Healing the gut takes some time, it unfortunately doesn't happen over night.  On the bright side, it's not too complicated to figure out how to start the healing process.  It does take discipline to commit yourself to a healthier eating program, supplementation, and some lifestyle changes.  There are simply 4 R's to follow:

Remove
Here is where we begin.  This is truly the most important among the 4 R's.  As we discussed in the past two posts, there are many factors that play a role in disrupting gut health.  Those main sources being stress, unhealthy food and drink choices, and chemicals from medications. 

• Stress: Often times people immediately think and say, "this is my life and I can't change the amount of stress I live with."  In some cases this may be true, we do understand this along with you.  My question to those people is this, "What do you do for YOURSELF that helps relieve or manage your stress?"  You may have a stressful job, personal stressors, etc.  As a mother of three very active kids, I understand feeling like I need an extra 3+ hours a day to try and fit everything in for everyone else and make some me time.  You are not alone in the stress department my friend.  The key to decreasing the volume of stress you feel, is to find an outlet for yourself that you enjoy, and can allow yourself some freedom from those stresses.  Yes, it takes a little planning on your part.  For example; I enjoy working out and I have used working out as my outlet since I was about 13 years old.  It's a healthy stress relief for everyone, because it not only gets your blood flowing but it also releases endorphins that naturally make you feel better.  Let's be real here, when you are trying to quick bust out a 10 minute or less mile, grinding up a quick bike ride, or pushing around some heavy weight, those stressors are taking a back burner to the art of thinking about your workout.  Think about this for a moment...an average power-walk or jog only takes 10-15 minutes of your day.  How about instead of going out to lunch every day, you prepack a healthy lunch, use the first 20 minutes of your lunch break to take a walk/run, and then eat your lunch.  Maybe you could drive to pick up your kids 20-30 minutes early before they get out of school and take a run/walk/bike ride from their school and back to pick them up.  Like I said, it does take a little pre-planning, but you would be surprised what you can squeeze into your schedule if you make the effort.   Another tid-bit, perhaps you would like to take an art class, cooking class, men's group, bible study group, etc, but you can't imagine breaking away from your family for a couple of hours once a week or month because they "need" you for dinner, homework, taxiing, whatever.  Here's the deal, you PLAN AHEAD, cook a meal the day before and make enough that there are leftovers for the evening that you are out.  Make your children finish their homework and bathe early, and make carpool arrangements for your kids.  Gosh parents, don't ever hesitate to ask for help with kid pickups and drop offs if you need it.  Way more often than not, parents are totally willing to help here and there, because there will certainly be a time that they need help and you are more than willing to return the favor.  Anyway, what I am getting at is this, take some ME time and learn to manage your stress.  Stress is toxic to our health.
• Unhealthy Foods and Drinks.  It has become too easy to grab junk food loaded with unhealthy chemicals, not to mention have zero health benefits to our bodies.  A quote I mentioned in an earlier blog is spot on, "we as Americans are the most obese but malnourished people than any other country."  Let that sink in again and understand that what we are eating is literally JUNK.  Thankfully we are becoming more educated about our nutrition and what we eat, but that doesn't mean we are following that knowledge for ourselves and our families.  One of the fun quotes I like to share, that is not my own, when someone asks about "lowfat', "non-fat", or "sugarfree" immediately think chemical s*^tstorm.  Those are the most toxic next to meat preservatives and the other numerous chemical additives.  I could go on and on with this topic for hours but I won't here.  Just try to read labels and watch out for un-necessary additives.  Stick with whole foods, meals and snacks loaded with fruits and veggies, and unprocessed meat products.  Also, the removal of gluten, dairy, refined sugars, and alcohol especially while you are trying to take those first steps in healing your gut.  Any food item that you are sensitive to, eliminate it to give your gut time to heal.
• Medications (unless medically necessary to live):  With this you must be very careful and consult with your prescribing physician before eliminated a medication. Understandably, not all medications can be removed.  You might be surprised though to learn about what you are able to discontinue taking if you change your lifestyle.  A healthy diet and weight loss program may take the place of the blood pressure and cholesterol drugs you are taking, possibly even the type II diabetic meds.  With the removal of unhealthy foods or foods that you are sensitive to increases the possibility of removing meds that you take for allergies and inflammation.  Look for alternatives when it comes to over the counter meds.  There are so many supplements that are all natural and so much more healthy to take than the slew of chemicals in medications. Boswellia for example, aka frankincense in the essential oil world, has been proven to be a more potent anti inflammatory treatment then NSAID's without any harmful chemicals.  Like I said, don't just quite taking a prescribed med without consulting the prescribing physician.  Ask that physician first, research alternatives, and make lifestyle changes to help remove these toxins.

Replace
How do we replace?  We replace the everyday repetitive stress with time management and spending some ME time to decrease/manage the stress. Next, replace the fast food with healthy foods prepared at home (again pre-plan just a little). Replace the fake processed foods and snacks with healthy fruits, veggies, nuts, etc.  Read labels and avoid poor food choices.  Also replace the food sources that are highly inflammatory with alternatives. With the Gluten free trend, there are MANY options now available to help you avoid gluten.  Same goes for dairy alternatives as well as eggs and nuts.  As I mentioned just above, replace some of the medications with all natural supplements, whole foods, and lifestyle changes.  The key here is to replace unhealthy stressors in your gut to foods that promote healing.

Repair
After you have made the commitment to remove and replace factors in your diet and lifestyle that are unhealthy for your gut, the next step is to repair the damage.  Repairing the gut wall is a process.  Thankfully the human body is amazingly resilient and SMART!  This process can only happen if the stressors are all removed.  It is a delicate process that involves healing the gut barrier wall, the villi, and the mucosal layer.  Remember from the last blog, 70-80% of our immune system cells live within the gut. 

• The first step I recommend personally is fasting.  I'm not speaking in terms of weight-loss fasting.  Fasting allows the gut time to rest and repair.  Since each patients is different, a variety of fasting protocols can be used.  A one day water fast, or maybe a 16-8 hour fast (sixteen hours fasted/8hours eating per day). 
• Elimination diet as mentioned above, which again is eliminating any foods that you know you are sensitive to and also the most common foods others are sensitive to that you may not even be aware of your sensitivity to yet.
• Detoxification Protocol of 7-28 days that helps cleanse the body of the toxin burden.  We carry a couple of different detox kits in our office and hopefully online in our store soon.

Rebalance
The last step is to re-balance the GI system.  While whole foods are imperative to providing nutrition for your GI health, they are typically not enough in the beginning when we are re-balancing the GI tract.  The damage to the gut lining makes it difficult to utilize all of the nutrients we digest, especially if the foods are not superior quality. At this phase, reestablishing the micro-flora is paramount through probiotic support.  Take a peek at the picture below

Since starting to research this amazingly indepth topic on Gut Health, I have spent a lot of quality time speaking with our supplement companies to see what they officer to patients for gut health and inflammatory healing, and immune support.  I was amazed at the amount of literature they were able to produce on this well studied topic.  We are excited to have one of our favorite supplement reps in town next week, February 13th, to speak with not just us but also our patients and community about this interesting topic.  There is so much to learn about gut health and how it's related to your overall well being.  If you would like to hear more about the supplements we offer in the office for detoxification, gut repair supplements, and probiotics, please send me an email and I would be happy to help.

Welcome to our series on gut health.  This is one of those topics that is overwhelmingly MASSIVE and hard to even know where to start.  You have likely heard or maybe even researched a little for yourself, on the topic of gut health.  Maybe you know that probiotics are pretty good for you, you are just not sure why.  I'm just going to scratch the surface a little bit today on gut health, then I will dig deeper for you in the subsequent weeks to come. 

What is the gut Microbiome?  “Just like any other environment on the planet, our bodies have their own ecosystems -- made up of 100 trillion microorganisms, or microbes, that live in and on our bodies," says Rachael Buck, PhD, Abbott's lead research scientist and resident gut health expert. "These include bacteria, fungi, viruses and other types of tiny organisms. It’s so large in fact, that the genes of microbes outnumber our body’s genes by 100 to 1." 
The Gut Microbiome Explained (© 2019 Abbott)

When it comes to the microbiome, the large intestine (or, the colon) receives the most attention because it contains the highest concentration and greatest diversity of microbes in the entire body. The large intestine is lined with a layer of mucus and the microbes that live there form a gut biofilm. The biofilm contains an array of different microbes that carry out different tasks in your body and also work together to keep you healthy.What’s even more fascinating is that each and every person has a unique make-up of microbes. What determines the different types of microbes in a person is a result of ones genes, age, gender, diet, hygiene, and even the climate you live in and your occupation. In fact, studies show that the gut microbiome affects everything from pain, mood, sleep and stress, to how our bodies use the food we eat and how we fight off infection.

1) NUTRITION
Your gut bacteria can become unbalanced with a poor diet of high fats and highly refined carbohydrates/sugar.  Numerous studies are showing a HIGH correlation between highly processed foods and Leaky Gut Syndrome (more on that later).  The poorly managed diet ends up eroding the muccosal layer that lines the inner wall of the intestinal tract which is suppose to protect us from the unwanted bacteria, viruses, fungi, etc.

2) SLEEP AND MOOD
The quote: 'Our gut is our second brain", has become increasingly well known and popular.  Dubbed the second brain, the enteric nervous system within the gut contains 30 types of neurotransmitters and 100 million neurons. Ninety-percent of serotonin, which helps to produce melatonin, the “sleep hormone,” is located in the gut. There is also 400 times more melatonin in the gut than there is in the brain.  The gut brain axis picture below is great depiction of this relationship.

3) Inflammation and Infection
Healthy microbes in the gut destroy the harmful bacteria plus release chemicals that decrease inflammation in the body.
4) Skin
In addition to helping to keep our mind and body healthy – research has shown the microbiome also works to keep our skin healthy. Oily parts of the body – like the back or the face – tend to have fewer types of microbes because oil is anti-microbial, which keep bacteria out.These microbes also transform oils in the skin into natural moisturizers to keep the skin soft and supple. And when skin is moisturized, it also prevents bacteria from invading our bodies.

What does all of this mean in regards to a healthy immune system?  It's simple, yet not: healthy gut = healthy you.  Let me do a little bit of schooling here though to help set the ground work for understanding more.  The gut lining has 2 very important parts: the microbiome that is home to all of our good bacteria, and the barrier layer that keeps all of the good, bad, and ugly in our gut and not floating about.  As mentioned above, the microbiome is working to keep the good bacteria growing and fighting, and the rest of the bad and ugly down and out.  The gut barrier is "the Wall".  The wall is very protected by a mucus layer.  Check out the picture below:

The lining of the intestine is made up of Intestinal Epithelial Cells that are bound tightly together to not let anything bad break through to the bottom barrier.  As we consume a poor diet, take medications, live in a constant state of stress, etc., these cells lose their strength and start to break down.  When bad bacteria, fungi, viruses, even food particals infiltrate past the damaged barrier, our bodies immediately start fighting those substances.  The constant battle is on with everything that enters your gut.  The end result is a constant state of stress in the body = inflammation = poor immune function = chronic symptoms such as poor mood, sleep, nutritional deficiencies, weight gain, and even the start of autoimmune diseases.  Here's another diagram below.

 In Part II of our healthy gut series, we will look more in depth to food sensitivities and autoimmune diseases with regards to our gut health.  Lastly, we will map out plans to help heal the gut while restoring your health and increasing your immunity. 

