers in favor of organic growing methods is good for the soil, the produce and its consumers. Those who want to get the most nutritious fruits and vegetables should buy regularly from local organic farmers.

UT’s Davis warns that just because fruits and vegetables aren’t as healthy as they used to be doesn’t mean we should avoid them. “Vegetables are extraordinarily rich in nutrients and beneficial phytochemicals,” he reported. “They are still there, and vegetables and fruits are our best sources for these.”

The corollary: When selecting supplements, choose only those from organic sources to get benefits and avoid additional free radicals.

Be Informed. Stay Healthy.

Healthy gut bacteria help decrease risk of breast cancer

Postmenopausal women with a more diverse population of gut bacteria may be more efficient at breaking down estrogen, a new study suggests. Because estrogen plays a role in causing breast cancer, researchers feel a healthy bacterial population may lower the risk for cancer.

This was in a Medscape article!!  Thats exciting! Mainstream medicine is finally waking up to what we Integrative Medicine doctors have been saying – that the gut microbiome is key to good health.

What this says, in simple English, is that healthy gut bacteria help decrease risk of breast cancer.

How do we have healthy gut bacteria? Avoid toxins. Pesticides, xenobiotics from plastic bottles and lunchboxes, processed foods, refined flour, sugar, refined oils. The usual suspects.

Eat sensibly and Stay Healthy1