High Blood Pressure
Welcome to a little crash course on blood pressure:
Why High Blood Pressure is bad for you:
High blood pressure can damage heart, brain, kidneys, peripheral vascular system, can cause thickening of left ventricle (due to increase resistance it has to work harder), increased risk of stroke, heart attack, kidney disease, and vision problems. [1]
This is definitely not something to take lightly. If you have high blood pressure it is time to make some changes…
These are some of the top things you can do to help get you on the right track [1]:
- Lose weight
- Exercise 30-45 min four or more days (get DR clearance)
- Decrease sodium
- Get enough potassium
- Limit alcohol intake
- Limit saturated fat
- Limit cholesterol (choose meat free meals more often)
- Quit smoking
References
- NSCA’S Essentials of Personal Training – 2nd Edition
- Published in Eating for Health, Fitness, Public Blog
Sugar’s Hidden Dangers
The American Health Association suggests that we eat only 3 to 6 teaspoons of sugar for children, 6 teaspoons for women, and 9 teaspoons for men per day. Yet, the CDC discovered Americans average over 19 teaspoons per day! To put it into some perspective how much sugar that is, one can of Coke Classic has over 9 teaspoons of sugar!
Sugar causes cavities in our teeth because it feeds the bad bacteria. We also have bad bacteria in our gut that proliferate when we consume too much sugar. If you have heard of probiotics you know that gut health is increasing in the spotlight. We are in a constant battle to keep balance of our gut bacteria and sugar tips the scale toward the bad bacteria instead of the good bacteria. Additionally, people that suffer from candida, too much yeast in the body, should know that sugar promotes yeast growth.
Obviously, excessive sugar leads to weight gain. Often times the food that contains a lot of sugar is low in nutrients- cakes, cookies, and sodas, for example. These foods give you lots of calories with very little or no nutrition. Our body turns sugar into glucose, the glucose turns to body fat if you don’t use it. Since Americans have moved to a more sedentary lifestyle which does not promote use of the extra glucose we get from our concentrated calorie foods we now consume, it often turns into body fat. Having extra fat around your mid-section leads to a whole host of problems. According to Harvard Health, extra abdominal fat leads to increased LDL (which can increase cardiac events), decreased insulin response (which increases chance of diabetes), and increases chances of “stroke, high blood pressure, cancer, diabetes, osteoarthritis, fatty liver, and depression.”
If that is not enough reason to be alarmed by sugar intake, wait until you hear this:
Sugar also activates reward receptors in the brain. Drugs, alcohol, even acceptance from others cause our bodies release dopamine when we get those kind of stimuli. Sugar also causes our bodies to release dopamine. Our bodies desire the dopamine release because dopamine activates our reward centers in our brain. These reward receptors literally make us crave more sugar. So yes, sugar addiction is real.
Knowledge is power! Now you know these things about sugar, I hope that it will give you a little more willpower to opt for water over soda or to learn to drink your coffee sans sugar. I learned how to skip the sugar in my coffee, it was not easy. It’s not nearly as enjoyable but to save myself from the unwanted health risks of over-consumption of sugar, it’s worth it to me.
Please note: I am not a fan of artificial sweeteners and I will cover that in an upcoming blog.
I have lots of tips for how to cut sugar out of your diet. I have learned how to make these changes in my own life and I have helped others change their eating habits. I have worked with diabetics that risk losing a limb if they did not get their blood sugar down. We had success and we actually lowered their blood sugar levels through diet modification! I am here to help you on your path towards better health anyway I can.
Every pivot towards good health is a step in the right direction, no matter how big or how small. Please call to schedule your complimentary initial consultation and sample 1 on 1 eating for health consultation.
Call or text: 407-205-7488
- Published in Eating for Health, Public Blog
A Word on Meal Prep
Meal prep is one of the easiest ways to set yourself up for success during the week. By reducing the amount of chemicals and preservative we ingest we take back control of our health. Many of the pre-packaged food and food from restaurants are loaded with fats, sugar, and salt.
I will continue to add recipes and videos. Eventually, I would like to have livesteam and one on one skype sessions. Please contact me if you are interested on being the first to do these remote cooking sessions.
There are some Eating For Health resources here.
Every pivot towards good health is a step in the right direction, no matter how big or how small. Please call to schedule your complimentary initial consultation and sample 1 on 1 eating for health consultation.
