Archive for Exercise

Got Heart Disease? There’s a Good Chance You Do. Luckily, You Have Power Over That.

August 24, 2014 / / Comments Off on Got Heart Disease? There’s a Good Chance You Do. Luckily, You Have Power Over That.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI wrote a Newsletter yesterday on Heart Disease and how to both prevent it and diminish any damage you’ve possibly already caused.  It takes about 20 years for a disease to develop blatant symptoms; “Silent Damage” is very real, and statistically, if we live a Standard American Life, we have it.

If you read my Newsletter already, re-read it with another horrible disease – Cancer – on your mind.  Most of the causes of Heart Disease are also causes of Cancer, and certainly causes of Inflammation.

Further, most of the causes of Heart Disease, Cancer, and Inflammation, will inhibit Weight Loss. 

This Newsletter contains both Reasons for damage to your arteries and heart, and Solutions.

Heart disease is the #1 killer in the U.S. About 1 million people die EACH year from heart attacks, strokes, or a “cardiovascular event”.

According to the American Heart Association, to lower our risk of Cardiovascular Disease we need to lower our cholesterol by eating low fat foods and taking statins if needed, exercise, reduce salt intake, and stop smoking.

Hmmm. Americans ARE taking statins ( 1 out of 4 over 45), we do eat less fat than 100 years ago ( when heart disease was rare), more people exercise than ever, salt intake IS down, and fewer Americans smoke.

The CDC predicts Heart Disease will increase EVERY SINGLE YEAR FOR THE NEXT 30 YEARS.
The advice has some problems.

One of the main causes of heart disease is damage to our Coronary Arteries, or CAD for short ( coronary artery disease). What damages our arteries? It’s not what you think.

Delete the image burned into our minds that we eat foods with saturated fats and cholesterol and within minutes those substances have filled our bloodstream, and then literally clog it. That’s biologically impossible.

If you’ve worked with me, you know that fat takes hours to digest. (that’s a good thing.) Fats from food sources are readily and easily used by the body for their individual fatty acids to build and repair. Remember, our body is made out of Water, Fat, and Protein; a teeny bit of mineral, and even less vitamin and carbohydrate (1-2%). Good fatty acids are CRUCIAL for our health. ( http://www.rocksolidnutritionandwellness.com/the-basics/fats/ )

We don’t develop heart disease because Saturated Fat and Cholesterol are horrible villains destroying our arteries. Other things do that. Here’s a list of reasons, and the solutions to go with it.

1) Insulin. Insulin is produced by the pancreas in response to sugar/glucose ( from flour, grains, fruit, beans, etc.) Insulin’s okay in SMALL amounts, critical even, and incredibly damaging in large amounts, like the amounts the average American makes due to ingesting simple carbohydrates several times a day. Think of the hormone Insulin like BARBWIRE COURSING THRU YOUR ARTERIES. It’s caustic and damaging in large amounts.

If you’re overweight, or over 40, and/or have high Triglycerides ( > 100) ask for a 3 hour Glucose Test. If your body can’t handle a bolus of glucose, that means your cells are saying “NO” to the Insulin, aka, Insulin Resistance. This is bad because this means high levels of Insulin and high levels of Glucose are staying in your blood stream WAY TOO LONG. The Insulin literally INFLAMES YOUR ARTERIES, and the Glucose attaches to the proteins in your arteries ( collagen, a protein, is a main component of arteries), and “GLYCATES” them: sticky sugar molecules inappropriately attach to the proteins and fats in your body and blood and DESTROY them. Their shape, their function: ruined. It’s bad.

Even easier: Buy A Glucometer and test your postprandial/after meal blood sugars. It’s simple – ask me how.

Solution: Quit eating Grains and Sugars! Insulin will decrease, Blood Sugar will decrease, Inflammation will decrease, Triglycerides decrease, VLDL ( the “bad” cholesterol) decreases, HDL INcreases, and your WEIGHT and STOMACH girth will decrease. Can’t imagine eliminating sugar and grains? Neither could I. It was easier than I thought; you can do it too. If you’re addicted, email me.