You easily have 1 or maybe 100 friends that have their child/children diagnosed with ADD/ADHD.  You have likely encountered MANY people with different opinions on whether ADHD is even a "real" diagnosis.  I'm not here to start a debate or even give you my personal opinions.  With October being ADHD awareness month, I thought I would share some startling and exciting new info with everyone. 
A little definition and history of ADHD...
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that most often occurs in children, but can also be diagnosed in adulthood. Symptoms of ADHD include:

• having trouble concentrating or focusing
• having difficulty staying organized
• being forgetful about completing tasks
• having difficulty sitting still

It can be a difficult condition to diagnose. Many symptoms of ADHD can be typical childhood behaviors, so it can be hard to know what’s ADHD-related and what’s not. Here are the basic facts and symptoms of ADHD.

History Lesson:

• ADHD was first mentioned in 1902. British pediatrician Sir George Still described “an abnormal defect of moral control in children.” 
• The APA did not recognize ADHD as a diagnosis until 1968.  It was originally named hyperkinetic impulse disorder.
• The FDA approved the psychostimulant Ritalin (methylphenidate) in 1955. It became more popular as an ADHD treatment as the disorder became better understood and diagnoses increased. The medicine is still used to treat ADHD today.
• The APA released a third edition of the DSM (DSM-III) in 1980. They changed the name of the disorder from hyperkinetic impulse disorder to attention deficit disorder (ADD).
• The last change to finalize the ADHD diagnosis was finally made in the year 2000. 

Since the final "textbook" change was made, the cases of ADHD have risen exponentially fast. 

5 fast facts

• Males are almost three times more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than females.
• During their lifetimes, 13 percent of men will be diagnosed with ADHD. Just 4.2 percent of women will be diagnosed.
• The average age of ADHD diagnosis is 7 years old.
• Symptoms of ADHD typically first appear between the ages of 3 and 6.
• ADHD isn’t just a childhood disorder. About 4 percent of American adults over the age of 18 deal with ADHD on a daily basis.

A few extra interesting facts I found are the following.  There is a 4x higher risk for ADHD if you are in an english speaking home.  Children living in conditions that are 2x below the federal poverty level have a much higher risk.  In regards to race in the US, whites are at 9.8%, Blacks 9.5%, and Latinos 5.5%.  The numbers continued to skyrocket over the years also.  From the year 2003 to 2011, there was a 42% increase in ADHD diagnoses.  

This happens to be the most interesting fact to me so far:
The Causes of ADHD
Scientists have not yet identified the specific causes of ADHD. There is evidence that genetics contribute to ADHD. For example, three out of four children with ADHD have a relative with the disorder. Other factors that may contribute to the development of ADHD include being born prematurely, brain injury and the mother smoking, using alcohol or having extreme stress during pregnancy. 
​
So we are treating this condition with some serious drugs, but we really can't confirm where it is coming from or how to treat it safely...hummmmm.

I also found this very interesting.  In an article published by Psychology Today, the wrote about why the French don't have ADHD.  Here's their article:

Why French Kids Don't Have ADHDFrench children don't need medications to control their behavior.
Posted Mar 08, 2012

In the United States, at least 9 percent of school-aged children have been diagnosed with ADHD, and are taking pharmaceutical medications. In France, the percentage of kids diagnosed and medicated for ADHD is less than .5 percent. How has the epidemic of ADHD—firmly established in the U.S.—almost completely passed over children in France?

Is ADHD a biological-neurological disorder? Surprisingly, the answer to this question depends on whether you live in France or in the U.S. In the United States, child psychiatrists consider ADHD to be a biological disorder with biological causes. The preferred treatment is also biological—psycho stimulant medications such as Ritalin and Adderall.
French child psychiatrists, on the other hand, view ADHD as a medical condition that has psycho-social and situational causes. Instead of treating children's focusing and behavioral problems with drugs, French doctors prefer to look for the underlying issue that is causing the child distress—not in the child's brain but in the child's social context. They then choose to treat the underlying social context problem with psychotherapy or family counseling. This is a very different way of seeing things from the American tendency to attribute all symptoms to a biological dysfunction such as a chemical imbalance in the child's brain.

French child psychiatrists don't use the same system of classification of childhood emotional problems as American psychiatrists. They do not use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or DSM. According to Sociologist Manuel Vallee, the French Federation of Psychiatry developed an alternative classification system as a resistance to the influence of the DSM-3. This alternative was the CFTMEA (Classification Française des Troubles Mentaux de L'Enfant et de L'Adolescent), first released in 1983, and updated in 1988 and 2000. The focus of CFTMEA is on identifying and addressing the underlying psychosocial causes of children's symptoms, not on finding the best pharmacological band-aids with which to mask symptoms.

To the extent that French clinicians are successful at finding and repairing what has gone awry in the child's social context, fewer children qualify for the ADHD diagnosis. Moreover, the definition of ADHD is not as broad as in the American system, which, in my view, tends to "pathologize" much of what is normal childhood behavior. The DSM specifically does not consider underlying causes. It thus leads clinicians to give the ADHD diagnosis to a much larger number of symptomatic children, while also encouraging them to treat those children with pharmaceuticals.
The French holistic, psychosocial approach also allows for considering nutritional causes for ADHD-type symptoms—specifically the fact that the behavior of some children is worsened after eating foods with artificial colors, certain preservatives, and/or allergens. Clinicians who work with troubled children in this country—not to mention parents of many ADHD kids—are well aware that dietary interventions can sometimes help a child's problem. In the U.S., the strict focus on pharmaceutical treatment of ADHD, however, encourages clinicians to ignore the influence of dietary factors on children's behavior.
And then, of course, there are the vastly different philosophies of child-rearing in the U.S. and France. These divergent philosophies could account for why French children are generally better-behaved than their American counterparts. Pamela Druckerman highlights the divergent parenting styles in her recent book, Bringing up Bébé. I believe her insights are relevant to a discussion of why French children are not diagnosed with ADHD in anything like the numbers we are seeing in the U.S.

Do you really know what the drugs are that are being used to treat ADHD.  So many people just agree to take whatever they are told to give themselves or their children without so much as a second thought.  Take a peek at the long list below of medication prescribed for ADHD.  My biggest concern is all of the AMPHETAMINES!  Wowzers!!!!!

The side effects above are serious, especially for our growing young children.  The graph below is real.  Is it possible to find new treatments for ADHD that aren't so scary?

Today one of the biggest problems we now face are people stealing and selling these prescription meds to get high.  There are teens not only swallowing these pills for fun, but also snorting them and even injecting them.  These real and scary facts bring me to a lighter subject, thankfully, and that is diet and supplementation. 

Before I share with you some of the latest nutirtional infomation related to ADHD, I do again want to clarify that this is not a controversial post about whether ADHD is real or fake etc.  I personally do believe there is just cause to classify ADHD as a legitimate diagnosis.   I also believe it is severely over diagnosed and also diagnosed prematurely.  Before drugs are pushed, shouldn't we give diet and exercise a chance?  Some of these youngsters that we are quick to diagnosis with ADHD eat 90% or more processed foods with most of that being sugar.  Lucky Charms for breakfast is not feeding your child's body or brain.  You are giving them pure sugar, then asking them to sit still, focus, and not pass out from the post sugar rush coma.  Also, the lack of physical exercise these children now get is at an all time high.  Some of these children get the most exercise from their day from only recess.  The go home, snack, and sit the rest of the afternoon and evening in front of screens.  So evaluating the individuals diet and exercise is a very important first step. 
​
Now we look at those whom still struggle after a diet and exercise program was not as successful as needed.  Well, the exciting new word is that Magnesium may just be what the doctor needs to order (lol, for realy though).

We are starting to see some great research emerging on the relationship of Magnesium and ADHD. 
The following study is one of many to choose from.  This one is short and sweet, so I thought I would include it.Magnesium supplementation in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder





Magnesium supplementation in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Author:FaridaEl BazaHeba AhmedAlShahawiSallyZahraRana AhmedAbdelHakim

Under a Creative Commons licenseAbstractBackground
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder with associated mineral deficiency.
Aim To assess magnesium level in ADHD children and compare it to the normal levels in children. Then, to detect the effect of magnesium supplementation as an add on therapy, on magnesium deficient patients.
Methods
The study was conducted on 25 patients with ADHD and 25 controls. All subjects had magnesium estimation in serum and hair. ADHD children were further assessed by Wechsler intelligence scale for children, Conners’ parent rating scale, and Wisconsin card sorting test. Then magnesium deficient patients were assigned into 2 groups, those who received magnesium, and those who did not. The difference between the studied groups was assessed by Conners’ parents rating scale and Wisconsin card sorting test.
Results
Magnesium deficiency was found in 18 (72%) of ADHD children. The magnesium supplemented group improved as regards cognitive functions as measured by the Wisconsin card sorting test and Conners’ rating scale. The patients reported minor side effects from magnesium supplementation.
Conclusion
Magnesium supplementation in ADHD, proves its value and safety.

Another Great Article:

• Magnesium Decreases Hyperactivity in ADHD Children

by Helen Saul
Case
Magnesium deficiency is found more frequently in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than in healthy children. In one study of ADHD children, magnesium deficiency was found in 95 percent of those examined (1). Does this warrant magnesium supplementation for hyperactive children? The answer is yes.
Supplementation with magnesium appears to be especially helpful for alleviating hyperactivity in children (2). In a group of children supplemented with about 200 milligrams (mg) per day of magnesium for six months, there was “an increase in magnesium contents in hair and a significant decrease of hyperactivity” compared to children in the control group who had not been treated with supplemental magnesium (3).
Magnesium Is Safe and It Works
A review that looked at studies done on magnesium for the treatment of ADHD in children concluded that although “studies supported that magnesium is effective for treating ADHD…until further strong evidences for its efficacy and safety are provided, magnesium is not recommended for treating ADHD.” (4) This is typical of modern “evidence-based” medical literature. Some medical professionals will ignore what is already known unless a sufficient number of double-blind randomized studies have been performed. Magnesium supplementation is safe and effective, and it is critically important for children who are deficient.
The safety of magnesium has been well established. There have been no deaths reported from magnesium supplementation. None (5). An overdose of magnesium may result in loose stool. This is temporary, and will go away once dosages are reduced or divided into smaller amounts of magnesium given throughout the day. Magnesium supplementation is safe and it is worth trying, especially when we consider the dangers of ADHD drugs.
ADHD Drugs Are Dangerous
Depending on which ADHD drug is being taken, side effects of overdose include mydriasis, tremors, anxiety, agitation, hyper-reflexia, headache, gastrointestinal upset, combative behavior, confusion, hallucinations, delirium, dizziness, dystonia, insomnia, paranoia, movement disorders, tachycardia hypertension, seizures, and yes, even hyperactivity, the very condition an ADHD drug is supposed to be treating. Oh, and they can kill you (6,7). Even if “fatalities are rare” (7), I imagine this brings little comfort to parents. Moreover, the most common side effects of ADHD drugs, taken as prescribed, are appetite loss, abdominal pain, headaches, sleep disturbances, diminished growth, hallucinations and psychotic disturbances (8). Magnesium produces none of these effects. And even though magnesium is both safe and effective, nowhere in the report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Clinical Practice Guideline for ADHD is magnesium supplementation recommended (8).
When it comes to the potential for kids to die suddenly from taking their prescribed ADHD medication, concerns are dismissed by the AAP with statements like “evidence is conflicting as to whether stimulant medications increase the risk of sudden death” (8). One would hope that with this level of uncertainty about the risk of death, the medical advice would be against the use of ADHD medication. Instead, the recommendation from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is “continue your ADHD treatment as prescribed by a healthcare professional” (9). Just be sure to “talk to your healthcare professional about any questions you may have about ADHD medications.” Well, never has “talking about it” made medication any less dangerous.
Other Benefits of Magnesium
In addition to its effectiveness for treating hyperactivity, magnesium also benefits children in other profound ways: it can help kids sleep better at night, relieve discomfort from sore muscles and growing pains, relieve constipation, reduce anxiety, and reduce headache days (10).

