Posts Tagged energy

… minutes a day, 4-5 days a week. During this 30-60 minute period, your metabolism elevates as the energy manufacturing engines get firing. What happens after your workout is complete? Well, …

There are a few simple rules to follow when choosing the foods that are permitted to enter your mouth. Remember, every year all of the molecules in your body have been replaced with entirely new molecules. Those molecules will be comprised of the molecules that you put in your mouth through your food. So, it would make good sense to fill your body with healthy, living enzymes and nutrients.

This section will introduce you to natural eating, it is not a full course on healthy eating but it should give you plenty of information to get you started.

Rule number one, follow the golden rule: “Eat foods in the package that nature provides!” You don’t see orange juice growing on a tree, you see oranges growing on a tree. Follow this rule and you will be half way to a healthy diet. You see, when you drink a glass of orange juice you are getting the sugar equivalent of 4-6 oranges. This sugar has been liberated from the fiber of the pulp and is thus much more readily absorbed into the blood. Whenever sugar enters into the blood at such a fast rate it reeks havoc regardless of whether that product comes from fruit or not. It is much healthier to eat the whole orange. You will get the fiber and the extra bioflavonoids! This rule goes well beyond OJ, if you apply it to the majority of your diet, you will literally change your health in one swoop. It is THAT powerful. You don’t need to learn complex rules, count calories, or read packages, just eat REAL food from nature as often as possible.

Rule number two, nutrient density decides the quality of food. Nutrient density has to do with how much nutrition there is in a food in comparison to how many calories are present. High levels of nutrition and low calorie count make for an ideal food. Any food with low or average nutrient levels along with high calorie levels is considered unhealthy. If you eat lots of vegetables and fruits while following the Golden Rule, then you can almost never go wrong. Pick the fruits and vegetables that are the most colorful as these will have the most healthful qualities! Although you can not always guarantee the presence of vitamins and minerals, you can always guarantee the presence of healthy phytochemicals such as carotenoids by merely looking at the product. These phytochemicals are what give fruits and vegetables their vivid color.

What About Meat?

There is a lot of controversy regarding how meat impacts your health. On one side of the story you hear the high protein arguments and on the other the vegetarian arguments.
If we look at our Paleolithic ancestors, it is estimated that 45-85% of their calories came from animal sources such as fish, insects, birds, amphibians, mammals, etc. Scientists estimate the daily protein intake of Paleolithic man to be 300-400 grams of protein per day, along with 200 grams of fat.  (Sisson, Mark. Primal Blueprint)

The debate surrounding vegetarian versus omnivores living is ridiculous because it is possible to be very healthy or very unhealthy eating either way. Personally, I choose a omnivore lifestyle that includes large quantities of fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. I choose lean meats and consume these lean sources of protein with most of my main meals. If you choose to be vegetarian, you must be sure to supplement with sublingual B12 and consume plenty of sources of vegetarian protein. Regardless of whether you choose a vegetarian or omnivore lifestyle, there is one rule that you must follow to enjoy optimal health…

Third, cut out refined carbohydrates such as bread, pasta, white rice, candy and sugar as much as possible. There is nothing good coming out of these foods but taste. We do not need to drop them out of our diet completely, however, we do need to significantly limit their intake. With a little self-discipline we can learn to love healthier foods like we love these nutrient poor, carbohydrate based products. If you can achieve these goals, you will be well on your way to optimal health!

If you would like a great book suggestion to get you started on the path of healthy eating I would highly suggest Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson. This book really helps people understand a healthy diet and provides TONS of great health tips that you can put to use right away.

Finally, drink your water! Few people realize just how important water intake is to your body’s health. I have seen peoples energy skyrocket, blood pressures drop, allergies improve,  and memories return to youthful levels, simply by drinking more water! Here are some tips for working more water into your lifestyle:

1. Keep a 32 oz bottle of water on your desk, sip at it all day long. If you freeze it over night you can sip at it as it melts throughout the day. If you do freeze it please be sure to fill the bottle only two-thirds the way to allow the water to expand.
2. Get a NSF certified filter for home use and USE IT! A good filter is New Wave 10-Stage Filter .