There’s NO medication to lower Insulin, there’s NO medication to lower Triglycerides, there’s NO medication to raise HDL, there’s NO medication to decrease Inflammation ( permanently). Statins don’t do any of that except for possibly, in some people, reduce some inflammation. SOME PEOPLE. What you put in your mouth is the only solution. A high fat, low carbohydrate REAL WHOLE FOOD diet, with great supplements, good sleep, and movement, is the fix.

2) Man made chemicals, found in foods ( preservatives, emulsifiers, flavors..), personal care products, lawn and garden chemicals, cigarettes, are LOADED with toxins that have the same effect on your arteries that Insulin does: they’re caustic and damaging. Did anyone read the Washington Post article on the FDA’s INABILITY to regulate and monitor all the chemicals in our daily lives? Pitiful. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/food-additives-on-the-rise-as-fda-scrutiny-wanes/2014/08/17/828e9bf8-1cb2-11e4-ab7b-696c295ddfd1_story.html) 100 years ago we had NO chemicals in our food supply, 50 years ago we had less than 1000, today, there’s more than 9,000. Many of these HAVEN’T been tested, and many that have, and are deemed possibly CARCINOGENIC, are granted a GRAS status (generally regarded as safe), and incorporated into items we eat, drink, and slather on. Other countries all over the world say NO to hundreds of chemicals that are prolific in American processed foods and products.

Solution: Quit eating processed foods! Shop, chop, pack, and cook. Become picky about food quality. Be suspicious of restaurant food. Read labels of your food and products.

3) Lack of Vitamin D3, the B vitamins ( the heart LOVES B’s), K2 ( essential for placing Calcium in BONES and not arteries), along with other nutrients. How could you be deficient in Nutrients? Your gut. If you burp, bloat, or reflux, you don’t have enough stomach acid. If you don’t have enough stomach acid, breakdown and absorption of nutrients are reduced and good gut bacteria, who have thousands of jobs, are negatively affected. All disease begins in the gut.

Solution: (a) fix your gut with HCL and/or digestive enzymes (b) supplement with D3, K2, and other nutrients. If you’re confused, ask me.

4) Plaque build up and Inflammatory compounds from the damage you keep doing. Plaque is literally a God-Send. It saves our lives over and over. Plaques get sent to the damaged areas in our arteries to prevent them from busting open ( an occlusion). If we didn’t have plaque, heart disease would kill us a whole lot faster than it does. Atherosclerosis is “never-healing-lesions”. They don’t heal because we keep damaging them over and over with Insulin, Glucose, chemicals, etc. The assaults don’t stop, so the plaque can’t stop.

Our liver makes the plaques and sends it to the damaged areas. What’s in plaque? 68% is fibrous tissue, 8% is calcium, 7% inflammatory cells ( they call our fighter cells to them to remedy damage), 1% foam cells, and 16% lipids/fats. MOST OF THE FATS, ~74%, ARE UNSATURATED.

Solutions: quit building plaque! and supplement: Niacin increases HDL which helps reduce plaque, and lowers LDL and triglycerides; Vit K2 reduces calcium in arteries; Vit C is heavily used by arterial walls to rebuild; a good fish oil soothes inflammation (instead of plaque patches soothing inflammation); CoQ10 reduces amyloid plaques ( Statins turn OFF the cells that make CoQ10, they’re the same cells in the liver that make Cholesterol.) and CoQ10 is a preferred fuel for the hearts cells mitochondria ( fuel furnaces).

5) Magnesium Deficiency. Magnesium is critical for over 300 daily functions, magnesium deficiency is EPIDEMIC. It takes 28 molecules of Magnesium to process 1 molecule of sugar ( from dessert, bread, or pasta). Magnesium relaxes the artery walls, reduces blood pressure, and makes it easier for the heart to pump blood and for the blood to flow freely.

Solution: Supplement every single day with Magnesium. It matters that you use GOOD magnesium and not one that passes through quickly without being absorbed into your cells. Ask me if you need a recommendation.

6) Fibrinogins. These are blood clotting cells. I know about these because I’ve had 2 blood clots. Instead of Coumadin ( never!), I’m on Systemic Enzymes. I get my blood analyzed on a regular basis, and I haven’t had Fibrins in my blood for years now thanks to Systemic Enzymes, fish oil, and an Anti-Inflammatory diet ( Real Whole Food, no sugars or grains).

