Sleep deprivation leads to weight gain, it also leads to poor food choices during the day. People with poor sleep have reduced leptin levels and increased ghrelin levels (the hormones that regulate our appetite) you also have a higher risk of having increase Hemoglobin A1c levels and diabetes.

There are medical conditions that disrupt sleep, some of these conditions are ones treated with a drug that may be contributing to the insomnia. Finding the root cause of why you have this condition may help improve sleep. Lets review a few.

Insomnia

Insomnia can be caused by psychiatric and medical conditions, unhealthy sleep habits, specific substances, and/or certain biological factors. Insomnia improves when other symptoms improve. Many medications such as ones for cold and nasal allergies, high blood pressure, heart disease, thyroid disease, birth control, asthma and depression can cause insomnia, finding alternatives or fixing the issue you are taking the medication for may help with better sleep.

GERD

Keeping a gap of 4 hours between your last meal and bedtime may help. Finding the underlying cause of GERD is a better option (food triggers, low stomach acid, H-pylori, SIBO, lack of digestive enzymes etc.) Remember long-term antacid (PPI) use makes you B12 deficient, see below!

Other GI issues like leaky gut

In functional medicine we view the body as a whole so lets look at an example: You cant’ sleep because you are depressed, you are also on an antacid for heartburn (GERD). Bad sleep contributes to depression, but depression contributes to bad sleep. Low serotonin contributes to depression, low serotonin contributes to low melatonin. Guess where most of your serotonin is made? The gut! If the gut is unhealthy because you are eating foods that are punching holes in it, or you have high levels of stress or an untreated parasite, or are on antibiotics and you are not replacing the good bacteria, or you are over-exercising guess what’s going to be low? Serotonin! Guess what else is low when you have gut issues, B12, you need a functioning gut lining (specifically a protein called intrinsic factor) to absorb B12. Guess what a lot of people who are depressed are low in? B12! You have to connect the dots, not just treat one of these symptoms!

Reactions to food

Can contribute to poor sleep-have you tried an elimination diet to get these offensive foods out of your diet?

Pain

Arthritis, headaches, fibromyalgia can make it hard to fall asleep and stay asleep. Addressing these issues with medication short term and nutritional therapies long-term to target and reduce pain can facilitate better sleep.

Anxiety and Depression

This is a biggy! Anxiety makes good sleep very difficult, less sleep increases anxiety. Addressing the root of the anxiety (genes, psychological issues) can help as well as meditation, yoga and other relaxation techniques. Depression improved in sleep apnea patients who used CPAP (the machine to help open airways) Prozac and Wellbutrin may have a negative impact on sleep. Trying natural treatments for depression can be helpful for sleep. These include Vitamin D, Omega 3 fatty acids and neuro-transmitter precursors such as 5HTP (do not take if on an SSRI) Natural treatments for anxiety include most of the same herbs/supplements that are used to treat insomnia! (See the connection?) They are listed below.

Bladder problems

Many things can contribute to waking up to urinate, various medications, a UTI, enlarged prostate, overdoing fluids in the evening, caffeinated beverages (if a slow metabolizer). Some misperceive getting up to urinate as the problem when in reality they are waking for another reason.

Menopause

Sleep problems increase with age in both sexes; women have a drop in estrogen and progesterone, which can reduce sleep quality. Hot flashes may be the issue but falling hormone levels are not the only issue. There is an increase in sleep apnea in postmenopausal women. If you have ongoing daytime fatigue a sleep study may be necessary. If no apnea exists raising levels of hormones with bio-identical therapy or natural products discussed in my hormone article here can help with sleep.

Low levels of melatonin

Melatonin levels drop in postmenopausal women, and older men. Supplementation may be in order but getting some sunlight during the day to start production and avoiding blue light before bed are both helpful rituals to help production. If you can’t get sunlight during the day consider investing in full spectrum light therapy and turn it on first thing in the morning, there is also a light based alarm clock. You can find both on Amazon for under $50. This also stimulates your body to make cortisol in the morning (versus at night), which will give you the appropriate morning energy.

Restless leg syndrome

Is 60% genetic but may be due to abnormal iron metabolism, make sure you have a full iron panel run if you have this, see my article here on which labs to run. Low magnesium may also be a factor.

Abnormal cortisol levels

If an appropriate test shows that you are high or low (I like the Dutch hormone test as it shows free and total cortisol) regulating this can help with sleep. Usually altered coritsol production stems from other problems that also need to be identified but in the short term supplementing to bring levels back to normal can be beneficial. If you have a high nightly cortisol pattern extra vitamin C, B5, B6, zinc and phosphatidyl serine may be beneficial. Low cortisol production suggesting some sort of imbalance in the HPA axis may produce non-restorative sleep and daytime fatigue, in this case it is important to balance blood sugar levels with a higher protein, lower carb diet. Various herbs, glandular formulas or hormone replacement may be beneficial in both cases. You need to work with someone to balance these levels.

Caffeine

Most of us know if caffeine makes us jittery but there is a good part of the population which are slow metabolizers of caffeine (you can find this out on a genetic test like 23 and me) who still drink coffee or soda or chocolate late in the day and may not realize that the slow metabolism of the caffeine may be contributing to their sleep issues. Snapple ice teas have just as much caffeine as coffee, energy drinks much more and many may choose these as a drink with dinner or later in the evening to finish work. There are also drugs that interfere with the metabolism of caffeine. To check your caffeine gene look at your CYP1A2 gene if you have AA you are a fast metabolizer if you have AC or CC you are slow.

Lack of neurotransmitter precursors

Tryptophan is the precursor to serotonin, which is a precursor to melatonin. Low carb diets can disrupt the transfer of tryptophan across the blood brain barrier as it is competing with bigger proteins. Some carbohydrate with your evening meal can help the tryptophan get to the brain. Supplementing with straight tryptophan requires many conversions (first to 5HTP, than serotonin then melatonin) this is a slow conversion so if looking to help with depression (to make serotonin) I’d take 5HTP, to help with sleep I’d just go straight for the melatonin.

Alcohol

Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant and will make you sleepy but for every drink, the sedation is followed by an equal amount of arousal. Excess alcohol leads to restless sleep, elevated coritsol levels occur, as well as body temperature. Proper melatonin actually decreases body temp.

WHAT CAN I DO?

Before treating a sleep disorder as insomnia, identify the root cause from above of what is creating the sleep disturbance. In the short term using medication or one of the following natural sleep aides can be helpful. But if you find that you are using these long-term, working with someone to fix the root cause may be in order.

The following are natural sleep aides:

Chamomile-may help with insomnia, anxiety, digestive and skin problems. A dose of 300mg helps initiate sleep or a cup of good quality tea. People with asthma or ragweed allergies may want to avoid. Chamomile may have a slight estrogenic effect helping women with low hormone status but should be avoided by those with a history of estrogenic type cancers.

Lemon Balm-Usually used in combination with valerian, hops or chamomile but can be use alone. It is thought to be an inhibitor of GABA catabolism, low levels of GABA are linked to anxiety, depression and sleep disorders. Valium and ativan are benzodiazepine type drugs that bind to the GABA receptors and help calm or slow down the body’s central nervous system. They are used for people with anxiety and sleep disorders. Lemon Balm acts on the same receptors.

Valerian Root-Similar modes of action as lemon balm but does not produce the residual morning sleepiness that a benzodiazepine drug may. Usually in a combination of other sedating herbs such as hops, passion flower, lemon balm, chamomile and lavender. Has been shown to help with restless leg syndrome.

Hops-Yes this what is used to make beer bitter! Hops do contain phytoestrogens and may have an estrogenic effect for women experiencing menopausal sleep problems; it also has a sedating effect on the central nervous system. IPA beers do not have enough of the active phytoestrogen constituent to cause problems in men who drink it regularly. But for men with high estrogen levels malt beer may be a better choice just to be safe.

Kava-Has been used for anxiety, insomnia and fibromyalgia. It induces relaxation and may improve cognitive function. It acts on the amygdala in the limbic system, which controls many emotional processes. Kava does not bind to GABA receptors like many sedatives. It was banned in other countries and now contains a warning label in the US because of fear of liver damage. Uncontrolled ethanol extracts were used in the past, which contained illegal varieties contaminated with bacteria or fungi, this warning stems from these products. If you have a compromised liver do not use this, but for most people using a trusted brand can be very beneficial. When using herbs never buy from an unknown company. My two favorite trusted brands in the U.S. are Gaia and Herb Pharm.

L-Theanine-Is an amino acid it causes relaxation but is not necessarily sedative so can be used during the day for anxiety. But because it can lower anxiety it can promote better sleep. L-theanine is also found in tea. If taking a medicine to lower blood pressure consult with your doctor first.

Taurine. Taurine is an amino acid that reduces cortisol levels and increases the production of GABA.  Using magnesium taurate allows you to get both magnesium and taurine with a single pill.  In many sleep formulas. Taurine is also used to treat cardiovascular issue and high blood pressure. 

Magnesium-Helps to maintain the efficacy of the suprachiasmatic nuclei (the location of the bodies biological clock) and the pineal gland that produces melatonin. Magnesium is also involved in may other pathways which may improve symptoms related to fibromyalgia, migraines, chronic fatigue syndrome, helps improve c-reactive protein marker, may help restless leg syndrome. Anyone with sleep issues should safely supplement with magnesium.

Tryptophan/5HTP-both melatonin precursors. Do involve conversion that is sometimes hindered in people. Zinc and B6 are cofactors to make tryptophan work to make serotonin, make sure you are getting enough of these important nutrients.

Melatonin-Is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland in the brain, it decreases with age. Melatonin does not have a negative feedback loop meaning taking it will not quell the body’s natural production. Lower supplemental levels are just as effective (for sleep) as higher levels. Higher levels work like an antioxidant and should only be used for specific purposes (10-20mg). Melatonin lowers the body temp and helps people fall asleep. In studies though, falling asleep quicker does not always improve sleep. Time release at 2mg has actually been shown to improve sleep quality. One interesting fact is that Alzheimer’s patients have a profound reduction in melatonin and melatonin is an antioxidant and neuroprotector.