“I have come to the conclusion that everyone could benefit from extra magnesium supplementation.”
– Carolyn Dean, MD, ND

Magnesium and Other Nutrients for ADHD
ADHD is not caused by a drug deficiency. Instead of giving drugs to our children, we should look to the benefits of providing them with optimal nutrition. Children with ADHD may benefit from optimal levels of several nutrients including vitamin D (11), iron (12), niacin (B3), pyridoxine (B6), vitamin C, and omega-3 fatty acids (13). In addition to removing refined sugar from the diet, avoiding artificial food dyes, and providing healthy food, pediatrician Ralph Campbell, MD, recommends a vitamin B complex supplement be given with breakfast, an additional 100 mg of B6 at another meal, and 200 mg or more of magnesium per day for ADHD children (13). Other helpful tips include limiting screen time and increasing exercise, especially in the outdoors.
Dosage
The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of magnesium for children ages one to three is 80 mg per day. Children ages four to five: 130 mg magnesium per day. By age nine, our government recommends that kids should be getting (at least) 240 mg of magnesium per day. And at age fourteen, between 360 to 410 mg per day. Keep in mind, only about 30 to 40 percent of dietary magnesium is absorbed by the body (14). Remember, too much magnesium in a less-absorbable form can cause loose stool. This side effect can be prevented by reducing the amount of magnesium given and providing it in a more absorbable form. If larger total daily doses of magnesium are required, divide the dose into smaller amounts and give it multiple times throughout the day.

One of my favorite articles you can google if you are more interested comes from The Egyptian Journal of Medical Human Genetics (www.ejmhg.eg.net).  Original article title: Magnesium Supplementation in Children with Attention Defect Hyperactivity Disorder May 2015.  The article has graphs to show the success with Magnesium supplementation for those with ADHD.

As we dig a little more we do find that other vitamins and minerals are super important also for the management of ADHD. 

As a health care provider that strives to help others find the causes of their health care concerns and help treat them, rather than band-aid them, it gives me a lot of positive hope to share this post with you.  I hate to see the road to prescription help being the only road possible for people.  From the articles above, you know there is no harm that can be done from eating healthier, exercising more regularly, and supplementing your diet with high quality supplements.  I have three daughters of my own, I know it is NOT easy to make sure they take extra supplements to fill in those inadequacies that we have from our diet.  I will say this though, our supplement companies that we carry do an AMAZING job of supplying us with kid friendly supplements.  We try each and every supplement ourselves to know how they taste.  The most excited and newest addition to Standard Process, one of our supplement suppliers, is the new Magnesium

These make me SO excited!!!!  This is such a easier way to get your Magnesium, plus it's kid friendly.  This was just released and we were able to get a sneak peek preview and taste about a month ago.  Not going to lie, it looks a wheee bit like grass, but it taste great.  You can easily add a stick to a simple water bottle on the go, or in your other shakes.  I am going to add a little more info about it below.

E-Z Mg™ is a plant-based, multiform magnesium (Mg) developed to support patients with inadequate dietary magnesium intake. Made from two key ingredients: Swiss chard (beet leaf) and buckwheat – both grown on our sustainable and certified organic farm in Wisconsin.

• Plant-based, naturally occurring multiform of magnesium
• Helps to bridge the gap in dietary magnesium intake*
• May promote whole-body and urine alkalization*
• Rich source of vitamin K1
• Gluten-Free, Vegan, USDA Organic

What is the Benefit of Multiform Magnesium (Mg)?The best source of magnesium is naturally occurring and obtained from the diet. Various forms of magnesium make use of different uptake sites in the guts with 40% of magnesium absorption taking place throughout the intestines.2 Plant-based magnesium, like that found in E-Z Mg™, is considered ideal as it consists of a collection of various magnesium forms (i.e., multiform). Since plant-based magnesium contains multiple forms, it helps take the guesswork out of which kind of magnesium to take.
​
The plant-based, multiform magnesium in E-Z Mg™ may be absorbed by the body the way nature intended.
The naturally occurring multiform magnesium in E-Z Mg™ is not expected to contribute to gastrointestinal side effects that are common in other forms of magnesium supplements. Also, recent findings show our plant-based magnesium exhibits significantly higher levels of ionized magnesium in cerebrospinal fluid after only 14 days after administration.Why is There a Gap in Dietary Magnesium Intake?

The Standard American Diet (SAD) is high in processed foods and carbohydrates, low in vitamins and minerals. This inadequate daily intake of plant materials helps contribute to magnesium deficiency.3 Data also suggests that produce - especially vegetables - has experienced a decline in mineral content over the last century.4
Key IngredientsE-Z Mg™ consists of extracts of two key ingredients: organic dried Swiss chard (beet leaf) juice and organic dried buckwheat (aerial parts) juice delivering 85mg of elemental magnesium. The PRAL value in each serving is estimated at -8.9mEq which may help promote urine and whole-body alkalization.

 The following are three great and highly recommended Supplements for your kiddos:

 Catalyn Chewable contains vital nutrients from whole foods and other sources.*

•  Supplies multiple vitamins and minerals for complete, complex nutritional supplementation
• Designed to bridge nutritional gaps in the diet
• Encourages healthy cell functioning
• Supports overall well-being
• Great-tasting chewable tablet with natural cherry fruit powder*

Congaplex Chewable is used for short-term support of the immune system.*

• Supports healthy immune system response function
• Provides ingredients with antioxidant activity
• Supports the thymus gland
• Contains ribonucleic acid, which the body uses to build new cells
• Contains a combination of key ingredients from Cataplex® A-C, Thymex®, Calcium Lactate, and Ribonucleic Acid (RNA)
• Great-tasting chewable tablet with natural raspberry fruit powder*

Tuna Omega 3 Chewable delivers essential omega-3 fatty acids*

• Natural profile of tuna oil—not concentrated
• Supports normal lipid profiles already within normal range
• Supports the body's natural inflammatory response function as it relates to periodic challenges like consumption of a high-fat meal or strenuous activity
• Third-party tested for environmental contaminants
• Supports cognition
• Supports skin and hair health
  
• Supports emotional balance
• DHA is important for proper fetal eye and brain development.
• Supportive but not conclusive research has shown that EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.*

Please don't hesitate to stop by the office and ask about the supplements we carry and how we can help you.

The Thyroid is a very important little gland in the human body and chances are you have heard about it from time to time.  This popular little gland makes the news quite a lot considering it's major function in our metabolism.  Not only do you hear about it in the health and weight-loss news, but also quite a lot in the avenue of moods, depression, etc.  What do you really know about the thyroid though?  It's so easy for one to assume that they might be hypothyroid because they have a hard time losing weight, are depressed, and possibly fatigued.  Before jumping into the WebMD self diagnosed world, I'm here to offer a little more info on that important gland and what it does for us. 
Thyroid Physiology:
The Thyroid gland produces 2 hormones: T3 (triiodothyronine) and T4 (thyroxine).The thyroid hormones act on nearly every cell in the body. They act to increase the basal metabolic rate, affect protein synthesis, help regulate long bone growth (synergy with growth hormone) and neural maturation, and increase the body's sensitivity to catecholamines (such as adrenaline) by permissiveness. The thyroid hormones are essential to proper development and differentiation of all cells of the human body. These hormones also regulate protein, fat, and carbohydrate metabolism, affecting how human cells use energetic compounds. They also stimulate vitamin metabolism. Numerous physiological and pathological stimuli influence thyroid hormone synthesis. 
As you have just read, that small little gland in your neck has a pretty big job.  When the thyroid starts to malfunction, you get one of two outcomes, HYPOthyroidism or HYPERthryoidism.
Hypothyroidism
Insufficient hormone production from the thyroid gland. 

• Insufficient iodine intake
• Autoimmune disease (Hashimoto's)
• Stress

Symptoms: weight gain, depression, dry hair and skin, cellulite, fluid retention, constipation, cold hands and feet, female infertility, thin or absent lateral third of eyebrow hair, goiter, birth defects, fatigue, slowed mental processes, hair loss, poor memory and/or focus, "brain fog" low libido, cold intolerance, abnormal menses, peripheral neuropathy.

Incidence
Diagnosed:  3% of the population (9.3 million in the US).  Most common in women over 35 (>20% of US menopausal women are diagnosed with thyroid dysfunction.

Blood Test Analysis:
High TSH (thryoid stimulating hormone), Low Free T3, High or Low Free T4
Hair Analysis:
High Calcium : Potassium ratio
          ***************Don't worry, I'm coming back to explain everything in more detail shortly*******************

Hyperthyroidism
Overactive thyroid hormone secretion. 

• Graves Disease (90% US cases)
• Thyroid Goiter

Symptoms: nervousness, irritability, increased perspiration, palpitations, hand tremors, anxiety, insomnia, thinning of the skin, fine brittle hair, muscular weakness, unexplained weight loss, cardiac arrhythmia, bulging eyes.

Incidence
Approximently 1.3 percent of the population.  This increases to 4 to 5 percent in older women.  Hyperthyroidism is more common in those whom smoke.  Graves disease is often found in younger women.

Blood Tests Analysis
Low TSH, High free T3, Normal to High T4
Hair Analysis:
Low Calcium : Potassium Ratio

Making Sense of the Thyroid Gland Function
Almost 90 percent of the hormone produced by your thyroid is in the form of T4, the inactive form. Your liver then converts the T4 into T3, the active form.  If everything is working properly, you will make what you need and have the correct amounts of T3 and T4, which control the metabolism of every cell in your body. If your T3 is inadequate, either by scarce production or not converting properly from T4, your whole system suffers. T3 is critically important because it tells the nucleus of your cells to send messages to your DNA to rev up your metabolism by burning fat. This is how T3 lowers cholesterol levels, regrows hair, and helps keep you lean. Your T3 levels can be disrupted by nutritional imbalances, toxins, allergens, infections, and stress, and this lead to a series of complications, including thyroid cancer, hypothyroidism, and hyperthyroidism, which today are three of the most prevalent thyroid-related diseases.  

Today we are seeing far more HYPOthyroid related health problems due to the nature of our lifestyles.  The number 1 PRIMARY cause of an under-active thyroid gland is due to Iodine deficiency.  Iodine is deficient in our food supply, but equally deficient because of our bodies inability to absorb the iodine effectively.  The most common factors contributing to decreased thyroid function include food sensitivities, Stress, soy, and bromines.  Obviously we are all different and have different sensitivities, but any one food sensitivity that causes inflammation and an immune response can hurt your thyroid function.  I am not even going to go into the nastiness of SOY!  Just know that it is BAD BAD BAD, especially the nonfermented soy products like soy "meat" , cheese, and milk.  If you want to read up more on soy, simply google soy on the internet along with unhealthy benefits of soy.  Soy and the thyroid specifically: soy phytoestrogens are significant anti-thyroid agents that cause hypothyroidism.  Bromine, and element found in A LOT of things we eat and come into contact with daily such as pesticides, few bakery goods/flours, some soft drinks, vegetable oils, some medications, and some fire retardant products and hot tub water treatment.  Bromine can take the place of iodine in our receptor cells thus not allowing iodine into the thyroid.   Bromine toxicity can lead to psychiatric problems along with decreased thyroid health and many other health concerns. 