Have you ever heard of Systemic Enzymes? I LOVE them! What an enormous difference they’ve made in my life. I’ve been on them for about 10 years, I’m almost 50, I work out HOURS a week, and my level of pain and inflammation ( from exercise or injuries) has never been lower. I’m savvier at how to manage it via years of trial and error with which enzymes work best for me.

Basically, the inflammatory compounds in our body are mostly Protein based. Bacteria, virus, most pathogens, are protein based. Systemic Enzymes break down proteins in our blood and tissues: scar tissues, blood clots, cysts, plaques. There’s studies all over the world validating Systemic Enzymes in not only the fight against inflammation, but cancer too. ( http://www.inflammation-systemicenzymes.com/).

Again, if you’re interested, ask me. There’s several different fantastic Enzyme Formulas out there, you’ll need to find the one that works best for you.

7) Excessive alcohol. If I had a dime for every time I heard that wine is healthy, I’d be a millionaire. We’re NOT Italian or French. We don’t eat, live, or sleep like them. We’re Americans, and we’re fat ( 70% overweight), sick ( 70% are on at least 1 drug), and tired ( the CDC says it’s EPIDEMIC: http://www.cdc.gov/features/dssleep/). We can’t get away with excessive alcohol. Alcohol’s effects on the heart are many: it directly causes a “weak heart” or Cardiac Myopathy; alcohol ruins liver functions which is critical for the CoQ10 and good cholesterol the heart craves; and alcohol literally ruins stomach lining, which decreases stomach acid which decreases nutrient breakdown and absorption. Stomach lining also produces Intrinsic Factor, which attaches to B12 and escorts it into cells for use. Deficiencies in B12 are associated with high Homocysteine, a HUGE risk factor for Heart Disease and Stroke. ( Acid suppressors also reduce B12)

B12 should be sublingual for good absorption. CoQ10 is an excellent idea for anyone over 40, as even if you’re NOT on a statin ( and you probably shouldn’t be), your body produces less as you age. Your heart needs CoQ10 for “food”, so supplementation is a very good idea.

8) Trans fats in Margarines, and Vegetable Oils that are heated, or exposed to light and air (O2), are damaging to the arteries. Quit using them! Use Saturated Fats for cooking instead: they’re LOADED with nutrients, and their chemical structure is STABLE, which means heat, light, and air don’t oxidize or damage them.

Heart Disease is preventible. Become informed, be proactive, learn, study, read. Don’t take your doctors advice if it’s old-fashioned and clearly not working. Reread the info in the Newsletter, and then read the link at the bottom. There’s so much science out there that’s not getting to the masses. Don’t let that be you!

Here’s an interview with 2 doctors from one of my favorite books, The Great Cholesterol Myth.  

Category: Exercise, Fats, RWF, Sugar, Weight Loss / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Could OTC and Prescription Meds Be Making You Fat and Sick? Yes!

August 10, 2014 / / Comments Off on Could OTC and Prescription Meds Be Making You Fat and Sick? Yes!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe chances that everyone reading this is taking or has taken at least 1 over-the-counter (OTC) or prescription drug is pretty high.  We’re Americans, and taking a pill to soothe an ill is normal.

Could “normal” meds like Tylenol or Statins contribute to our weight issues ( ~70% overweight), our moods ( declining ), and our poor HEALTH?  Oh my gosh, yes.  Read on for some scary facts, because all these drugs aren’t good for us, no matter what the ads say.

– America spent $2.4 Trillion on Disease MAINTENANCE in 2007, but according to WHO, we rank #37 in Health Care IN THE DEVELOPED WORLD.  ( Who wants to maintain their diseases anyway?)  We spend more on health care than the next 10 countries studied COMBINED.

– In one study, Americans had the second highest rate of chronic disease in the seven developed countries examined.

– According to the CDC, there’s not ONE disease or condition, NOT ONE, that’s been decreasing or is going to decrease, in the US, in the next 3 decades.  So the drugs aren’t improving anyone’s health in the long run.