Call or text: 407-205-7488
- Published in Eating for Health, Public Blog
Managing High Cholesterol and Triglycerides
During my heath project last month I was able to help a client rehabilitate their diet. I had complete control over her diet and was able to take her cholesterol from 245 to 234 and her triglycerides from 252 to 241! That’s astonishing but lets take a moment to understand what that means and why those numbers are important.
Triglycerides are fats that are floating around in the blood. When we eat foods but do not use the energy that food contains, they become triglycerides. The body packages them up for future use and turns them to fat. Excessive triglycerides in the blood can be a warning sign you may be a risk for heart disease. Above average triglyceride levels are basically telling you that you are consuming more food than you are using.
Cholesterol on the other hand is something your body naturally makes, it makes all the cholesterol it needs. Animals also make cholesterol and consumption of animal meat and animal products can cause the cholesterol levels to increase. Although some people naturally have high cholesterol levels due to genetics, excessive consumption of cholesterol in the diet certainly doesn’t help this problem. When we have high cholesterol levels we are prone to arteriosclerosis. The excessive cholesterol deposits on our artery walls and leads to heart disease.
So how did I alter her blood levels? First of all, portion control. What triglycerides and cholesterol have in common is excessive consumption. Instead of giving her the whole tub of hummus to snack on, I gave her three tablespoons. We must realize that our bodies are only designed to have so much food. Additionally, we must make sure that food is nutritionally dense and able to give us the micro- and macro- nutrients we need. That leads me to the second aspect of how to lower these levels: choosing your food properly. Instead of using chips with the hummus, choose carrots to dip. Instead of choosing refined, white bread, get whole grain or sprouted bread. Instead of having chocolate cake for dessert, choose a handful of antioxidant rich berries.
This client is a diabetic so our focus was choosing foods that would not spike her insulin levels. You can look up a foods glycemic index. Look and nutrition labels. Look for low sugar levels, low carbohydrates levels, while also looking for high nutrients, high fiber, and natural ingredients. Preserved food, processed food, and convenience food has many added sugars and fats added in for taste. These will contribute greatly to increased triglyceride levels. For cholesterol, curb the meat intake, while substituting plant based proteins into your diet.
There is certainly a method to this natural approach of correcting our blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides and I would love to help you on that journey.
Every pivot towards good health is a step in the right direction, no matter how big or how small. Please call to schedule your complimentary initial consultation and sample 1 on 1 eating for health consultation.
Call or text: 407-205-7488
- Published in Eating for Health, Public Blog
Diabetes and Diet
As I mentioned in the previous post, I had a client that had a surgery and needed a place to recover and also someone to prepare their food for them- so that’s exactly what I did. She had bones in her foot deteriorate because of neuropathy caused by decreased blood flow as a result of type 2 diabetes. She had been diabetic for four years that we know of. She did not come under my care until right before surgery. Neuropathy is burning, tingling, and and decreased sensation- especially in the feet, this is caused by excessive blood sugar levels. She was walking with poor foot posture and the decreased sensation didn’t allow her body to know there was a problem with her bones and they deteriorated due to stress of the poor foot posture.
When you have diabetes, your body loses sensitivity to insulin. Insulin helps to get the glucose (sugar from foods like carbs, starches and sugars) into the cells that can use them. Therefore, the sugar stays in the blood. This increased blood sugar is not good for the very small blood vessels because it causes inflammation and makes it hard for the blood cells to travel through the very narrow capillaries. Sometimes these capillaries have a diameter that will only allow one or two blood cells through at a time, you can see how even a small amount of inflammation can cause a decrease in blood flow in these small capillaries.
Without proper blood flow, tissue, bones, and nerves can not function properly or repair themselves. That is why amputation, vision loss, organ failure, and many other health problems can come as a complication of diabetes. The main focus is to eat foods that won’t spike blood sugar levels. We know sweets and refined carbohydrates like bread and pasta will spike blood sugar levels but so will seemingly healthy foods, like grapes. We must watch the glycemic index of the foods we eat. I have gone over that in this blog.
Well, not only did she lose 10 pounds during her program but we were also successful in decreasing her A1C level with food modification. The A1C number is the percentage of glucose (sugar) circulating in the blood. We tested her A1C tested prior to my program and after my program and it went from 6.8% to 5.9%. A value of 5.7% or below of sugar in the blood is what we want and is out of the diabetic range.