Other things to try:

• The circadian rhythm is no joke. If you think you are getting decent sleep while sleeping with the TV on, think again. Noise and light both disrupt this pattern. It is imperative that you sleep in a cool completely dark room for this cycle to work properly. To get started, try a night mask or t-shirt over your eyes. A white noise machine can be helpful if you are use to the noise of the TV. Machines are sold on Amazon or use a free app on your phone.

• If you have a spouse that snores, help them to stop by losing weight, utilizing a mouthpiece like snoreRx, surgery or possibly sleeping separate until your sleep pattern is back on track.

• If you sleep with your pet, try wearing a device to track your sleep, you may be surprised at how many times per night you wake up, try to notice if they pet caused this. It is a hard habit to break, but if you are having any sleep issues you may want to consider moving them to a separate rom.

• Try eating some complex carbs with dinner if you are on a lower carb diet. This may help to facilitate tryptophan across the blood brain barrier.

• If you can, avoid TV and devices before bed.  In reality this is sometimes unrealistic so at least set your phone to night mode so the screen is not emitting blue light after 7pm.

• Avoid processed foods during the day; choices of food intake can influence your dream content. Keeping balanced blood sugar can also aid with sleep patterns.

• If you are a wine drinker have your wine while making dinner or with dinner. Having protein with alcohol is very beneficial. Read why here. Avoid a glass of wine before bed as it may help you feel tired, but will make the quality of your sleep low.

• If you are on medications that you cannot come off, work with a practitioner to review any nutrient deficiencies the drug may be causing, this can help pinpoint why the drug may keep you awake and supplementing may help offset some of the negative effects. There is a very complete database that you need a subscription too, but most health practitioners will have access to that gives all herb/drug interactions and nutrient deficiencies caused by drugs. It is called the Natural Medicines Database, ask your practitioner.

• If you are someone that is always congested, which may be disrupting sleep, first try to figure out why (allergy etc) but for the short term trying a natural migraine remedy or a natural anti-histamine may be helpful. A well-studied migraine supplement is called Pentadolex. Natural antihistamines are vitamin C, quercetin or a product called D-Hist, which contains quercetin and a few other things to help clear histamines, which may be causing congestion. Try avoiding dairy and gluten for 21 days.

• Exercise-If you are not making time to do this, try a walk everyday (also a good way to get some sunlight!). If evening is the only time you can fit it in do weight lifting with rest in between or yoga so that your body does not have to work so hard to bring its temperature down, a cold shower or at least some time to cool off is important. Also if possible keep the lights dim and be sure to have the blue light setting on your devices to minimize bright light exposure. Bright lights in a gym are going to tell your body that it’s not time to make melatonin!

Some products to try:

I recommend working with someone to pick the right thing and dosage for you based on symptoms and genes, but I realize not everyone wants to do this. If you decide to try a product and are on any medication please check with your doctor first as some herbs can interact with medications.

Single herb/supplemet varities:

• Organic chamomile extract by Herb Pharm
• Lemon balm extract by Gaia Herbs
• Organic Valerian Root by Gaia
• Time release 1 or 3 mg Melatonin by Natrol
• L-Theanine- by Enzymatic Therapy (Suntheanine)
• Magnesium Glycinate by Metabolic Maintenance
• Magnesium Taurate-Douglas Labs
• 5HTP synergy by Designs for Health
• Kava kava root by Gaia
• Pentadolex (migraine formula)

Formulas:

• Sleep and Relax tea or capsules by Gaia Herbs
• Anxiety soother by Herb Pharm
• Gaba Calm by Source Naturals
• Neurocalm by Designs for health
• Gabatone by Apex Energetics
• Sound sleep by Gaia
• Catecholacalm by Designs for Health
• D-Hist by Ortho Molecular

As a reminder Ambien is a drug that also works on the GABA receptors but with addictive qualities and some very nasty side effects. Read about it here.

Tylenol or Advil PM taken long term will literally punch holes in the lining of your intestines and create “leaky gut” if you have read this far you know that leaky gut causes inflammation, decreased B12 and decreased serotonin which can lead to depression which can lead to poor sleep!

Benadryl is used by some to assist with sleep (basically Tylenol PM is Tylenol with Benadryl) Long term Benadryl use which is an anticholinergic drug blocks the action of acetylcholine. This is an important substance in the body that transmits messages to the nervous system, it is also involved in memory and learning. This study here showed that long-term use was associated with dementia.

Wishing you a restful, restorative sleep tonight!

Michelle

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What is going on??

First stage: As we grow older (around 40) our bodies slowly stop being stimulated to produce as much of our sex hormones, primarily estrogen and progesterone. We aren’t meant to have babies anymore and our bodies change to accommodate this fact. Ovulation starts to become intermittent, we might have really heavy or light periods or some of both! Because of these dropping levels of hormones, we get symptoms like hot flashes, sleep problems, mood swings, weight gain and loss of energy. Our brain actually becomes resistant to the estrogen we do have!

Second Stage: (40-45) Pre-menopause

Progesterone is dropping (this stuff gives you that glow during pregnancy) Progesterone is like an anti-anxiety hormone, it makes you feel good and when it starts to go away, we may feel crazy! We experience hot flashes, can’t sleep, and want to kill our husbands! At this stage we usually have higher estrogen than progesterone. It’s important that we keep our progesterone to estrogen (primarily E2 or Estradiol) ratio healthy and watch how we are metabolizing our estrogens (how we rid or recycle them in the body). The DUTCH Hormone test is a good test to assess these levels. Naturally at this point we become estrogen dominant and diet and environmental factors can contribute to this dominance. Not eating enough fiber and being overweight can contribute. Also exposing ourselves to too many fake estrogens or estrogen mimickers like BPA’s, triclosan (toothpaste, hand sanitizer), fragrance in your beauty products, fire retardants, lead, arsenic (can be found in people that eat a lot of rice) mercury (avoid those big fish like tuna), non-stick cookware, pesticides on our food and phthalates in cleaners and beauty products can make the ratios even worse.

Stage 3: (45-50)

Now our estrogen levels start to drop. We experience lower sex drive, vaginal dryness, brain fog, bone loss and possibly depression. Low estrogen can impede the production of serotonin in some women. Low serotonin can affect mood, sleep and appetite. It can also cause constipation. Estrogen is low but higher than progesterone so you have the symptoms from above for estrogen dominance and you also have the symptoms of low estrogen. This may all seem awful and unfair, but menopause is a natural part of the life cycle and if we go in with a positive attitude in the best health we can, symptoms can be reduced. After 12 full months of no cycle you are officially post-menopausal and symptoms mayl go away. The average age for this is 51.

Nutritionally speaking what can we do to combat some of these symptoms?

• Vitamin C naturally boosts progesterone- there are many foods rich in vitamin C (red peppers, kiwi fruit, oranges, strawberries, broccoli, kale, brussels sprouts, cauliflower) you can also supplement.
• Vitamin E (look for a mixed tocopherol) may help to alleviate hot flashes, vaginal dryness and mood swings.
• Magnesium is important in helping reduce hot flashes, and fatigue. It is found in spinach, lentils, oatmeal, bananas, almonds and chocolate.
• Omega-3’s help to reduce inflammation, 2-3 servings of salmon per week or supplementation with a good quality product is recommended.
• A B-complex, specifically pantothentic acid or B5 has been shown to help with stress during this time.
• Maca may act as an endocrine adpatogen (does not contain hormones but may support normal hormone production) helping to balance estrogen levels. 1 Tbsp to start and up to 2-3 a day may help.

Herbs: Remember herbs can act like drugs; they should be used short-term and only from a reputable company like Gaia herbs and other professional supplement companies.   Anything in my recommendations (sign up for a fullscript account with me to see them) are well studied. Also be aware that some classes of herbs can interact with prescription drugs so always check with a health care practitioner before taking.

• Ginseng-another adaptogen that may help with stress and immune function as well as menopausal symptoms.
• Black cohosh contains isoferulic acids which may have anti-inflammatory effects.
• Also plant based phytoestrogens. Other foods and supplements that contain phytoestrogens are tempeh, miso and natto (make sure they are fermented and organic) red clover, daidzen, pycnogenol and genistein. These products can have similar effects (although usually much less) as hormone replacement so make sure to work with someone and get tested if you choose to go this route.

Diet: We’ve all heard it before: cut down on processed food and the white stuff (sugar and refined carbs) but during this time of life it is really important to eat a nutrient rich diet to help with stress, weight (fat is estrogenic and messes with our ratios) and sleep. Also our fatty acid balance is important. Fatty acids are the precursors to prostaglandins (these are things that cause cramps!) that regulate hormone receptor sites. Too much Omega-6 fatty acids and not enough Omega-3’s can increase the production of these prostaglandins, which creates inflammation. But remember it is important to get healthy fats in our diet (olive oil, ghee, nuts and seeds, avocado, coconut oil). Do you know where all sex hormones come from? Cholesterol! Cholesterol is the precursor to pregnenolone the beginning of all sex hormones. Our bodies need healthy fats to make cholesterol. Lastly, for some people reducing their intake of caffeine and alcohol can also help with menopausal symptoms as they both can alter the levels of estrogen, and as we age our bodies hold less water and we become more sensitive to the effects of both.

Exercise the right way! For those with hormone imbalance, intense extended exercise can actually make the problem worse in the short term. Long distance running actually increases the intestinal permeability in your gut, in some this may not be a problem, for others who already have a compromised gut function this can cause major issues, as we will see below. Workouts that include short bursts of heavy lifting may trigger a beneficial hormone reaction.

Heal the gut- GI issues can cause inflammation. Inflammation can suppress the hypothalamus in the brain telling the body to make hormones or suppress the function of the glands actually making the hormones. It can also make you hormone resistant. The receptors on the cells become less sensitive to the circulating hormones and you experience the same symptoms even with normal levels of hormones in your body. Dysbiosis (microbial imbalance) in the gut can increase the production of the estrogen metabolites we want to be lower (4-OH and 16-OH) and decrease the production of the protective (2-OH). The gut really is the center of overall health including balanced hormones. Having dysbiosis during menopause can make the problem that much worse! (We can see markers for dysbiosis on two of the nutrient tests I mention here) and don’t forget 70% of our serotonin is made in the gut. Unhealthy gut=mood imbalances. Healing the gut is a 5-step process that involves removing stressors, replacing enzymes or other things to aid digestion, reinoculating with probiotics and fiber, repairing the lining with supplements and rebalancing our lifestyle in order to keep our GI healthy. If you need help with GI issues please let me know.