Congratulations on taking the first step towards health and vitality! This guide is designed to provide you with the basic “next steps” in your journey toward optimal health and vitality.

If you are new to natural healing you likely have one or more of the following complaints: Low to “average” energy levels. Trouble sleeping or you don’t feel rested when you wake. You are taking 2 or more medications and you are tired of the side effects. You have recently been diagnosed with some sort of health condition (most commonly heart disease, osteoporosis, high cholesterol, high blood pressure or diabetes).

You can’t explain it fully, but you “just don’t feel well”. You are overweight and want to lose weight. Regardless of how or why you got to us, the likelihood is that you have a healthy degree of skepticism and are interested in unbiased information that will help you make major improvements in your health. Remember, our goal is major improvements in your health! We don’t just want your lab reports to look good, we want you to feel energetic, vibrant and healthy.

We have 5 main goals when starting someone on the path of natural healing, we will provide plenty of scientific data and clinical examples throughout your experience with us. Remember the proof is in YOUR EXPERIENCE.

1. Folate supplementation
2. Advertising of supplements
   
3. Number of supplements to take
   
4. Scientific studies
5. Esophageal problems
6. WholeFood vitamins
7. Benefits of fruits/vegetables
8. Alcohol
9. Increase energy
10. Colloidal silver
11. Phlegm
12. H1N1
13. Blood pressure increase during stress

1. Vitamin K2 and Vitamin D
   
2. Flomax
3. Prostate issues
   
4. Red Yeast Rice
   
5. Lack of energy
   
6. Osteopenia
7. Fatigue
8. Neuropathy
9. Acid Reflux
10. Bowel issues

1. The difference between masculine and feminine energy
2. Gathering of women for Re-Awakening the Sacred Feminine
3. Essential Oils



Little did they know that one of these rare mice would radically change the way that we view that glob of fat that hangs out around your midsection, butt or thighs.

In 1902, a French researcher named L. Cuenot began to research a special yellow mouse that was popular among mouse enthusiasts. This mouse, known for its peculiar propensity to gain fat, began a domino effect in the science world that ultimately led to one of the most important discoveries in the study of fat!

As researchers continued to study naturally fat mice, they happened upon a mutant strain of mouse that seemed to suffer many of the same complications attributed to obesity in humans. This mouse, referred to as the “ob” mouse suffered with:

1. High insulin levels
2. High stress hormones
3. Low sex hormones (estrogen & testosterone)
4. Low body temperature
5. Low thyroid
6. Lots of body fat
7. High levels of infertility

The investigation of this strain of mouse led researchers to believe that there was some compound that was lacking in these mice that caused them to gain fat. That labeled this compound a “satiety factor”. Then in the 1970s, a researcher performed some of the most interesting and bizarre research that I have ever heard about. He surgically joined a “normal” mouse to one of his ob mice. The mice were attached in such a way to mimic Siamese twins where the two mice share a blood circulation. When he did this, the normal mouse stayed normal and the fat mouse got skinny. This proved that there was some sort of chemical that the fat, ob mouse was lacking. When the mice were sharing the blood circulation, the “satiety chemical” from the normal mouse entered the ob mouse and thus he became “normal”. That chemical came to be known as “leptin” which is now believed to be the greatest discovery in the bariatric sciences. Scientists were excited because they felt that they could purify this compound and inject it into overweight people to literally “cure” their obesity! They succeeded in purifying it and proceeded to clinical studies.

You can imagine their dismay when they discovered that leptin injections had no effect on overweight subjects. When further study was performed on overweight subjects they discovered that they were not deficient in leptin but instead had far more leptin in their blood than their skinny counterparts.

This just didn’t make sense. If leptin eradicates hunger and stimulates metabolism, why would it not cause weight loss? The only feasible explanination was that the body had somehow lost its ability to register the leptin that was floating through the circulation. This same phenomenon occurs when too much insulin is floating through the system which leads to insulin resistance and ultimately diabetes.