When we clear out that extra sugar in the blood we allow the blood system to work more efficiently and we have less chance of nerve, tissue, and bone damage. This client, having had a surgery, was in urgent need of her blood vessels working properly to bring nutrition and the proper materials needed for the healing of her surgical site. The foot is a very common problem spot for diabetics. Upon the three week check up after surgery, the doctor said she had excellent blood flow in her feet. This is great news! Diabetics can get an infection and it may not heal because of the poor circulation.
My main focus was getting this client to eat whole, homemade foods, without preservatives, the least amount of processing as possible, organic, and raw when possible. Salads with Greek yogurt dressing, apples, hummus, nuts, fruits, and vegetables were the focus. Smoothies with chia for increased fiber were also utilized. All bread was substituted with whole grain wraps or sprouted bread, carbs were cut back to once a day, maybe twice. Pasta was substituted for spaghetti squash. Her main sources of protein came from eggs, fish, and organic, free range chicken. Clean eating and exercise every day got us the results we wanted. With some knowledge and the desire to meal prep it is really amazing what diet can do for your well-being.
I would love to do a free personalized consultation and introduction to the eating for health program. I will walk you through every step of the process and advance at a pace that is comfortable for you. We will modify and incorporate food at a pace you choose. Every pivot towards good health is a step in the right direction, no matter how big or how small. Please call to schedule your complimentary initial consultation.
Call or text: 407-205-7488
- Published in Eating for Health, Public Blog
Project Completed!
During the month of March and April I was conducting a full time health project. I was rehabilitating a client after surgery, while simultaneously rehabilitating her eating habits. This was an exciting and intensive project to undertake because I had complete control over her diet. As arduous and time consuming this project was, I have some great, measurable, positive outcomes!
I had the client’s blood tested before the project began and after the project was complete and I am pleased to report I have measurable changes in the pre and post blood results! It is amazing how much the food we eat controls the properties of our blood and also confirmation that food modification can have measurable results like these.
The final results have just come in this week, so I am still in the process of analyzing everything but I will be writing a more in depth post about the results, methods, as well as, specifics in what food modifications were made. Stay tuned for updates! Here’s to your health!
- Published in Eating for Health, Public Blog
Understanding Type II Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is on the rise in America. Many think it is because of the highly refined carbohydrates, such as white bread and added sugar that can be found in almost any processed food. Some symptoms of diabetes are frequent urination and increased thirst. The body needs the pancreas to produce insulin to help the body get the glucose from food into the cells in the body, where the glucose can be used. The body becomes insulin resistant when someone is type 2 diabetic and the pancreas must produce more insulin to get the glucose into the cells. Someone that is becoming insulin resistant will produce increased amounts of glucose for a time. Eventually, the pancreas can not keep up and the glucose remains in the blood and can not get into the cells. If the glucose stays in the blood vessels they actually cause damage to the vessels and possibly to the organs the blood vessels supply. This can lead to vision problems and is the leading cause of blindness in the US. Excess glucose in the blood vessels also causes nerve damage, kidney damage, heart disease, stroke, foot damage, skin infections, hearing problems, poor blood circulation, and possibly even Alzheimer’s disease. [1] Please check with your doctor to see if you are diabetic. Early detection can help prevent complications from diabetes.
If you are trying to be sure that the food you eat does not spike your blood sugar you can check for the glycemic index. Some foods such as refined carbohydrates, sugar, soda, white bread, candy etc. raise the blood sugar very fast. Someone who is insulin resistant might not be able to handle these sharp spikes of glucose in the body. Foods with a higher fiber, protein, and lipid content will most likely have a more steady stream of glucose in the blood VS a spike like foods with a high glycemic index. The glycemic load takes into account of the total carbohydrate content and portion size. How a food is prepared can also change how the food releases glucose into the body.
Starch, glucose, fructose, sucrose, and lactose can all spike your blood sugar levels. Glucose and sucrose enter the bloodstream quickly. Starches are chains of glucose but they break up quickly and enter the blood stream quickly, this is reflected in the glycemic index number.
When we eat food that is natural and not refined or processed it is more likely to have a symphony of nutrition. It will have vitamins, minerals, fiber, protien, even fat- which are slow to digest and help lower the glycemic index. For example, eating an apple you have a high fiber content VS soda, there is no fiber and the sugar in the soda hits the blood stream fast and spikes insulin levels.