Increase your detoxification mechanisms. If we are recirculating estrogen this can contribute to estrogen dominance, they compete with the active hormones and bind at the receptor sites but don’t have the same effect so they are actually blocking the active hormone and disrupting the regulation. We can also look at DNA mutations that predispose people to these detoxification problems (looking at your 23 and me data) this helps us to know where to supplement or support. We can look at detoxification markers on the ION nutrition test mentioned here, we can also look at liver markers on your blood chemistry reports, we can look at symptoms like sensitivity to chemical smells and how you react to medications. Certain supplements can help support the liver like glutathione or liver support supplements. If your estrogen is clearing down the wrong pathway we can give support like the supplement DIM (found in cruciferous vegetables) and/or increase your intake of cruciferous vegetables and things like flaxseeds which contain lingans or phytoestrogens that can help change estrogen metabolism (ps I would not blindly recommend flaxseeds to men without looking at his biochemistry first-men can also do the DUTCH Hormone test!)  The DUTCH Hormone test is an amazing dried urine based hormone test that I think every women should have run.  You can read more about it on their website here.  You can work with me to have this run, please ask.

• You can look under Menopause in my fullscript account to see some of the supplements and herbs mentioned above. I believe in testing instead of guessing but changing your diet, adding some supplementation, exercising appropriately, reducing stress and embracing aging can all be done very easily. If you need help personalizing the right diet for you please let me know.  Fullscript

• In regards to hormone replacement I am supportive of bio-identical hormone replacement. It can be a lifesaver for some women who are not helped with the above methods (but I would try diet/lifestyle/supplements first) you need to work with a doctor who will monitor you every 3-6 months. I would choose a naturopathic or functional medicine doctor who understands all aspects of hormone replacement. If you need help finding one please contact me.

The post Pre-menopause or Menopause got you down?? appeared first on .

Blood Glucose Regulation:                                                                        Optimal Range (female)

Glucose                                                                                                            75-86

Hemoglobin A1C                                                                                              4.5-5.5

Insulin – Fasting                                                                                                 2-5

Renal Markers: (kidney function)

BUN                                                                                                                  10-16

Creatinine                                                                                                          0.80-1.10

BUN/Creatinine Ratio                                                                                        10-16

eGFR Non-Afr. American                                                                                   90-120

eGFR African American                                                                                     90-120

Uric Acid                                                                                                            3-5.5

Electrolytes:

Sodium                                                                                                              135-142

Potassium                                                                                                          4-4.5

Chloride                                                                                                            100-106

CO2                                                                                                                  25-30

Metabolic:

Anion gap                                                                                                            7-12

Proteins:

Protein, total                                                                                                      6.9-7.4

Albumin                                                                                                            4-5

Globulin, total                                                                                                   2.4-2.8

Albumin/Globulin Ratio                                                                                    1.4-2.10

Minerals:                 

Calcium                                                                                                            9.2-10

Phosphorus                                                                                                       3-4

Liver and Gallbladder:

Alk Phosphatase                                                                                               70-100

AST (SGOT)                                                                                                       10-26

ALT (SGPT)                                                                                                        10-26

Bilirubin – Total                                                                                                   0.10-0.90

Bilirubin – Direct: (only run if total is high)                                                            0-0.19

Bilirubin – Indirect: (same)                                                                                  0.10-0.70

GGT                                                                                                                   10-30

Iron panel:

Iron – Serum                                                                                                       85-130

Ferritin                                                                                                                30-70

TIBC                                                                                                                   250-350

% Transferrin saturation                                                                                      20-35

Lipids

Cholesterol – Total                                                                    160-200 (particle size most important)

Triglycerides                                                                                                     70-80

LDL Cholesterol                                                                                              <120

HDL Cholesterol                                                                                             55-70

Fibrinogen                                                                                                      200-300

Cholesterol/HDL ratio                                                                                      <4.0

Triglyceride/HDL ratio                                                                                       <2.0

Lipoprotein subfractions:

An expanded lipid profile measuring lipids, lipid sub-fractions, particle size and number and APO (B) companies: (choose one)

Lipoprotein particles – Spectracell labs

Nuclear magnetic resonance testing – Liposcience (NMR)

Berkely Heart Labs test – Berkely heart labs

Vertical auto profile – Atherotec (VAP)

Full Thyroid panel:

TSH                                                                                                            1.3-3

Free T3                                                                                                        3-3.5

Total T3                                                                                                      90-168

Free T4                                                                                                       1-1.5

Total T4                                                                                                      6-11.9

T3 Uptake                                                                                                 27-35

Reverse T3                                                                                                10-25

Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) Abs                                                                    0-34

Thyroglobulin Abs                                                                                       0-1

Inflammation/Oxidation:

C-Reactive Protein                                                                                    <4.5

Homocysteine                                                                                           5-7

Nutritional Panel:

Vitamin D (25-OH)                                                                                   40-70

Vitamin B12                                                                                           450-800

Hormone Panel:

DHEA-S                                                                                                275-390

Testosterone, Free                                                                                 1-2.2

Testosterone, Total                                                                                 35-45

Estradiol                                                                                                150-350

Progesterone                                                                                         18-27

CBC/Diff:

Total WBCs                                                                                           5.5-7.5

RBC                                                                                                      3.9-4.5

Hemoglobin                                                                                          13.5-14.5

Hematocrit                                                                                             37-44

MCV                                                                                                      82-89.9

MCH                                                                                                      28-39.10

MCHC                                                                                                   32-35

Platelets                                                                                                 155-385

RDW                                                                                                      11.7-13

Neutrophils                                                                                             40-60

Lymphocytes                                                                                          24-44

Monocytes                                                                                              0-7

Eosinophils                                                                                              0-3

Basophils                                                                                                 0-1

How do you compare? If you would like help optimizing your blood work and therefore your health, or learning more about what these markers mean, please contact me. I have male ranges too! (Their ranges are a little different). Most naturopathic doctors and preventative medicine doctors will run all of these. If your doctor says they are unnecessary you can work with me on picking the most important ones, or there are on-line labs where you can order your own blood work. It is not covered by insurance but is very reasonable and after considering how much your co-pay for an appointment is sometimes even less!

My other favorite Functional Medicine tests I recommend people run to see a bigger picture: 

• DUTCH Hormone test – this uses dried urine at 4-5 points throughout a day. Hormones fluctuate a lot so a point in time blood marker may not be as accurate as a daily average. It also provides useful markers not found in blood. Includes sex and adrenal hormones.

• Individualized Optimal Nutrition (ION) test – The ION Profile is a nutritional analysis that measures over 125 key nutrient biomarkers and ratios that can help identify nutritional shortfalls that may be a root cause of complex chronic conditions. The ION Profile evaluates organic acids, fat-soluble vitamins, Coenzyme Q10, homocysteine, oxidative stress markers, nutrient and toxic elements, fatty acids, and amino acids.

• If you suspect food allergies or intolerances run an IgE panel (immediate immune response) and an IgG panel (a delayed immune response)

(remember if your food intolerance test comes back with more than 10 foods you may just have an impaired gut lining).

• A stool test (yep you poop in a cup) can show us the type of bacteria present with ratios, abnormal bacteria, fungi or parasites (If you have parasites your baso, mono and esonophils on your CBC will normally all be elevated) yeast markers, inflammation markers, immune markers, and digestion markers. As these tests use DNA they can also tell us what conventional antibiotics or botanical medicines will work against whatever dysbiosis they find.

• A DNA test – 23 and me has taken away some of the markers I like to look at but still has a lot we can work with. I find it very helpful with eating psychology, weight, mood, and other things like when we can see “why we are the way we are.” A few examples of nutritional related things we can look at: If you are a vegetarian does your body convert ALA (found in flax) to the EPA/DHA that our bodies need and that is only found in animal products? Will a ketogenic diet work for you to lose weight? Some genes predispose us to not doing well on a keto diet. Do you have high homocysteine? We can look at the enzymes used in this pathway and see where we might supplement. Do you clear your caffeine slow or fast? If you are a slow metabolizer and drink coffee in the afternoons you are probably impeding sleep. And so on and so forth there are so many things we can look at and confirm with nutrigenomics!

*Lab ranges taken from Blood Chemistry and CBC Analysis, Clinical Laboratory Testing from a Functional Perspective by Dicken Weatherby, N.D. and Scott Ferguson, N.D. as well as Dr. Weatherby’s blood chem software which I use in my practice to analyze results.  My analysis looks at prevention and nutritional support it does not diagnose.

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It all starts in the gut! (Doesn’t everything?)

You take that first sip; the alcohol travels through your esophagus into your stomach where it meets your gastric juices. Did you know if your drink is carbonated the effects of the alcohol will be felt quicker? The pressure in your stomach from the carbonation forces the alcohol into the blood stream faster! Did you also know if there is food in there when you have a drink, the effects will be slowed as the alcohol will stay in your stomach longer and be released into the blood slower. Your portal vein connecting your gut to your liver transports alcohol to the liver. The liver is the king of alcohol metabolism. As the alcohol enters the liver it will enter a very complex pathway involving two enzymes called alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). ADH breaks down the alcohol into safer products (this is part of phase II detoxification, see here to read my blog on detoxification) like acetate, water and CO2 where it can be excreted out of the body. But imagine what happens when you drink too fast, and too much for your body without food in your stomach. Your livers capacity is exceeded it cannot metabolize or breakdown what’s coming in and your blood alcohol levels rise because the alcohol escapes from the gut and small intestine without being processed by the liver!