Lastly and I think is a massive contributor to thyroid health is STRESS!  If you have studied health and stress even a little, you know that stress is an adrenal killer.  The Thyroid and Adrenals are vital to each other and desperately need to work in harmony to keep our hormones balanced.  Many of us are under chronic stress, which results in increased adrenaline and cortisol levels, and elevated cortisol has a negative impact on thyroid function. Thyroid hormone levels drop during stressful times, which is when you actually need it the most. When stress becomes chronic, the flood of stress chemicals – adrenaline and cortisol – produced by your adrenal glands interfere with your thyroid hormones, causing a whole gamut of health-related issues like obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and/or unstable blood sugar levels. A prolonged stress response can lead to adrenal exhaustion, which is also known as adrenal fatigue and which is often found alongside thyroid disease.

• Iodine
  

Iodine is a nutrient that can be secretly found in every organ and tissue in the body.  Iodine is anti-bacterial, anti-parasitic, anti-viral, and anti-cancer agent. Iodine deficiency is now accepted as the most common cause of preventable brain damage in the world.  WHO estimated that over 30% of the world's population (2 billion people) has insufficient iodine intake. Our food supply is replacing iodine with bromine based agents, our toxicity exposure is at epic proportions, and our daily stress just keeps climbing.  What do we do?  We educate ourselves to get a better understanding and make better choices.  We learn how to manage our stress better. 
Lets revert back to the iodine sources in our food supply briefly.  The biggest contributors to decreased iodine consumption today include: diets focusing less on fish and seaweed, vegan/vegetarian diets, less iodide in the food and agricultural industry, fluoridated drinking water, food contamination, and decreased use of iodized salt.  What we can do to make healthier changes daily; eat organic as much as possible, avoid eating or drinking from plastic containers and choose glass or ceramic instead, look for organic whole grain bread flours that are "bromine -free",  and avoid sodas.  Outside of our dietary changes, steer away from Bromine in your hot tubs, read labels on your daily personal care products to avoid harsh chemicals, and try to ventilate with as much fresh air as possible as often as you can.

Two Main Points to Thyroid Care

1. Feed: Nutritional support for optimal thyroid function
2. Cleanse: Remove toxins

Four Key Minerals and Their Foods or Thyroid Support - Food Primary and Supplementation when needed

1. Iodine: seaweed / sea vegetation
2. Selenium: Brazil Nuts
3. Sodium: sea salt
4. Zinc: Oysters, grass fed beef, spinach, cashews, beans, buckwheat, mushrooms, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, grass fed lamb, lentils, and turkey

KEY Amino Acid for the Thyroid: TYROSINE
Tyrosine is the basis for thyroid hormones and the three catecholamines: epinephrine, norepinephrine, and dopamine.  Great sources of Tyrosine are eggs, raw cheese, raw milk, raw almonds, avocado, grass fed beef, and organic chicken and turkey.
Key Supplementation for above: Vitamin C, Vitamin F, and Tyrosine

• Supplementation
  

As a health care provider, we only use two main companies that are dominating the market on their quality of supplements.  These supplements are professional grade and can only be purchased through a licensed health care provider (because proper management is essential) to assure they are taken safely.  The two companies are Standard Process and OrthoMolecular.  I refer to their products a lot, and I do so with complete confidence.  Both companies have an outstanding product list for Thyroid care.  If you are concerned about you Thyroid health, a great first step is a simple blood and hair analysis test.  Following up with a Standard Process Cleanse to help clear your system of toxins so you can absorb the much needed nutrients to rebuild a healthy endocrine system.  Standard Process carries Cleanses, Herbal Supplements, and whole food supplements along with many basic vitamins and minerals.  OrthoMolecular also has a fantastic Detox program to get you started along with top notch supplementation to support your glandular system.  They too, produce incredible products that are in the rawest and most potent beneficial form. 

Simply ask us at the office about a few of the products we carry, or just feel free to ask more questions about Thyroid health in general. 

Carrying over from last week, I do support taking vitamins/minerals and supplements.   I think it is extremely hard to incorporate a vastly rich diet that gives our bodies all of the necessary vitamins it needs.  One has to be diligent on eating extremely clean, with a source of food from top organic growers of plants and animals.  Our main stream diets today are hugely lacking in vitamin and mineral content, not to mention our lifestyles do a number on their convenience.  Supplements are just as the word implies, they supplement our dietary needs, they DO NOT replace our diet.  As a health care provider, I tell everyone including you, for the purpose of safety of your supplements, you should have a blood draw to see if you are in need of certain vitamins and minerals in your diet. 

This post is NOT intended to sell you anything at all, please let me make that clear.  I would like to share with you which supplements I personally take and why over the next few weeks.  After that, I'll add information on different supplements that I find important for a variety of conditions.  I will be honest, I strictly stick to 2 different companies for my supplement suppliers, OrthoMolecular Products and Standard Process.  Both of these companies have shown me the most viable research to their products and hold the highest standard of quality for each supplement.   The two companies are different in that OrthoMolecular produces products in a bio-molecular form for digestion, and Standard Process solely uses whole foods in their formulations.  Both companies hold such high standards for their products that they can only be purchased with a health care license.  They produce very specific formulas that are rich in quality, not full of fillers and junk.  These products use carriers/specialized ingredients to assure that the body will absorb the supplement to its fullest.  When you see a comparison to these products to those on the shelves at your local store, you'll be amazed by the fact that those companies at the local stores can even sell what they are attempting to get out to the consumer. 

The SP Detox Protein shake is one of my favorites and a go-to for my protein shakes.  I probably use this shake roughly 1-2x/week.  It has whopping 17g of plant based protein from completely organic sources.  The purpose of this shake is to help eliminate toxins.  We face toxins all day everyday in all that we do.  I like the peace of mind knowing that I'm doing all I can to help eliminate those unhealthy threats to my body.  Side note, the Chai flavor is out of bounds good! 
So besides being part of a Detox program, as I mentioned, I use the SP C Detox shake as a supplemental protein shake also.  My 2 cents on protein shakes: not everyone needs a protein shake just because they are working out and trying to get into shape.  If you are eating enough protein and getting your macoros and more importantly MICROS daily, there is not a need for extra in a shake.  In regards to using this shake and other shakes for uses other than Detox, please evaluate if needed.  For myself, I know I burn a lot of calories in my training.  In order for me not to lose condition, keep my immune system strong, and support my dietary needs, I do incorporate shakes about 4-5 days out of the week or more dependent on activity level. 
OrthoMolecular is spot on with their shakes also.  This company has gone even further to formulate shakes for different needs. They are the following:
MitoCore: Stimulates mitochondria and recharges cellular energy, strengthens immune function, and increases detoxification. 
Calories: 120, Fat 3g, Carbs 7g (fiber 1g/sugars 3g), PROTEIN 15g
InflammaCore: Enhanced G.I. barrier function, mucosal cell regeneration, supports a healthy inflammatory response
Calories: 200, Fat 6g, Carbs 12g (4g fiber/8g sugars), PROTEIN 19g
GlycemaCore: Supports healthy blood sugar levels, increases insulin sensitivity, and improves metabolism plus supports weight management.
Calories: 150, Fat 3.5g, Carbs 17g (12g fiber/sugars 2g), PROTEIN 10g
LifeCore Complete: Clean and diverse blend of plant based protein, supports healthy weight management, and promotes a feeling of fullness plus reduces cravings.
Calories: 210, Fat 7g, Carbs 12g (4g fiber/2g sugars), PROTEIN 20g
My two favorites include the MitrCore and the LifeCore.  The fun factor to their supplements are the flavors.  The MitoCore has 2 flavors: strawberry and lemon, both are amazingly tasty and a great change from your basic chocolate and vanilla.  The LifeCore truly hits the mark when you are super hungry after a tough workout and need to grab a protein rich snack mid-day. 
My personal arsenal for supplements.  As a soon to be 40yr old athlete, I have spent some time digging to see what supplements can help me function day to day better along with helping me preform and recover on a fitness level.  My two most important supplements include OrthoMoleculars OrthoMega and Orthobiotic. 

The OrthoMega is the in the top two of the highest quality fish oil I have found.  Each gelcap provides 820mg of EPA and DHA as natural triglycerides.  Vitamin E and rosemary extract were added to their formula to ensure maximum purity and freshness.  This supplement above all is the most important to have on your self.  If you have been in the dark about the importance of fish oil in your diet and the many health benefits, I strongly encourage you to do your research.  
Second on my list is the OrthoBiotic.  I plan to devote another blog post to the massive importance of gut/intestinal health, so I'm not going to linger here for too long.  This supplement is a very high quality probiotic.  Gut health is directly proportional to health gut bacteria.  Low good gut bacteria = lowered ability to absorb nutrients = lowered immune system.  Another topic to spend some time researching if you are unfamiliar with gut health and probiotics.    

As an athlete, the last thing I like to admit while rounding 40 is that I am aging and it hurts...literally.  It's true, after our youthful peak in our twenties everything starts to slow down.  Those delightful hormones that kept us youthful start to decline.  It wasn't until this past couple of years that I really started to feel my age during workouts and especially during recovery.  I believe I eat healthy, a lot of whole foods, and I workout regularly.  These are sometimes just not enough in my personal opinion.  So I will share with you what I like to take on a regular basis to help me feel better and function at where I want to be in my fitness. 
My List of OrthoMolecular Supplements for myself, the aging athlete:
CoQ-10:  Coenzyme Q-10 is a pro enzyme produced naturally in the body.  It plays a critical role in energy (ATP) production, and is one of the most powerful lipid-soluable antioxidants that prevents lipid and mitochondrial DNA oxidation.  CoQ10 naturally decreases with age. 

DHEA: or dehydroepiandrosterone is a steroid hormone precursor that promotes healthy hormone levels and supports our bodies stress response system.  DHEA is an important counterpart to the stress hormone cortisol.  It helps provide an inflammatory balance and protection to brain tissues, along with supporting healthy aging, mood regulation, memory, and bone density.

Collogen: This supplement combines hyaluronic acid (HA), Type I collagen, Type II collagen bioactive peptides, mucopolysaccharides, and vitamin C to stimulate collagen regeneration and support joint health.  Lifestyle factors and aging reduce the elasticity in tendons and ligaments, which leads to soft tissue and joint discomfort.

MSM: Helps to promote new cells and tissues, naturally supporting soft tissue health and regeneration.  Significantly supports connective tissue health and maintains normal inflammatory balance.  MSM is a natural compound that provides a high concentration of sulfur.  This boosts the body's antioxidant mechanisms, supports detoxification pathways, and strengthens the immune system.  MSM naturally decreases with age.

AminoComplex: A blend of all 9 essential amino acids (EAA's) plus the most commonly deficient conditionally essential amino acids that become essential during stress, disease, and poor diet.  Optimal amino acid intake is essential for supporting muscle strength, immunity, gastrointestinal health, and neurotransmitter production in the body.  Amino acids are simulators of protein synthesis , which is not only a key component of muscle recovery, but also important for muscle maintenance in all age groups.  There is a natural and gradual decline of muscle mass beginning around our fourth decade of life. 