To learn what a foods glycemic index is use a site like this one. If you are diabetic, aim for foods that are low on the glycemic index:
http://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/glycemic_index_and_glycemic_load_for_100_foods
- Published in Eating for Health, Public Blog
FIGHTING INFLAMMATION WITH FOOD
Chronic inflammation is turning out to be a key factor that exacerbates many of the most common medical conditions we currently face. Resent research has shown inflammation plays a role and often found to be a common denominator in diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimers, stroke, cancer and arthritis. [1], [2] These are disorders that affect so many Americans it’s truly astounding that we are now figuring out chronic inflammation is a risk factor. Honestly, understanding the problem is the first step in fixing it so lets begin with a brief explanation of inflammation and it’s purposes in the body and what happens when the natural process becomes more harmful than beneficial.
Imagine you tear a ligament in your knee. Your knee will start to swell. This is called an immune response. The body calls for increased blood flow to the area (and increased permeability of blood vessels). The blood brings with is a little army of immune response cells. These cells do everything from carry away damaged cells that are beyond repair, they clean the area internally and also bring cells that destroy foreign material or bacteria. The increased blood flow also brings nutrients to help heal. The body is truly amazing!
Sometimes however, this immune response gets stuck in a loop and doesn’t cease as it should normally. The body often has this hyper-immune activity when we are stressed, not eating properly, and not sleeping properly. That sounds like every American! Obesity is also linked to an increased immune response because fat cells around the organs produce a substance called cytokines, which amp up immune response by continually signalling for immune activity. [3] Cytokines are also linked to insulin resistance, a key factor in type 2 diabetics. [4], [5], [6]
Well, this hyper-active, chronic immune response ends up being very damaging to body tissue. The body may attack it’s own tissues and destroy important structures. The blood vessels and intestines become more permeable, allowing for substances and compounds that wouldn’t normally get through the membrane into the blood stream. The body may see these strange compounds as foreign and attack them, this is called leaky gut. In the heart, inflammation attacks the deposits of cholesterol and might be the cause of a heart attack causing cholesterol deposit rupture and the clots that form after the rupture. [7] The same idea goes for stroke, if the cholesterol deposits attacked by immune cells are located in an artery and rupture that can cause a stroke. [7]
So, now we see how inflammation seemingly drives the pathways of many common diseases, how do we decrease systematic inflammation? No big surprise the food we eat can increase or decrease systematic inflammation.
The problem is Americans are eating 14 to 25 times more omega 6 than omega 3. [8] If omega 6 intake is higher than omega 3 intake inflammation is promoted. Omega 6 is found in palm oil, safflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, sunflower linoleic oil, corn oil, peanut oil, salad dressing, mayonnaise, soybean oil, sunflower and soybean margarine, shortening including the kind used for frying, among others. [9] These are common ingredients found in sugary, fried, processed, fast food, restaurant food, and simple carbohydrates. All good foods to avoid if you are trying to reduce inflammation. Olive oil is thought to be a good substitute for these dangerous vegetable oils.
Omega 3 is shown to help with decreasing arthritis pain, heart health, lowers triglycerides, slows Alzheimer’s progression, and reduces risk of developing diabetes. [10] Foods high in omega 3 are flax seed and flax seed oil, chia seed, salmon oil, sardine oil, cod oil and herring oil. [11]
As it turns out there are lots of other foods you can avoid and foods you can eat to help reduce inflammation.
Coming soon: check the eating for health resources page for a compilation of these inflammation reducing foods.
Reducing systematic inflammation can help us slow down disease processes! That is exciting news! Never feel like you can’t take control over your health. Food can change your life and I’m going to give you even more tools so you can take the helm and learn how to eat for health!
- Published in Eating for Health, Public Blog
What are toxins?
Toxin is a buzz word that has been thrown around the natural health community for a while and has finally made it into traditional medicine. We are realizing we are constantly getting exposed to many chemicals, not only though our food but also from our environment. Whether it be from the plastic containers, exhaust fumes, preservatives, chemical laden clothing and body products, or artificial flavors or colors in our foods. Shockingly, many food items legal in the United States are illegal in other countries. Items such as yellow 5 and yellow 6- which are believed by some to cause allergies and behavioral problems in children.
