Natural Appetite Suppressant

Adrenal Fatigue: What It Is and How to Treat It

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 17:00:00 -0700

Adrenal fatigue describes a collection of symptoms such as body aches, fatigue, nervousness, sleep disturbances and digestive problems. The concept is based on the idea that your adrenal glands, which are small glands located on top of each kidney that produce hormones like cortisol, can become overworked.

The theory is that chronic stress can overtax the adrenal glands, resulting in their functional decline and an inability to produce adequate hormones necessary for optimal function. In other words, adrenal fatigue is the idea that your adrenal output of cortisol can become insufficient from long-term stress.

It’s important to note, however, that some experts do not believe adrenal fatigue is an actual medical syndrome.¹ While the symptoms often attributed to adrenal fatigue are very real, their underlying causes may be something else entirely.

Adrenal Glands 101

Your adrenal glands are two triangular-shaped endocrine glands located atop each kidney. They produce over 50 hormones, such as cortisol, aldosterone and adrenaline. Like thyroid hormones, adrenal hormones are crucial for your metabolism.

Adrenal hormones primarily regulate your physical and mental stress responses and influence your metabolism, mood, immune function and blood pressure, but testing their function is complex.

As noted by Dr. Michael Greger in the NutritionFacts.org video above, "Saliva tests for adrenal hormone levels are not reliable, with studies showing so-called ‘adrenal fatigue’ patients having higher levels than controls, similar levels or lower levels, ‘an almost systematic finding of conflicting results.’"²

Further, although blood tests can assess many bodily systems, they do not provide a clear picture of adrenal function. Cortisol is frequently tested using blood, but what’s being measured is your total cortisol, which includes both free and bound cortisol.

Since most cortisol in your body is bound to proteins and inactive, "high cortisol" levels in blood tests may not be informative. Free cortisol, which is biologically active, is what's important. One of the most effective tests for this is the Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones, or DUTCH test, performed multiple times over a 24-hour period.

Cortisol levels can vary significantly throughout the day, typically peaking in the morning and decreasing by evening, which is referred to as the diurnal rhythm. A single measurement like a blood draw cannot reveal if your diurnal pattern is dysfunctional. By taking multiple samples throughout the day, you can get a more accurate measure of your cortisol pattern.

Further, the DUTCH test evaluates levels of free cortisol, cortisone and their metabolites, alpha-tetrahydrocortisol (a-THF), beta-tetrahydrocortisol (b-THS), and tetrahydrocortisone (THE). These metabolites are important for assessing adrenal output and can help you understand what the underlying pathology is. While saliva tests allow you to check free cortisol, they still won't show you the metabolites of cortisol. DUTCH, on the other hand, shows both.

Adrenal Insufficiency Versus Adrenal Fatigue

It’s long been assumed that if you have low cortisol, you're suffering from "adrenal fatigue," but we now know that this is not an accurate term or concept. When adrenal function changes, what's really going on has to do with the signaling between your brain and your adrenal gland in response to stress — not to adrenal gland function alone.

Addison’s disease, or adrenal insufficiency, however, is a medical condition that occurs when your body doesn’t make enough cortisol. "The only situation in which low cortisol becomes problematic is probably Addison's disease, which is adrenal failure. And that's very rare," says Georgi Dinkov, an expert on the work of the late Ray Peat, Ph.D., an author and pioneer in nutrition, bioenergetic medicine, environmental factors and regenerative processes.

"If you have adrenal failure, unless you take cortisol shots you will die from hypoglycemia or Addison's disease. So, it's lethal," Dinkov notes. Many doctors use an ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) test to check for problems with your adrenal glands. However, the ACTH test only recognizes extreme underproduction or overproduction of hormone levels. Greger explains:³

"There is an actual disease of adrenal insufficiency known as Addison’s disease, which is diagnosed with an ACTH stimulation test. You inject people with adrenocorticotropic hormone, the signal your brain uses to get your adrenal glands to pump out the stress hormone cortisol, and if your adrenals don’t respond, that shows your adrenal glands must be in trouble.

But inject those presumed to be suffering from chronic stress and fatigue with ACTH, and sometimes you even get a greater rise in cortisol, disproving the notion that stress causes the adrenals to ‘burn out.’"

Adrenal Fatigue Is Rare

Even if your free cortisol is low, adrenal fatigue is rarely the cause, according to Dr. Peter Attia. In reality, cortisol production is often normal, but the cortisol is either a) being degraded, b) too much of it is being converted into inactive cortisone, or c) instead of converting back to cortisol, the cortisone is metabolized into THE.

Enzymes called reductases regulate the conversion of cortisol and cortisone into their respective metabolites. Inflammation, obesity and other factors associated with poor health accelerate these conversions.

So, if you’re feeling lousy and have no energy but your cortisol and cortisone metabolites indicate that production of these hormones is normal, then you need to address the underlying factors, i.e., the obesity, insulin and leptin resistance, and inflammation.

Corticosteroids are often prescribed to people with adrenal fatigue — and it may make you feel better temporarily — but the boost they provide isn’t a sign that you needed more cortisol, and exposes you to another set of health risks. Greger said:⁴

"But wait, you were diagnosed with ‘AF,’ [adrenal fatigue] given corticosteroids, and now you feel great, so it must have been real. That’s the thing about corticosteroids, though. One of the side effects is a euphoric sense of well-being. The problem is that even low doses can increase the risk of osteoporosis, psychiatric and metabolic disorders, muscle damage, glaucoma, sleep disturbances, and cardiovascular diseases."

Understanding HPA Axis Dysfunction

While both primary and secondary adrenal insufficiency can be diagnosed with a lab test, more subtle abnormalities in the hypothalamus-pituitary-axis (HPA) are more difficult to diagnose, as there's no accepted medical test for it. The HPA axis is the primary stress response system. As described in the Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education:⁵

"It [the HPA axis] is the neuroendocrine link between perceived stress and physiological reactions to stress. The primary function of the activated HPA axis is to release glucocorticoids that activate short-term physiological responses to stress.

While some stress is necessary for salubrious development and aging, when an individual exists in a chronic state of stress their ability to cope is compromised by dysregulation of HPA-axis and other peripheral physiological functions."

To better describe where symptoms come from after prolonged exposure to stress, it’s important to look at the bigger picture of HPA axis dysfunction. This is the more accurate term describing what is happening here. According to Mark Newman, the founder of Precision Analytical Laboratory in Oregon, makers of the DUTCH test:⁶

"If a patient has low cortisol, we see many providers label that as 'adrenal fatigue' and work to try to increase cortisol. What we find when we look at the metabolites of cortisol in these patients (which is a better marker for overall cortisol production), is that about half of the patients with low free cortisol are making more than average amounts of cortisol.

They may be processing it more quickly. As in obesity, you get these huge productions of cortisol (metabolites), but when you only focus on the free cortisol, you can call someone 'stage 3 adrenal fatigue' who is literally making more cortisol than 90%, 95%, or 99% of the population in some situations (because obesity results in more cortisol production, but not more free cortisol). So it's a more complex situation than that."

Evaluation of free hormone plus metabolites gives a more complete picture and can prevent practitioners from misunderstanding what is wrong with a patient. As mentioned, the ACTH test only recognizes extremes, as shown by the top and bottom 2% of a bell curve.

This means your adrenal cortisol production could be functioning 20% below the mean, and your body experiencing symptoms of HPA dysfunction, yet the test will not recognize it. To identify HPA dysfunction, a comprehensive hormone panel like the DUTCH test is recommended.

Your Adrenals Work in Tandem With Your Thyroid

Thyroid function is another variable in cases of "adrenal fatigue," as dysfunction in one can affect the other. For example, if you have low thyroid function and your adrenals aren’t producing enough cortisol, it can worsen your symptoms. Since both are involved in metabolism, dysfunction in either your thyroid or adrenals can also produce very similar symptoms, such as fatigue, memory impairment and low mood.

Dr. Jinaan Jawad, a specialist in chiropractic and functional medicine, describes your adrenals as the "battery backup" for your thyroid. If your adrenals are overtaxed, your thyroid function will suffer.⁷ If you’re hypothyroid and on hormone replacement therapy, yet still experience symptoms of low thyroid function, you could be shutting down too much cortisol. To address this, Jawad recommends avoiding adrenal stimulators, such as:

Coffee, soda, energy drinks and other caffeinated and/or stimulating beverages	Refined sugars, high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners
Nicotine	Alcohol
Any food you have an allergy or sensitivity to (example: dairy, wheat, corn, gluten or shellfish), as these foods will cause a release of histamine and inflammatory chemicals that active your fight-or-flight response	Seed oils (partially hydrogenated fats high in omega-6 linoleic acid) and any food made with them, which includes most processed and fast food. Examples include cottonseed oil, corn oil and canola oil. All of these oils inhibit adrenal hormone synthesis
Excessive exercise, as this keeps your body locked in fight-or-flight response

Five Natural Herbs to Support Your Adrenal Health

If chronic stress is taxing your body, adaptogenic herbs can help your body become more resilient to stress. They work, in part, via hormone regulation and immune function support. Five adaptogenic herbs for adrenal support include the following:

1. Ashwagandha, which helps your body adapt to stress by balancing your immune system, metabolism and hormonal systems. The root contains the highest concentration of active ingredients that modulate hormones, including thyroid hormone, estrogen, progesterone and testosterone.

2. Rhodiola, which has been shown to be particularly beneficial for your nervous system. It has antidepressant and anti-anxiety benefits, and may help reduce symptoms of burnout associated with work stress. Its energy and vitality-boosting effects can have clear benefits for those struggling with chronic fatigue. As an added boon, it tends to be fast-acting.

3. Asian (Panax) ginseng — Like ashwagandha, Asian ginseng impacts thyroid hormones. More specifically, it contains properties that block production of excessive amounts of rT3. A study looking at the impact of ginseng injections found it produced healthy increases of T3 and T4 and a reduction in rT3.⁸

4. Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus) — Its active components are called eleutherosides, which are thought to stimulate your immune system. Like Asian ginseng, Siberian ginseng is an adaptogen that's traditionally been used to increase energy, stimulate the immune system and increase longevity.

It also has mild antidepressive effects and is useful for insomnia, behavioral and memory problems, and has been shown to improve exercise endurance by improving oxygen utilization in your body.

5. Tulsi — Highly revered in India for over 5,000 years, tulsi, also known as holy basil, has been valued for its many health-promoting properties. This herb is said to purify the mind, body and spirit, and has been cherished for its protective and uplifting nature.

Tulsi tea is an antioxidant-rich beverage with a complex and unique chemistry. It contains hundreds of beneficial phytochemicals. Working together, these compounds have adaptogenic and immune-enhancing properties that combat stress, bolster your immune system and promote healthy metabolism, including helping your body maintain an optimal level of blood sugar.

Tips and Tricks to Resolve Common Sleep Problems

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 17:00:00 -0700

Editor's Note: This article is a reprint. It was originally published June 1, 2017.

The importance of sleep is widely ignored and the cost rarely considered, even though it includes everything from reduced work productivity and increased risk of serious accidents to psychological deterioration and physiological dysfunction.

The proof is quite clear: You destroy your health if you regularly ignore your body's need for sleep to repair and recharge. Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned that lack of sleep is a public health epidemic, noting that insufficient sleep has been linked to a wide variety of health problems.

Skyrocketing rates of insomnia among service members in the U.S. military could even affect operational readiness, one study warns.¹ Over the past decade, insomnia among military service members has quadrupled, and sleep apnea has risen fivefold.

As for how much sleep you need, research shows most adults need right around eight hours of sleep each night for optimal health and disease prevention. Children and teens need more. You will also typically need more sleep when you're ill or recuperating from an illness.

How Poor Sleep Affects Your Health

Among the many health problems that poor sleep can trigger or contribute to are:

Increased risk of car accidents	Increased sensitivity to pain, as painkillers are ineffectual in treating the hypersensitivity induced by sleep loss. In other words, painkillers may not work if you're sleep deprived²
Reduced ability to perform tasks	Reduced ability to learn or remember
Reduced productivity at work	Reduced creativity
Reduced athletic performance	Increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, obesity, cancer, high blood pressure, osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease
Increased risk of depression and anxiety. Insomnia, in particular, has been found to follow anxiety and precede depression³	Increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease
Decreased immune function	Slowed reaction time
Reduced regulation of emotions and emotional perception	Poor grades in school
Increased susceptibility to stomach ulcers	Exacerbation of chronic diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis (MS) and cancer
Increased expression of genes associated with inflammation, immune excitability, diabetes, cancer risk and stress⁴	Premature aging by interfering with growth hormone production, normally released by your pituitary gland during deep sleep

Common Problems That Can Rob You of Sleep

Science Alert published an article reviewing nine common sleep problems and some tools and techniques to address them, such as:⁵

• Shoulder and/or back pain — To improve sleep quality when you have a sore shoulder, avoid sleeping on the side that hurts and try hugging a pillow to your chest. Strategically placed pillows can also help with back pain. Try placing a pillow under your knees when sleeping on your back, or between your legs if sleeping on your side.

• Inability to fall asleep — Identify and avoid the most common culprits, such as drinking coffee or caffeinated beverages too late in the day or exercising and/or using electronics too close to bedtime. Turn off your computer, tablets and smartphones at least two hours before bed, and limit TV watching. Also, be sure to avoid blue light sources such as LED lighting and excessively bright lights at night, or wear $11.99 red glasses after the sun sets.

• Inability to stay asleep — Two common culprits are alcohol consumption and keeping the temperature in the room too warm. The ideal room temperature for sleeping is below 70 degrees F (21 degrees C).

• Difficulty waking — Get up at the same time every day, seven days a week, and keep a regular bedtime routine. When you establish a consistent, soothing bedtime routine, you're more likely to fall asleep easily. Activities such as a warm bath, reading a good book or relaxation exercises can be helpful. Seek to get to bed before 10 p.m. to optimize your chronobiological cycles.

• Leg cramps — Applying heat, stretching and massaging the area can all be helpful. I keep a mobility therapy tool called a Tiger Tail by my bedside in case I get an occasional leg cramp during the night.

However, the featured article failed to note that leg cramps can often be a sign of either magnesium or potassium deficiency, so increasing your magnesium and/or potassium can address the problem at its root, should your cramps be due to one of these nutritional deficiencies.

To Sleep Well, Assess and Address These Two Variables

Sleep is an outcome of two types of variables:

• Sleepiness — Under normal conditions, your sleepiness should increase throughout the day, peaking just before you go to bed at night. This is ideal, as you want your sleep to be high at the beginning of the night. Making sure you're exposed to bright sunlight and high-quality lighting during the day, followed by decreased light exposure once the sun sets, will help maximize your natural sleep cycle so that you're appropriately sleepy by bedtime.

• "Noise" — Noise occurs in three zones: the mind level, body level and the environmental level. To get a good night's sleep, you want your sleepiness level to be high and the noise level to be low. If the noise is conceptually greater than your level of sleepiness, you will not fall asleep.

Examples of body noise include pain, discomfort, indigestion or residual caffeine from drinking coffee too late in the day. Environmental noise includes traffic, a snoring partner, music, lights or being too hot.

The most common type of mind noise is called "cognitive popcorn," those unstoppable thoughts running through your mind as soon as your head hits the pillow. This is also the most commonly reported cause of insomnia.

Racing Thoughts Keeping You Up at Night?

As noted in a CNN article on this topic:⁶

"Some nights, it's like you can't get your brain to shut up long enough for you to fall asleep. You're mentally reviewing the day you just completed while also previewing the day ahead; sometimes, your mind may even reach way back into the archives and pull up something embarrassing you did back in high school.