Chondro-Flx: A combination of glucosamine sulfate, chondroitin sulfate, vitamin C, and bromelain to promote healthy cartilage within our joints.  These work together to decrease inflammation, re-hydrate, and increase joint integrity within our bodies. 

You are probably looking at all of this wondering how on earth I take all of them in a day.  Really, most of them are just once a day, so it really isn't over the top crazy.  I will not tell you that I am super disciplined and never miss a supplement, because that would be lying.  The two I rely on the most are the CoQ10 and the DHEA.  I make the collegen a little easier and sometimes buy it in the powered form, which allows me to put it into my shakes.  I do get a lot of my Amino acids in my shakes, so dependent upon my workout week and if I have had my shakes, the AminoComplex is not at the top of my list.  The MSM and Chondro-Flx for me are interchangeable, and I base the need on them solely on my workout intensity and recovery. 
None of the supplements above that I take are by any means "enhancers".  These are all products specifically formulated to work with our bodies already existing chemicals.  The supplements for me "fill the gaps" sort-a-speak that are forming with my aging.  I'm not ready to slow down because I'm ageing.  I am thinking that my 40's just might be my most active years yet!

Nutrient deficiencies exist extensively among many members of the U.S. population. Rich, poor, well, or sick—92 percent of the population is suffering from at least one mineral or vitamin deficiency based on the Dietary Reference Intakes.  The entire country is overfed and undernourished. Even if you consume a “perfect” diet, the odds are, something is missing. 
The numbers don’t lie. According the CDC and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA):

• • 9 out of 10 Americans are deficient in potassium
  • 7 out of 10 are deficient in calcium
  • 8 out of 10 are deficient in vitamin E
  • 50 percent of Americans are deficient in vitamin A, vitamin C, and magnesium
  • More 50 percent of the general population is vitamin D deficient, regardless of age
  • 90 percent of Americans of color are vitamin D deficient
  • Approximately 70 percent of elderly Americans are vitamin D deficient

It is a well-known fact that processed junk and fast foods have become staples in the American diet. Fresh, nutrient-rich foods are often considered taxing on time and finances, deeming these food choices a luxury rather than the standard at dinner tables throughout the country.  Along side of the fast food eruption, the soil of farmland all across the globe is deficient in micronutrients.  So really, even if processed junk food and fast food were not a part of the food supply, deficiencies would still be rampant, as soil quality is diminishing at a rapid rate and reducing the nutrient value of produce.  Sick, mineral depleted soil grows mineral depleted foods. The animals that we eat are being fed these micronutrient depleted vegetables and wheat. This means that the meat you buy is also far lower in health producing micronutrients than ever before. The bottom line is: “Sick soils mean sick plants, sick animals, and sick people.”

"Hidden Hunger" is a term that was brought about to describe the serious hunger our bodies have for the much needed vitamins and minerals the we are NOT getting.  It's not just about third world countries that are starving for lack of food.  Our own country is starving for real nutrients in this over processed country we live in.  The worst part about all of this, is it effects the children the most!  Kids today are not being raised on produce from the back yard or local farmers markets.  They aren't eating meat from healthy sources.  Fast food and processed freezer meals are feeding our kiddos in this nation.  Yes, we are all crazy busy with non-stop activities for our families, but that does not mean they can only crap food.  When you start to look a little deeper into the dangers facing our children from a lack of nutrition, you may want to take the time to figure out a little pre-meal-planning for the week.  Is it really too much to ask of you to wake up 10 minutes early to put actual meat from a good butcher shop or local farmer into the crockpot?  Is it really that hard to was a few fruits and veggies each day for healthy snacks?  If you plan ahead, you can make larger quantities of food and have left overs for half of the week.  Left overs that are versatile and able to be made into wraps or sandwiches.  The meals that you spend a little more time on make a huge difference in the health of your children.  Below are examples of common deficiencies in children and the effects they have to their mental and physical development. 

I realize that it might not be easier and you are likely to get push back from your child that is used to sugar laden processed food, but keep in mind that you love them and are responsible for their health.  They are not mature enough to make good health conscious decisions every day, nor should they have that pressure.  There are simple things to change first, for example; instead if a sugary soda or fruit juice, pass them an apple or other high fiber piece of fruit and a bottle of water.  Instead of a candy bar, how about a cheese stick?  The statistic below are scary, but preventable especially in our own country. 

Now going back for a moment, lets look at Macronutrients and Micronutrients.  We looked at Macros and few weeks ago to really analyze our dietary intake.  As mentioned, it's a GREAT beginning step toward grasping your nutritional needs in regards to calories from Fats, Carbohydrates, and Proteins.  Counting Macros helps us know where our caloric intake stands, and gives us the knowledge to make adjustments to our diet to hit our personal goals.  Micros on the other hand are not as easy, but honestly more important.  As your goals for a healthier lifestyle become more advanced and you are successfully living a healthier lifestyle, it's time to look into your micros.  These are the vitamin and mineral levels within your body.  The only way to know for certain what your levels are is through a blood test.  An local family doctor or laboratory can do a simple blood test for you that will show you your deficiencies if you have any.  Many premier athletes have blood tests regularly.  When you study your results, eating becomes more centered around your bodies needs nutritionally, and not just for energy (macros).  Counting macros is not something you really think about as much because by this time you have a great idea of how much of each macro you are roughly consuming.  More thought goes into eating for your micros.  The best part about formulating your diet for micros is you are naturally going to eat whole nutritious foods....why?!?!?!?!  Because you are not going to increase your low vitamin B12 levels from a snickers bar every day.  You may be striving to eat more green leafy veggies for folate, vitamin K, vitamin E, Vitamin K, iron, or magnesium.  Perhaps your vitamin C is low and you need more bright colored fruits and veggies.  These are just quick examples, there are many charts out there to help you.  Side note: please stay away from the "fortified" foods.  Much of the nutritional value in "fortified" foods are lost in processing. 

Below I'm going to share with you some common charts.  For the next few weeks, I would like to get more in depth with each vitamin and mineral, it's purpose, and how to get more of it in a healthy way. 

Take the next step toward your health and have a blood analysis done.  There is truly no harm that can come from a simple blood test, only knowledge to gain.

It's time to take this series down the fitness road and start exploring.  We have spent the last few weeks getting you started healthy eating, and learning how to manage your diet, so the next step is getting you moving.  It is true, you can lose a lot of weight and get healthier by diet alone, but you will not get fit with just diet.  You can go ahead and lose 20, 50, 100+ pounds, but if you have not exercised, you still won't be able to comfortably climb stairs, go for a jog, or even bike ride without getting fatigued.  I think a lot of people set out to achieve the wrong goals, they want to "look" good instead of feel good.  The coolest thing about fitness is if you are trying to "feel" better by exercising, the looking better part nearly comes naturally, even more so if you are eating healthy.  I understand vanity in our society is HUGE, especially with social media pictures at our fingertips all day.  You must have the understanding that so many of those pictures are not real.  The filters and adjustments are crazy!  Not to mention many of those people make it their career to constantly post near nude fitness pictures daily.  Nothing can drive me more crazy than seeing pictures of women with their goods hanging out everywhere and "lifting" weights, especially when they are not the least bit sweaty and you know darn well that if they were at a real gym they would be kicked out for simply being unsanitary....gross!  I am 39 years old and I bought my first gym membership the summer of my freshman year of college, so I was 19.  That calculates to roughly 20 years (give or take a few months off for moving) of gym memberships, and many many many day gym passes during traveling.  I've seen a lot, and I can tell you I've never seen those insta-famous social media models in any of those years, thank heavens!  

Anyway, off my rant and back to the importance of fitness.  The definition of fitness straight out of the dictionary; the condition of being physically fit and healthy.  The definition of physically fit out of the same dictionary; to be in a state of health and well being. Physical fitness is defined as the body's ability to function efficiently and effectively in work and leisure activities, to be healthy, to resist disease, and to react to emergency situations.  I know these seem pretty self explanatory, but if you think a little bit deeper here, some people that are "thin/skinny" may NOT be physically fit, and on the flip side, you can be overweight and be physically fit.  This is a debate that many argue with me and it is my personal opinion, but I believe you are far healthier to be 10-20 pounds overweight and able to physically keep up with workouts of any kind then those that are lean and not able to run even a mile.  Fitness does not have to be defined as lean.  The purpose of fitness is to FUNCTION optimally in a healthy state.  Function is a huge word and I am going to keep bringing it to you.  Fitness is having a healthy cardiovascular system, meaning your heart and lungs are not taxed and tired from simply walking up a flight of stairs.  The heart and lungs function to move blood and nutrients throughout your body with ease.  The only way to keep the cardiovascular system happily working in harmony in you body is to make it work. 

Quick Disclaimer: these are all generalized calculations.  As with any calculations made or programs started, it is best to be under physician supervision if you have preexisting conditions or other concerns.  These are not personal physician based plans for just you. 

There are various Heart Rate Zones to understand and those include resting, target, reserve, and max.  There are 5 other Zones to help describe percentages of your heart rate under working conditions.  The general calculations for Heart Rate are below:

Resting Heart Rate: heart rate at rest; typically taken as an average of calculations counting beats per minute optimally in the morning before you arise from bed.

Maximum Heart Rate = 220 - Age

Heart Rate Reserve: the difference between resting heart rate (HRrest) and maximum heart rate (HRmax).  
                         HRR = HRmax - HRrest. Heart rate reserve is used when determining exercise heart rates.

Target Heart Rate: is defined as the minimum number of heartbeats in a given amount of time in order to reach the level of exertion necessary for cardiovascular fitness, specific to a person's age, gender, or physical fitness.

Example:
Myself: 
Max Heart Rate         220 - 39(my age) = 181 beats/minute (Max HR)
Resting Heart Rate      50 beats per minute (fitbit and machine morning average)
Heart Rate Reserve      181 - 50 = 131 beats/minute
Target Heart Rate    131 (reserve) x .5 (50%) = 65.5  --------65.5 + 50 (resting) = 115.5 Target
*these are specific to my and my personal calculations for example purposes

Zone 1 - Healthy Heart Zone: 50% - 60% of your Max HrEasiest, Most Comfortable Zone, Beginner Safe
Light walk with friends or pet
*Exercise Benefits: Body fat decreases, blood pressure lowered, cholesterol lowered, muscle mass improvements, decreased risk for degenerative diseases, safety high.


Zone 2 - Easy Transition Zone: 60% - 70% of your Max Hr Fat Burning Zone – you can train for extended periods of time in this zone. 75% - 85% of all calories from fat as fuel, Beginner Safe, early intermediate
Easy power walk or light jog, able to still talk with ease
*Exercise Benefits: Gain muscle mass, lose fat mass, strengthen heart muscle, fat utilization zone.


Zone 3 - Aerobic Zone: 70% - 80% of your Max HrAerobic Zone – Moderate energy expenditure. Running is a great example.  You can speak, but not easily hold a long conversation with ease due to heavier breathing. 
Intermediate and early advanced
*Exercise Benefits: Improved overall functional capacity with increase in the number and size of blood vessels, increased vital capacity, respiratory rate, max pulmonary ventilation, pulmonary diffusion, increase in size and strength of the heart, improvements in cardiac output and stroke volume.