This rising level has many effects…if it’s within safe limits say one drink for women or two drinks for men it can be a relaxing, possibly even providing some cardiovascular benefits. Why does drinking relax your body? Once in the blood stream the alcohol travels many different places one being the central nervous system where it interferes with neurotransmitter signals, specifically GABA. When your body produces more GABA it slows down your brain cells. (S) (Xanax and Valium also increase GABA production). This may be one of its beneficial qualities; moderate drinking provides relaxation that can improve blood pressure a known risk for CVD. Might it even have long-term benefits of reducing stress? The reservatrol in red-wine has been touted as a positive effect, there has even been some research on its effects of increasing HDL, but mind you that is from drinking in moderation! When you keep drinking past this moderate level, you now enter the phase of slurred speech and impaired balance. Vomiting may occur because your liver is overwhelmed and your body knows it needs to get rid of this toxin. You have your gut to thank for this! The lining is extremely irritated by all this alcohol and its sending signals to your brain that it should get rid of some of it! You wake up, you curse yourself drink some water and take a few Advil and go on with your day. Fast forward 10, 20 year and this has been going on regularly. Sound familiar?

So what have I been doing to my body?

Your body is designed to cope with moderate levels of toxins. And remember alcohol is a toxin; the body see’s it as poison and produces the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase (ADA) to help your body rid itself of it. When the alcohol comes into contact with this enzyme it steals a hydrogen atom off the ethanol (alcohol) molecule and turns it into a less toxic acetylaldehye (but still toxic). Your body then sends in acetaldehyde dehydrogenase to finish the job and break down the acetaldehyde into acetic acid (an ingredient in vinegar) and rid your body of it. So really it’s a fight between how much you drink and how fast the enzymes can work. On average one ounce of alcohol can be metabolized every 60-90 minutes. As you can imagine EVERYONE is going to be different. We have male versus female (females make less ADA), age (We make less ADA as we age), how much you ate, whether you take aspirin, your nationality (Asians make less ADA), and your genes (people with impaired detox genes in the CYP genome are affected more!)! Putting that all aside for now lets look at some of the things happening in your body once you’ve moved past moderate drinking.

-Alcohol affects the way your neurons get triggered by glutamate. Alcohol gets into the glutamate receptors and hurts their ability to send off their normal messages. This is what impairs your speech, coordination and judgment.

-Alcohol increases the amount of Dopamine (a catecholamine) that creates a feeling of pleasure when someone takes a drink. One interesting note here, when reviewing your DNA results from 23andMe (see here on how to analyze your test) there is a particular gene mutation COMT 4680 which degrades dopamine. I happen to be homozygous (meaning both genes are different from the norm) my dopamine breaks down slower than normal. People with this gene SNP are more prone to searching for a dopamine fix because they have a high accumulation of dopamine and the brains starts to ignore it and needs a bigger and better fix to get that pleasure feeling. This can be dangerous as drinking is increasing the dopamine even more.

-Alcohol interferes with NMDA or N-methyl-D-aspartic acid that is a receptor that helps the brain make memories. Ever forget the whole night when drinking heavily? This may be why.

-Do you have a glass of wine to help you sleep? Yep it might help you get to sleep because of the relax response we talked about before but as you sleep your brain try’s to take back control and it screws up your crucial REM sleep (S), plus you are dehydrated which affects sleep too.

To get rid of toxins from the body the liver needs water. Alcohol is a diuretic and therefore there will not be sufficient amounts in your body. The liver will start diverting water from other organs including the brain that may cause the pounding headache you experience.

When intoxicated, hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)can occur. An accumulation of the coenzyme NADPH that is involved in the citric acid cycle can cause pyruvate to convert to lactate instead of Oxaloacetate (OAA). Pyruvate and OAA are both intermediates for gluconeogenesis, so if both are reduced gluconeogensis cannot occur. Hypoglycemia can occur if glycogen stores are depleted in liver. This will be worse in people who have not eaten before drinking.

Alcohol depletes key nutrients, it also affects the gut and impedes their absorption.

-Folic acid –tetrahydrafolate receives 1-carbon units from numerous amino acids that are depleted when drinking (impairs methylation).

-Pyridoxine (B6) depleted – acetaldehyde messes with the enzymes needed to activate B6, it also makes it less available in food. B6 or P5P is used in many important pathways in your body.

-Thiamine (B1) is depleted – alcohol decreases the absorption in the GI tract and impairs utilization of thiamine in cells, this can contribute to neurological problems.

-Alcohol is hydrophilic and lipophilic and may harm nearly every organ.

-Alcohol increases the NADH:NAD+ ratio and can lead to increased androstenedione conversion to testosterone in the liver, may cause hyperandrogenism and loss of female characheteristics in females who drink heavily.

-Alcohol inhibits Vitamin A synthesis. It provides competition for the alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme we discussed above (blocks oxidation of Vit A by inhibiting ADH).

-This destruction of Vitamin A increases P450 enzyme activity that stimulates hydrolysis and indirectly reduces Vit A in the liver by increasing the mobilization of Vit A to peripheral tissues.

-Amino acids are lower in people who drink, this affects neurotransmitter synthesis, serotonin and dopamine levels are impacted because of low tryptophan and tyrosine. It also affects coenzyme formation and the body’s ability to handle ammonia load in the body.

-The citric acid cycle is impaired because of higher NADH, the liver than has impaired function to oxidize the acetate to CO2 to be expelled. Acetate therefore escapes from the liver into the blood; acetaldehyde can also escape the liver (the more toxic form) and can bind with proteins and nucleic acids and disrupt DNA function.

-Acetaldehyde can also bind and inactivate glutathione causing oxidative stress increasing reactive oxygen species (ROS).

-Our gene CYP2E1 is induced when alcohol intake is high, repeated induction is responsible for alcohol intolerance. This can also increase metabolism of barbiturates, anesthetics, and acetaminophen all by increasing clearance and formation of toxic intermediates (S)

-Alcohol creates a choline imbalance and interference with lecithin synthesis needed for VLDL synthesis (cholesterol) it inhibits 3 enzymes needed for lecithin synthesis.

-Increases serum estradiol levels.

-Alcohol creates deficiencies in most water-soluble vitamins especially Vit C and B3.

-Decreases bone density and increased osteoporosis-defect in hydroxylation step of Vit D product by P450 enzymes in liver.

-Decreased Vit K storage/utilization (also needed for Vitamin D synthesis).

-Depleted minerals from increased urinary loss and decreased ingestion: Zinc, Calcium, Magnesium.

-Alcohol irritates your digestive system. It damages the stomach lining and can cause gastritis (or inflammation of the stomach lining). Initially alcohol increases the production of stomach acid that can damage the lining. This can lead to gastritis that in turn leads to heartburn. Alcohol also relaxes the esophageal sphincter making it easier for stomach contents to escape into the esophagus.

Steps you can take to be healthier if you choose to drink:

-Eat protein, drink a protein shake or protein heavy meal before indulging so your body has amino acids to use, and buffers the effects of the alcohol.

-Keep your stomach full of food when drinking: A full stomach slows down the rate at which alcohol is absorbed into the blood. Absorption from the stomach is much slower than absorption from the intestines. This prevents accumulation in the blood. The decreased rate of gastric emptying gives your liver more time to break down the alcohol before it enters your blood (called first pass hepatic metabolism). As the alcohol moves to your liver more slowly, your liver enzymes don’t become overwhelmed. Food stimulates blood flow to the liver and the production of liver enzymes that also help break down alcohol (ADA and CYP450).  Enough food can substantially decrease the amount of alcohol that reaches your blood. A meal basically lessens the damage from alcohol. The best meal is something that stimulates your liver and delays gastric emptying. That means protein, fiber and vegetables and a high volume of food.

-Drink a lot of water, especially when drinking alcohol. You’ve been told to do this (glass for glass) but now that you see the science of what is happening in your body I hope you will make a concerted effort to drink more water!

-Make sure your body has sufficient vitamin C. Consider keeping something like Emergen-C on hand to take after indulging. It also contains a good dose of B vitamins that can become depleted.

Most people could use more B vitamins, especially if you drink. Find a good B-complex to take (one that contains folate not folic acid) my favorite here. (Search for Metabolic Maintenance B-Complex Phosphorylated)

-Avoid Tylenol (acetaminophen) with regular alcohol consumption. Alcohol interferes with the gene that regulates the way your body processes acetaminophen, it interferes with the enzymes needed to process it and can damage the liver further. If you take Tylenol regularly (Tylenol PM also) you should not be drinking regularly.

-Monitor your yearly blood tests and watch for liver enzymes and other markers that are out of range.  Read here for traditional and specialty tests that can be looked at when assessing risk.

Keep your liver healthy – it is doing a lot of work!

Besides detoxing chemicals like alcohol it does the following:

-Stores glycogen (a form of sugar for energy)

-Helps regulate blood sugar levels

-Production and storage of proteins and substances that aid in protein metabolism

-Production of bile acids to help with the digestion of fats

-Production of blood proteins and substances important to the production of RBC’s

-Regulation of a number of hormones

-Helps to neutralize free radicals with antioxidants

-Stores many vitamins like iron, copper, B12, vitamins A, D E and K

Do you see how stressing the liver with too much alcohol can have a negative affect on all the functions in the body mentioned above? The image of toxins “building-up” in the liver is actually false its just that the liver becomes less effective and toxins entering the liver to be processed do not get acted upon in the most efficient way so they are left to float around in the body or are stored in adipose tissue causing destruction. This is what being toxic means. Love your liver by sticking to a moderate amount of alcohol and when you do over-indulge, follow the rules to lessen the impact the binge will have on your liver health!

My favorite Liver supplement here and here (search for Protocol for Life Balance Liver Detox)

The post What can I do to Protect my Health if I Drink Alcohol? appeared first on .

Deprivation? Starvation? Juicing? Reset? It means something different to everyone. In this post I am going to tell you about the science of detoxification and when and how you should do it safely so that you are not weakening your body or releasing toxins into the blood with no where to go. If you really don’t want to read the background you can skip down to the where it says “what can I do” and start taking some steps to strengthen this process in your body!

Why should we care?

The body is constantly in the presence of potentially harmful agents. Environmental compounds can gain entry through the skin, the GI tract and the lungs. These are outside (or exogenous factors). Within our own bodies we produce endogenous toxins from digestion, metabolism, tissue regeneration and various cellular mechanisms that can become dangerous if not removed form the body effectively. An example would be NH3 (ammonia) that our body produces when bacteria in the intestines break down protein. The combination of these two plus any toxins produced by our microbes is our total toxic load.