So fun! … There's no one solution that will work for everybody, of course, so instead, we've rounded up suggestions from eight sleep experts."

Here's a summary of some of the tips gleaned from sleep experts, with regard to quieting racing thoughts:

1. Use creative distractions — If worry has you in its grip, try thinking of something else that interests you but is of no importance. Sleep expert Neil Stanley, Ph.D., said, "I fly a lot, so I imagine I have my own private jet and how would I arrange the furniture on it. If you're someone who likes going to music festivals, what would your lineup be?"

2. Get out of bed — Rather than tossing and turning, allowing frustration to grow, get out of bed. Try writing your thoughts down; just be sure to keep the lights dim. Telling yourself you're going to try to stay awake instead may also have the paradoxical effect of making you sleepy. The reason for this is because once you're OK with being awake, your frustration and arousal level drops, making it easier to fall asleep.

3. Make a plan to spend more time in the sun — Oftentimes, lack of sun exposure during the day (especially in the early morning) is to blame for persistent sleep problems. Bright sunlight first thing in the morning and/or around solar noon helps set your internal clock, allowing you to fall asleep "on schedule."⁷

4. Sleep naked — While not addressed by CNN's sleep experts, one of the benefits of sleeping in the buff is improved sleep quality, in part by preventing overheating. One study showed a surface skin temperature difference of as little as 0.08 degrees F (or 0.4 degrees C) led to sounder sleep.^8,^9,¹⁰

Diet Choices and Meal Timing Can Impact Your Sleep

While one to two cups of black organic coffee can be healthy, drinking too much, especially in the afternoon or evening, can overstimulate you and, in the long term, alter your body's internal clock.¹¹ Ditto for alcohol. While it may make you nod off quicker, research shows drinking alcohol makes you more likely to wake during the night, leaving you feeling less rested in the morning.

Spicy foods and unhealthy fatty or sugary foods can also lead to fragmented sleep,¹² especially when eaten late in the evening. This is thought to be due to the brain chemical hypocretin, a neurotransmitter that helps keep you awake and also plays a role in appetite.

Eating too close to bedtime, or very late at night when you'd normally be sleeping, may also throw off your body's internal clock. Avoiding food for at least three hours before bed will lower your blood sugar during sleep and help minimize mitochondrial damage.

A 2012 study¹³ offers powerful confirmation of this recommendation. It found the mere act of temporarily altering your typical eating habits — such as getting up in the middle of the night for a snack — causes a certain protein to desynchronize your internal food clock, which can throw you off-kilter and set a vicious cycle in motion.

Electromagnetic Fields: Environmental 'Noise' That Can Impair Sleep

Aside from getting the correct kind of light exposure during the day and avoiding excessive amounts of light and blue light at night, it's also important to address the electromagnetic field (EMF) emitted from wiring and electronic devices. EMF from electronic devices not only impairs melatonin secretion, but it also harms your mitochondria by producing oxidative damage.

EMF exposure has also been linked to changes in brain neurons that affect memory and the ability to learn.¹⁴ Eliminating EMF exposure can be tricky, as most homes are flooded with electric currents. Still, you can reduce EMF to a smaller or greater degree, depending on how far you're willing to go. Here are some suggestions to consider that may improve your sleep quality:

• Turn off your Wi-Fi at night. You can also pull your circuit breaker to your bedroom before bed as this will decrease electromagnetic interference in your room in addition to the microwave radiation.

You aren't using your Wi-Fi at night so why keep it on? Why expose yourself to needless and dangerous microwave energy that impairs your mitochondrial function? Please, get a switch for your router and turn it off every night when you go to bed. Your body and health will thank you for it.

• Avoid running electrical cords underneath your bed.

• Move alarm clocks and other electrical devices away from your head, or ideally out of the room. If these devices must be used, keep them as far away from your bed as possible, preferably at least 3 feet. Portable phone bases and wireless routers should be kept as far away from your bedroom as possible.

• Avoid sleeping with your head against a wall that contains unshielded electric wiring and/or electric meters, circuit breaker panels, televisions or stereos on the other side. Move your bed 3 feet away from the wall, install an EMF protection canopy over your bed, or turn off the power breaker to your bedroom.

Emergency Remedies

In the short term, you could try a gentle sleep aid while implementing more permanent lifestyle and/or environmental changes. Natural sleep remedies that may help you get a good night's sleep include:

Melatonin — Start with as little as 0.25 milligrams (mg) and work your way up in quarter-gram increments from there until you get the desired effect.
Valerian root — Studies have found valerian root helps improve¹⁵ the speed at which you fall asleep, depth of sleep (achieving deep sleep 36% faster¹⁶) and overall quality of sleep. Start with a minimal dose and use the lowest dose needed to achieve the desired effect, as higher dosages can have an energizing effect in some people. Typical dosages used in studies range between 400 mg and 900 mg, taken anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours before bed.
Chamomile — This herb is typically used in the form of infusions, teas, liquid extracts or essential oils made from the plant's fresh or dried flower heads. It has sedative effects that may help with sleep, which is why chamomile tea is often sipped before bed.

As you can see, sleep problems can have any number of root causes and contributing factors, but considering the alternative, taking the time to identify your triggers is well worth the effort. Sleeping well is a foundational aspect of good health, so every effort should be made to get as high-quality sleep as possible.

Improve Your Physical and Psychological Health With This Simple Lymphatic Drainage Routine

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 17:00:00 -0700

The lymphatic system is a crucial part of your body's immune and waste removal systems, and as such play a significant role in your overall health and well-being. Its proper functioning affects physical, mental, and emotional health through its network of vessels and nodes that transport lymph, a fluid containing white blood cells and waste products.

As explained by Perry Nickelston, a practicing chiropractor, in the video above, maintaining a healthy lymphatic system is important for preventing health issues like infections, joint pain, fatigue, and more serious conditions such as lymphedema and cancer.

Your lymphatic system helps remove toxins and waste, supports the immune system, and aids in the absorption and transport of fats and vitamins. The lymphatic system of your brain is called the glymphatic system, and it’s essential for removing waste products from your brain.

When either of these systems gets congested, sluggish or blocked, it can have severe effects on your physical and mental/neurological health.

Regular exercise, a healthy diet, adequate hydration and stress management are essential for supporting lymphatic function. Eastern practices such as Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) have long recognized the lymphatic system's importance, using methods like lymphatic massage, yoga and herbal remedies to support the free flow of lymph.

To support the health of your lymphatic system, Nickelston has developed a six-step routine called the Big 6, which he describes in the featured video. The routine involves stimulating key lymphatic points in your body by rubbing, tapping and massaging them.

Common Detox Symptoms That May Arise

While the routine may appear deceptively simple, it can have a profound effect, as stimulating these lymphatic spots will boost blood flow to and from various tissues, change how your nerves respond to tightness in the tissues, and encourage the clearance of toxins from your body through your sweat, urine and feces.

As a result of this detoxifying process, you may experience a period of increased fatigue, lethargy, pain, headache, general malaise or illness-like symptoms. This is a sign that toxins are being expelled. As noted by Nickelston, “that is normal.” To aid the detox process, make sure you drink some water before and/or after doing the routine.

Understanding the Lymphatic Pressure System

The lymphatic system operates on a unique pressure system that is pivotal for its efficient functioning. This system's design ensures the effective drainage of lymph back into the bloodstream.

Understanding the pressure gradients within the lymphatic system is crucial for promoting optimal lymph flow and preventing the accumulation of fluids, which can lead to swelling, especially in the extremities like the hands and feet.

The areas around and above the collarbone represent the points of lowest lymphatic pressure. It is here that the lymphatic fluid drains back into the venous blood system, completing its circuit around the body. Because these points are the final destination for lymph being cleared from the body, they are crucial in the lymphatic drainage process.

Conversely, your hands and feet are the farthest from these low-pressure points, making them more prone to swelling due to the accumulation of lymph fluid, as gravity and distance impede the fluid's return flow.

To effectively encourage the movement of lymph through its vessels and nodes, it is essential to clear the lymphatic system from areas of low pressure toward those of high pressure.

This means that any lymphatic drainage technique or routine should never start with the extremities, where pressure is higher and fluid accumulation is more common. Instead, starting at the collarbone — where the pressure is lowest — and working outward and upward, ensures that these low-pressure pathways remain open and able to receive lymph from other parts of the body.

Nickelston’s Big 6 Routine

The six key points for effective lymphatic drainage are as follows. In the video above, Tim Boettner of Think Flow Grow does a full demonstration of Nickelston’s routine so you can follow along. Again, make sure to do them in the correct order, as listed. Use whatever pressure and speed that feels good. You’re not seeking to cause pain.

The whole routine can be completed in just a few minutes and can be done any time of the day. Getting into the habit of doing it once a day, perhaps during your morning shower, is the best way to reap maximum benefits.

1. Above and below your collarbone — Initiating drainage here facilitates the clearance of lymph back into the circulatory system. Begin by lightly rubbing above, over and below your collarbone on one side for several seconds. Next, lightly tap the area with open hand, and then rub the area in a circular motion clockwise and counterclockwise. Repeat on the other side.

2. Jawline — Rubbing and massaging your jawline helps drain lymph from your head and neck. The spot you’re working is located at the top of your neck, directly behind the angle of your jawbone just below your earlobe. Using two or three fingers, rub that area in an up and down motion on one side. Then, lightly tap and do some circular rubbing. Repeat on the other side.

3. Chest — Clearing the chest area supports the drainage of lymph from the upper torso and arms. The spot you’re looking for is where your shoulder attaches to your pectoral muscle. Perform the same rubbing, tapping massaging motions as before on each side.

4. Abdomen — The abdomen is a central hub for lymphatic activity, influencing digestion and lower body lymph flow. To locate the correct spot, place one hand over your belly button and the other hand directly above that. Using both hands, rub your belly up and down. Then, tap your belly with both hands, then stack your hands one atop the other, press your hands into your abdomen and rub in circles.

5. Front of the hip — Stimulating this area encourages the movement of lymph from the lower extremities toward your core. Place your hands over the crease of your groin and rub up and down, then tap and rub in circles.

6. Back of the knees — Finally, the area behind the knees is critical for draining lymph from the lower legs, reducing the risk of swelling in the feet and ankles. Simply place your hands behind your knees and rub above and below the crease of your knees in an up and down motion. Then tap the crease and rub in a circular motion.

When done with all six areas, stand up, lift your heels off the floor and lightly bounce up and down on the balls of your feet for 20 to 30 seconds and shake out your hands and arms.

Adhering to this order is paramount for maintaining an efficient lymphatic system. By starting at the points of lowest pressure and methodically working toward areas of higher pressure, it's possible to enhance lymph flow throughout the body, bolstering immune function, reducing swelling and promoting overall health.

The Psychological Benefits of Lymphatic Drainage

As explained by Nickelston, this lymphatic drainage routine can also have significant benefits for your emotional and mental health. The reason for this is because when your brain can accurately sense where your body's joints are in space — a faculty known as proprioception — it significantly contributes to a feeling of safety and security.

Proprioception is part of your body's sensory system, providing continuous feedback about the position of limbs, the tension in muscles, and the state of joint movement. This sensory information is crucial for maintaining balance, coordinating movements, and performing daily activities confidently and efficiently.

The link between proprioception and feelings of safety lies in your brain's ability to predict and control bodily movements. When proprioceptive feedback is clear and accurate, your brain can effectively anticipate the outcome of movements, reducing the risk of injury and enhancing physical autonomy. This predictability and control are foundational to a sense of safety, as they enable you to navigate your environment with assurance.

Additionally, clearing the lymphatic system reduces swelling and inflammation around joints, which can otherwise impede the flow of sensory information. Swelling can distort the signals sent by proprioceptors (sensory receptors that detect motion and position) located in muscles, tendons, and joint capsules, leading to decreased proprioceptive accuracy.

As the lymphatic system is optimized and fluid balance is restored, proprioceptors can function more effectively, sending clearer, more precise signals to your brain. As you become more attuned to your body's positions and movements, you develop a heightened sense of spatial awareness and body control.

This improvement not only aids in physical performance but also reinforces the neural pathways responsible for proprioceptive processing, making your brain more adept at interpreting and utilizing this information.

The culmination of these effects — a well-functioning lymphatic system and enhanced proprioception — contributes to a greater sense of bodily integrity and safety.

When your brain can reliably know where your body is in space, it reduces the perceived risk of falling or suffering an injury, which in turn diminishes anxiety and enhances confidence in your physical capabilities. This assurance extends beyond mere physical safety, influencing psychological well-being by fostering a sense of control and competence in interacting with the world.

SSRI Drugs Can Cause Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 17:00:00 -0700

Serotonin — also known as 5-hydroxytryptamine or 5-HT — is typically referred to as “the happiness hormone” and deficiency is thought to be the source of depression. That’s why depression is routinely treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) that raise serotonin levels in your brain.

The problem is, serotonin is NOT responsible for depression, and raising your serotonin is the last thing you want to do, as it destroys empathy, love and wisdom. Elevated serotonin also impairs thyroid function, reduces your metabolism, and contributes to premature aging by increasing reductive stress.

SSRIs Linked to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

SSRIs have also been linked to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), otherwise known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or ME/CFS. As reported by bioenergetic medicine researcher Georgi Dinkov,¹ elevated extracellular 5-HT has been shown to cause most of the CFS symptoms, including debilitating physical and mental fatigue.

“I am actually surprised it took researchers so long to make that connection,” he writes,² “considering the well-tested so-called ‘central fatigue hypothesis’ (CFH), which stipulates that most of the perception of fatigue is brain-derived and often is not peripherally biochemically justified.

More specifically, it is the accumulation of serotonin in the brain, which leads one to perceive severe fatigue even if the bioenergetic state of their muscles do not demonstrate signs of fatigue (e.g. lactate buildup, creatine kinase and LDH leakage, ammonia accumulation, etc).

Conversely, lowering serotonin levels in the brain usually leads to abolishing the feelings of fatigue. In fact, there are multiple animal studies demonstrating that tryptophan depletion in the brain (which leads to lower 5-HT levels in the brain) is a reliable mechanism to delay or even abolish feelings of fatigue even in animals whose muscles are biochemically fatigued …

Another fact implicating 5-HT as a causal agent in CFS is the fact that most CFS patients seem to develop the condition as a result of viral infection … [M]ost viral infections require activation of specific 5-HT receptors (by elevated serotonin) in order for the infection to take hold, and blocking these receptors either prevents the infection altogether or can treat an already established one.”

One Month of Prozac Induced CFS Symptoms in Mice

In one 2024 study,³ researchers were able to induce the classical signs and symptoms of CFS in mice by giving them Prozac (fluoxetine) for four weeks, albeit at dosages that are two to five times higher than what is used in clinical practice for depressive patients. Science Alert reported:⁴

“Based on clinical clues, Jin-Seok Lee, a ME/CFS researcher at Daejeon University in South Korea, and colleagues hypothesized that a spillover of serotonin could lead to ME/CFS. Known to play a role in governing moods, declining levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin have long been thought to cause depression.

Although that theory is now disputed, treatments that target serotonin pathways — such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) — are some of the most commonly prescribed antidepressants. By blocking receptors that bind and remove serotonin from the signaling pathway, the medication artificially maintains a higher level of the mood messenger.

According to several decades-old studies, some patients with ME/CFS appear to have fewer serotonin transporters than healthy volunteers and may also have receptors that only weakly bind serotonin.