Zone 4 - Threshold Zone: 80% - 90% of your Max Hr
Anaerobic & max caloric burn, intense exercise, breathing hard/panting
Advanced
*Exercise Benefits: Max fat burn, but you must be fit enough to train with some oxygen present for additional fat burn. No fat burning if exercising above fat burning heart rate,  high total calories burned during exercise, carbohydrates as source of calories/fuel, improved VO 2


Zone 5 - Preformance Topline Zone: 90% - 100% of your Max HrPeak Race Zone – Athlete Only Zone! Advanced +
All out training, example: sprints
*Exercise Benefits: Highest total calories burned, but lowest percentage of fat calories.  This zone is only for the very healthy and fit!!! Spending too much time in this zone, even for elite athletes can be painful, cause injuries and lead to over training, which leads to poor performance!

The chart above is one representation on the heart rate zones with the heart rate percentage on the left and age on the top of the graph.  Again these are relative not exact because everyone is different.  Depending on personal goals, you can aspire to reach zones.  In the light yellow above, this zone should most definitely be reached by everyone DAILY.  It is basically movement in general.  Even if you had a great and super intense week at the gym or marathon training, whatever, you should still get some movement in at least in the light/moderate zone daily.  The darker yellow is labeled obviously as the "fat burning" level and it is that, but it's not the only level that will lose fat.  I find that there is a strong confusion in the fitness industry that leads us to believe that just a little Zone 2-3 workout here and there will be all we need to get fit and stay fit.  Yes, it's totally better than nothing BUT, you don't keep pushing yourself.  On the contrary to what you may think and feel some days, our bodies physically adapt VERY quickly to exercise.  Over just the course of a few weeks, your heart becomes more efficient and the workouts become easier.  You stop pushing your heart to get stronger and stronger.  There is a point that you do indeed need to not keep pushing so hard and maintaining that fitness achievement is super important, but keep pushing yourself and your body a little bit more each week or workout, etc.  The fallacy that you don't burn fat when doing anaerobic workouts is just that, a fallacy.  It is true that our bodies switch fuels dependent upon workout load.  As the rate of our breathing increases in anaerobic workouts, which decreases oxygen, we switch from burning fat as fuel to glucose.  So technically during those shorter duration of time that we are in a high intense/hardcore workout, we are burning up glucose as fuel, but briefly.  The high intensity training end result is the body staying in "training mode" post training for a few hours following training.  So much research is out there showing us that high intensity training will keep the body needing more fuel (burning fat because it's post workout time) longer, PLUS you are going to burn more overall calories during a high intense workout than an aerobic workout just due to its workload.  More calories burned = bigger deficit  = weight loss if that is your goal.  I know I touch a lot on weight loss for everyone on here, but I am going to start including tips for my athletes also.  In regards to the heart rate zones for athletes, hitting those two top zones is crucial in making performance improvements.

Next week I will go more in depth with my training schedule, but I wanted to briefly touch on it now to put the heart rate zones into more perspective for training purposes.  I schedule my training for all eight days of the week (I know there are only 7 days in a week, my workouts typically fall into an eight day cycle), this includes an active recovery/rest days.  I don't structure this program on particular days of the week, because it's impossible with life interfering.  My entire week is scheduled around my hardest day of the week, for me that is leg day.  Leg day is the lightest cardio but most strength challenging day of the week.  This is the day I try my hardest to push through barriers and work at my highest peak.  Leg days also leave me in a pretty good world of hurt from muscle soreness.  My typical week is designed below with a lot of room for change ups.  Nothing is set in stone, I just try my best to get the following in for my week.

                  Day 1:                              Leg Day                                                                                          Zone 2-3
                  Day 2:                             Mix Day; Cardio and Strength Training                             Zone 3
                  Day 3:                             Active Recovery/Rest day                                                        Zone 1-2
                  Day 4:                             High Intensity Training                                                           Zone 4-5
                  Day 5:                             Long distance Endurance Training                                     Zone 3
                  Day 6:                             High Intensity Training                                                           Zone 4-5
                  Day 7:                             Mix Day; Cardio and Strength Training                              Zone 3
                  Day 8:                            Active Recovery/Rest                                                                 Zone 1-2
 
There is a lot more detail to bring to you about the training schedule above, but I can't squeeze it into today's post.  Next week I'll explain to my personal preferences to my training program, and why I have structured the program the way that I have for myself.

What is carb cycling?  If you are keeping up with this blog, you are likely understanding a lot more about carbohydrates in our diets.  For this blog, we are adding another health and fitness weapon to your arsenal. 

Carb Cycling is a planned alteration of your carbohydrate consumption over a chosen time period, or an enjoyable and capable lifestyle habit.

Carb Cycling is considered by some to be an aggressive and high level nutrition strategy in order to prevent a fat loss plateau, plus help maintain a good metabolism without hindering workout performance.  This last sentence is obviously pretty loaded, so I'm going to break everything down for you.  Yes, carb cycling is a nutritional strategy, one in my opinion is GREAT!  I LOVE it and utilize it often.  I don't feel it is "aggressive", but rather easier to use since it gives you some wiggle room and is not as difficult.  I will say that I don't think carb cycling is for beginners trying to figure out how to lose body fat while making positive lifestyle changes.  If you are just learning how to count calories and macros while trying to incorporate exercise, keep at it my friend and keep making those changes to your lifestyle.  Now, if this isn't your first rodeo and you understand the macro stuff, carb cycling may be something you can throw into the mix.
 
The Benefits of Carb Cycling

• Keep favorite meals on your menus
• Keeps hormones balanced
• Aids in muscle recovery and prevents muscle wasting
• boosts weightloss
• helps prevents metobolic dip
• helps prevent hunger and fatigue
• Increases energy and endurance
• Easier to manage and maintain since it is less restrictive

The basic idea behind Carb Cycling is to plan a certain amount of days when you eat higher carbs verses lower carbs.  There are MANY different varieties and ways to cycle.  Some people will try to sell you plans saying one way is better for fat loss, another is better for muscle gain, etc etc.  Personally, I go with what my body tells me.  I have structured my carb cycling based mostly on my workouts and water retention. 

After spending a lot of time discussing the Keto diet last post, I am hoping I left you with an understanding that carbs are NOT bad.  To revisit for a brief moment, Carbs are needed as a fuel source for your workouts.  Carbs replenish glucose and glycogen to prevent fatigue and help repair tissues.  When in ketosis, you use fatty acids (fat) as a fuel to live and even workout, but you will not have much success in building muscle without glucose (carbs).  Those carbs aid significantly in recovery and support of muscle growth, cause the body to burn more calories, and provides you with ENERGY.  One of the biggest fallacies is that eating carbohydrates makes you fat and even eating carbohydrates at the wrong time will make you fat.     
                                                                 WRONG
Eating too many CALORIES makes you fat. 
Insulin has unfortunately been thrown under the bus A LOT the last few years.  Once again, Insulin does not make you fat, overeating does.  Revisiting the job description of Insulin and why people presume it's bad:

• Insulin stops burning fat and tells the body to start burning what's available from what you just ate.
• Insulin causes the body to store a portion of the energy you just ate (from food) as body fat.

So naturally people think:
high carbs = high insulin = burn less fat = store more fat = fatter & Fatter & fatter
                          or
low carb = low insulin = burn more fat = store less fat = stay lean

HOWEVER, this completely violates the principles of energy balance, which is how much energy you eat and how much energy you burn. 

Weight gain results in a surplus of energy stored as fat.  You cannot lose weight without an energy deficit.

For those into building and maintaining muscle mass (that should be all of you since muscles increase metabolism), insulin actually decreases catabolism.  

Muscle growth = increase in carbohydrate diet = increase in glycogen: which improves performance = more strength & energy for workouts = helps progressively overload muscle fibers = muscle growth

Research shows that low carb/low glycogen levels post workout reduce cell signaling related to muscle growth.  Also, resting cortisol levels rise and testosterone decreases with the lack of glucose/glycogen.

So how do you carb cycle?  Lets talk about ways to match lifestyles and activity levels.  Another reminder here, go ahead and read this post, but if you are still working on your macro counting and trying out other things like intermittent fasting, don't rush to jump into this until you are ready.  It's easy to bombard yourself too early with everything without enough time to make the other changes habitual and a lifestyle.  Come back to this when you are ready and want to try it out. 

For carb cycling, you are going to continue to follow your calories and macro that we already calculated (see macro post here).  Those macros will now fluctuate with carb cycling.  As I said earlier, there are many different "cycles" you can use and I'll give you examples.  Basically you are going to increase and decrease your carbohydrate intake depending on the day.  Some people will tell you to stick with a pretty strict cycle of maybe a 1:1 ratio of a high carb day followed by a low carb day.  Others use a 3:1 ratio of three low carb days followed by 1 high carb day.  Another possibility is a fluctuated carb cycle of low, moderate, and high carb days throughout the week.  Lastly, there are those that like to live on the wild side and decide to put no carb days into the mix.   The other macros are not going to change significantly.  The idea is that the lower carb days, are days that you caloric intake will be lower, even lower than maybe what you have calculated for your daily caloric needs.  An important factor is not to decrease your protein consumption.  So yes, you will still macro count or go back to macro counting for a little while until your food choices become natural and you just "know" what you are eating. 
Planning your personal cycle...it's all about your personal needs.  If you are getting to the point of trying this, then I am assuming you are pretty disciplined with your workouts plus you know your caloric needs.  Nobody is going to tell you what is right for you, only you will know that with experimentation.  For me personally, I know I need high carb days thrown in when I have a hard workout planned.  I don't have a particular "plan", I base my cycle on my activity.  My leg days are ALWAYS high carb days.  My gym days that I do a mixture of Olympic lifting/powerlifting/crossfit are also high carb days.  Days that I run, bike, kayak, and weight train are moderate carb days.  My rest days are no carb days (unless its a cheat day).  Honestly thought, cheat days are not to much of a "cheat" day if you are putting yourself through a killer hard workout. 
Here are a few examples below:

As you can see from this picture, the plans are put together differently with different end goals.  Both of these cycles are for the individual that is in training.  By that I mean you that is exercising.  If you are working out, it also means you are training.  You don't have to be "training" for anything other than staying alive and healthy longer.  The top example is this chart, for me, is more favorable.  One of the reasons I enjoy cycling besides using it to keep myself in check with macros, is to have the ability to manage my water retention.  If I cycle 2-3 days on lower carbs, I will lose a lot of water that I am retaining.  I'm going to go down the personal road for myself here, so forgive me please.  If I have something that I want to where that is very fitting, or I want to look more cut for an event, I'll carb cycle for 3-4 days before the date.  The carbs get low, water drops, you look and feel less bloated.  Keep that little side note in your brain for a later date. 

The above chart is maybe the easiest to follow and I think I like this one the best.  I don't think you necessarily need it to have a day of the week mapped out for you, but it may help.  I also wouldn't binge on the "high fat" aspect of the chart, just stick with your macros remembering to keep your proteins up.  The fats can fill some of the caloric needs without all of the carb calories, but it's okay to fall under a little too.  Remember that fats are 9 calories per gram instead of the 4 calories like carbs and proteins, so they add up much faster.  Also with the above, you can switch out any of those rest days for aerobic exercise.  Get a extra run/walk/hike/paddle in...it's summer and you should be enjoying all the time you can outside!  Please try to remember to keep those carbs lower and in check on those days with less activity, it's a pretty important key.  Also, hitting back to making this a lifestyle and not a "diet", try not to be too hard on yourself.  Make this easy by learning how this works for you and easily use it every day.  If you know that you are going to be sitting in meetings all day next Tuesday, try to grab a salad instead of a sandwich, walnuts instead of m&m's, beef jerky instead of crackers.  Things do start to become second nature, I promise.  As I mentioned earlier, you activities will easily start to dictate you eating.  For me, when my cycling is on point, I can't go longer than three days without watching my weightlifting struggle, or my mileage decrease.  That is for me though and may not be for everyone.  You will know when your body NEEDS to refuel and recover.  Lastly on the csrb cycling, after a few weeks or even a couple of months, hit the reset button.  Throw your entire system off by having 3- 4 high carb days, or maybe absolutely no carbs for 3-4 days.  Our bodies adapt so fast, and our brains need to make sure we mix things up.  Your metabolism needs breaks and mix-ups to keep it burning healthy. 