The MAJORITY of Americans use drugs for pain, disease, colds, stomach problems, infections, etc, etc.   *****In other words, we’re taking our medicine, we’re just not getting better.  We’re getting worse. *****  As a matter of fact, an article titled “Death by Medicine”, authored in two parts by Carolyn Dean, MD, ND, describes in excruciating detail how the American medical system has bumbled its way into becoming the leading cause of death and injury in the US, claiming the lives of nearly 784,000 people annually!

Hospital errors are responsible for part of that, but Pharmaceuticals represent much of that total.  Here’s the facts ( straight from the pharmacist’s RX side effect sheets ) on some of the most commonly used drugs in America, and their potential side effects.

******Side effects can have quiet and long escalations.  Don’t feel comfortable with your drugs just because an obvious side effect, like a big rash, didn’t pop up.*******

Tylenol/Acetaminophen:

* Long-term Tylenol use has been linked to brain damage, increased blood pressure and kidney failure; about 15 percent of the people on dialysis today are there as a result of the damage that Tylenol (and/or aspirin) did to their kidneys.

* Acetaminophen is the #1 cause of Acute Liver Failure in the US.  Google it.  Our liver is supposed to perform over 500 jobs a DAY.  Our weight is intimately tied to our liver. Our metabolism, our hormones, our cholesterol: liver liver liver liver.

NSAIDS, or Non-Steroidal-Anti-Inflammatory-Drugs ( Motrin, Advil,…)

* Each year, an estimated 107,000 patients are hospitalized for NSAID-related gastrointestinal complications.  This is because NSAID’s ruin stomach lining.  We need our stomach lining!

*All NSAIDs, including over-the-counter aspirin and ibuprofen, are associated with potentially serious side effects such as cardiovascular problems, GI bleeding, kidney problems, and hypertension.

* What about the Conventional Wisdom that an aspirin a day is good for preventing heart attacks?  Did you know that the FDA REVERSED that position?  Does your Doctor know? “FDA has concluded that the data do not support the use of aspirin as a preventive medication by people who have not had a heart attack, stroke or cardiovascular problems, a use that is called ‘primary prevention.’ In such people, the benefit has not been established but risks — such as dangerous bleeding into the brain or stomach — are still present.”

* Harvard Heath says the  NSAIDs, including the COX-2 drugs, tend to boost blood pressure.

* Between 1999 and 2010, DEATHS from prescription painkillers increased 400% for women and 265% for men.

What’s going on with painkillers, other than that they ruin your liver, kidneys, and brain?  They’re HIGHLY addictive. Most prescription pain killers work by binding to receptors in your brain to decrease the perception of pain. But they also create a temporary feeling of euphoria, followed by dysphoria, which can easily lead to addiction.  Addiction leads to accidental overdoses.

Let’s move on:  Acid Suppressors for heartburn, GERD, and reflux.  In 2012, Americans spent $5.1 BILLION on Nexium alone.  Thanks to an incredibly poor diet and way too much stress, most American’s don’t have ENOUGH stomach acid, causing the food to sit too long and ferment.  The acidic burp that explodes up the delicate esophagus hurts, badly. It’s also damaging.  Acid suppression might seem logical, but it’s not.  You want your food to digest faster, not slower; and that acid – which our stomach should naturally be loaded with – triggers all the rest of the steps of digestion.

Acid suppressors inhibit nutrient absorption, promote bacterial overgrowth, increase risk of infections, increase risk of bone fractures, and increase risks of certain cancers.  The FDA recommends taking acid suppressors for no longer than 8 – 12 weeks because of this.

Let’s move on to Statins.  As of today, 1 out of 4 Americans over the age of 45 is on a statin, primarily as a PREVENTATIVE measure against heart disease.  What a joke!  Statin’s increase the risk for Diabetes, Cataracts, Erectile Dysfunction, Memory Impairment, Muscle Fatigue, and *******Coronary artery and aortic calcification*******.  Wait a second, isn’t that Heart Disease???  Oh, and what’s the #1 reason Diabetics die?  Heart Disease.

Actual PREVENTATIVE measures against heart disease are eating Real Whole Foods, Exercising, Sleeping, and practicing Stress Management.  Zero side effects, plenty of benefits.