Lee and colleagues thought that if such people had coincidentally been treated with serotonin-based treatments for depression before they developed ME/CFS, they may have had excessive levels of serotonin in their brain. This could have triggered ME/CFS by throwing off a feedback mechanism designed to keep a lid on the immune system and inflammation …

After four weeks, animals treated with fluoxetine had higher levels of serotonin in two parts of the brain, the hypothalamus and dorsal raphe nucleus.

They also developed behaviors that resembled the main symptoms of ME/CFS seen in humans, including unrefreshing sleep, PEM and orthostatic intolerance, but not cognitive impairment. These behaviors disappeared six weeks after the drug was stopped.

Mice whose serotonin receptors were depleted via viral knockout also showed ME/CFS symptoms, further confirming the mechanism. Another experiment showed inhibiting serotonin production could alleviate their symptoms.”

According to the authors:⁵

“Our study provides the first translational [animal] evidence for the involvement of 5-HTergic [serotonergic] hyperactivity in the pathophysiology of ME/CFS. With our novel animal model for ME/CFS, this study helps to clarify one of the potent pathophysiological mechanisms of this syndrome.

In addition, we provide diagnostic clues (high central serotonin) that can be used to differentiate ME/CFS from similar diseases, such as fibromyalgia and depressive disorders.”

Serotonin Inhibitors

The serotonin inhibitor used in the featured study was fenclonine, but there are several over-the-counter options as well, including Benadryl and the H2 blocker Pepcid (famotidine).

Aspirin can also lower extracellular serotonin by inhibiting the absorption of tryptophan from your gastrointestinal tract,⁶ while progesterone inhibits serotonin synthesis directly. Progesterone is one of only four hormones I believe many adults can benefit from. (The other three are thyroid hormone T3, DHEA and pregnenolone.)

As a general recommendation, I recommend most adults to take 25 to 50 mg of bioidentical progesterone per day, taken in the evening one hour before bed, as it can also promote sleep. For optimal bioavailability, progesterone needs to be mixed into natural vitamin E. The difference in bioavailability between taking progesterone orally without vitamin E and taking it with vitamin E is 45 minutes versus 48 hours.

Another good reason for taking progesterone with vitamin E is because it binds to red blood cells, which allows the progesterone to be carried throughout your body and be distributed to where it’s needed the most.

Simply Progesterone by Health Natura is premixed with vitamin E and MCT oil. You can also make your own by dissolving pure USP progesterone powder into one capsule of a high-quality vitamin E, and then rub the mixture on your gums. Fifty milligrams of powdered progesterone is about 1/32 teaspoon.

Do not use synthetic vitamin E (alpha tocopherol acetate — the acetate indicates that it’s synthetic). Natural vitamin E will be labeled “d alpha tocopherol.” This is the pure D isomer, which is what your body can use. There are also other vitamin E isomers, and you want the complete spectrum of tocopherols and tocotrienols, specifically the beta, gamma, and delta types, in the effective D isomer.

I do not recommend transdermal progesterone, as your skin expresses high levels of 5-alpha reductase enzyme, which causes a significant portion of the progesterone you're taking to be irreversibly converted primarily into allopregnanolone and cannot be converted back into progesterone.

GABA Is a Far Better Choice Than SSRIs

It’s a travesty that the primary remedy for depression is a drug that not only comes with a laundry list of side effects such as CFS, but also doesn’t address the underlying problem in the first place. Again, depression is not the result of low serotonin.

A far more common problem in depression is GABA deficiency, and increasing GABA can indeed be part of the solution. As explained by Dr. Scott Sherr, director of integrative hyperbaric medicine and health optimization at Hyperbaric Medical Solutions and an expert on neurotransmitter balancers like GABA:

“GABA deficiencies are associated with anxiety, with fear, with depression, with a short temper, phobias, impulsiveness, disorganization, addictions. It’s even associated with schizophrenia and OCD [obsessive-compulsive disorder].

You can also have things like IBS and diarrhea, hypertension, tinnitus, chronic pain, migraines, allergies, frequent urination, flushing, sweating, salt cravings, muscle tension. These are all things that could be signs of GABA deficiency. Many have been prescribed an SSRI for some of these symptoms, but … we know that depression is not related to serotonin deficiency.”

In my view, GABA is one of the easiest solutions for depression, anxiety and insomnia, either alone or with progesterone. I recommend a dose of 500 mg to 2,000 mg (2 grams) daily. This range has been shown to relieve anxiety and insomnia in people who are already taking SSRI drugs.

However, according to Sherr, as little as 100 milligrams of GABA has been shown to lower the assessment scores of patients with anxiety and depression disorders. Effects can be further amplified by combining it with the amino acid L-theanine, which is a natural GABA agonist.

Just be careful using GABA products that contain magnesium. While magnesium is very helpful, if you take high doses of GABA, you will get far too much magnesium, which can have a laxative effect.

Interestingly, if you take too much GABA, some of it will get deaminated and convert into succinic acid, an intermediate of the Krebs cycle. As such, GABA also helps boost mitochondrial function at high doses. So, from a toxicity perspective it appears to be very safe.

To Address CFS, Be Sure to Eliminate LA

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As for CFS sufferers, the No. 1 remedy would be to drastically lower your daily LA intake, as excess LA acts as a mitochondrial toxin and severely inhibits cellular energy production. Naturally, if your cellular energy production is low, you’re going to struggle with fatigue and a host of other health problems. PUFAs like LA also disrupt your body's hormonal equilibrium, imitating the effects of estrogen and cortisol while counteracting androgens and progesterone.

Considering the profoundly serious damage they cause, eliminating seed oils from your diet can go a long way toward improving your health. This includes soy, canola, sunflower, grapeseed, corn, safflower, peanut and rice bran oil.

Also, be mindful of olive oil and avocado oil, as both are commonly adulterated with cheaper seed oils. That said, even pure olive and avocado oil are loaded with LA. If, like me, you’re in the habit of eating olive oil, I would strongly encourage you to limit your intake to 1 tablespoon per day or less. In my view, olive oil is not a magic bullet and if you are already consuming 80 grams of LA per day, it will only worsen, not help, your health.

To avoid these oils, don’t cook with them, of course, but also avoid processed foods, condiments, fast foods and restaurant foods. If you eat out, you’re undoubtedly eating unhealthy amounts of seed oils, as most restaurant foods are loaded with it.

Fried foods, dressing and sauces tend to be key culprits. Your best bet is to prepare most of your food at home, so you know what you are eating and, in the case of seed oils, what you’re not. Chicken and pork are also high in LA and are therefore best avoided. Since these animals, even healthy organically grown animals, are typically fed grains, they are loaded with omega-6 fats and may have 10 times the LA content that beef, lamb or buffalo do.

How Much Linoleic Acid Is Too Much?

Ideally, consider cutting LA down to below 5 grams per day, which is close to what our ancestors used to get. If you’re not sure how much you’re eating, enter your food intake into Cronometer — a free online nutrition tracker — and it will provide you with your total LA intake.

The key to accurate entry is to carefully weigh your food with a digital kitchen scale so you can enter the weight of your food to the nearest gram. Cronometer will tell you how much omega-6 you're getting from your food down to the 10th of a gram, and you can assume 90% of that is LA. Anything over 5 grams is likely to cause problems.

Why Do We Yawn?

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 17:00:00 -0700

Editor's Note: This article is a reprint. It was originally published July 29, 2017.

Yawning starts before you're born and has often been associated with boredom or being tired. But, research now suggests there is more to this simple behavior than you may have imagined. It is as involuntary as breathing in many cases and likely has more than one trigger.

Scientists are split into two camps — one believes yawning has a physiological cause and physical benefit, while the other believes yawning is psychologically triggered and once was used as means of communication.¹ What we do know is that all humans and most animals yawn for one reason or another.

One popular theory behind yawning is related to the shallowness of your breathing. In other words, the more shallow your breathing, the less oxygen enters your blood. In response, your body triggers a yawn that increases the amount of air you breathe in and increases your blood oxygen level.

However, a compelling theory explored by Princeton University researcher Andrew C. Gallup, Ph.D., and colleagues links yawning to sleep deprivation, tiredness and cooling your brain.²

Why Do You Yawn?

In this short video you'll discover interesting facts about yawning, and why humans may be compelled to do it. Researchers have found that when you yawn, it actually may help to cool your brain. During a yawn, your mouth usually opens wide and your lungs drawn in a lot of air.

Your eardrums stretch and your eyes may close tight, triggering tearing.³ These movements activate an increase in your heart rate and the blood flow in your fascial muscles. Each of these factors are essential in the ability of your body to cool your brain.

However, cooling your brain is only one possible explanation. Scientists have not yet reached a definitive answer. One theory is that your body is in process of changing states. Yawning occurs more frequently when you're bored, sleepy⁴ or after an intense physical activity.⁵ Each of these represent a change in awareness your brain and body may be going through, and yawning may help to increase your awareness.

A change in altitude may also trigger yawning, as moving from high pressure to low pressure may cause air to build up behind the eardrums. Yawning stretches the eardrum and expands the Eustachian tubes, helping to equalize the pressure behind your eardrums and relieve the pain or discomfort. This is also called ear barotrauma and may be relieved by chewing gum, sucking on candy or yawning to open the Eustachian tubes.⁶

You likely have found that when you're bored, you also yawn more frequently. The theory behind this is that when bored,⁷ you don't breathe as deeply as you usually do and your breathing becomes slow and shallow. Your body takes in less oxygen, driving up your carbon dioxide levels in your blood. When you yawn, you draw in more oxygen and remove more of the carbon dioxide.⁸

Some researchers believe yawning was a form of communication before they were able to vocalize. However, at this time, researchers have not found any one definitive reason for yawning, and there may likely be more than one circumstance that triggers the behavior.

Unique Method of Temperature Regulation

In many instances, people who yawn may also be tired. The yawn may occur just before going to bed, or just after awakening in the morning. Sleep deprivation and exhaustion are factors that increase the temperature of your brain higher than optimal for ideal functioning. One function of sleeping is thermoregulation, or regulating heat distribution and release so your body may maintain a healthy core temperature.

Without adequate sleep your body may have more difficulty regulating your temperature, allowing your brain to get warmer and making you sleepy.⁹ The simple act of yawning may help compensate for a failure in your thermoregulation that was caused by a lack of sleep. This means that while you are yawning at a time you are tired or exhausted, the trigger may not be from a lack of oxygen to your brain, but rather from poor thermoregulation that allowed your brain to get warm.

An increase in brain temperature has been demonstrated in sleep deprived rats.¹⁰ When rats were sleep deprived, their brain temperature measured slightly higher than their core temperature, and they had reduced metabolism in the area of their brain that controlled temperature and endocrine regulation. Another study using an animal model found that yawning may serve as a mechanism to regulate body heat in response to either brain or body temperature.¹¹

In previous research, Gallup found the frequency of yawning in parakeets would more than double when the room temperature increased.¹² Moving forward, Gallup's research on humans found people were more likely to yawn in the winter months when the cold air could cool their brain, than in the summer months when they would be inhaling warm air.¹³

Gallup believes this regulatory response helps your brain to function more efficiently, much like a computer functions better when not overheated.¹⁴

Yawning Is Contagious

If you've ever watched a loved one or good friend yawn, you'll likely have experienced contagious yawning. Also called empathetic yawning, research has found that how contagious the yawn is¹⁵ may be related to your social bond with the individual who initially yawns. The greatest response was found in family members, then friends and then acquaintances, with the lowest rate of contagious yawns in people watching strangers yawn.

The outcome of this study suggested there is a magnitude of activation to yawning that differs with the subject's familiarity with the person yawning. The researchers proposed the degree of contagion of a yawn is primarily driven by emotional closeness between individuals. Psychologists who studied more than 120 children found another factor involved in the contagious yawn — the ability to be empathetic.¹⁶

They discovered children younger than 4 and those with autism spectrum disorder were immune to the contagious yawn.¹⁷ Lead author Molly Helt, Ph.D., commented on the ability of young children to be sensitive to other people's expressions. Although they may recognize changes in expression, they may not yet be capable of unconsciously mirroring behavior or emotion. She said:¹⁸

"We know that the social brain develops over the first few years of life. At some point we sort of start to take on the emotions of other people without even thinking about it."

Gallup also experimented with contagious yawning and found how you breathe may impact whether or not you spontaneously yawn when you see others yawning.¹⁹ When the participants were not given direction on how to breathe, or were asked to breathe only through their mouth, the incidence of yawning in response to watching others yawn was 48%.

However, when those same participants were instructed to breathe only through their nose, none of the participants exhibited contagious yawning. In another test of his theory of thermoregulation associated with yawning,²⁰ Gallup applied temperature packs to the foreheads of participants who then watched videos of other people yawning.

When the participants held a warm pack, or one that was room temperature, to their forehead while watching others yawn, contagious yawning happened 41% of the time. By comparison, that number dropped to 9% of the time when the participants held a cold pack to their head. This suggested there is a functional component to yawning.

What Does Age Have to Do With It?

In a study evaluating contagious yawning the researchers found young children, people with autism and people suffering from schizophrenia all lacked the ability to "catch" a yawn contagiously.²¹ Both autism and schizophrenia involve impaired social skills. However, in contrast to other studies, this sample of 322 participants did not yield an association between contagious yawning and empathy, intelligence or time of day.

The study pointed out the greatest variability in contagious yawning continues to remain unexplained, and researchers are now delving into whether there may be a contributing genetic factor. The long-term goal of studying the effect of contagious yawning is to gain a better understanding into conditions that trigger social impairment, such as schizophrenia and autism.

The only autonomous factor that meaningfully influenced yawning was the age of the participant. The researchers discovered that as the participant age increased, they were less likely to yawn. However, this explained only 8% of the variability in the results. Study author Elizabeth Cirulli, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine at the Center for Human Genome Variation at Duke University School of Medicine commented:

"Age was the most important predictor of contagious yawning, and even age was not that important. The vast majority of variation in the contagious yawning response was just not explained. It is possible that if we find a genetic variant that makes people less likely to have contagious yawns, we might see that variant or variants of the same gene also associated with schizophrenia or autism.

Even if no association with a disease is found, a better understanding of the biology behind contagious yawning can inform us about the pathways involved in these conditions."

How You Can Use Yawning to Bond With Your Dog

Have you ever yawned and noticed your dog "caught" your yawn too? Chimpanzees, dogs, baboons and wolves²² are animals that have demonstrated contagious yawning with their pack. Dogs don't often "catch" a yawn from another dog — instead they mimic their master or family member.

In a study analyzing the behavior between dogs and humans,²³ the researchers placed 29 dogs in the position of observing a human yawning. A second group of human controls made other mouth movements.

The results showed nearly 73% of the dogs yawned when they saw a human yawn, while the control group had no influence on the dogs yawning. It is possible, that as yawning may heighten arousal or change the state in you or your dog, contagious yawning could facilitate a closer bond between you and your furry friend.

According to a study in Biology Letters:²⁴ "Since yawning is known to modulate the levels of arousal, yawn contagion may help coordinate dog-human interaction and communication."

Another study found dogs were more apt to "catch" a yawn from voices they were most familiar with, rather than from unfamiliar yawns.²⁵ The researchers wrote:²⁶"Although not allowing for conclusive inferences about the mechanisms underlying contagious yawning in dogs, this study provides first data that renders plausible empathy-based, emotionally connected, contagious yawning in these animals."

How Much Is Too Much?