Nutrient Timing
Nutrient timing is planning your food intake at a particular time centered mostly on your workout schedule.  Some make sure to have certain nutrients upon waking and going to bed also, but I'm only going to briefly hit on the nutrient timing around workouts.  The research has shown that there is a pretty significant importance in planning to digest particular nutrients pre and port workouts.  Most importantly the "window of gains" post workout that you will likely hear from the muscle building world.  They used to believe that you only had about 30 minutes to make sure your body would optimally uptake all the nutrients it could post workout from whatever you were trying to feed it.  Now they are getting a little bit more relaxed and saying you don't need to rush.  My thoughts, you absolutely DO benefit from a nutritious post workout meal/shake.  Physiologically, if you just finished a pretty intense workout, your cells are depleted of nutrients, particularly glucose, and need to refuel for repair, which lead to growth and strength.  I don't feel however, that you need to pack a full meal to the gym and eat it as soon as you finish your last rep.  Refuel with healthy carbs and protein on those hard days, your body needs it!  In relation to the intermittent fasting post, when you come out of your fast make sure you are not instantly hitting the carbs.  Put a meal together with healthy proteins, fibrous carbs, and some fat first.  Save those yummy carbs for after your workouts.  The most optimal time to consume your carbohydrates is after your workouts.  The key to understanding Nutrient Timing is understanding when your body is in need of particular nutrients. 

• My personal nutrient timing: I come out of my intermittent fast one of two ways

1. I have a Beet Juice (black cherry flavored & naturally sweetened shake with a scoop of collogen protein "pre-workout", then I workout, and eat a slice of homemade bread with honey and a protein shake "post-workout"
2. or: I have protein (typically grilled chicken breast) and veggies for my first meal.  This is then followed by the above #1 prior to my workout. 

I hope that makes sense to everyone.  The number 1 above will typically always by my pre & post workout routine for nutrition.  This schedule all depends on what my day looks like and when I am going to fit in a workout.  For days that I just do cardio and take a weight training day off, I exclude the bread and honey and eat berries to fill my sweets for the day instead. 

Soon I hope to start putting together a few workout ideas for everyone to help you get started, if you haven't already, on your fitness journey.

Every few years something new for weightloss pops up and takes the world by storm.  The ketogenic diet has been around for thousands of years dating back to Ancient Greek and Indian Physicians.  More literature in the early 20th century, around 1912, and again in 1921.  All of this research pointed toward Ketogenic Diets helping those with epilepsy.  The research is pretty outstanding, especially for the positive outcome in the youth with epilepsy.  The keto diet revolution started picking up ground in the 1990's when a Hollywood producer spoke about his son's epilepsy control through the keto diet.  In the mid 1990's, a foundation and funding were created to make new discoveries about Ketosis. 
So what is Ketosis...  a metobolic state in which our human bodies no longer have glucose to burn for energy and use fat.  The fat ingested and the fat in storage breaks down into fatty acids and are converted into ketones by ketogenesis. I'll spare you the biochemistry of it all, and skip to the understandable stuff.  Like I have mentioned in earlier posts, our human bodies are super smart and know how to accommodate a lot of changes.  Some changes take a little bit longer then others, so each person may be a little different. Back to ketosis...I'm sure almost all of you are familiar with the Adkins diet or low carb dieting.  Well, the keto diet is like Adkins on steroids.  You are slashing your carbohydrate intake to almost nothing.  Most traditional Keto-dieters try to stay under 5% carbohydrates for their caloric intake, which is roughly 50g or less depending upon your activity level, size, and sensitivity.  A nice example is a simple apple or even a banana, one of these babies a day and you might be over your limit for carbs.  Let's not forget though, keto diets push the greens/veggies, and they too have carbs.  A lot less and mostly fibrous carbs, but you count them.  So in all reality, you aren't eating much of any fruit except for a few berries if you are lucky.  You are eating Fat, more Fat, and more FAT.  You are trying to consume around 75% of your diet as fat.  That leaves about 20% to protein.  Quick perspective here, a 2000 calorie diet on keto at 80% fat is 1600 of your 2000 in just fat alone.  That 1600 calories from fat is anywhere between 140-170g of fat. 

Above are great representations of our standard American diet, low carb diet, and the classic keto diet.  There is a DRASTIC difference in the amount of carbohydrates consumed (blue) between our standard and the keto diet.  Here's the evil little problem though, you have to keep your proteins in check while trying to get to keto and stay in keto.  See, glucose is the body's preferred fuel for energy.  If we no longer have glucose available because we drastically cut out our carbohydrates, then our bodies turn to any excess protein we may have ingested.  Believe me when I tell you, it's quite hard to keep those proteins down to only 20% when you are not a "scoop coconut oil out of the jar and eat it" kind of a person.  I find eating pure fat kinda gross honestly.  Try oil pooling and tell me how much you LOVE coconut oil sloshing around in your mouth for awhile, ick!  Back to protein, when you eat more than your body needs for a day, you trigger  something called gluconeogenesis.  Gluconeogenesis happens when your body converts amino acids (from protein) into glucose (for energy) which then increases your insulin and finally reduces ketones.  My last little reminder about the fat consumption is this, watch your calories!  Remember our macro counting that calories from fat are 9kcal/g as compared to protein and carbs only being 4kcal/g.  Those extra calories add up REALLY fast.  So many people think that they are going to be so full from all of the fat they get to eat, not really the case.  One pound of bacon is roughly 2000 calories, not to mention 169 grams of protein.  Again going back to the old 2000 calorie diet, this means you ate all of your calories in that pound of bacon and went over your protein by 69g. (20% protein in a 2000 calorie diet = 400 calories from protein divided by 4cal/g of protein and you are allowed roughly 100 g of protein) So much for chewing on a few packages of bacon.

Now you have a little better idea when someone says they can eat all the bacon and meat they want to....not the case. The protein will shoot you right out of ketosis. This is my major point with the keto diet, it's DARN hard to stick with and I don't think it should be a long term commitment for health reasons.
​
Do I encourage Keto Dieting? yes and no. Yes, I mentioned that it is hard, but what isn't hard that takes work?!?! Eating like crap is easy, but it's not getting you anywhere except into your grave. Let me start by the biggest question, is keto dieting safe? Yes, I feel if done properly with proper guidance and strictly short term, it is safe. The biggest safety factor is ketoacidosis. When there are too many ketones in your bloodsteam, your blood becomes too acidic. Ketoacidosis is the leading cause of death to people with diabetes under the age of 24. Be cautious with any new diet and know your body.

Pros:

• Fast results. When we see something work so quickly, we get excited, encouraged, and more motivated to keep up the good work.
• The plan is pretty simple (when you read it, lol) You just cut out anything with sugar/carbohydrates. An entire macro group to not worry about. Simple is sometimes really good for some people, so in that case I encourage them to try it.
• There are great benefits and results to the control of Diabetics
• Lastly (my favorite): decreases the consumption of processed foods. No more junky processed foods = more energy and less sugar crashing.

Cons:

• STRICT! This feels like an understatement. It's hard to get into ketosis, but even harder to STAY in ketosis. One little slip up of a treat (even simply watermelon) and you have to start over.
• EVERY single person metabolizes differently. One person might jump right into ketosis and be able to eat a few more grams of protein than the next. You can't get discouraged by your own speed, so be patient.
• Not a lifestyle. This diet is meant to be short-term.
• It is very difficult to gain muscle mass (your calorie furnace) in ketosis (more on that later)
• SIDE EFFECTS: When a person's body is accustom to using carbohydrates as a fuel source for many years and even decades, it's a pretty big process to switch over and start using fat. This comes with side effects that are seen by many but not all. Many of these are related.

1. Fluid loss is a pretty big factor. A lot of people get super excited to see the scale go down so quickly, but in all actuality, it is a lot of fluid loss. As our bodies use up the stored glycogen (sugar) in our muscles and liver, the cells release water with them.
2. Water loss naturally means salt and mineral loss. It is IMPERATIVE that you stay very well hydrated and keep you electrolyte balance in check Many people add Himalayan salts to their food and supplement with bone broths.
3. Fluid loss and salt imbalances also can lead to muscle cramps.
4. Constipation
5. Keto-breath
6. Loss of energy
7. KETO-FLU...it's a thing. Keto flu can be a combination of one, some, or all of the following: brain fog, dizziness, insomia, rapid heart rate, and simple flu-ish like symptoms.

Surprisingly, these are all pretty common. As your body tries to recognize the loss of carbs for fuel and has to switch to fat for fuel, it sometimes gets a little upset. Constipation is really common if you are not a huge veggie consumer and decrease the amount of fiber in your digestive track with the lack of carbs. Keep eating your higher fiber veggies! The energy turnaround is pretty quick in my opinion. You'll recognize it at first, but it does not take long for you to reverse those feelings and start to feel even more energy than before. The brain fog can also be a little interesting. Not going to lie here, I had it BAD. At one point I was trying to plug my water bottle into my cell phone charger in my car.
​
Left me briefly touch on toxin release. We are exposed to toxins everyday in the food we eat, air we breath, and things we touch. As toxins enter our bodies, they are both excreted out and stored. The toxins take refuge in our fat storage cells. As you start to burn up "old fat' , sort-a-speak, you have an increase in toxins trying to get excreted into your blood stream. Some may not notice this at all, but others can feel it and even see it. A lot of complaints I hear are skin reactions, an increase in acne and other skin irritations. For those that have pretty significant sugar addictions, the process of withdraw can also be pretty rough. Similar to alcohol and drug addictions, your body craves its sugar high. The cravings can be pretty darn harsh for some.

Keto-testing
Briefly let me touch on the testing portion of this diet.  A lot of new comers to the Keto-diet get super excited to buy the testing strips to see how soon they get into ketosis, and if they stay in ketosis.  These little strips test the excess ketones in your urine.  I don't recommend using them for the diet, and feel that they can be a huge disappointment.  Every person is different and will test differently.  Results can vary with what time of the day you are testing, when you last ate, and if you just exercised.  Ketones are only in the urine when they are spilled over into the blood when you have an excess.  Remember, ketones are now an energy source, so if you are expending a lot of energy in a workout, you are using up your excess ketone bodies for fuel.  That means you will not get a good reading for the keto strips.  They just aren't worth the time, money, and disappointment. 

The above is a basic list of what is safe to eat to consume on the keto diet. Since the diet has gained so much popularity, many more fun and tasty treats have been created. One of my favorites are the keto bagels. After about the first week, you start to miss the buns on your sandwiches whether they are hamburgers at a BBQ or breakfast bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches. Some genius started showing the world how easy it is to make bagels/buns out of almond flour, eggs, and cheeses along with some spices of your choice. They REALLY help you keep the diet going. Dark chocolate treats with peanut butter, stevia, and some coconut also help satisfy that sweet tooth now and again. The only warning, is again, watch those calories. The above life savors are pretty high up there in calories.