In our bodies the process of detoxification is the mechanism of transforming these potentially harmful products into compounds that can be removed from our body through breath, sweat, feces and urine. When our body loses the ability to effectively do this because of weaknesses in a pathway (from enzyme deficiencies due to genetic factors or nutrient deficiencies) disease can result because these toxicants interfere with normal cellular function. So when you think of your liver, kidney or colon and you imagine this sludge of toxins built up in there, it may be a good visual but really it’s more about a process of a weakened system. People may drink olive oil and be able to poop out little stones, drink green juice for 10 days and feel lighter because they released all these “toxins” but scientifically this has not been proven to be the case, it is a matter of strengthening the mechanisms by giving your body a break and replenishing the nutrients and enzymes that aid your body in making the toxins water soluble and able to be excreted in a timely matter from the body.

What are these toxins you speak of??

Here is a short list of a few of the things that come into your body that need to be dealt with on a daily basis!

Heavy Metals – this can be as simple as small amounts of arsenic from rice or chicken to large amounts of lead from paint or battery exposure. Other examples: aluminum in deodorant, mercury in certain cuts of fish.

Xenobotics- compounds not produced in a biological system, examples would be pesticides, phthalates in food packaging and cosmetics, PCB’s in plastic.

Latrogenics – pharmaceuticals like prescription medication or OTC like acetaminophen that lowers hepatic glutathione (an important amino acid), alcohol.

Plant sources – like nicotine

Microbial – bacterial overgrowth, yeast and fungi overgrowth from high carbohydrate and sugar diets.

Endogenous – an example is AGE’s or advanced glycation end products which can be present in foods we eat, like charred barbecue meat, but the majority of these happen within the body.

How do I know if I’m toxic?

In the world we live in most humans will be carrying some toxic burden. The way our body’s handle this will differ from person to person based on what we eat, our health, our environment and our genes. (s) Children, the elderly, individuals with poor nutrition or those that are physiologically stressed will be more affected. Skeptics to detoxing will say, that’s what our liver is for! and it does a darn good job at ridding our bodies of unwanted things. And they are right…..in a perfect world. But we do not live in a perfect world, and sometimes our bodies become weakened and overloaded and this process does not work the way it should. (s) In a dysfunctional detoxification system we may see disease states like impairment on childhood development, brain disorders, cancer, heart disease, skin disorders, infertility, rapid aging, and pulmonary disease. Besides actual disease, long-term exposure to low level of toxicants can contribute to DNA regulatory interference or damage, enzyme disruption, oxidative stress, immune hypersensitivity, autoimmune diseases, brain fog and fatigue. Testing on the safety of toxins are done individually, and yes, if our bodies were exposed to one chemical in small doses one at a time our liver could easily make it water soluble and we could just pee it out but we are exposed to a multitude of things daily and it becomes more complicated than that. So in reality we could all stand to give our bodies and livers some love, so lets look at how to do that safely…..

How our body detoxifies itself:

 Barriers like skin protect us, but if something gets in, the body will mobilize than excrete the toxin. This happens in two phases. Phase I is an oxidation step where molecules are converted to substrates for Phase II by enzymes like Cytochrome P450 (CYP). Phase II is called the conjugation pathway and the liver adds another substance (like glycine) to make it less harmful and makes it water-soluble so it can be excreted. Endogenous toxins, diet-derived or pharmacological compounds are converted primarily by liver enzymes to more water-soluble forms in order to be removed from the body. Detoxification involves mechanisms that can make your body more tolerable to exposure, increase the conversion rate of the toxin and/or induce the excretion of the toxin. Each of these steps can be addressed by clinical interventions.

Do I need to do testing?

If you are having major symptoms and want to see what your recent exposures may have been, or to find out what your response is to a toxin and the ability of your body to handle the exposure to know what nutrients to focus on, then yes. Hair, blood and urine testing (all with different pros and cons) can show toxic metals because these metals bind to many tissue proteins and tend to accumulate with repeated exposure. The half-life of metal-binding proteins is somewhat slow, so testing done even months after exposure can reveal elevated tissue levels. It does not show what is stored in your adipose tissue or bone and the only way to find this out is to have a fat biopsy. On the other hand organotoxins (like phthalates) are a challenge because these toxins are removed promptly from body fluids, converted to derivatives and stored in adipose tissues. So only recent exposure will show on a test. One way to circumvent this is to measure urinary products of liver detoxification that can reveal the level of trapped compounds still being processed through the liver long after the first exposure. One thing to remember is that the heavier you are or the more body fat you have the more stored toxins you have in your adipose tissue and when losing weight or detoxing for obese individuals the risk of a reaction to released circulating toxins is greater. (s)

Types of testing:

A few simple blood tests that your doctor runs on you at your yearly check-up can be used as a start. (My ranges will be different than those on your lab slips. Ranges for functional blood tests are a little different than for acute-care medicine. The acute-care model ranges are set to identify and diagnose disease and to fit 95% of the population. Clinically normal ranges are very large and have little practical value except for extreme cases. I look at optimal ranges that reduce the range in which you are declared normal. Functional ranges are used to identify conditions before they become a full-fledged problem.)

Blood urea nitrogen or the marker called BUN (optimal range 10-16 mg/dl) shows the detoxified form of ammonia, so if this is elevated you may have increased ammonia loading and conversion in the urea cycle.

Bilirubin (optimal range 0.1-0.9 mg/dl) will be elevated if impaired glucoronidation (Phase II metabolism of drugs, pollutants, bilirubin, androgens, estrogens, mineralcorticoids, glucocortocoids, fatty acid derivatives, retinoid and bile acids)

Creatinine (optimal range 0.8-1.10) mg/dl Increased creatinine can indicate kidney damage due to an autoimmune disease, congestive heart failure, atherosclerosis or complications in diabetes, even slightly raised should be a major consideration for evaluating toxins because this is a major route of removal.

ALT/AST/GGT (10-26 u/l) – if high may indicate impaired liver detoxification capacity.

Other tests usually run by an N.D. , nutrition professional or functional medicine M.D. if needed:

To show exposure:

Heavy metal testing via hair, urine or blood

Oral cavity mercury vapor (to test fillings)

Metabolites in urine – organic acids test

Microbial products – organic acids test

Porphyrinurias in urine (This pathway to heme is highly active and any disturbance will cause a fast and large accumulation of these intermediates, these enzymes are also widely distributed inhuman tissue and are highly sensitive to many different toxins. These porphyrins can serve as biomarkers of the toxic effects of heavy metals and some drugs).

Assessment of detoxification capacity:

Amino acids and organic acids test

Challenge test (given in high doses to challenge pathway) of caffeine, salicyluric acid, sulfate, cystiene or glucuronide

Assessment of nutrients protective in detox pathways

Sulfur amino acids

Glycine (amino acid)

Minerals – magnesium, zinc, copper, selenium, manganese

Antioxidants – A,E, beta caroteine, COQ10,

B-vitamins

Genetic testing – CYP, UGT, GSTP, NAT and SULT genes (to name a few) can show if you have a possible reduction in the clearance of various toxins or if you have reduced ability of clearing a certain type of drug. These abbreviations represent an enzyme used in the pathway to clear a specific toxin. You can read more here about DNA testing.

What can you do? 

1. Nutrition plays a key role in toxin management. Detoxification pathways are metabolically demanding! If you are deficient in various nutrients, your body may have a hard time with toxicant clearance. Your nutrition status will dictate your response to exposures. (s) Clinical tests can guide nutritional interventions, but if you want to make sure your body is primed and ready to get rid of toxins that enter your body this is a list of the most essential nutrients it will need:

Vitamin C-antioxidant protection (Phase 1)

 B-complex vitamins for liver enzyme cofactors and methylation (Phase 1 & 2)

Lipoic acid for liver protection and antioxidant regeneration (Phase 2)

N-acetylsysteine (NAC) – for formation of glutathione (a key amino acid in detoxification Phase 2)

Cystiene-a sulfur amino acid to be used in sulfation reactions (Phase 2)

Methionine- methyl donor and sulfur supply (Phase 2)

Glycine –  used in liver conjugation (Phase 2)

Essential amino acid mixtures – mitochondrial energy production (Phase 2)

Calcium (Don’t forget you need Vitamin D to absorb calcium) – protection from lead (Phase 1)

Magnesium-liver and other effects (Phase 1)

Selenium – glutathione regeneration and protection from mercury (Phase 1)

Manganese, copper – glutathione regeneration (Phase 1)

Zinc – glutathione regeneration and cadmium protection (Phase 1)

Milk Thistle – supports normal liver function, liver cell regeneration and glutathione production

Curcumin – promotes activity of glutathione s-transferase (an enzyme in Phase 2)

There are many different liver support formulas. This and this (search for Protocol for Life Liver Detox) are two of my favorites.

2. Avoid and remove xenobotics (pharmaceuticals, plastic, cleaning supplies, mold, cosmetics, lotions, perfume ect ect), this may mean modifications of home and work environments.

3. Remove and repair microbial overgrowth like small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, see my post here to read more.

4. An elimination diet can provide a period of absence of food-based and endogenous  toxin exposures. (s) This could be a water fast or a juice fast, but remember those with high body burden must be very careful with fasting. The absence of food can increase mobilization of stored toxins and this heightened detoxification will demand extra nutrients (including protein!). Get your nutrient levels high and your overall health in check (including pooping!) before attempting various juice diets.  I would rather see someone do a fast that includes a healthy diet (like intermittent fasting) rather than juicing alone. This can limit the number of new food-based toxins entering your system and help you shed weight.  Fasting may have some mental health benefits, and of course, fasting can have spiritual benefits; it is often a religious practice.  But you need to be careful.

5. While reducing our toxic load you must remember that eliminating the toxins is just as important, if they are left to float around in the blood they will cause damage. Use of dietary oils may stimulate bile flow (especially olive oil) and help with gall bladder emptying.

6. High fiber diets can help speed intestinal transit time and assist toxin removal through the feces. This may help avoid re-acquisition via hepatic recycling. If you are not regular, a detox diet is probably not for you as you will not be able to eliminate the toxins appropriately. Magnesium citrate before bed can help move the bowels.