Excessive yawning, more than once per minute, may be attributed to being exhausted or bored, but could potentially be a symptom of an underlying medical condition. Gallup suggests that excessive yawning may be a symptom of health conditions that increase brain and/or core temperature, such as central nervous system damage.

It may be time to have excessive yawning evaluated when you are unexplainably yawning more than one time a minute and/or it's associated with being very sleepy during daytime hours. Although not common, excessive yawning may be a symptom of:^27,²⁸

Vasovagal response, or stimulation of the vagal nerve, by a heart attack or aortic dissection
Brain dysfunction such as epilepsy, tumor or multiple sclerosis
Liver failure
Failure to control body temperature
Certain medications

Fun Facts About Yawning

Two medical terms for yawning distinguish two associated actions — The term oscitation derived from the Latin verb oscitatio, meaning to open the mouth, refers to the action involved, while the term pandiculation is the act of yawning and stretching.²⁹
Even babies yawn before they're born — Although previous imagery of open-mouthed babies in the uterus have not conclusively demonstrated that your unborn baby is yawning, in 2012 a review of four-dimensional scans was able to distinguish between an open mouth and a yawn. Researchers found that the behavior peaked at 24 weeks and then disappeared by 36 weeks.³⁰
Guinea pigs yawn to communicate anger or aggression — They bare their large incisor teeth and yawn to communicate to you or other pigs they are not happy.³¹
Yawning is more contagious between family and close friends — You are also likely to yawn after reading or thinking about the activity. Most people will have yawned at least once or twice while reading this article!
Yawning may give you an indication of a person's empathy level — While more work needs to be done to determine the extent that empathy plays in a contagious yawn, people with social impairments, such as autism and schizophrenia, and those who rank high on psychopathic personality trait measurements, often don't "catch" a contagious yawn.

Shock Study Finds E-Cigarettes May Raise Risk of Heart Failure

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 17:00:00 -0700

It’s a myth that electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are safer for your health than regular cigarettes. Similar to smoking, using e-cigarettes, or vaping, at any point during your lifetime is linked to an increased risk of heart failure, according to research published by the American College of Cardiology.¹

It’s a concerning finding for the 4.5% of U.S. adults — 11% among those aged 18 to 24 — who use the products.² Among high school and middle school students, cigarette use is at an all-time low. Instead, e-cigarettes — also known as vapes and vape pens — are the most commonly used tobacco product, with more than 1 in 4 using them daily and 1 in 3 using them at least 20 of the last 30 days.³

Perhaps drawn in by their fruit and candy flavors — 9 out of 10 youth who vape use flavored e-cigarettes — or the misconception that they’re safe, young people who use e-cigarettes could be setting themselves up for a lifetime of health problems.⁴

E-Cigarettes Increase Heart Failure Risk by 19%

Using health data from the National Institutes of Health, researchers tracked 175,667 people with an average age of 52 for 45 months. Those who had used e-cigarettes at any point in their lifetime were 19% more likely to develop heart failure compared to those who never had.

"More and more studies are linking e-cigarettes to harmful effects and finding that it might not be as safe as previously thought," Dr. Yakubu Bene-Alhasan, a physician at MedStar Health in Baltimore and the study’s lead author, said in a statement. "The difference we saw was substantial. It’s worth considering the consequences to your health, especially with regard to heart health."⁵

Heart failure is a chronic, progressive condition where the heart muscle is unable to pump enough blood to meet your body's needs for blood and oxygen. While the heart hasn’t stopped working, its pumping power is weaker than normal or it is not able to fill with enough blood. The increased risk from vaping was statistically significant for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) but not for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, or diastolic heart failure, occurs when the heart muscle contracts normally but the ventricles do not relax as they should during heart filling. In heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, also known as systolic heart failure, the heart muscle does not contract effectively, and the amount of blood pumped out to the body is less than normal.

Animal studies have also revealed that e-cigarette uses causes changes in the heart relevant to those that occur in heart failure. Previous human studies tied risk factors for heart failure development with vaping.

"I think this research is long overdue, especially considering how much e-cigarettes have gained traction," Bene-Alhasan said. "We don’t want to wait too long to find out eventually that it might be harmful, and by that time a lot of harm might already have been done. With more research, we will get to uncover a lot more about the potential health consequences and improve the information out to the public."⁶

You’re More Likely to Have a Heart Attack if You Vape

Bene-Alhasan described the featured study as "one of the most comprehensive studies" to evaluate the link between e-cigarettes and heart failure to date. However, research previously revealed that vaping also raises heart disease risk.⁷

The study, presented at the 2019 American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session, found that adult e-cigarette smokers have a significantly higher risk of heart disease and mental health problems than nonsmokers, even after controlling for known risk factors such as body mass index and high blood pressure. Compared to nonsmokers, vapers were:⁸

34% more likely to have a heart attack
25% more likely to have coronary artery disease
55% more likely to suffer from depression or anxiety than nonsmokers with the same risk factors

Study author Dr. Mohinder Vindhyal, assistant professor at the University of Kansas School of Medicine Wichita, said in a news release:⁹

"When the risk of heart attack increases by as much as 55% among e-cigarettes users compared to nonsmokers, I wouldn’t want any of my patients nor my family members to vape. When we dug deeper, we found that regardless of how frequently someone uses e-cigarettes, daily or just on some days, they are still more likely to have a heart attack or coronary artery disease."

Further, according to the American College of Cardiology, e-cigarettes may be as harmful to the heart as smoking cigarettes. It noted, "Research showed that using either e-cigs or regular tobacco led to similar levels of stiffness in the aorta, the main artery in the heart. Both raised blood pressure."¹⁰

How Do E-Cigarettes Work?

E-cigarettes deliver nicotine, flavorings and other chemicals in the form of an aerosol, which users inhale. To mimic the act of smoking without burning tobacco, e-cigarettes contain a battery that powers up an atomizer — a heating element to vaporize the e-liquid.

E-liquid is the fluid that provides the flavor and, in many cases, the nicotine content of e-cigarettes. While most e-cigarettes contain nicotine, many young users said they weren’t aware of this. JUUL e-cigarettes, which are shaped like a USB flash drive, may contain as much nicotine as 20 regular cigarettes in a single pod.¹¹

The e-liquid is held inside a cartridge, which may be refillable. Many e-cigarettes have a sensor that detects when a person takes a puff and activates the heater. Others have a manual switch that users must press to activate the device. When this occurs, the heat from the atomizer coil vaporizes the e-liquid in the cartridge, creating an aerosol, or "vapor."

The vapor is inhaled and exhaled, releasing the vapor into the air, which looks somewhat like smoke but is actually a mist of fine particles.

Toxic Compounds Are Common in Vapes

What exactly is in e-cigarette liquid and vapors? A review published in the journal Life outlined some of the toxic compounds in e-cigarettes and their potential consequences to humans:¹²

Glycols — Propylene glycol and glycerol, also known as vegetable glycerin, are among the most common compounds in e-cigarette liquid. Propylene glycol typically makes up the base, which is then mixed with flavorings, coloring and other chemicals. When glycols are heated during vaping, they become oxidized and decompose, leading to toxic breakdown products that are inhaled.

A University of North Carolina study found that when propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin are inhaled via e-cigarettes, it led to decreased glucose transport and metabolism in airway cells. "We propose that repeated/chronic exposure to these agents are likely to contribute to airway damage in e-cigarette users," researchers explained.¹³

Nicotine — Nicotine was detected even in nicotine-free e-cigarettes. One inhale may expose users to up to 35 milligrams of the compound.

Metals — Multiple toxic metals are found in e-cigarette vapor, including lead, chromium, tin, silver, nickel, cadmium, aluminum and even mercury.

Tobacco-specific nitrosamines — These highly toxic compounds may be carcinogenic and are found in e-cigarettes that contain tobacco flavoring.

Carbonyls — These compounds, which include formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, are carcinogenic and, one study found, "detected in the vapors of almost all ECs."¹⁴

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) — Benzene, styrene, ethylbenzene and toluene are examples of VOCs found in e-cigarettes. In addition to causing cancer, they can lead to headaches and damage to the liver, kidneys and central nervous system.

Phenols — Long-term exposure to phenols may lead to anorexia, liver damage, weight loss and diarrhea, while inhalation may lead to irritation of the eyes, skin and mucous membranes.

Acrolein — This weedkiller, which was used as a chemical weapon during World War I, causes lung injury and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It may also cause asthma and lung cancer.¹⁵

E-Cigarettes Might Harm Immune Function

Neutrophils, a type of white blood cell, serve as an initial defense mechanism in the immune system.¹⁶ They circulate in the body, capturing and neutralizing bacteria and other pathogens that could lead to illness. A team from the University of Birmingham gathered neutrophils through blood samples from healthy volunteers who had neither smoked nor vaped.

The researchers exposed these neutrophils to 40 puffs of unflavored vape, which is considered a low daily exposure level.¹⁷ Half of the samples were exposed to nicotine-containing vape, while the other half were exposed to nicotine-free vape.

The exposure did not kill the cells, but it significantly impaired their mobility, rendering them unable to protect the body effectively. Lead study author Aaron Scott, associate professor in respiratory science at the University of Birmingham explained:¹⁸

"We found that after short, low-level exposure to e-cigarette vapor, the cells remain alive but can no longer move as effectively and are unable to carry out their normal protective functions. Interestingly, vapor from e-liquids which did not contain nicotine also had the same negative effects as vapor from e-liquids which did contain nicotine.

E-cigarettes are a proven, lower harm, tool to help smokers quit smoking but our data adds to current evidence that e-cigarettes are not harmless and highlights the need for to fund longer-term studies in vapers."

The phenomenon may be due to a buildup of microfilament, specifically F-actin. Neutrophils exposed to vapor from e-cigarettes had high concentrations of F-actin, which resulted in the cells being less able to move and function.¹⁹ Conventional smoking is also known to affect neutrophils.

The findings could have significant implications for lung health in e-cigarette users, as neutrophils typically protect the lungs by moving from the blood to the site of potential injury.²⁰

E-cigarette or vaping use-associated lung injury, known as EVALI, is also possible. It refers to severe lung illness that occurs in those using e-cigarettes, possibly due to vitamin E acetate and other compounds in the products.²¹ In 2020, an outbreak of at least 2,807 EVALI cases occurred in the U.S., most requiring hospitalization, and deaths were reported.²²

"At its core, EVALI is a serious disease that primarily affects the lungs and results in a substantial number of hospitalizations and deaths in a relatively young and otherwise healthy population across the United States," Meghan Rebuli, assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics in the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, said in a news release.²³

"This epidemic is largely caused by the unregulated and quickly evolving nature of the e-cigarette industry and certainly highlights the need for continued action by both researchers and government agencies."²⁴

Avoid E-Cigarettes as a Tool to Quit Smoking

Remember, e-cigarettes are designed to get you to keep using them — much like cigarettes. They also typically contain nicotine, which means using them can lead to addiction and prolonged dependency on nicotine — also just like cigarettes. The National Academies of Sciences has also noted that e-cigarettes may cause youth vapers to transition to the use of cigarettes.²⁵

Swapping regular smoking for vaping is simply trading one poison for another. A better way to quit — whether you’re tackling conventional cigarettes or e-cigarettes — is to focus on getting your lifestyle into a positive, healthy state. Regular daily movement is important,²⁶ as is healthy eating.

An excellent supportive tool, especially for dealing with cravings that come with quitting smoking, is the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). This can help you reprogram your body's reactions to cravings, helping you quit smoking successfully. Mindfulness-based apps are another tool you can use, which may help reduce activity in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) area of your brain. In smokers, the PCC is activated in response to smoking cues.²⁷

Happiness Hacks — How to Find Lasting Joy in Your Daily Life

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 17:00:00 -0700

The International Day of Happiness takes place on March 20 each year to spread awareness that "happiness is a fundamental human goal."¹ In 2024, it also marked the day the World Happiness Report was released. It includes a happiness ranking of 39 countries, based on six factors — social support, income, health, freedom, generosity and the absence of corruption.²

Finland took the top spot, followed by Denmark, Iceland, Sweden and Israel.³ By looking into the happiness hacks embraced by some of the world’s happiest people, you may be able to find ways to weave more lasting joy into your own daily life.

Happiness Hacks From the World’s Happiest Country — Finland

Finland has earned the title of the happiest country in the world for seven years running.⁴ Their secret to joy lies not in the pursuit of material possessions or climbing up the proverbial ladder in a daily rat race, but rather in much more simple endeavors. Good News Network (GNN) reported:⁵

"Finns are proud and grateful for this prestigious title, believing that the key to their unique style of happiness is found in four basic elements: a close connection to nature, a down-to-earth lifestyle, food from fresh ingredients, and a sustainable approach to life.

According to Finns themselves, Finnish happiness is not a state secret or great mystery; instead, it is a learnable set of skills. From a walk in the forest or a dip in the sea after sauna to a meal made of freshly foraged local ingredients, these are the daily hacks of Finnish happiness."

The country even hosted a Masterclass of Happiness, focused on several key themes that promote joy in the country, including nature and lifestyle, health and balance, "design and everyday" and food and well-being.⁶ Those living in Finland’s capital city, Helsinki, shared a range of specific happiness hacks they say help create a positive lifestyle.

From taking a morning ride on a sailboat or a bike ride through the city’s Central Park, to eating salmon by the seaside or enjoying a visit to a public sauna,⁷ each experience helps nourish the mind and body.

"Finns are often asked, ‘why are you so happy?’ We believe Finnish happiness stems from a close relationship with nature and our down-to-earth lifestyle," Heli Jimenez, senior director of international marketing at Business Finland, told GNN. "Finland is full of immersive experiences among nature. Our energizing forests, charming lakes, and vibrant archipelago landscapes are all perfect places to relax, unwind and get in touch with your inner happiness."⁸

Need a Happiness Boost? Get Outside

Taking a cue from the Finns, reconnecting with nature is a common theme in happiness hacks the world over. Yet, Americans may spend up to 92% of their time inside,⁹ missing out on key benefits. Time spent in nature — be it green spaces like forest preserves and parks or blue spaces like rivers, lakes, beaches and coastal areas — offers significant benefits to well-being.

For instance, visiting green spaces, inland blue spaces or coastal blue spaces in the last four weeks was positively associated with well-being and negatively associated with mental distress. Nature connectedness, or feeling psychologically connected to the natural world, was similarly associated with mental well-being and was additionally linked to a lower likelihood of using medication for depression.¹⁰

The 20-5-3 nature pyramid suggests a guideline for optimal outdoor time to improve mental health, which includes 20 minutes a day of being outside in a park-like setting, five hours a month in a semi-wild area with more nature and fewer signs of people, and three days a year in a wilderness area where nature dominates and there are few signs of human influence.¹¹

For another happiness hack, try finding a natural spots that birds like to frequent. The melodic sound of birds chirping brings a smile to many people’s faces. It turns out these sweet melodies may yield lasting mental health benefits, according to research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London.¹²

In fact, significant improvements were reported in the mental well-being of people with and without depression upon seeing a bird or hearing birdsongs compared to not seeing or hearing a bird.¹³ The positive benefits to mood lasted up to eight hours.¹⁴

Optimize Mitochondrial Function to Facilitate Life Choices That Bring Joy

At a foundational level, joy comes from curiosity and the ability to make choices in your life. But if you don’t have enough cellular energy, you can’t think properly, let alone have enough energy left over to navigate positive life choices.