Your body already produces toxins as a by-product of metabolic activity. These are natural but need to be released outside of the body. I have mentioned previously that drinking adequate water and getting sufficient exercise helps to flush out some of the toxins in your body. The body is designed to eliminate these naturally occurring toxins but with all the extra chemicals we are exposed to on a daily basis, it is increasing harder for the body to eliminate. There are so many new products have been invented in the last 100 years, we might not have a clear picture of risks associated to long term exposure to these products and compounds. Some think that excess toxin accumulation in the body is linked to fat gain, fatigue, skin problems, and allergies- among other health issues.
The bottom line is the less artificial chemicals in the body the better.
Our bodies are constantly doing all types of chemical reactions every second. When we introduce outside chemicals we risk these chemicals interacting with our body’s highly reactive body tissue and complex body processes. We know things like charbroiling, exposure to smoke, smog, and exhaust fumes can cause serious damage to our tissue.
So what’s the solution?!?
We know eating organic is better. There is a residue of pesticides or other chemicals that often remain on non-organic produce. Some say that soaking the produce in a 1 part vinegar to 4 parts water works to help cleanse some of the pesticides off. I use a bristle brush and scrub my produce. Also, avoid buying processed and preserved food. For example- things like canned, fried, and overly processed type of food are best to avoid. As mentioned in another blog, this process depletes some of the nutrition of the food and all there are added chemicals that help prevent the food from going bad after sitting on the shelf for a long time. Fresh is definitely the best for a lot of reasons!
Toxins are not only found in food….
It turns out a lot of household cleaners have a massive amount of caustic chemicals. I buy the green alternative options when available. These products are also better for the environment.
There are a lot of other ways to limit toxin exposure but this is good place to start. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have because this is a very broad topic.
Further reading:
http://pivotholistichealth.com/why-the-water-we-drink-is-vitally-important-part-i/
- Published in Eating for Health, Public Blog
America’s Obsession with Protein
One of the most common questions I get has to do with protein. There has been a lot of conflicting information and people remain extremely confused about how much protein to intake. One common thing we can agree upon is that in the last century we increased our meat intake in exponential quantities. We know meat is meant to be a side dish, although in America it has changed into a main dish. We also know that producing meat is very hard on the environment. The resources it takes to feed livestock is astounding. Think about all the feed it takes to get a cow to grow to adulthood. The grains in the feed cost time, money, land, and takes vast amounts of water to produce those grains.
For all purposes, I want you to think of all cheese, egg, and dairy as animal protein. Put it all in the same category as chicken, fish, pork or beef. There is one thing we do know, cholesterol is only produced in animal products. We also know that our body makes all the cholesterol it needs and increased cholesterol in the body can lead to heart disease. However, we also know our body needs protein for many, many body functions. Some of the reasons you need protein for is to make and repair cells, enzymes, and hormones. If we are weight training, exercising and building muscles we often need extra protein to rebuild our muscles. Knowing both of these things, about cholesterol and the bodies need for protein we can see that we must find a balance somehow.
We know that we need certain amino acids in our diets. It is said there are certain amino acids we must ingest because our body does not make them, these are called essential amino acids. We can get these aminos from meat but we are also discovering certain plant proteins also contain these essential amino acids. It is believed that some plants- quinoa, buckwheat, hemp seed, chia, soy, seitan, and spirulina, among others provide the essential amino acids our body requires we get through food.
We know eating too much animal products can be dangerous because it increases the cholesterol in the body but there may be other reasons to curb excessive animal product consumption. There is growing research that shows that animal protein, especially the protein casein, has been linked to proliferation of cancer. I was shocked when I heard this too. If you are like me you are probably very skeptical in accepting this information. I will provide some links at the bottom so you can look at the studies yourself. I do not choose to blindly believe any study, I know studies are often flawed and data can often be twisted. From the years of studying this topic, however, I have seemed to noticed the tendency of the evidence supports plant based diets and highlight many health problems from over-consuming animal products.
According to the book “The China Study”, in America we consume about 15% of our calories from protein, we should aim for 10%, which is about 50-60 grams of protein a day. I am a strong advocate for moderation. If you take away one thing from this article, I think it would be to shift meat to a side dish. Also, opt to skip the animal products more often. However, I do not recommend drastic changes. If we slowly cut down the animal protein, we can add in some of the plant proteins I mentioned, and still meet our protein requirements. Not only will this help our cholesterol levels but it will also help the ease the strain on our natural resources as well.
Studies to review:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4166373/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/diet-high-in-meat-proteins-raises-cancer-risk-for-middle-aged-people/
- Published in Eating for Health, Public Blog
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