7. You can eliminate toxins through the skin! Exercise, sauna and massage can help stimulate toxin loss the increased blood flow and sweat.

8. Alcohol detoxification is a whole other blog that I will be writing soon stay tuned!! But remember alcohol inhibits a lot of the enzymes we discussed above and can weaken the body’s detoxification capacity. Limit to 1 drink per day for women and 2 drinks per day for men.

Do I think you should do chelation therapies, extreme juice fasts, coffee enemas, gall bladder cleanses ect ect? Before attempting any extreme measure do your research, talk with a nutrition professional and look at the pros and cons. Can you achieve the same (or better and safer) results by first attempting to clean up your diet, reduce your exposures, add in some nutrients, lose some weight? That is for you to decide. I’d like to do a post on the scientific research behind these modalities (although there is not much) but that is for another time….for now work on your overall health so your body can do what its suppose to (and wants) to do!

In Health, Michelle

The post Ever Thought of Doing a Detox Diet? Read This First! appeared first on .

There are a few ways you can approach your symptoms:

• Go to the Dr. and get medication, probably a protein pump inhibitor (antacid) to mask the indigestion. I understand wanting to eliminate the symptoms and the pain, but you aren’t figuring out what’s causing the stomach distress; you are just covering it up. PPI’s will not heal your body and long-term there can be some serious side effects.

• Do an elimination diet. These are great and I highly recommend for most people. It’s a good way to see if you feel better when not eating certain foods (honestly this may help 95% of you!), and then when you add them back in one at a time you can gage how you feel. I have seen this help a lot of people. But if you get to a point where you can’t pinpoint a particular food(s) or you just feel crappy most of the time no matter what you eat, there are other options. (Favorite elimination diets below)

• Get some tests! In functional medicine, we look at the whole body and how everything is connected. Indigestion or heartburn is not just a disease to be dealt with by giving it a drug; it’s often a symptom of something else. In functional medicine we look at your whole history to figure out how you got there and what we can change to make the symptom go away. For me I’m guessing lifelong food sensitivities, Advil use, long distance running and genetics have contributed to my weakened gut in my 40’s and so I am going to work with a practioner, do some tests and figure our whats going on in there.

If you are having severe pain please go see a gastronoligist. Most functional medicine doctors will refer you for a scope if they feel you need it. But for most cases of heartburn, Gastoesphageal Reflux Disease (GERD), Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), bloating, abnormal flatulence and burping, undigested food in your stool, diarrhea and constipation a functional medicine practioner can you help you figure out whats going on. Remember if you have problems in your gut, you probably have other symptoms that are impacting the quality of your life as you may not be absorbing basic nutrients properly!

These are the tests I am doing:

– A hydrogen breath test (HBT): (I am doing Bacterial Overgrowth by Genova $185). This will test for abnormal growth of bacteria in the intestine. Symptoms you may be experiencing are abdominal pain, bloating, gas, belching, constipation and/or diarrhea. An HBT draws from the fact that there is not a source for hydrogen gas in our bodies other than the bacterial metabolism of carbohydrate. In this test after fasting for 12 hours and eating a low fiber diet the day or two before (chicken and white rice) the concentration of hydrogen (and sometimes methane) is measured in your exhaled breath for 1-2 hours after drinking a solution of some sort of sugar (usually lactulose). If you have defective sugar absorption, the unabsorbed sugars are available in the colon for bacterial fermentation. In SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth) the bacteria migrates to the small intestine gaining access to the malabsorbed sugar causing your symptoms and hydrogen gas to be present in the collected breathe.

There can be false positives, it is important to work with an experienced practioner that can look at other factors/tests to confirm your diagnosis.

Treatment will include an antibiotic called riaximin, botanical antimicrobials and a SIBO diet protocol; there are certain foods and additives that exasperate this problem. I will list some resources at the bottom if you want to do some additional reading.

To order this test click here

– A stool test. Yes you heard me right. You poop in a cup, scoop some of it out, mix it in a test tube with some liquid and ship it off to a lab. If you can stomach that part, you can find out a whole host of things that are going on inside of your body! I am doing the GI effects by Genova and the Diagnostic Solutions GI-Map (both around $130) they tell slightly different things, you probably do not need both so discuss with your practitioner.  Stool tests can help diagnose conditions affecting the digestive tract. They look for parasites, yeast and bacteria that can cause infection. Inflammatory markers and stool PH, which when low can show poor absorption of carbohydrate and fat or if high can indicate inflammation. It can look at your gut mucosal barrier integrity (leaky gut) and short-chain fatty acids.  Poor nutrient absorption can be identified by looking for fecal fat, which can diagnose celiac, cystic fibrosis and pancreatitis and/or lack of enzymes, which can affect pancreatic function. A trained practitioner can analyze all of this and help you design a protocol to improve your gut health.

To order this test click here

– An Amino Acid test (Ion 40 with Amino Acids and Vitamin K, Genova $220)

This is a lab that will measure essential vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and fatty acids and to see if your body has the adequate reserve of these nutrients to meet the demands you body has as well as support your tissues needs. Markers are identified where there are special needs or dangers. If you have had a DNA test and have any genetic mutations (I did 23 and me and had some mutations. 23 and me is a DNA test like Ancesteralize me that reports back information on your ancestry, wellness, carrier status and traits based on your DNA from saliva) this test can help show whether these mutations will actually affect you. Just because you have a mutation does not mean it is actually doing anything in your body. This test can help identify whether the nutrients affected by these mutation are indeed low or compromised. Things such as dietary protein adequacy, gastrointestinal dysfunction, kidney function, inflammation, detoxification impairment, cardiovascular disease, neurological dysfunction, and metabolism problems are a few other things that can be indentified on this test.

To order this test click here

To summarize:

There are many things that can affect gut health. Because 70-80% of your immune system resides in your gut, symptoms of digestive distress can indicate that things are off in your body. Even symptoms that seem unrelated such as depression, fatigue, low concentration and pain could indicate poor gut health. I am choosing not to treat my digestive symptoms with a drug that may or may not work, cover the underlying cause and have substantial side effects, I am attempting to use functional medicine testing to identify the root cause of my problems. Working with a qualified practitioner can help identify areas that need to be addressed. Improvement in gut health will help to heal a whole host of problems in the body.

If you have been to more that one Doctor for chronic illness and cannot seem to find relief, I highly recommend first trying an elimination diet (Remove gluten dairy and sugar from your diet for at least 2-4 weeks)

My favorite elimination diets:

http://whole30.com

http://21daysugardetox.com

http://drhyman.com/10dd-course

http://jjvirgin.com/programs/

http://lyngenet.com

If you have tried changing your diet or you have not had success with diet alone here are my favorite resources:

To find a Functional Medicine practitioner to run these tests, go here: https://www.functionalmedicine.org/practitioner_search.aspx?id=117

To read about Gut health:

http://my.chriskresser.com/ebook/gut-health/?_ga=1.109802501.165779949.1418771164

To read about SIBO:

https://chriskresser.com/sibo-what-causes-it-and-why-its-so-hard-to-treat/

To read more about Stool testing:

http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/stool-analysis

To read more about Amino Acid profiles:

https://www.gdx.net/core/interpretive-guides/ION-IG.pdf

To read about DNA testing: https://www.23andme.com

I will be updating you with the results of my tests so stay tuned!

In good gut health

Michelle

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So really what is the scoop?  What are we really drinking when we gulp down smoothies, are they good for us? Do we really need them?

How is Protein powder made?

Whey protein is derived from milk during the making of cheese through a natural fermentation process. Cow’s milk contains two types of protein, a large part that consists of casein protein and another small part that consists of whey protein. When cheese is created, the casein is the part of the milk that makes up the cheese, and the whey protein is the liquid that is left over after you separate out all the milk solids.

Sometimes there is liquid on top of natural yogurts when you open them at home. That is whey protein in it’s original form.  The liquid whey then goes through a drying process to remove all the water to turn it into powder.

Hemp, Rice, Pea, and Soy protein powders are all non-dairy forms of protein, made by drying the seed, nut or grain and grinding into powder.  Last but not least is Egg White Protein powder, this is made by separating the yolk and the whites and dehydrating the white part.

As whey is the most widely used and tested powder and is a complete protein, my research is based on this type.

Protein powder terms:

A complete protein contains all 9 essential amino acids that the body cannot make. Whey, hemp, soy and egg white are all complete proteins. A concentrated protein means that the powder left is 70-85% protein with some carbohydrate and fat left over.  An isolate protein means it is reduced down even further and usually contains 95% pure protein.

Ion exchanged, Cross Flow Micro filtration (CFM) ultra filtration (UF), micro filtration (MF), reverse osmosis (RO), dynamic membrane filtration (DMF), ion exchange chromatography, (IEC), electro-ultrafiltration (EU), radial flow chromatography (RFC) nano filtration (NF) and hydrolyzed are all ways to filter the whey protein and concentrate it.  Cross Flow Micro filtration is the least denatured of these (meaning the least amount of change occurs to the structure of the primary protein) and is usually cold pressed so the native protein structures remain intact to a large degree.  More of the beneficial micro fractions (things such as immunoglobulins that help immune and appetite function),  exist in higher concentrations when this method is used.

So what’s the scoop?

Our bodies need protein, it is the building block of every living cell.  It doesn’t just build muscle it builds hair, skin, nails, tendons, ligaments, blood plasma, organ tissue and almost 2000 enzymes!  There are many different opinions on how much protein we need ranging from the low RDA recommendation of 46 grams/day for women and 56 grams a day for men to 1-1.5 gram per pound of body weight!  The range I believe is most appropriate for a typical moderately active person (based on opinion after reading much data) is about 15% of our daily intake of food. So for an average man that would be 113 grams for a 3000 calorie a day diet or 83 grams for a women on a 2200/day diet.  Studies show that eating high protein does not cause kidney disease, but once you have kidney disease, eating lower amounts of protein may help.  If you have an existing kidney disease please consult with your Doctor.

Are their people who can benefit from eating 20% or more protein per day?  Possibly.