I’m closing with a link to an article from America’s Pharmacist, Suzy Cohen.  Someone took her to task for NOT recommending anti-depressants in a case of depression. Instead, Suzy had outlined a supplement program of Nutrients the body uses for correct thyroid function and neurotransmitter status.  ( Hypothyroid and/or insufficient GABA, dopamine, and serotonin are often the REASONS for depression).  Her response was perfect:  no Drug is going to provide the body with the vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats, or phytonutrients that it lacked that caused the problem in the first place.  She wraps up with the potential side effects from anti-depressants, and culminates with the FDA Black Box Warning that children and adolescents on anti-depressants have higher incidences of SUCIDE.

Let me finish with a oft repeated statement:  No one is sick because they’re deficient in a Drug.  You’re not inflamed because you’re low in Advil, you don’t have clogged arteries because you’re low in statins, you’re not depressed because you’re low on Prozac, and you don’t have stomach issues because you need more acid suppression.

Poor health is from a lack of nutrients.  BONUS:  Eat for your health, and if you need to lose weight, weight loss will be a side effect.  Focus on Real Whole Food:  plenty of vegetables, good meats and eggs, lots of healthy fats, some fruit, some nuts and seeds, and some dairy if you tolerate it.  Sleep, move, and deal with your stress.

One more tip:  there really are great supplements out there that contain the NUTRIENTS in concentrated form that your body can use to:  decrease plaque, decrease inflammation, fight bad bacteria and viruses, build neurotransmitters, build magnesium stores, fix your gut, stop headaches, increase energy, etc etc.  If you have questions, ask me, I LOVE this stuff, and I’ve spent a lot of time learning my supplements.  There’s no need to Poison your body in an effort to get well.

 

Category: Exercise, Hormones / Tags: , , , , , ,

Exercise for Weight Loss, and Is Swimming A Good Exercise?

July 28, 2014 / / Comments Off on Exercise for Weight Loss, and Is Swimming A Good Exercise?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI have great reader question today, it’s about exercise:

” After your exercise post I realized I was doing little to no resistance training. My current regiment is swimming 4 days per week(I do intervals and definitely get breathless and use the kick board a lot to get that “burn” especially in my legs), also I do intermediate yoga classes on my own at home. We also walk/hike outdoors when the weather is nice.

We are also in a remote place so it is hard for me to find exercise classes….any suggestion of good videos I could do at home to add some resistance/lifting to my exercise routine? Or should I try and lift-weight myself at the gym? Any tweaks you have are also welcome “o) “

I’m glad to address this question, because Exercise Is Important, for a million reasons. Here’s my answer: Any and all exercise is absolutely better than NO exercise. Our body is meant to move; as a matter of fact, interesting studies have been coming out in the past few years on the DANGERS OF SITTING AND INACTIVITY. Apparently, INACTIVITY is possibly a greater/as great a risk factor for disease and mortality as SMOKING!

That said, if you want to build a shapely, muscular, firm body, you’ve GOT to Resistance Train. Ladies, Men, there’s just no getting around this. I’m not saying you have to join a gym, and spend an hour several days a week pumping iron ( although this has AMAZING results for your body), but you do need to stress your muscles – with either body weight or external weight – to (1) tear down your muscle cells, so (2) they can “re-build” (hypertrophy) a little bigger; and you need to do this at least 2 or 3 times a week, for at least several minutes.

Ladies, getting “too muscular” is fairly impossible. We absolutely, positively, DON’T have the testosterone to put on heavy muscle; and to LOOK muscular, we’d also need to be INCREDIBLY lean, usually under 15%, but often under 10%. (That takes a long, consistent “diet” effort that I’d never endorse.)

Men, pay attention: You should be prioritizing lifting over cardio/golf/yoga; I’m not saying NOT to do any of those activities, but lifting stimulates Testosterone and Growth Hormone; cardio/golf/yoga don’t. Ladies, we want Testosterone and Growth Hormone too; they’re the hormones of YOUTH, and we all naturally produce less as we age, EXCEPT IF WE RESISTANCE TRAIN.