In the video above, Ashley Armstrong, cofounder of Angel Acres Egg Co. and the Nourish Cooperative, provides a real-world example of how improving your mitochondrial energy production can bring you joy. Your brain, being the most energy-dependent organ, makes up only about 2% of your bodyweight yet consumes 20% of the energy used by your entire body.¹⁵

This is why a surplus of cellular energy creation is necessary to have the ability to allow your brain to work optimally. In the video above, Armstrong discusses her journey in regaining the ability to create cellular energy and how it changed her life.

Avoiding dietary pitfalls like excess linoleic acid, in the form of vegetable and seed oils, is instrumental in optimizing mitochondrial function and realizing your full capacity to experience joy. Factors like estrogen and endotoxins can also deplete your cellular energy.

I hope you consider Armstrong’s journey to help empower you to make similar choices in your own life and reclaim the joy that you deserve. For a glimpse into what true happiness looks like, watch Armstrong interacting with her dogs and farm animals below.

15 More Secrets to Happiness

The pursuit of happiness is more a choice than something that occurs by happenstance, but there are verifiable traits that those who achieve happiness tend to share.

Journalist Dan Buettner, author of "The Blue Zones of Happiness: Lessons From the World’s Happiest People," spoke with Dan Witters, research director of the Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index, while doing research for his book.¹⁶ Witters revealed a set of interconnected elements that often signify authentic happiness. If you can relate to all or most of these statements, you’re likely to be happy:¹⁷

You manage your finances well and live within your means. You have enough money to do everything you want to do.
You set and reach goals on an ongoing basis.
You always make time for trips or vacations with family and friends.
You use your strengths to do what you do best every day.
You feel safe and secure in your community.
You learn something new or interesting every day.
You have someone in your life who encourages you to be healthy.
You eat healthy every day.
You eat five servings of fruits and vegetables at least four days every week.
You go to the dentist at least once per year.
In the last 12 months, you have received recognition for helping to improve the city or area where you live.
You don’t smoke.
You are of a normal, healthy weight.
You exercise at least 30 minutes at least three days per week.
You are active and productive every day.

Giving to Others Can Make You Happy

Altruism and volunteering are associated with greater happiness. Helping others can create a sense of meaning, reduce stress and increase feelings of social connection. While research shows that generous behavior may increase happiness,¹⁸ it may seem counterintuitive, since giving to others means you must sacrifice some of your own physical or emotional resources.

But even though the decision to give can be costly, many people decide to do it anyway, perhaps because they anticipate the feel-good afterglow.¹⁹ One study even revealed a neural link between generosity and happiness, which may explain why charitable acts make people feel so good. The researchers explained in Nature Communications:²⁰

"We hypothesized that participants who had committed to spending their endowment on others would behave more generously in the decision-making task as well as self-report greater increases in happiness as compared to the control group.

Importantly, we predicted that the neural link between generosity and happiness would involve functional interactions between brain regions engaged in generous behavior (TPJ) and those mediating happiness (ventral striatum).

The results confirmed our hypotheses. We found significantly higher levels of generous behavior and happiness, as reflected by greater TPJ activity for generous choices and generosity-related connectivity of the TPJ with striatal happiness regions in the experimental group. We thus conclude that the interplay of these brain regions links commitment-induced generosity with happiness."

Like generosity, gratitude can also produce measurable effects on a number of systems in your body, leading to better sleep, more positive emotions²¹ and more. Gratitude is associated with life satisfaction²² and may lead to better psychological health, an increase in healthy activities and a willingness to seek help for health problems.²³

Gratitude is also known to facilitate improvements in healthy eating²⁴ and benefits depression by enhancing self-esteem and wellbeing.²⁵

Happy People Are Healthier

People who have higher levels of happiness tend to have longer life expectancies, and research supports the fact that happiness is significantly associated with lower mortality.²⁶ In a study that looked into the protective effect of happiness on health among 6,073 adults aged 55 and older, it’s explained:²⁷

"Much of the association between happiness and increased life expectancy could be explained by socio-demographic, lifestyle, health and functioning factors, and especially psychological health and functioning factors.

… Simply put, our results suggest that happy people live longer because happy people are healthy people. Policymaking should realistically adopt tangible strategies such as preventing or alleviating depression, improving physical and mental health, and psychological functioning and wellbeing. This promotes both healthy and happy longevity."

Happy people even tend to get sick from colds and flu less often. Researchers evaluated over 300 individuals for their emotional style, which included assessing how often they experience positive emotions, such as happiness, pleasure and relaxation, and negative emotions like anxiety, hostility and depression.²⁸

The participants were then exposed to one of two cold viruses via nasal droplets. Across both viruses, individuals with a happier disposition had a reduced risk of catching a cold.²⁹

Is Happiness a Choice?

Buettner believes that up to 50% of happiness is controlled by each individual, while the rest is dictated by a combination of genes and luck.³⁰ Living in an area that’s safe with clean air and water and healthy food, for instance, are certainly foundations of building happiness.

But once the basic needs are met, there are choices you can make to increase your daily happiness. Along with the happiness hacks mentioned above, the following choices can also help you find contentment and joy in your life:

Get proper sleep — People who sleep well are also more satisfied with life, even after controlling for other factors like personality.³¹
Prioritize social connections — Strong relationships with family, friends and the community are fundamental.³² The happiest people invest time and effort into building and maintaining meaningful connections.
Engage in regular physical activity and daily movement — Regular exercise is not just good for your body but also for your mind. It can boost mood and increase life satisfaction.³³
Savor life's joys — Taking time to enjoy the moment and appreciate the small pleasures of life can boost your mood and overall sense of happiness.
Engage in lifelong learning — Curiosity and the pursuit of learning new things can contribute to a sense of purpose and fulfillment.

Fascinating Research on Vitamin A From 1925

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 17:00:00 -0700

My colleague Pam Schoenfeld, MS, recently put me onto an eye-opening article on vitamin A. Titled “Tissue Changes Following Deprivation of Fat-Soluble A Vitamin”¹ by S. Burt Wolbach, MD and Percy R. Howe, MD, the article was published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine in 1925. This paper is interesting for several reasons.

Primary Effects of Vitamin A Deprivation

The first concerns the changes these researchers observed when they deprived rats of vitamin A. The main effect was keratinization of the epithelial tissues.

The epithelial tissues are thin tissues that cover all the exposed surfaces of the body, such as the skin, the inner lining of the mouth, the digestive tract, secretory glands, the lining of hollow parts of every organ such as the heart, lungs, eyes, ears, the urogenital tract, as well as the ventricular system of the brain and central canals of the spinal cord.

Keratinization is the process by which the cells of the epithelium are filled with a hard protein called keratin — think hair and fingernails in humans, beaks, horns, scales and hooves in animals. When our skin sloughs off cells, they first become keratinized and form a thin protective surface on our skin. But mostly the epithelial tissue is soft and mucous-secreting, often composed of hair-like structures called cilia.

Wolbach and Howe found that vitamin A deficiency resulted in the substitution of “stratified keratinizing epithelium for normal epithelium in various parts of the respiratory tract, alimentary tract, eyes, and paraocular [surrounding the eyeball] glands and the genitourinary tract.”

This led to the atrophy of many glands, arrest of growth, emaciation and eventually death. While the rats showed no signs of rickets (the test diet contained vitamin D), the bones and teeth stopped growing.

Notably, “Young rats respond to the deficiency more promptly than adults,” meaning that vitamin A deficiency is more serious in growing children than in their parents.

They found that “deficiency results in loss of specific (chemical) functions of the epitheliums concerned.” In other words, these tissues no longer worked as they should. Interestingly, these changes did not occur in the liver, parenchyma of the kidney, stomach or intestines.

“In general the respiratory mucosa in nares [nostrils], trachea, and bronchi keratinized first, then the salivary glands, eye, genitourinary tract, then paraocular glands and pancreas.”

Secondary Effects of Vitamin A Deficiency

The general view at the time was that the eyes were the first organs affected by vitamin A deficiency; the researchers found otherwise.

Following keratinization, many of the glands atrophied, followed by emaciation and localized edema of testes, submaxillary (salivary) gland, and connective tissue structures of the lungs and focal myocardial lesions. The same applies to glandular atrophy. According to the authors, “Glandular atrophy probably explains the loss of power of smell as a late but consistent symptom.”

Enamel formation in the teeth was inhibited. “The enamel-forming cells in advanced stages are either shrunken and atrophic or replaced by a narrow layer of stratified, non-keratinizing epithelium.” Indeed, many of the changes superficially resembled scurvy.

Other effects included the disappearance of fat in adipose tissue throughout the body, reduction is size of the liver and spleen, and atrophy (wasting away) of a long list of glands: pancreas, thyroid, pituitary and thymus.

Large cysts composed of “desquamated keratinized epithelial cells” formed in the salivary glands, which interfered with swallowing and was often a cause of death; cysts also formed in the lungs “and were so numerous as to be the cause of death.” “Desquamated keratinized epithelial cells” often blocked the bladder and urethra. Cysts were common in the prostate gland and seminal vesicles.

These findings beg the question of whether many cases of “cancer” — in the prostate, bladder, lungs, throat, glands, etc. — are due to the accumulation of sloughed-off keratinized cells in these organs due to vitamin A deficiency.

Infections Follow Gland and Organ Degeneration

Wolbach and Howe described their observations with great care and detail. They noted that “infection” occurred in certain glands and organs but only AFTER the degeneration that followed withholding of vitamin A.

“Infection and suppuration are very common, but not invariable and have nothing to do in initiating the epithelial change … Our own experiences in the care of the rats are in complete opposition to the importance of infection, either as an initiating factor in the pathology or as a cause of death.”

They also noted “edema” or what we call “inflammation” occurred in certain organs, again only AFTER the changes induced by vitamin A deficiency.

“The occurrence of transient edema in testes and salivary gland coinciding with a period of maximum atrophic change, suggests the hypothesis that this edema is the result of failure of epithelium to utilize transported material …”

Today we blame disease on “infection” and “inflammation” but the researchers were careful to point out that these conditions arose as a result of vitamin deficiency, and were NOT the cause of disease. By the way, “edema” most frequently occurred in the salivary glands and the testes — this sounds a lot like mumps to me!

Butter Is a Good Source of Vitamin A

A final detail that I found of interest: the test diet contained lard to supply vitamin D but no vitamin A. Yet food tables today indicate that lard contains a trace amount of vitamin A but no vitamin D! The fact that lard can be a good source of vitamin D is one of those secrets the diet dictocrats don’t want you to know about.

The researchers were able to reverse the effects of vitamin A deprivation by adding butter to the diet, and vitamin A in the control diet was also supplied by butter.

The message for modern humans: Include plentiful lard (from pigs raised outdoors) and butter from grass fed cows in your diet in order to keep the lungs, the nasal passages, the bones and teeth, the uro-genital organs and many of the body’s important glands in good working order!

Brief Commentary by Dr. Mercola

The devil is in the details, as they say, so I’d like to add a word of caution with regard to lard. Most lard will be high in the omega-6 polyunsaturated fat (PUFA) linoleic acid (LA), which is one of the most destructive ingredients in your diet that contributes to chronic disease states of all kinds.

For this reason, I only recommend lard from hog farmers that are feeding their swine a low-PUFA, low-LA diet and can confirm it by lab testing. For more details on the hazards of LA, see my special report on linoleic acid.

About the Author

Sally Fallon Morell is author of the best-selling cookbook “Nourishing Traditions” and many other books on diet and health. She is the founding president of the Weston A. Price Foundation (westonaprice.org) and a founder of A Campaign for Real Milk (realmilk.com). Visit her blog at nourishingtraditions.com.

What Is Aloe Vera Good For?

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 17:00:00 -0700

Editor's Note: This article is a reprint. It was originally published August 14, 2017.

When you think of aloe vera, you may remember it as a spiky plant with tiny spines along both sides of the thick, variegated leaves that fan out from their base. A succulent plant that grows wild in tropical regions, including the warmest areas and arguably thousands of households across the U.S., aloe vera has had a plethora of uses for thousands of years, both medicinal and nutritional. An open access website of peer-reviewed journals and blogs, Biomed Central, notes:

"Such extensive human use of aloe vera is nothing new; historical sources suggest aloe vera trade routes were well-established in the Red Sea and Mediterranean regions as far back as the 4th century B.C … Over 500 species of aloes exist, spread over Africa, the Middle East and various Indian Ocean islands."¹

Part of its popularity is that it's a striking plant to look at, but the gel inside the leaves also has strong healing capabilities for a number of maladies and conditions. In fact, the gel could easily remedy many of the problems thousands of people purchase creams and lotions for, purportedly containing extracts from the aloe vera plant, but often containing only a fraction of the healing power available from the genuine article.

Aloe vera's commercial success for cosmetic, pharmaceutical and food use worldwide, is estimated to be somewhere around $13 billion annually. As Medical News Today reveals:

"Aloe vera contains various powerful antioxidant compounds. Some of these compounds can help inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria … Aloe vera definitely has some unique therapeutic properties, especially when applied as an ointment for the skin and gums."²

Where Does the Healing Come From?

It's the gel inside the leaves that contain the highest levels of bioactivity, but here's what's really amazing, according to holistic nutritionist and author Laura Dawn, who launched Happy and Raw.³ Aloe vera's got you covered at least eight different ways, as it's:

Disinfectant	Antibiotic
Antimicrobial	Antiseptic
Antibacterial	Germicidal
Antiviral	Antifungal

These capabilities come from aloe vera's many compounds and phytonutrients, such as vitamins A, C and E, choline, folic acid and B1, B2, B12 and B3 (niacin). Minerals include selenium, zinc, calcium, iron, copper, manganese, potassium, magnesium and chromium. You'll also find high amounts of:

Polyphenol antioxidants — These help combat free radicals, which contribute to disease, infections and hasten the aging process.⁴
Fatty acids — Aloe contains plant sterols, which are valuable fatty acids, including campesterol and B-sitosterol, as well as linoleic, linolenic, myristic, caprylic, oleic, palmitic and stearic acids.⁵
Amino acids — There are about 22 amino acids, called the "building blocks of protein," that are necessary for your body, and aloe vera contains 18 to 20 of them, including all eight of those considered essential for human health.

One study shows aloe vera contains 75 potentially active compounds, including lignin, saponins and salicylic acids and amino acids, 12 anthraquinones, which are phenolic compounds traditionally known as laxatives. It also provides campesterol, β-sitosterol and lupeol, and the hormones auxins and gibberellins that help in wound healing and have anti-inflammatory action.⁶

As an adaptogen, aloe boosts your body's ability to adapt to external changes and increases your ability to deal with stress, be it physical, emotional or environmental. Scientists believe adaptogens balance your system and stimulate your natural defense and adaptive mechanisms, further helping to combat illness and disease. Also:

"Aloe alkalizes the body. Disease cannot manifest in an alkaline environment. Most people are living and subsisting on mostly acidic foods. For great health, remember the 80/20 rule — 80 percent alkaline forming foods and 20 percent acidic. Aloe vera is an alkaline forming food. It alkalizes the body, helping to balance overly acidic dietary habits."⁷

Topical and Internal Benefits of Aloe Vera

The first aloe vera-based ointment for sunburn entered the marketplace in 1959, but studies allow that it's effective for first- and second-degree burns. Whether it's a burn, puncture wound, cut, psoriasis⁸ or bug bites, topically applied aloe vera exerts powerful healing benefits.