What is leptin and why is it important?

Your body, which is really a community of trillions of smaller individual living cells, must be perfectly orchestrated in order to maintain life. This orchestration is coordinated by certain compounds called “hormones”. Hormones allow the trillions of cells within the body to communicate with each other. Leptin is one such hormone, in fact, leptin appears to be the mother of all hormones. This means that if leptin gets out of balance then other hormones such as insulin, cortisol, thyroid, testosterone and estrogen also follow.

Leptin’s main jobs are to regulate eating, metabolism and reproduction.

If the brain is the President of your body then leptin is her chief of staff. When resistance to leptin occurs, it appears to prevent leptin from getting signals to the brain. The brain then gets a constant signal that the body is starving for food and nutrients. This results in a number of physical manifestations to PERCEIVED starvation:

1. Decreased metabolism – To slow your demise due to starvation
2. Insulin resistance – To enhance fat storage when food is once again available.
3. Thyroid deficiency – Slows metabolism to prevent starvation.
4. Infertility – Reproduction requires lots of energy. If the body feels that you are starving then it does not deem you suitable for reproduction. After all, if you can’t feed yourself how will you feed a little one?
5. Hunger and cravings – This motivates you to find food.

So where does leptin come from?

Scientists use to think that fat cells were nothing more than a depository for fat. The discovery of leptin forever changed fat from an annoying blob of goo to an endocrine organ on par with such big players as the thyroid, testicles, adrenal gland, ovaries and pituitary gland. Now fat is known to produce many hormones that play important roles with everything from fat storage to reproduction. In fact, fat may become known as the most important endocrine organ to ever be discovered!

Leptin, is the fuel gauge of the body. It continuously reports to the brain to tell the brain how much fat we have stored up and thus how likely we are to starve to death should famine rear its ugly head. The more fat we have the higher the leptin levels go and the more leptin signals reach the brain. In an ideal world, as fat builds up the brain gets the signal to stop sending hunger signals and start metabolizing fat.

Having fat stored up protects the body from starvation and thus improves its chances of survival during famine. The body, however, does not want to be “fat” or “obese”. Remember, our body is an outdated model. It is built for Paleolithic days where food was scarce and danger seeming lurked behind very bush. It wants some fat to prevent starvation, however, it doesn’t want you to be the slowest creature in the herd because that would make you more likely to get caught and eaten by a lion. Leptin, therefore, must continuously balance fat stores with being lean and agile. Leptin resistance would never have occurred in Paleolithic days because food was just too scarce.

Now, you can see how important the regulation of leptin is in your fat loss efforts as well as the quest for youth and vitality. Once you understand leptin and what causes leptin resistance to occur you will be better suited to achieve the body and health that you desire!

How do I balance letpin?

1. Cut carbohydrate intake – Carbohydrates cause an increase in insulin levels which can ultimately cause insulin resistance. Anytime insulin resistance occurs, so too does leptin resistance.
2. When you eat carbohydrates choose carb sources that have a very low glycemic load- Low glycemic-load foods decrease the amount of insulin produced.
3. Exercise daily – There is no faster way to improve leptin sensitivity than to start exercising regularly.
4. Try not to eat 3 hours before bedtime – Leptin levels should be highest in the evening and lowest in the morning; thus you should be hungry in the morning and not in the evening. If you are hungry in the evening; this suggests leptin resistance.
5. Sleep at least 7-9 hours a night – Sleep deprivation causes lower leptin and higher ghrelin–the perfect storm for overwhelming hunger.

Researchers recently determined that limb length was the most important determinant of energy expenditure during activity! This means if you are “vertically challenged” then you will burn fewer calories than a taller acquaintance who works just as hard on the treadmill. I wonder if this explains why the six foot tall models can stay so skinny?

Take heart, your efforts are in vain, this simply means that the “vertically challenged” will need to challenge themselves a little more when they hit the treadmill or stair climber! Move faster, work longer, try interval training, add ankle weights, whatever you do just pump up the volume. (Journal Experimental Biology, 210; 484-494,2007)