What about Swimming specifically? Swimming’s a GREAT exercise, especially if you LOVE it, and also if you have joint issues. There’s no “joint-loading” or “bone-strain” when you swim, also, and obviously, you don’t get hot.
And there-in lies some of the problems with swimming: these “benefits” actually cause a DECREASE in BONE DENSITY; and FEMALE SWIMMERS TEND TO HAVE MORE BODY FAT THAN ALL OTHER ATHLETES.

The Bone-Loss CAUSED by swimming is a BIG DEAL. To me ( admittedly, I don’t love swimming laps), it would be a deal breaker – we need our bone density!

That all said, WEIGHT LOSS IS DEFINITELY ABOUT EATING – NOT EXERCISE. HOWEVER…… the more MUSCLE we have, and the BIGGER and MORE ACTIVE our muscle cells are, losing weight, or maintaining a healthy weight is MUCH MUCH MUCH easier.

Everyone: We Need Muscle. It’s important, it’s critical, and it should be a big focus of our total health program. (Not THE only focus; like I said, there’s a million reasons to exercise.)

Again, all forms of exercise are wonderful, including swimming; do whatever you love and feel comfortable with. Just make sure you’re throwing in some kind of Resistance Training a few times a week.

What about Exercising on a High Fat/Low Carb diet, how’s that? Fantastic! ( The whole “Carb Loading” theory, or Fueling Your Workout With Carbs, is totally 1980’s.) We have study after study now verifying the performance of High Fat/Low Carb athlete’s from every sport, and the studies are showing excellent results. As a matter of fact, after an initial dip in performance due to the body switching from “sugar burning” to “fat burning”, … ” Muscle glycogen stores were maintained after a 5-wk high-fat diet period ..Endurance performance capacity was maintained at moderate to high-exercise intensities with a significantly larger contribution of lipids to total energy turnover.”

Do you understand what that last sentence means? After 5 weeks on a High Fat/Low Carb diet, the body burns “significantly” MORE fats than glucose during exercise. This is something I try to get across to my clients: eat a big bowl of oatmeal or an English Muffin before your workout, and your body will mostly use those carbs for fuel. Live on a High CARB diet, and your body constantly burns SUGAR. When Sugar/Glucose is in the blood stream in excess, FAT BURNING DOESN’T HAPPEN. We want to burn the fat in our butt/thighs/stomach, right?

Back to the question, some general suggestions: (1) Join a Gym. Gyms have (1) Kid Care, (2) professional trainers to TEACH you and Guide you through your workouts, (3) assorted classes that guide you through workouts, and resistance training ( of one kind or another ) is more often than not included in classes, (4) a positive and fun atmosphere that ALWAYS makes you feel good when you’re done.
(Yes, I’m a Gym Rat!) ( and I work at a BEAUTIFUL, WONDERFUL gym in Warrenton, Va: Old Town Athletic Club.)
********Please don’t be intimidated by Gyms; No One Is Judging You – I Swear. ******** One more piece of Gym advice, join one that’s CONVENIENT to you, that means near either your work or your home. Make the commitment and then go!

And specific suggestion ( I live in a remote area..): Youtube, DVDs, and Apps. Have you ever looked at BodyRock on YouTube? They have hundreds of free HITT workouts (high intensity interval training), there’s several yoga channels, and lifting workouts. CollageVideo has HUNDREDS of great videos on lifting/HITT/step/yoga you can buy. I use an App on my phone for Tabata Intervals ( that’s a 4 minute workout divided into 20 second intervals). There’s several Tabata ideas on YouTube.

Whatever you choose today, whether it’s the gym, hiking, or a DVD in your living room, just like with eating, make a Plan, and commit to the plan. It’s important. And be careful to avoid the mindset that any exercise you do is somehow Virtuous! It’s not! It’s just exercise. You don’t deserve a Treat for brushing your teeth, eating your vegetables, doing the laundry, cooking dinner, or working out. They’re all just Action Steps that are necessary and good for us and make our life better.

“Change your thoughts and you change your world.” Norman Vincent Peale

“Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life.” Golda Meir

Category: Exercise, Question of the Week, Reader Question / Tags: , , ,
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