Aloe's analgesic qualities help with pain relief while preventing and relieving itching as an antipruritic. Being astringent, aloe gel causes body tissues to contract, which helps reduce bleeding from minor abrasions. As an antipyretic, it's used to reduce or prevent fever, and being 99% water, it's great for hydrating your skin. Happy and Raw asserts:

"Aloe increases the elasticity of the skin making it more flexible through collagen and elastin repair. Aloe is an emollient, helping to soften and soothe the skin. It helps supply oxygen to the skin cells, increasing the strength and synthesis of skin tissue and induces improved blood flow to the skin through capillary dilation."⁹

The Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry notes that aloe helps the body cleanse itself,¹⁰ and a four-study review acknowledged that it could reduce the healing time of burns by as much as nine days in comparison with conventional medicine's remedies.¹¹ In addition, aloe vera:

Reduces dental plaque, kills plaque-forming bacteria and Candida albicans¹²	Helps heal and alleviates pain of canker sores¹³
Improves cardiovascular health as beta sitosterol helps optimize cholesterol	Aids digestion; reduces constipation due to the compound aloin, or barbaloin¹⁴
Lowers blood sugar levels¹⁵	Reduces inflammation
Helps detoxify your body	Boosts your immune system due to polysaccharides
May improve skin, increase collagen production¹⁶ and alleviate wrinkles

From all the above advantages from using aloe vera, weight loss is considered to be a secondary benefit simply because things like improved digestion, reduced constipation (aka regularity), detoxification and lowered blood sugar are all related, and have a varied but direct impact on your weight.

Growing Aloe Vera Plants for Medicinal (and Other) Use

Native to tropical regions, aloe vera plants can grow outdoors even in Northern climates during warm weather. Growing them in the ground is very straightforward. Rather than just plain soil, I would highly recommend adding compost and a layer of wood chips, which improve the soil quality and provide valuable plant nutrients.

One thing about growing aloe vera is that it's incredibly easy to do, and the baby plants they produce are so plentiful, you can remove new shoots fairly regularly and pop them into separate pots to give away or fill several window sills with the spiky succulents.

They grow faster when their roots aren't crowded, so leave several inches of space in between so they'll grow bigger faster. It's probably no surprise that these plants love bright light, but especially if they're in a pot, allowing them to bake in hot sun and high temperatures all day might scorch and kill them. Indirect light is best. If you don't grow it yourself, you can purchase a plant from many health food or grocery stores.

Water your aloe plants well, but to keep rot from setting in, allow at least 1 or 2 inches of top soil to become completely dry in between waterings. Water less often in the winter. Additionally, when placing aloe vera plants in pots, even tiny plants, the pots must have drainage holes at the bottom. Otherwise they'll eventually become waterlogged and die unless you pick them out, dry the roots for a few days, then place them in dirt again.

When a plant gets large enough, you can cut individual leaves off, as close to the ground (or just under the soil level) as you can. Carefully slice off the little spines on each side, slice off 2 or 3 inches (or as much as you need), then cut through the flat side of the leaf to expose and scrape off the gel for use as a cooling aftershave lotion or sunburn remedy.

In fact, fresh gel from an aloe plant (rather than an aloe product) is one of the best remedies for sunburn. You can even slice open the leaves and open like a book to lay the exposed gel directly on skin needing its healing properties. For a refreshing drink, place a few teaspoons of the gel (not the skin) in a small glass bowl and use a hand mixer or high-speed blender for several seconds, then add a bit of fresh lime juice.

Products Containing Aloe Vera (or Claiming to) Not Always What They Claim

It's already been mentioned that the most potent way to get the effects of aloe vera is to use the plant itself, not some product containing percentages along with a lot of other stuff, including chemicals. There is such a thing as certification by the International Aloe Science Council (IASC), which was created in the early 1980s due to rampant abuse in the representation of many different consumer products claiming to contain at least a percentage, but many did not.

There are still "wannabe" (aka scam) products with zero aloe content out there hoping for a corner of the market. In addition, Happy and Raw includes a paragraph addressing intake precautions:

"This plant is incredibly medicinal, yet there are some cautions against long-term use. Just because a little is beneficial, doesn't mean that a lot is more beneficial. This is an incredibly potent plant and should be used with a level of respect for its potency.

Long-term use can lead to loss of electrolytes, especially potassium. Tip: Avoid taking aloe internally during pregnancy, menstruation, if you have hemorrhoids or degeneration of the liver and gall bladder."¹⁷

If you don't currently have an aloe vera plant in your home, you may find having one helpful for many of the problems listed above, or to try it as a fresh, healthy drink.

Diet Soda Linked to Serious Heart Condition Risk

Tue, 16 Apr 2024 17:00:00 -0700

Research¹ published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology found an association between drinking sweetened beverages and atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation, also called AFib, is an abnormal and often rapid heartbeat that occurs when the upper chambers in the heart (atria) beat out of sync with the lower chambers (ventricles).²

It's a common symptom in people with heart failure or heart disease and one of the most common arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats) that affects more than 2 million U.S. adults. AFib can sometimes go away on its own, but it also can become more frequent with longer-lasting episodes that can lead to serious complications like stroke and heart failure.

The symptoms of AFib can look like other health problems, which is why it is crucial to understand the condition and receive the correct diagnosis. For example, the declining ability to pump blood to the lungs and elsewhere in the body can lead to lightheadedness, dizziness and fatigue, which are symptoms that can be attributed to several other health conditions.

AFib may make you feel like your heart has skipped a beat or is fluttering or pounding. Your risk increases with age, but lifestyle and dietary factors can also increase your risk, which is exactly what researchers found when they sought to determine if there was an association between drinking sweetened beverages and AFib.

Diet and Regular Soda Raises Heart Risk

The researchers acknowledged³ that a past association between sweetened beverages and cardiometabolic disease has been reported, but an association with atrial fibrillation was unclear. The study enrolled 201,856 participants who did not have AFib at the time the study began, had completed a 24-hour diet questionnaire and had genetic data available.

Research has found a genetic component to AFib. Genome-wide studies identified 140 genetic loci that are linked to the development of AFib.⁴ However, while genetic implications put an individual at higher risk of developing the condition, it is not a guarantee that the condition will develop.

There was a median follow-up of 9.9 years, during which 9,362 incidents of AFib were documented.⁵ The researchers evaluated the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB), artificially sweetened beverages (ASB) and pure fruit juice. The data showed that people who drank greater than 2 liters per week of sugar-sweetened or artificially sweetened beverages increased their risk of AFib, with those who drank artificially sweetened beverages experiencing a higher risk.

The highest risk was observed in people who had a genetic risk and consumed more than 2 liters of artificially sweetened beverages, while the lowest risk was observed in those who had a low genetic risk and consumed less than 1 liter of pure juice per week.

The association between sweetened beverages and AFib persisted even after adjustments were made for genetic susceptibility to the heart condition. "This study does not demonstrate that consumption of SSB and ASB alters AF risk but rather that the consumption of SSB and ASB may predict AF risk beyond traditional risk factors," the researchers concluded.⁶

Many people reach for an artificially sweetened beverage advertising zero calories and sugar because they know other sodas and juices contain an alarming amount of both. Drinking a beverage advertised with zero calories and sugar can feel like you’re making better choices but as these researchers have demonstrated, artificial sweeteners may cause more harm than good.

While the data from the current study demonstrates a higher risk of consuming ASB, a press release from the American Heart Association about the study also noted that people who drink 2 liters of SSB each week increase their risk of AFib by 10%.⁷ Kris-Etherton, an emeritus professor of nutritional sciences at Penn State University, commented on the results of the study from China, saying:

"This is the first study to report an association between no- and low-calorie sweeteners and also sugar-sweetened beverages and increased risk of atrial fibrillation.

While there is robust evidence about the adverse effects of sugar-sweetened beverages and cardiovascular disease risk, there is less evidence about adverse health consequences of artificial sweeteners. In the meantime, water is the best choice, and, based on this study, no- and low-calorie sweetened beverages should be limited or avoided."

Sweeteners in Diet Soda Can Destroy Your Gut Microbiome

While refined sugar feeds harmful, disease-causing bacteria in the gut,⁸ artificial sweeteners cause DNA damage in, and interfere with, the normal activity in gut bacteria. The artificial sweeteners reviewed in one study⁹ included aspartame, sucralose, saccharin, neotame, advantame and acesulfame potassium-k.

The animal study was published in the journal Molecules, and as noted by Business Insider,¹⁰ all the sweeteners "had a toxic, stressing effect, making it difficult for gut microbes to grow and reproduce." According to the researchers, this effect can in turn affect your body's ability to process carbohydrates.

While, overall, all six artificial sweeteners were found to have toxic effects on gut bacteria, there were individual differences in the type and amount of damage they produced.

Saccharin caused the greatest, most widespread damage, exhibiting both cytotoxic and genotoxic effects, meaning it is toxic to cells and damages genetic information in the cell (which can cause mutations).
Neotame was found to cause metabolic disruption in mice, and raised concentrations of several fatty acids, lipids and cholesterol. Several gut genes were also decreased by this sweetener.
Aspartame and acesulfame potassium-k — The latter of which is commonly found in sports supplements — were both found to cause DNA damage.

In a carefully crafted message, Ariel Kushmaro, Ph.D., professor of microbial biotechnology at Ben-Gurion University and lead author, told Business Insider, "We are not claiming that it's toxic to human beings. We're claiming that it might be toxic to the gut bacteria, and by that, will influence us."¹¹

These data support previous research published in 2013,¹² which concluded that sucralose reduces the number, and alters the composition of, gut bacteria. Animal research¹³ in 2008 showed sucralose could kill gut bacteria and appeared to target beneficial microorganisms to a greater extent than pathologic bacteria.

This is crucial since anytime you destroy healthy intestinal bacteria, it opens the door to increased growth of unfriendly microorganisms that can cause health problems. A 2021 study¹⁴ found three of the six commonly used artificial sweeteners impair your gut bacteria's ability to communicate and the "effect of these artificial sweeteners on numerous molecular events that are at the core of intestinal microbial function, and by extension on the host metabolism."

Artificial Sweetener Tricks Your Body into Storing Fat

Since the 1960s, researchers have known that your body metabolizes different types of carbohydrates in different ways, which causes hormonal and physiological responses that influence fat accumulation and metabolism.¹⁵

While the sugar industry wants you to believe that all calories are the same, you can't undo the effects of soda by cutting back on calories in your diet since refined sugar itself wreaks havoc on your gut microbiome and your metabolism.

In late 2021,¹⁶ research showed women who consumed foods with artificial sweeteners felt hungrier and ate more food than those who simply drank a sugar-sweetened beverage. Contrary to industry claims, research shows that artificial sweeteners stimulate your appetite, increase cravings for carbohydrates and produce a variety of metabolic dysfunctions that promote fat storage and weight gain.

For a list of research supporting dysfunction in fat storage and weight gain associated with consuming artificial sweeteners see "Reconfirmed: Artificial Sweeteners Make You Sick." There is also a mounting number of studies that have shown artificial sweeteners raise your risk of obesity and Type 2 diabetes, perhaps to an even greater degree than sugar.

One animal study¹⁷ presented at the annual Experimental Biology conference in San Diego confirmed these results while exploring how different sweeteners affect the way food is used and stored, including the effect on vascular function. The researchers concluded:¹⁸

"Overall, results of this study suggest that exposure to high glucose and artificial sweetener administration lead to unique mechanisms of vascular impairment and homeostatic alterations that may be important during the onset and progression of diabetes and obesity."

Diet Soda Linked to Depression, Gout and More

A damaged gut microbiome, fat storage and an increased risk of obesity may help explain how diet soda is linked to so many health conditions. A 2024 study¹⁹ showed sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) and artificially sweetened beverages (ASB) increase your risk of cardiovascular disease as an adult regardless of your activity level.

The study evaluated 13,269 cardiovascular disease events and compared the results to those who never or rarely consume sweetened beverages against those who consumed two or more each day. They found a dose-dependent response, concluding:²⁰

"Higher SSB intake was associated with CVD risk regardless of physical activity levels. These results support current recommendations to limit the intake of SSBs even for physically active individuals."

Data have also linked sugar and artificially sweetened beverages with an increased risk of depression. Research²¹ showed that drinking four servings of soda a day increased the risk of depression by 30% compared to those who did not drink sweetened beverages of any kind.

People who drank primarily diet soda had a 31% increased risk of suffering depression, regular soda was associated with a 22% increased risk and those who drank diet fruit drinks had a 51% higher risk of depression. Regular fruit drinks were associated with a more modest 8% increased risk.

For a discussion of the potential pathways sugar impacts mental health, see "How Dietary Intervention Lifts Depression." Soda and other SSBs are a leading source of added sugar, with 6 in 10 youths and 5 in 10 adults drinking at least one beverage on any given day.²² Even the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states:²³

"Frequently drinking sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with weight gain/obesity, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, kidney diseases, nonalcoholic liver disease, tooth decay and cavities and gout, a type of arthritis."

However, the CDC only suggests that "limiting the amount of SSB intake can help individuals maintain a healthy weight and have a healthy diet," stopping far short of advising Americans to ditch these unhealthy drinks to avoid chronic disease.

Aspartame Has Been Linked to Many Health Problems

Aspartame is another powerful artificial sweetener that has been linked to a significant number of health conditions. A 2022 animal study²⁴ found that at doses equivalent to 15% below the FDA-recommended maximum daily intake for humans, aspartame produced anxiety-type behavior and changes in genetic expression in areas of the brain that regulate anxiety and fear.

These changes in the amygdala occurred in the aspartame-exposed animals and in up to two generations that descended from aspartame-exposed males. The artificial sweetener is found in a long list of processed foods and beverages. In 2023, the World Health Organization’s International Research Agency on Cancer announced that aspartame is a possible carcinogen.²⁵

Try Swapping Your Soda for Clean Water or Hibiscus Tea

If you're drinking artificially sweetened, zero-calorie beverages it's important to understand that they do not help if you're overweight or have insulin resistance. Instead, they probably will make matters worse. I firmly believe ditching soda and other sweetened beverages is one of the most important steps you can take to improve your weight and your overall health.

Remember, pure water is zero calories, and you can easily add flavor by squeezing in fresh lemon or lime or a piece of frozen fruit. If you're looking for something that's more than water, consider swapping it for tea instead.

Drinking tea is flavorful and adds a healthy boost to your diet. Hibiscus tea has a pleasantly sharp flavor that's like the tartness of cranberries and you can find it in liquid extract form, which allows you to add it to your glass of water. Hibiscus tea is rich in polyphenols and has other health benefits including protecting your liver and preventing metabolic syndrome.²⁶

Ancient Formula May Be the Ultimate Antibiotic Solution

Tue, 16 Apr 2024 17:00:00 -0700

Editor's Note: This article is a reprint. It was originally published May 2, 2017.

Every year, 700,000 people worldwide die from drug-resistant illnesses like bacterial infections, malaria, HIV/AIDs and tuberculosis.¹ It's estimated that by 2050, antibiotic resistance will have killed 300 million people, with the annual global death toll reaching 10 million. The cost for treatment, meanwhile, is estimated to hit $100 trillion by 2050.²

Clearly, alternatives to antibiotics are needed — and fast. It's been estimated that the pharmaceutical industry will need upwards of $37 billion over the next decade to replace antibiotics that no longer work.³

But drug companies have little financial incentive to innovate new antibiotics, so unless taxpayers end up footing the bill, it's unlikely that such products will enter the market anytime soon. Perhaps looking to create new drugs isn't where all of our hopes should lie, however.