If your trying to lose weight (protein is more filling than carbs or fat) increase muscle mass, have blood sugar problems, train hard, are over 65, or have high stress you may benefit.

I’d say eating whole foods for protein is your best bet.  But even though we can meet all our dietary protein needs from a hunk of meat, chicken or an egg most people don’t eat enough of these to stay full and obtain the benefits they can offer, supplementation is to help us do more that just fill a requirement it is also for convenience and to help us do better!  So what are the best protein powders to use?

First lets list what to avoid.

What to avoid:  added MSG (on a side note protein powders contain free glutamate which is a naturally occurring form of MSG as when it’s processed the amino acids become unattached turning them from a bonded to a free glutamate, if you are MSG sensitive I would not consume protein powder, if you have unexplained headaches try cutting out all MSG and foods containing free Glutamates), artificial flavors, partially-hydroganated oils, artificial colors, artificial sweeteners including (Acesulfame-K, aspartame, Sucralose)

Are protein powders denatured?

Denaturing is any change in the primary, secondary, or tertiary structure of the source material, that takes it away from it’s natural state. Generally denatured proteins function differently than unaltered ones but different is not always bad! I love this article here that explains this in detail.

The amino acid sequences do not change when protein is denatured, and whether a protein is denatured during processing or in your body does not affect its muscle-building, fat burning qualities. All large proteins are broken down during digestion into smaller protein chains and individual amino acids (denatured), and whether this process occurs in the gut or in the manufacturing plant is irrelevant to the muscle fibers getting these proteins.  Pasteurizing milk will denature it, even at the lowest temperature allowed by the FDA because it will cause changes in certain fractions. All whey protein is made from pasteurized dairy, it’s the law!  Not every whey protein powder is denatured to the same extent, but it’s all denatured.  But does this really matter? Probably not. The majority of Whey Protein studies in athletes have been done on denatured whey protein. Those studies almost universally show that whey protein enhances performance, and also helps you build muscle and burn fat, not to mention having a ton of other beneficial properties. Non-denatured whey protein is non-existent. It’s a marketing gimmick!

Should I use concentrate or isolate?

Pushing the liquid portion of milk through a filter creates whey protein. The material left behind is dried and forms whey protein concentrate. Concentrate contains varying amounts of fat and carbohydrates in the form of lactose. The percentage of protein varies from about 30% to about 80%.

Whey concentrate is further processed and purified into whey protein isolate, containing about 95% protein.

When choosing a whey protein product, it is important to consider your goals, budget, and any allergies. For example, since whey concentrates contain significant amounts of lactose, anyone with lactose intolerance should avoid them. Isolates contain a higher amount of protein per serving. For people who are calorie restricting and trying to consume as much real food as possible the higher the protein content the lower the carbohydrate and fat which leaves more room for whole foods. Whey isolates are more rapidly absorbed than concentrates and create a more profound insulin response.  This makes whey isolates popular post-workout choice.

Concentrate contains trace amounts of lactose and milk fat, it might be considered more of a whole food but when using whey, most people are trying to obtain a very specific nutrient – protein.  Add your fat and other nutrients into your diet another way.  Concentrate is not necessary in my opinion and more reactive to people that don’t digest dairy well.

The vast majority of studies examining whey protein’s beneficial effects on general health, immune functioning, and recovery from training use whey protein isolate, not whey protein concentrate.

Proven Benefits:

Among patients with fatty liver, whey protein isolate supplementation improves liver blood work and reduced fatty deposition. It also increases glutathione production (which is the body’s most effective immune builder and antioxidant) and these increases correlate with the improvements in liver health.

A combination of whey protein isolate and resistance training boost glutathione levels, HDL, and total antioxidant capacity.

In both young and older men, whey isolate after resistance training increases muscle protein synthesis (but older men need more protein to get the same effect).

Whey is among the richest source of BCAA’s or branched chain amino acids such as lucine. Beta-Lactoglobulin in whey increases the absorption of fat soluble vitamins and prevents the breakdown of muscle tissue.  After 20 we start to lose muscle mass.  This leads to insulin resistance which can lead to the middle age belly.

Whey helps spare glycogen stores (energy in your muscles and liver) during exercise.

Whey is rich in Alpha-lactalbumin which provides an anabolic environment for strength and muscle growth, it is natures highest source of an often missing amino acid called tryptophan.  Tryptophan helps with the production of the brain chemical serotonin.

Whey contains Lactoferrin which inhibits bacteria from attaching to the gut wall. and can help with overall gut health.

Whey protein powder has been associated with reduced total body mass and waist circumference

I’ve seen people pushing concentrate because it contains conjugated linoleum acid (CLA) this is a dairy fatty acid with some beneficial health effects.  This may be true but the amount of CLA in full fat dairy is quite small to begin with. Once it is reduced down to the concentrate the amount of fat left is negligible.  Take as a separate supplement if you want the benefits of CLA.

Whey isolate is the superior product overall. It’s far higher in protein than concentrate, ranging from 90% protein and up.

What about grass-fed whey?

Why do we eat grass-fed meat and milk? Grass-feeding can affect the fatty acid, antioxidant, and micronutrient content of meat and dairy in a favorable way, but not the amino acid profile. Whey protein is about the protein. The amino acid profile of grass-fed whey protein is identical to that of grain-fed whey protein.  If you were going with a high-fat whey concentrate, you might want grass-fed, but once again the amount of fat in most whey concentrates is so low as to make the fatty acid profile irrelevant.

Bottom Line:

We need protein! If you are not an overly active person, have time to cook and access to whole food options, protein powder may not be necessary for you.

Whey protein has been shown to augment muscle protein synthesis, support fat burning, boost the immune system, improve insulin sensitivity, and decrease appetite.

If you a like the convenience of protein powders, work out a lot, are trying to loose weight or need additional protein in your diet, feel free to have a daily protein shake, but choose wisely!!

Review the ingredients before buying any product, do not let the sales person at GNC talk you into a big tub of crap because it is on sale.  If you are putting this stuff into your body everyday it needs to be a good product!  Look for cold-pressed, cross micro-filtered whey protein isolate without artificial sweeteners.

If you are a person that suffers from headaches often and cannot pinpoint the reason, try removing glutamate from your diet to see if it helps.  Free glutamate is present in protein powder, it is not added msg it is naturally occurring but could effect you if you react to msg.

I do not feel the nutrition left in whey concentrate is enough or has had enough studies done on it to recommend it over isolate.  I also do not believe there has been enough studies done on hydrolyzed protein powders (which are usually more expensive), to recommend those either.

On a personal note I have used Jay Robb protein powder for as long as I can remember and am very happy with it.  It is sold at Wholefoods or Amazon.  It is cold-processed, cross-flow micro filtered whey protein isolate and is sweetened with stevia.

The post Protein Powder: What’s the Scoop? appeared first on .

Feeding teenagers is hard, even more so then little kids!  I was pretty careful with my kids when they were little.  I bought organic baby food and snuck ground up kale into everything.  I held off on giving them sweets until they were older.  I did my best to keep them from MSG and food dyes and McDonalds.  But it was hard! and from a young age we went to parties, and playdates.  Even events at the library had treats, unless you homeschool your kids and choose their friends there is no way you are keeping them away from everything “bad”.  So early on I decided to do my best in my own house, teach them what I could about making wise food choices and not stress out too much about what friends and Grandma gave them when I wasn’t around.

I grew up with some pretty severe allergies, bad eczema from a young age and my parents were really into health trying to cure me.  And although I now know they were doing their best and reading and studying everything they could, all I remember as a kid is that I was different.  I had special snacks at school, I hid my lunch in my lunch bag because my sandwich was on rice bread (that my mom made and it crumbled, there were no gluten free options back then!)  I had special cakes at my birthday parties and when my neighbors weren’t home I would sneak into their garage that had a fridge and “borrow” a coke or a slice of orange american cheese every now and then (sorry Susie if you read this!).  When I had a chance to eat junk I went crazy because I never had it at home.

I think it is really important to model good eating habits for your kids, teach them to make healthy choices and involve them with cooking or planting a garden.  Have healthy choices in your house, but if you have nothing “good” in the house (as my kids would say) then you may find them sneaking things at other peoples house, lying and going a little crazy when you are not around.  This does not mean I have Doritoes, Gatorade or Oreo’s lying around the house.  What that means is unless your child has a medical issue or a severe allergy there are healthier options for just about anything out there.  How about regular organic corn chips with salsa or guacamole, Trader Joe’s light lemonade (made with stevia) or sparkling water or a healthier cookie option like Back to Nature, Annie’s mac-n-cheese with no food dye or something you bake together?  Sometimes they are more expensive but not always!  They are not perfect and they are not a name brand so I still get guff.  But they get the job done and I still keep the food additives, coloring, high sugar items and corn syrup out of my house.  And I make sure I tell my kids why.  They may roll their eyes but every now and then I hear them say something that makes me know they heard what I said!

I let my kids buy lunch at school when they want.  I find that independence helps them make wise choices, makes them feel grown-up and makes it easier for me to have healthier choices at home.  I love when I ask my son everyday what he had and he says a sandwich and water.  And he always emphasizes the water so that I know he picked that over soda or juice!  He goes out for dinner or ice cream with friend sometimes, and I know he’s not always making the best choices he’s a teenage boy!  But I feel good knowing that he might re-consider having a Coke or he might get a small size instead of a large, or he might even have a conversation about health with his friends!

My substitute above for my kids is Trader Joe’s Rice Noodle bowl, our substitute for Ramen Noodles.  It’s not perfect!  The seasoning mix contains autolyzed yeast extract which can be another term for MSG and it’s high in sodium 1250mg.  But we are not eating it everyday! I also encourage them to add an egg for some extra protein when we make it. It kind of tastes like egg drop soup.  I like that it is rice noodles versus wheat and does not contain Monosodium Glutamate, hydrolyzed corn and soy protein, carmel color, vegetable oil, artificial flavors and TBHQ a food preservative which according to the FDA is safe in small doses like in food, (you’d have to eat 62 packs of ramen noodle flavoring to get the 1g you need for it to be dangerous) but there have been many reports of severe reactions to it and although there are mixed scientific studies on it I am not a fan of processed foods that have to be preserved to have an extended shelf life!  Learn to read labels!