My experience...of course I decided to give Keto a whirl, honestly to see of I could discipline myself enough to keep it up for a couple of weeks. It was pretty tough at times, but I was super thankful for the millions of pinterest recipes for keto foods. I did have the keto flu for about 4 days in the very beginning, the brain fog and sluggishness were very noticeable. I also dropped a pretty good amount of water weight right away. After the first week, my energy came back and I feel was increased. I no longer had the "carb coma" after a meal. I did struggle a little bit more with body temperature. Staying warm when I was not active was probably the most difficult struggle, but on the other hand, my body heat was turned up when exercising and sleeping. I regularly do low intensity fasting cardio in the mornings, this quickly became a sweat-fest while on the keto diet. I also had an increase in night sweats, that I contribute to a hormonal fluctuation. My weightlifting had it's ups and downs while in Keto. I had some of my best "leg day" lifts in keto, but my upper body lifts suffered. My upper body strength decreased quite significantly plus I struggled with the shakes under the weights. Lastly, the reasons I no longer dapple in keto are because of the side effects I struggled with were more then the benefits. I truly enjoyed the increase in energy and the lower water retention (aka bloatedness), but these weren't enough to sell me. The night sweats, and body temp regulation problems were not fun, but the struggle with weightlifting and the dizziness tapped me out. At one point, my dizziness reached a scary point of not being able to stand up and walk to my kitchen from my living room without grabbing the wall to stop myself from falling over.
​
Again, I do feel this diet can be very beneficial for some people. Those that have significant sugar addiction can likely benefit the most. It's certainly worth a try if you want to test your discipline and reset your metabolism. I think forcing your body to burn fats instead of the constant sugar feed is very beneficial. The first go around with Keto will probably be your most difficult, but also the most noticeable for the positive outcomes as well. Personally I stick to lightly dipping into Keto each morning when I am fasted from my intermittent fasting plus the light cardio. Along with the intermittent fasting, I carb cycle when I am trying to get myself back in check and/or cut. This allows me the benefits of going near keto, but not the struggles of actual keto dieting. Next week I'll bring more info to you about carb cycling.

As promised last week, today we are working through Intermittent Fasting.  This is one of my favorite tools and topics.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE intermittent fasting and I can't wait to tell you why.  We all know what fasting is basically not eating for a period of time.  Intermittent fasting is just pre-planned periods of not eating.  If you are even remotely in tune to the health and fitness world, then I am quite certain you have likely heard of IF (intermittent fasting) within the last few years.  It's really a thing, a darn popular thing, and it deserves all the recognition that it has been given.  IF goes  beyond just weight loss, and I'm excited to share those extra details with you.  More importantly though, I feel IF is a huge personal discipline that you can control, and makes you feel amazingly successful.  Just to quick clarify, IF, may not be for everyone, especially those with serious preexisting health complications. Like everything else, you need to use precaution. 

Years ago, when I was young, it was preached to us to ALWAYS eat breakfast.  "It's the most important meal of the day."  I do agree that breakfast is important for our kiddos out there.  I would not send the little brain and body of my 8 year old to school without having healthy foods in their tummy.  As for adults, the same is not needed on a daily basis.  Neither is eating 5-6 small meals a day.  Our bodies have NEVER been designed to continually eat throughout the day.  Just look into the physiology of our bodies, they are amazingly adaptable.  This may be cliche, but our ancestors did not have access to a refrigerator full of food 24-7.  They weren't breaking out the Ben & Jerry's at midnight for a little snack.  They ate abundantly when food was available, then literally fasted until they hunted for their next meal.  Back to my main point here, you will NOT die if you intermittent fast.  You may think you are going to die from hunger the first few days, but I assure you that hunger for a few hours will not kill you. 
INTERMITTENT FASTING PLANS:

*ADF (alternate day fasting)
Among the above, the Leangains is the most popular and easiest to make into a lifestyle.  It is honestly not as hard as it sounds, and I speak from experience.  I have been intermittent fasting for almost two years and I absolutely love it.  The Leangain is also known as the 16:8, 16 hours fasting and 8 hours of refueling.  This schedule is easily adapted to your daily regimen by simply skipping breakfast.  (Breakfast aka "break fast")  Here is a sample below for the 16:8 schedule.

 Dependent upon how late you want to eat or how early you need to eat, is how you configure your own schedule.  If you work until 7pm and want to go home to have a nice dinner, then your fast can start at 8pm and finish at noon the next day.  If you feel you need to eat earlier then noon, you can plan to eat at 10am and be finished eating for the day at 6pm.  In the above chart, the orange is your refueling (eating) window.  The shaded area is easy fasting since you are asleep.  The fasting conscious work goes into the hours you are awake before you break your fast, and the hours following your last meal before bed. 

In all honesty, IF can be a great tool to help with weight loss, since you are cutting out those sneaking times that you would indulge in extra snacks, like before bedtime.  I am not going to lie to you and say it is easy, because it is not easy at all in the initial few weeks/months.  It's been almost 2 years, and I still get super hungry before I break my fast, but I actually enjoy it A LOT.  I know that sounds a whee bit crazy, but I have a sense of control and discipline that I am proud of each and every day.  When I get to my first meal of the day and break my fast, I am proud each and every day.  What's even more helpful is the change in food choices when you are actually hungry.  I can almost guarantee that most of you decide to eat whenever you feel simply hungry.  IT'S OKAY TO FEEL HUNGRY!  It's actually good to feel hungry, and hear me out on that...when you are truly hungry you chose to eat healthier.  You are not looking to grab a piece of candy, a muffin, or a donut, because you start to crave healthy protein rich foods to fill you up and give you energy.  Nothing will make you feel worse then crappy food on a truly empty stomach. 

Example: We had a patient a few years ago ask us about nutrition and eating habits for losing weight.  We mentioned the first meal of the day being a chicken breast and veggies, to which she/he thought was just awful.  She/he said there was no way they could eat chicken as their first meal.  Well guess what, when you have been fasting for 16 hours, chicken sounds darn good and tastes even better.  The intermittent fasting can truly help as a tool in you arsenal to help you get fit, lose weight, stay fit, etc but it has so many other amazing benefits that we are learning about all of the time. 

• As mentioned above, fat loss is a great result of IF.  I will mention that you still have to be diligent about eating healthy when you are refueling in your window of eating.  This does not mean BINGE when you start to eat.  The basics: when we are fasting, you bodies use up all the glucose that we have readily available as an energy source.  If we are not continually eating, the glucose gets used up and our bodies turn to a different source of energy, FAT.  Some people refer to this as a cyclical ketosis.  Think about this...you eat a healthy dinner with good carbohydrates.  By bedtime those carbs are dwindling as a energy source.  If you sneak a crappy snack before bed, once again you body will continue to use that carb rich snack for fuel.  If you IF and don't have that snack, your body will turn to its fat storage to make its fuel.  Imagine the little fat furnace burning by the time you skip breakfast and wait until lunch to eat.  Plus studies show that the average calorie reduction in those that intermittent fast is 20%-40%.  So yes, it can be a great tool for weight management.
• HORMONES! 

1. Healthy hormones are KEY!  The major player in the hormone world and intermittent fasting is our Growth Hormone.  Growth Hormone is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth, cell reproduction, and cell regeneration.  Growth hormone is released mostly at night while we are asleep hence the importance of sleep for tissue repair.  Our bodies will continue releasing Growth Hormone until we break our fast.
2. Leptin: fasting increasing the leptin hormome which is a key regulator in hunger and directly impacts fat loss by metabolism regulation.  Leptin is a key component is our thyroid produced hormones, T3 and T4.
3. Insulin: While fasting, you are giving insulin a break.  No sugars to digest, no insulin released, and this equals increased insulin sensitivity.  In this sugar loving over processed food society, our bodies are subjected to constantly producing and releasing insulin to stabilize our blood sugar.  Over time, this system gets burned out and you start facing the scary road to diabetes since the insulin sensitivity is lost.  As your insulin sensitivity is healing and increased, your body starts processing food more effectively which decreases the risk of storing fat.

• Gut Health: I am sure almost everyone not living under a rock today has heard something along the lines of food sensitivities, gluten intolerance, irritable bowel, lactose intolerance, etc.  Many of the main causes for these issues along with more substantial problems like immune dysfunction and autoimmune diseases are believed to be derived from poor gut health.  Intermittent Fasting gives your gut microbes a break and time to heal.  The newest discoveries being made have found that fasting activates a gene that strengthens the gut barrier which protects us from harmful toxins that can leak into our bloodstream and decrease our immune system.
• Cellular Autophagy: WAIT! Before I lose you on the scientific name, bare with me because this one is most important.  Personally I still Intermittent Fast because of this super cool and important info.  Cellular Autophagy is just a fancy way of saying "cell clean-up".  Similar to the growth hormone above, cellular autophagy happens when we are fasting and our bodies are cleaning up shop sort-a-speak.  Our bodies again and looking for an energy source and our innately intelligent system turns to eat up the trash in our cells that are not as productive.  When you break your fast and start eating, the autophagy turns off and goes back into using the new food for energy.  Amino acids and insulin are autophagy's negative regulators.  Autophagy contributes to cellular development and differentation, suppresses tumors, and supports immunity.  When people discuss fasting reversing the damage done to your liver, they are referencing the fact that most of our damaged cells end up in the liver and are replaced through our metabolism when looking for a source of energy/fuel during fasting.  Research has connected autophagy with conditions including cancer, autoimmune diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, as well as aging.  Some has gone so far to say that lengthy fasting has completely regenerated their immune systems and have helped fight cancers. 
• Brain Goodies! Recently, information and research has been released on the foundation that fasting triggers neuron regeneration in the brain.  Fasting has increased Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), a protein that basically fertilizes our brain cells, promotes neuron growth, and builds and maintains brain circuits.

As I mentioned earlier, fasting is not the easiest thing in the world to do.  It takes a lot of patience and even more discipline.  I wholeheartedly encourage everyone to at least give it a try and see how you do and feel.  I challenge the discipline side of you more then anything else.  Maybe start slow on the 16-8 and try it just a few days a week, then move into it on a regular basis.  Like everything I have blogged about, it's easily a lifestyle that is manageable for better health.  Plus, you don't have to be crazy strict about it and it's even flexible.  If your significant other wants to go out for a big breakfast, GO!  You can skip that day or better yet start your fast earlier in the evening. 

My personal notes...I stumbled upon IF years ago while working on dropping baby weight and getting healthier.  It is a useful tool for me with weight management because I truly love to eat.  This keeps my snacking at bay and helps me make much better whole food choices when its time to eat and I'm REALLY hungry.  I have learned that I actually enjoy feeling empty and hungry rather than bloated and full.  IF forces me to keep hydrated, because that is all you are having while fasting.  Lots of hydration is key to helping you through your fast.  I still enjoy my coffee, tea, and mineral waters during my fast, as long as they don't have calories.  Please don't consider fake artificial sweeteners friends, just write your last will and testimony instead since that crap WILL kill you.  Lastly, I will continue IF because it gives me such a sense of control and pride.  Like I said earlier, when you make it through to the end of your fast successfully, you feel so accomplished and proud of your discipline.  The amount of other wonderful benefits to your body when fasting excites me.  Our bodies are so incredibly intelligent and down right cool, keep working hard on the only body you have right now.

To Our Health
Dr. Kallie Wegmann