Medievalists are now working alongside microbiologists, chemists, pharmacists and others to determine whether "ancientbiotics" — natural formulas used to treat ills during the so-called "Dark Ages" of medicine — may still hold promise of cure today.

The "Ancientbiotics team" is compiling a database of ancient medicinal recipes from a 15th century text known as "The Lily of Medicines."⁴ They've even tested some of them for efficacy, with striking results. Erin Connelly, a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania libraries, explained:⁵

"In response to this threat [of antimicrobial resistance] to global health, the Ancientbiotics team was formed.

Originally based at the University of Nottingham, the team is an interdisciplinary group from the Arts and Sciences [comprising] microbiologists, medievalists, parasitologists, wound specialists and pharmacists, who are united by the belief that novel avenues of antibiotic discovery are crucial, along with the shared conviction that the past can inform the future."

Ancient Eye Infection Salve Kills MRSA

About 1,000 years ago, if you had an infection on your eyelash follicle (then known as a wen), you might have been treated with a potion called Bald's eyesalve, which is made from wine, garlic, leek, onion or another Allium species and ox gall (bile from a cow's stomach).

The mixture was to be stored in a brass vessel for at least nine days prior to use. Individually, many of these ingredients, including not only garlic but also copper and bile salts, are known to have antibacterial activity, which led the researchers to suspect the mixture would have a small amount of antibiotic activity.⁶

Researcher Freya Harrison, Ph.D., assistant professor at the University of Nottingham, said in a press release, however, that "we were absolutely blown away by just how effective the combination of ingredients was."⁷

They tested the salve on Staphylococcus aureus in synthetic wounds as well as on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in mice wounds, with results showing it killed up to 90% of the resistant bugs. It was the combination of the ingredients that proved to be so effective. According to the researchers:⁸

"While the antibiotic potential of some materials used in historical medicine has been demonstrated, empirical tests of entire remedies are scarce. This is an important omission, because the efficacy of 'ancientbiotics' could rely on the combined activity of their various ingredients.

This would lead us to underestimate their efficacy and, by extension, the scholarship of premodern doctors. It could also help us to understand why some natural compounds that show antibacterial promise in the laboratory fail to yield positive results in clinical trials.

We have reconstructed a 1,000-year-old remedy which kills the bacteria it was designed to treat and have shown that this activity relies on the combined activity of several antimicrobial ingredients.

Our results highlight (i) the scholarship and rational methodology of premodern medical professionals and (ii) the untapped potential of premodern remedies for yielding novel therapeutics at a time when new antibiotics are desperately needed."

The Disease-Fighting Properties of Garlic and Leeks

It's impressive that the disease-fighting properties of the allium family of vegetables were known long before it was possible to identify their exact antibacterial properties. The recipe for Bald's eyesalve came from "Bald's Leechbook," which is considered to be one of the earliest known medical textbooks.⁹

Today we know that garlic has antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral and antiparasitic properties. The combination of biochemicals in garlic, including tannins, saponins, phenols, flavonoids, and essential oils, have been found to fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Some of the superbugs killed by garlic were resistant to more than 10 different antibiotics.

Researchers wrote in the Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine, "Natural spices of garlic … possess effective anti-bacterial activity against multi-drug clinical pathogens and can be used for prevention of drug resistant microbial diseases."¹⁰ Like garlic, leeks also have sulfur-containing compounds, such as allicin, which are responsible for many of their health benefits.

Allicin is antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal, for instance, and in addition to warding off antibiotic-resistant superbugs, this compound may also neutralize dangerous free radicals faster than any other known compound.¹¹

Colloidal Silver: Another Ancient Antibiotic Alternative

Silver has been used medicinally since ancient times, including in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. It's often referred to as the world's oldest antibiotic for this reason. Hippocrates was actually one of the first to describe its antimicrobial properties in 400 B.C.¹²

Long ago, people would store their food in silver vessels to prevent contamination, and during the Middle Ages wealthy people would eat with silver utensils to reduce the risk of illness (this is why eating utensils are often referred to as silverware).¹³ Over the past few years, several studies have demonstrated the fact that silver is indeed one of the most effective agents in the battle against antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

In 2013, a study even found that low doses of silver can make antibiotics up to 1,000 times more effective and may even allow an antibiotic to successfully combat otherwise antibiotic-resistant bacteria.¹⁴

By adding a small amount of silver to an antibiotic, a powerful synergism occurred, and a urinary tract infection caused by tetracycline-resistant E. coli was successfully eradicated. Silver also helped save the lives of 90% of mice suffering with a life-threatening abdominal inflammation by adding it to the antibiotic vancomycin.

Why Silver May Work Against Antibiotic-Resistant Disease

Silver interferes with bacteria's metabolism, increasing production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are products of normal metabolic processes in your body that, in excess, can damage cell membranes and DNA.¹⁵

Many antibiotics are believed to kill bacteria by producing ROS compounds, and researchers found that adding a small amount of silver boosted the antibiotic's ability to kill anywhere from 10 to 1,000 times more bacteria. In addition, silver makes the bacteria's cell membrane more permeable.

This may explain the beneficial effect of silver on gram-negative bacteria,¹⁶ the cells of which are often impenetrable to antibiotics due to the molecular size of the drugs.

Quality Matters When Using Colloidal Silver

As for toxicity, the researchers of the 2013 Science Translational Medicine study found that the doses of silver required were far smaller than the dose needed to harm either mice or cultured human cells, suggesting that oral and injectable silver should be quite safe. That said, quality is extremely important, as misrepresentation of colloidal silver by less scrupulous manufacturers has in the past led to some of its more negative connotations.

According to a commercial product report by Silver-Colloids.com, a site that provides detailed laboratory analyses of colloidal silver products, there are three distinctly different types of silver products on the market that are all labeled and sold as "colloidal" silver:¹⁷

True colloidal silver
Ionic silver
Silver protein — Due to the high concentration of large silver particles, silver protein products are known to cause argyria, which turns your skin blue-gray in color

When purchasing colloidal silver, it's very important to avoid silver protein formulas. True colloidal silver seems to be the most recommended, but ionic silver could probably also be used. In the aforementioned study, they used ionic silver (Ag) in a silver nitrate salt (AgNO3) which, again, was found to be quite nontoxic in animals and human cell cultures.

Substantial antimicrobial activity was found at 30 microns (μM) against E. coli. If you take ionic silver products according to the manufacturer's recommended dosage, ionic silver will not cause argyria. Keep in mind that since there are potential health risks involved, if you select the wrong formula, I recommend you use colloidal silver only under the guidance of a qualified holistic health practitioner.

How to Stay Safe as Drug Resistance Spreads

High-quality colloidal silver may be a valuable addition to your medicine cabinet, as may be many other ancient remedies that researchers are rediscovering.

On a broader scale, however, the problem of antibiotic resistance really needs to be stemmed through public policy on a global level, including improving sanitation and eliminating the unnecessary use of antibiotics in agriculture and human medicine. That being said, the more people who get involved on a personal level, the better. Such strategies include:

• Using antibiotics only when absolutely necessary — Antibiotics are typically unnecessary for most ear infections, and they do NOT work on viruses. They only work on bacterial infections and, even then, they're best reserved for more serious infections.

Taking an antibiotic unnecessarily will kill off your beneficial gut bacteria for no reason at all, which could actually make it more difficult for you to recover from your illness. If you do take a course of antibiotics, be sure to reseed your gut with healthy bacteria by eating fermented foods or taking a high-quality probiotic supplement.

As an all-around preventive measure, make sure your vitamin D level is optimized year-round, especially during pregnancy, along with vitamin K2. A number of other natural compounds can also help boost your immune system function to help rid you of an infection, including vitamin C, oil of oregano, garlic, Echinacea and tea tree oil.

Manuka honey can also be used for topical applications, as it's effective against many bacteria, including some resistant varieties, such as MRSA.

• Avoiding all antibacterial household products — This includes items such as antibacterial hand sanitizers and wipes, toothpaste, deodorants and detergents, as these too promote antibiotic resistance.

• Properly washing your hands with warm water and plain soap, to prevent the spreading of bacteria — Be particularly mindful of washing your hands and kitchen surfaces after handling raw meats from CAFOs, as about half of all meat sold in grocery stores around the U.S. is likely to be contaminated with potentially dangerous bacteria.

• Purchasing organic, antibiotic-free meats and other foods — Reducing the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a significant reason for making sure you're eating only grass fed, organically raised meats and animal products.

Besides growing and raising your own, which may not be an alternative for most people, buying your food from responsible, high-quality and sustainable sources is your best bet, and I strongly encourage you to support the small family farms in your area.

WHO Cancer Agency Predicts 77% Rise in Cancers by 2050

Tue, 16 Apr 2024 17:00:00 -0700

The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) released a daunting prediction of the global cancer burden. It estimates more than 35 million new cancer cases in 2050 — a 77% increase from the estimated 20 million cancer cases that occurred in 2022.¹

While WHO named an aging population as a key driver behind the increasing cancer burden, along with tobacco, alcohol, obesity and exposure to air pollution, what they’re ignoring is the concerning trend of turbo cancers that occur shortly after COVID-19 shots.

Cancer Cases Set to Increase Significantly by 2050

The IARC cancer burden estimates are based on the “best sources of data available in [185] countries in 2022.”² That year, there were an estimated 20 million new cancer cases and 9.7 million deaths, with WHO reporting, “About 1 in 5 people develop cancer in their lifetime, approximately 1 in 9 men and 1 in 12 women die from the disease.”³

About two-thirds of the new cancer cases and deaths were caused by 10 types of cancer. Lung cancer was most common, followed by female breast cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer and stomach cancer. When broken down by sex, breast cancer was the most commonly diagnosed — and the leading cause of cancer death — among women. For men, it was lung cancer.

Lung cancer and colorectal cancer accounted for the second and third most diagnosed types and cause of most deaths among women. However, for men, prostate and colorectal cancers were second and third most common, while liver and colorectal cancer caused the second and third most cancer deaths.⁴

There were also disparities revealed based on human development index (HDI), a statistical tool that assesses three dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge (schooling) and a decent standard of living. According to WHO:⁵

“In terms of the absolute burden, high HDI countries are expected to experience the greatest absolute increase in incidence, with an additional 4.8 million new cases predicted in 2050 compared with 2022 estimates. Yet the proportional increase in incidence is most striking in low HDI countries (142% increase) and in medium HDI countries (99%). Likewise, cancer mortality in these countries is projected to almost double in 2050.”

What’s Driving Up Cancer Rates?

WHO blamed the projected cancer burden increase on a combination of age and environmental factors, stating:⁶

“The rapidly growing global cancer burden reflects both population ageing and growth, as well as changes to people’s exposure to risk factors, several of which are associated with socioeconomic development. Tobacco, alcohol and obesity are key factors behind the increasing incidence of cancer, with air pollution still a key driver of environmental risk factors.”

But it did not mention the emergence of rapid-growing cancers of the breast, colon, esophagus, kidney, liver, pancreas, bile duct, brain, lung and blood — including exceedingly rare types of cancer. As noted by Canadian oncologist and cancer researcher Dr. William Makis in the Highwire interview above,⁷ these cancers are showing up in young people, many under age 30, with no family history of cancer.

They’re showing up in pregnant women and young children. Equally odd is the fact that most are Stage 3 or 4 by the time they’re diagnosed, with symptoms arising only days or weeks before. The cancers grow and spread so rapidly, many of these patients die before treatment can even begin. Most of them are also resistant to conventional treatment.

The phenomenon has become common enough that the term “turbo cancers” was coined to describe these rapid-growing cancers in people who have received one or more COVID jabs.

Turbo Cancer Cases Reported Following COVID-19 Shots

In a case report described by board-certified internist and cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough and colleagues, basaloid carcinoma, a type of aggressive cancer, developed in a 56-year-old man shortly after he received an mRNA COVID-19 shot.

Early symptoms, which began just four days after the jab, were similar to those caused by Bell’s palsy, and involved head pain — but soon a tumor developed on his ear and face. According to the study:⁸

“We place this within the context of multiple immune impairments potentially related to the mRNA injections that would be expected to potentiate more aggressive presentation and progression of cancer. The type of malignancy we describe suggests a population risk for occurrence of a large variety of relatively common basaloid phenotype cancer cells, which may have the potential for metastatic disease.

… Since facial paralysis/pain is one of the more common adverse neurological events following mRNA injection, careful inspection of cutaneous/soft tissue should be conducted to rule out malignancy.”

This is just one example. Another case report, published in Frontiers in Medicine,⁹ also found a “rapid progression” of angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) — a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) — following an mRNA COVID booster shot. AITL is a cancer that affects the lymph system, primarily involving T-cells, a type of white blood cell that plays a crucial role in the immune system.

“Since nucleoside-modified mRNA vaccines strongly activate T follicular helper cells, it is important to explore the possible impact of approved SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines on neoplasms affecting this cell type,” the study notes.¹⁰

The cancer occurred in a 66-year-old man, mere days after he got his third Pfizer shot. Ironically, he got the shot to protect him during chemotherapy, and in eight days, the cancer just exploded and spread like wildfire.

According to Makis, that kind of progression would normally take a couple of years, or at least a few months. “Such a rapid evolution would be highly unexpected in the natural course in the disease,” according to the study.¹¹

How Might COVID-19 Shots Trigger Cancer?

In May 2021, I interviewed Stephanie Seneff, Ph.D., a senior research scientist at MIT for over five decades, about the likely hazards of replacing the uracil in the RNA used in the COVID shots with synthetic methylpseudouridine.¹² Uracil is one of the four nucleobases in the nucleic acid of RNA that are represented by the letters A, G, C and U.

This process of substituting letters in the genetic code is known as codon optimization, which is known to be problematic.

At the time, Seneff predicted the shots would cause a rise in prion diseases, autoimmune diseases, neurodegenerative diseases at younger ages, blood disorders and heart failure, and one of the primary reasons for this is because they genetically manipulated the RNA in the shots with synthetic methylpseudouridine, which enhances RNA stability by inhibiting its breakdown.

But when substituting parts of the code in this way, the resulting protein can easily get misfolded, and this has been linked to a variety of chronic diseases,¹³ including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease and heart failure.¹⁴ As explained by Makis, the pseudouridine insertion can also suppress your innate immune surveillance by dampening the activity of toll-like receptors, and one downstream effect of that is reduced cancer surveillance.

“The more mRNA shots you take, the greater the immune system damage, the greater your risk of impaired cancer surveillance and hence, the greater your risk of turbo cancer,” Makis says.

DNA Contamination Discovered in COVID Shots

In a preprint study, microbiologist Kevin McKernan — a former researcher and team leader for the MIT Human Genome project¹⁵ — and colleagues assessed the nucleic acid composition of four expired vials of the Moderna and Pfizer mRNA shots. “DNA contamination that exceeds the European Medicines Agency (EMA) 330ng/mg requirement and the FDAs 10ng/dose requirements” was found.¹⁶

So, in addition to the spike protein and mRNA in COVID-19 shots, McKernan’s team discovered simian virus 40 (SV40) promoters that, for decades, have been suspected of causing cancer in humans, including mesotheliomas, lymphomas and cancers of the brain and bone.¹⁷

Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo, called for an end to the use of COVID-19 mRNA shots, citing concerns about DNA fragments in the products.¹⁸ In a December 6, 2023, letter sent to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ladapo outlined findings showing the presence of lipid nanoparticle complexes and the SV40 promoter/enhancer DNA.

While there are limits on how much DNA can be in a vaccine due to concern over DNA integration, the guidelines don’t consider lipid nanoparticles and other factors in COVID-19 shots that could enhance how much DNA can enter a cell.