We are all doing the best we can.  But teaching our kids early to make healthy choices (which they won’t always do!) and educating them on why, is a really important part of being a parent.  You don’t necessarily have to talk about organic and GMO’s etc just teach them to read a food label, to look at the serving size and the grams of sugar, talk about what sugar does to our bodies.  Encourage them to eat fruits and veggies (organic or not, I don’t care!) and protein, not just white carbs.  I’ve heard people say “but they are only kids once!”  And I agree!  Going for ice-cream is fun.  But make it a treat, not an everyday occurrence  You are setting them up for bad habits if you never talk about it.  I have one who likes carbs best, she would eat mac-n-cheese every meal if I let her.  And I do let her often but we also discuss why you need to have some protein and vegetable with it.  I never thought she would get better but as a sixth grader she is finally trying new things!  Be persistent. Offer new things, bargain (if you try this you can have what you want too) Don’t give up!

A great movie to watch as a family…..

The post Feeding our Kids appeared first on .

The first was in the Washington Post and talked of a way to cook rice that dramatically cuts the calories and reduces the digestible starch.

Rice is very high in digestible starch. This means it takes a very little amount of time to digest and is therefore turned into glucose quickly, if it is not used for fuel it is converted to glycogen in your liver.  Once your liver is full (doesn’t take much!) the glucose is converted to adipose fat.

Resistant starch on the other hand is a type of starch that takes longer for the body to process, it is not converted into glucose because we lack the ability to digest it.  A team of college students have been tinkering with new ways to cook rice that actually reduces calories (by turning the rice into a partly resistant starch) using some simple chemistry.  The full article is here.

They have found that adding some fat (they used coconut oil) of about 3% of the weight of rice you will cook so approx. 1 Tbsp of oil to 1 cup of rice and adding it to the boiling water before you add the rice, then letting it cool in the refrigerator for about 12 hours will turn some of the digestible starch into resistant starch making the rice lower in calories.  Did you know fried rice has more resistance starch than steamed rice?  Maybe because you normally cool the rice before frying it and cook it with some type of fat!

The next article was from BBC news and is here .  This one was a study on pasta.  Again pasta is a carbohydrate which when eaten is broken down into a simple sugar in your gut and spikes your glucose levels.  This increases insulin in your body to reduce your blood sugar levels.  Persistent high levels of glucose in the blood is very unhealthy and can lead to insulin resistance which can lead to Type II diabetes.  According to Dr. Denise Robertson in the article, cooking and then cooling the pasta acts somewhat like the rice above.  It changes the structure of the pasta turning it into resistant starch.  Your body will treat it much more like fiber, creating a smaller glucose peak and helping feed the good bacteria in your gut.  You will also absorb fewer calories.

This is actually not a new concept here is an extremely well written article on resistant starches, what other types of food they are found in and how they can aid in weight loss and digestion if you are interested.  Some of the foods include green bananas, potatoes that are cooked and cooled, raw potato starch, cashews and raw oats

Why is this important?  I am not a huge fan of counting calories as it is tedious and sometimes ineffective. Take for example 8 gummy bears with 70 calories versus 1 egg with 70 calories, which do you think satisfies your body more in terms of staying full and nurturing and repairing your cells?  The way sugar is metabolized is completely different than the way protein is metabolized so just taking into consideration the calories is a flawed philosophy, you must look at the type of calories you are eating!  If you can change the structure in the foods you eat to be a resistant starch then in my opinion it makes it a better type of calorie.

Just remember we are all bio-indivuduals, for myself and others that do not consume grains at all because we do not digest them well (if I consume rice or pasta cooled or not, my stomach blows up like a balloon!) or people that are gluten intolerant, this method will not fix those issues.  But for people that include small amounts of rice and pasta in their diets with no reaction or for their children I think this is a method worth trying that can make what you are already eating healthier and more beneficial for your body!

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I try to avoid seed oils in my daily eating because an excess of Omega 6 (which is found in seed oils) is believed to be a major cause of inflammation in our bodies, which contributes to a host of health issues. Although we do need some Omega 6 oils, most of us get enough of them when we eat any processed food, nuts or when eating out.  Our bodies need to have a similar ratio of Omega 3 and Omega 6 in order to avoid inflammation. However, Omega 3 is much tougher to find!  None of us eats enough salmon or sardines (which are loaded with Omega 3’s) to have the right ratio, that is why it is essential to take a supplement.  This is my favorite.  Did you know Walnuts are one of the best sources of Omega-3 oils? but guess what else they contain?  Even higher levels of Omega 6’s!  So if you are eating a lot of nuts like me you really have to be careful that you are not getting Omega-6 everywhere else!

I recommend hazelnuts as a snack (not Nutella too much sugar!) and olive or avocado oil, coconut oil or butter/ghee for cooking and baking all which have much lower levels of Omega 6 oils than canola, sunflower, corn, soybean, peanut and cottonseed.  Of the seed oils safflower has the lowest amount of omega-6 if you had to make a choice. (Sunflower, corn and cottonseed have the highest).  When I snack I buy potato chips made with olive, avocado or coconut oil.  Thrive Market and Vitacost both have a lot of chip options made with these oils.

Anyway back to the salad dressings…as I was reading every bottle I could, I came across the Good Seasons dressing pouches and I though ah-ha! I can use the seasoning pouch with olive oil!  But of course I was disappointed to read that the first ingredient of the zesty italian one was sugar. It also contained maltodextrin (made from GMO corn), soy sauce which contains soy and wheat and natural flavors which is usually code word for MSG.  Sigh. But I didn’t give up.  I use to love the Good Seasons creamy chicken that you can make in the crock pot with the cream of mushroom soup (don’t get me started on the Campbell’s soup labels!) I moved onto a few more varietals of pouches and lo and behold I found 2 that met my label rules! (which by the way I will detail below)  The Greek and Balsamic pouches did have sugar, 8 grams for the whole pouch (ok ok I’m not perfect) but the rest were just basic herb ingredients with no allergy or chemical offenders!  YAY!

I guess my point is, if you take a few seconds to read labels:

A.) you can eliminate buying products with the biggest offenders and

B.) You can usually find a better alternative!

So what are some things we should look for?  Here’s my simple go to list:

Sugar – It’s unrealistic to avoid all sugar in your diet but if you take a second to read the grams of sugar (5 grams =1 tsp) you can pick products with lower amounts.  My rule of thumb is if it has over 5-10 grams per serving (make sure you look at the servings, a lot will trick you into thinking the whole product has 8 grams of sugar but the can has 4 servings and considering you’ll probably drink the whole thing thats 32 grams of sugar!)  I don’t even consider it.

Biggest offenders: sauces (barbecue, pasta), granola bars, yogurt, breakfast cereals, bread/bagels, fruit juice, chinese take-out, candy, soda, baked goods

Artificial Sweeteners – Aspartame, Sucralose, Acesulfame Potassium, Saccharin. Not only do many experts believe that the research supporting these sugar substitutes is unreliable; many experts believe they can create severe symptoms in our bodies.  Recent studies show that these chemically modified sweeteners can actually make your body crave sugar more since it is excepting glucose when something sweet is eaten, but it does not get it.  This makes you much more susceptible to overeating!

Biggest offenders: yogurt, protein powder, protein bars, gum, beverages, diet foods

MSG – Unless you are prone to migraines or know that you react to it, a little MSG is not going to kill any of us.  (I could write a whole article on why some people think it could but I’ll save that for later, here is a website if you are interested) I still eat Chinese food out on occasion.  The problem I have with MSG is that in processed foods it is usually added to make a sub-standard crappy food-like product taste better than it really is.  Your body thinks its getting this tasty, nutrient rich meal, and when it gets no nutrients at all it makes you feel hungrier because you body is starved for nutrition!  Other code names for MSG: Hydrolized Protein, Autolyzed Yeast, Whey or Soy Protein, soy sauce extract. Sometimes means MSG: Natural flavors, carrageenan, seasonings

Biggest offenders: Chips, frozen dinners, cold cuts, gravies, ranch and other dressings, canned soups, flavored crackers

Food dyes –   Here is a great article with sources on why to avoid them like the plague. This is all the colors plus carmel color! Interesting fact: Do you know they make clear gatorade but it’s very unpopular because our brains can’t register what flavor it will be without the coloring?

A large-scale British government study (published in 2007) in the UK medical journal Lancet) found that a variety of common food dyes, increased hyperactivity and decreased the attention spans of children. These additives were shown to adversely affect children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), along with children having no prior history of behavior problems.  Read more

Biggest offenders: frosting, sports drinks, pickles, breakfast cereals, yogurt, mac and cheese, ice cream, candy, jams, condiments

High Fructose Corn Syrup –  I wrote an article on why to avoid, find it here.  Fructose cannot be used as energy by the cells of our body HFCS is 55% fructose. It has been shown to promote increased belly fat and insulin resistance—not to mention the long list of chronic diseases that result directly. The fructose in high-fructose corn syrup goes directly to the liver, where it converts to fat and can ultimately lead to heart disease.  Agave syrup is very high in fructose also.  I would avoid it.

Biggest offenders: Capri sun, soda, bread, breakfast cereals, condiments, pop-tarts, cough syrup, crackers, ice cream, sauces, Lunchables, canned soups, candy

Ingredients that are long, hard to pronounce and sound like a chemical!  Now I admit chemicals are hard to sort through, take for example an ingredient, often an ugly-sounding chemical like propylene glycol, which is in anti-freeze and propylene glycol alginate, which is in beer and despite its name, is not even close to propylene glycol and is derived from kelp!  I know there are naturally occurring toxins in fruits and vegetables but come on let’s use common sense, the more ingredients in a product with long names the more “un-natural” and preserved it is! Examples: Potassium bromate, Sodium benzoate, butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT).

Biggest offenders: Diet foods, commercially baked goods, crackers, margarine

I know it’s nearly impossible to eat whole foods everytime you eat, processed foods are convenient!  But if you take a few minutes to become a “label reader” you can avoid a lot of sugar, dyes, chemicals and preservatives that may be affecting your health!

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