“Lipid nanoparticles are an efficient vehicle for delivery of the mRNA in the COVID-19 vaccines into human cells and may therefore be an equally efficient vehicle for delivering contaminant DNA into human cells.

The presence of SV40 promoter/enhancer DNA may also pose a unique and heightened risk of DNA integration into human cells,” according to a news release from the Florida Department of Health (DOH).¹⁹ Further, according to the Florida DOH, the FDA’s own 2007 guidance states:²⁰

“DNA integration could theoretically impact a human’s oncogenes – the genes which can transform a healthy cell into a cancerous cell.
DNA integration may result in chromosomal instability.
The Guidance for Industry discusses biodistribution of DNA vaccines and how such integration could affect unintended parts of the body including blood, heart, brain, liver, kidney, bone marrow, ovaries/testes, lung, draining lymph nodes, spleen, the site of administration and subcutis at injection site.”

How to Recover From Post-Jab Injury

If you’ve had a COVID-19 shot, there are steps you can take to repair from the assault on your system. Remember, the more mRNA shots you take, the greater the immune system damage. So, the first step is to avoid getting anymore COVID jabs. Next, if you’ve developed any unusual symptoms, seek out help from an expert.

The Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC) also has a treatment protocol for post-jab injuries. It’s called I-RECOVER and can be downloaded from covid19criticalcare.com.²¹

Dr. Pierre Kory, who cofounded the FLCCC, has transitioned to treating the vaccine injured more or less exclusively. For more information, visit DrPierreKory.com. McCullough is also investigating post-jab treatments, which you can find on PeterMcCulloughMD.com.

The World Health Council has also published lists of remedies that can help inhibit, neutralize and eliminate spike protein, which most experts agree is a primary culprit. I covered these in my 2021 article, "World Council for Health Reveals Spike Protein Detox."

Hand Sanitizers Could Damage Critical Supporting Cells in the Brain

Mon, 15 Apr 2024 17:00:00 -0700

Toxic chemicals found in hand sanitizers and other disinfectants, as well as household items like furniture and electronics, could be harming brain development in children and future generations. This includes quaternary compounds — used widely in disinfecting agents — and organophosphate flame retardants, which are found in many household items.

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio found quaternary compounds were damaging to oligodendrocytes, a type of glial cell in the central nervous system, including the brain and spinal cord, while flame retardants increased the risk of neurodevelopmental problems.¹ Both chemical classes are widespread in the environment, raising the risk of population-wide health risks.

Hand Sanitizer Compound May Harm Brain Development

Quaternary ammonium compounds, also referred to as QACs or quats, are a popular ingredient in hand sanitizers and disinfectant wipes. Usage of both products has increased significantly in recent years.

Clorox increased production of its disinfectant wipes to 1.5 million packs per day during the pandemic,² while an industry trade group survey found 83% of households had used disinfectant wipes at least one time in the past week and 92% of consumers had used a cleaning, disinfecting or sanitizing wipe.³

Use of hand sanitizers also rose during the pandemic, with usage as high as 25 times per day in children and more than nine times daily for adults.⁴ You may also be exposed to QACs in a number of other common products, including wood preservatives, mouthwash, detergents, shampoos, fabric softeners, eye drops and herbicides.

The cumulative effects of such exposures are unknown, but in a study on mouse pups, researchers found the chemicals in the animals’ brain tissues just days after administering an oral dose. Not only does this suggest that QACs cross the blood-brain barrier, but they may also cause damage to oligodendrocytes in the brain.⁵

Oligodendrocytes play an important role in forming the myelin sheath, a fatty layer that surrounds the axons of nerve cells. This myelin sheath is essential for the fast transmission of electrical signals, allowing for efficient communication within the nervous system. Damage to oligodendrocytes, which act similar to insulation around electrical wires, can lead to several neurological disorders, including multiple sclerosis.

After 10 daily doses of a QAC called cetylpyridinium chloride — starting just five days after birth — the mice had reduced numbers of oligodendrocytes in their brains. Study author Paul Tesar noted, "Loss of oligodendrocytes underlies multiple sclerosis and other neurological diseases. We now show that specific chemicals in consumer products can directly harm oligodendrocytes, representing a previously unrecognized risk factor for neurological disease."⁶

The scientists also tested QACs in brain organoids, which are three-dimensional cell cultures used as a model for studying brain development and disease mechanisms. Similar damage was found.⁷ Typically, oligodendrocytes keep developing from before birth into adulthood, but the study suggests QACs may kill them.

"We found that oligodendrocytes — but not other brain cells — are surprisingly vulnerable to quaternary ammonium compounds and organophosphate flame retardants," study author Erin Cohn said in a news release. "Understanding human exposure to these chemicals may help explain a missing link in how some neurological diseases arise."⁸

QACs Also Linked to Immune System, Respiratory and Reproductive Adverse Effects

When you use QAC-containing products like cleansers, disinfectants, personal care items and more, you can be exposed by ingesting the chemicals, inhaling them or absorbing them through your skin. Beyond damage to brain cells, QACs are also linked to multiple adverse health outcomes including:⁹

Dermal (skin) and respiratory effects
Developmental and reproductive toxicity
Disruption of metabolic function such as lipid homeostasis
Impairment of mitochondrial function

In fact, the National Pesticide Information Center states that children should not use antimicrobial wipes because they contain QACs, and children are more likely to have higher rates of exposure due to putting their hands in their mouths.¹⁰

Separate research found the chemicals also contribute to antimicrobial resistance and pollute the environment, including causing acute and chronic toxicity to aquatic organisms.¹¹ Writing in Environmental Science & Technology, researchers explained that QACs are a "chemical class of emerging concern":¹²

"QAC use is increasing, without high-quality evidence of their effectiveness in reducing transmission of infectious disease in many settings and applications. Meanwhile, greater indoor usage is consistent with higher indoor exposure, which is a concern given the recent discovery of adverse health outcomes in laboratory animals at relatively low (ambient) exposure concentrations.

Increased production and usage is anticipated to result in higher QAC concentrations in wastewater, which is a pathway for broader environmental exposure and potential risks to biota. This is especially concerning given that some environmental concentrations already exceed protective aquatic toxicity thresholds."

Flame Retardants Associated With Neurodevelopmental Disorders

The Case Western Reserve University researchers also analyzed levels of the flame retardant metabolite, BDCIPP, in children. Data from 1,763 children between the ages of 3 to 11 revealed that nearly all had BDCIPP in their urine.

However, Science Alert reported, "Those with the highest levels were two and six times more likely than those with low exposure to experience adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes such as motor dysfunction or requirements for educational assistance."¹³

Past research also linked greater exposures to flame retardants during pregnancy with lower intelligence in the child. Specifically, for every 10-fold increase in prenatal exposure to another type of flame retardant, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), there was a 3.7-point decline in IQ test scores in children.¹⁴

Past research has also demonstrated that children born to mothers with higher levels of flame retardant chemicals in their body had a 4.5-point average decrease in IQ,¹⁵ while exposure in childhood is strongly associated with poor attention span, reduced fine motor coordination and a decrease in cognitive ability.¹⁶ Flame retardants may even change important processes, including tryptophan metabolism, in the placenta that can affect the developing brain.¹⁷

"Our findings suggest that more comprehensive scrutiny of the impacts of these common household chemicals on brain health is necessary," Tesar said in a news release. "We hope our work will contribute to informed decisions regarding regulatory measures or behavioral interventions to minimize chemical exposure and protect human health."¹⁸

What Else Is Lurking in Hand Sanitizer?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration maintains a running list of "hand sanitizers consumers should not use."¹⁹ It includes products that were tested by the FDA and found to contain benzene, acetaldehyde, methanol, acetal or other toxins.

Others on the list were found to have microbial contamination, were made at the same facility as products that contain benzene and other toxins or were packaged in containers resembling food or beverage containers, posing an increased risk of accidental ingestion.²⁰

Valisure laboratory also tested 260 hand sanitizer products, including liquid and non-liquid products. They found that 44 batches, or 17%, contained benzene. The highest benzene level detected was 16.1 parts per million (ppm), which is more than eight times the FDA’s interim limit of 2 ppm.²¹

Benzene is found in crude oil, gasoline and cigarette smoke, and is also widely used to make chemicals used in the manufacture of plastics, synthetic fibers, lubricants, rubbers, dyes, detergents, drugs and pesticides. Benzene interferes with cells, causing bone marrow to not produce enough red blood cells, triggering anemia, for instance. It can also cause immune system damage, including changes in antibody levels and loss of white blood cells.

After long-term exposure, benzene causes cancer in humans, particularly leukemia, and is known to lead to irregular menstrual periods and a decrease in ovary size in women.²² In their guidance on how to use hand sanitizer safely, the FDA also states that hand sanitizers are drugs,²³ which can cause alcohol poisoning in children if even a small amount is consumed.

Writing in Critical Reviews in Toxicology, researchers with Vellore Institute of Technology in India called for the development of natural alternatives to replace toxic hand sanitizers, noting:²⁴

"The unintended exposure of children to hand sanitizers poses a high risk of potentially fatal complications. Skin irritation, dryness, cracking, peeling, hypoglycemia, apnea, and acidosis are examples of unintended consequences of hand sanitizer. The sanitizer reportedly kills normal microbial flora on hands, which usually promotes innate immunity among children under 12.

Children are more susceptible to the toxicity associated with the chemical constituents of marketed chemical-based hand sanitizers; however, the studies to develop sanitizer formulations for children are rudimentary … Additionally, it is reported that many chemical-based hand sanitizer formulations, especially alcohol-based ones may also contain contaminants like methanol, acetaldehyde, benzene, isopropanol, and ethyl-acetate."

Use Hand Sanitizer Sparingly, If at All — Wash Your Hands Instead

Overuse of hand sanitizers and other disinfectants can backfire. There are potential adverse effects to human health from inhaling disinfectants, as such chemicals are known to accumulate in the lungs, liver, kidneys, stomach, brain and blood. Exposures were certainly elevated during the pandemic for many people, who were exposed to disinfectants by inhalation and oral routes, as well as via the skin and eyes.

There are also significant environmental concerns due to the "unusual release and dissemination of higher concentrations of biocide-based products into the surface and underground waters and also wastewater treatment systems."²⁵ When disinfectants and biocides enter the environment, they can wipe out beneficial bacterial species that are keeping drug-resistant microorganisms in check.

"[I]f the biocide concentrations reach the sub-minimum inhibitory concentration (sub-MIC), this event may augment the selective pressure, boost the horizontal gene transfer (HGT), and drive the evolution of AMR [antimicrobial resistance]," scientists warn.²⁶

Remember, there’s little hand sanitizers and disinfectant wipes can do that soap and water can’t. Unless you’re in a hospital setting, where disinfectants are sometimes necessary, you should use hand sanitizers sparingly and only when truly necessary, which typically will be hardly at all.

In most cases, simple hand washing is all that’s necessary to keep your hands clean. In a study that compared the effect of alcohol-based hand sanitizer and hand washing using ozonized tap water or soap and water to remove E. coli, washing with soap and water was the most effective.²⁷

As an added bonus, one week of hand washing reduced individual exposure to flame retardants by about half. House cleaning for one week to reduce dust was also an effective way to significantly reduce exposure to dangerous flame retardant chemicals.

How to Assess Your Metabolic Health at Home

Mon, 15 Apr 2024 17:00:00 -0700

One of the easiest ways to assess your metabolic health at home is a simple body temperature measurement. Body temperature is a sign of how well your body is creating and utilizing energy. So, a lower body temperature is a sign that our body is not producing a lot of energy (meaning, hindered metabolic function).

Measuring my body temperature for the first time five years ago was my lightbulb moment when I finally accepted and realized that my previous restrictive lifestyle (keto, fasting, and carnivore) was no longer serving me.

The oral thermometer reading was 96.5 degrees Fahrenheit (F), with a pulse in the 50-60 bpm range.

These readings screamed YOU ARE IN SURVIVAL MODE and are NOT thriving. Some of the symptoms I was experiencing while in this hypothyroid, low energy state (confirmed by my low body temperature) included cold hands and feet, hair thinning, digestion problems, limited food tolerance (had a very limited list of foods I was able to consume), and dwindling energy levels.

A low body temperature is a sign that what you are doing now is not optimal. But do not worry, this can change and be improved. But you may need to make some dietary and lifestyle changes.

Why Body Temperature and Pulse Measurements Provide Insight Into Metabolic Health

You do not run on thin air — as every function in your body requires energy. And this energy is largely obtained by the food we consume (of course other factors like light and sun exposure matter as well!) But electrons come in through the food we consume, and the goal is to get those electrons into the mitochondria through the electron transport chain all the way to the final electron acceptor, oxygen, in order to make the energy molecule that fuels life: ATP.

A thriving body with a strong metabolism generates plenty of energy so that all functions of the body run smoothly. So, the less ATP we generate, the less energy your body has to function and non-essential tasks are down regulated.

A high metabolic rate comes with a number of perks — you can eat more calories and maintain your weight, have more energy in life, have a better body composition, digest food better, eat a wider variety of foods, have great digestion and poops, sleep better, and live an overall higher quality life.

With better energy production, you thrive, instead of just survive. A byproduct of energy production is heat. So, a simple way to assess your metabolic health at home is body temperature and pulse measurements taken throughout the day.

So, higher body temperatures = higher metabolic rate since we are producing a lot of energy and generating heat as a byproduct.

Our body temperature is on a circadian clock. In a thriving and resilient body, your waking temperature should be high 97s/low 98s F, and pulse measurements should be in the 70-90/95 BPM range.

Your body temperature should then slowly increase after each meal, reaching 98.6 deg F mid-day or early afternoon. Body temp will then slowly decline as we get closer to bedtime. Pulse measurements throughout the day should be in the 70-95 BPM range.

Why Take Multiple Body Temperature Measurements?

When assessing metabolic health, it is important to take measurements throughout the day, as stress hormones can keep your morning body temperature high. So, someone living on stress hormones can have a high waking temp that lowers after breakfast (which is not a sign of a strong metabolism, as we want to see the body temperature rise, a sign we are using food to produce energy). As explained by the late Ray Peat, a biologist and thyroid expert:

“If the night-time stress is very high, the adrenaline will still be high until breakfast, increasing both temperature and pulse rate. The cortisol stimulates the breakdown of muscle tissue and its conversion to energy, so it is thermogenic, for some of the reasons that food is thermogenic.

After eating breakfast, the cortisol (and adrenaline, if it stayed high despite the increased cortisol) will start returning to a more normal, lower level, as the blood sugar is sustained by food, instead of by the stress hormones.

In some hypothyroid people, this is a good time to measure the temperature and pulse rate. In a normal person, booth temperature and pulse rate rise after breakfast, but in very hypothyroid people either, or both, might fall.”

A drop in body temp after a meal shows that the food we consumed is lowering our stress (which is of course a good thing!), but it’s not necessarily adding to our metabolic energy reserves. A metabolically stimulating meal should increase heat (and thus, energy) production.

So, ideally your body temperature measurements should look like the pattern on the left. The pattern on the right is a sign of a sluggish thyroid and metabolic system, and high stress hormones.

Why Take Pulse Measurements?

Including pulse measurements is optional, but it can help you separate the effect of stress hormones or environmental factors and better assess metabolic health. Body temperatures can be influenced by a number of things besides thyroid, for example:

Sleeping with heating blankets
Living in a hot climate

Neither are bad, but both can make it easier for the body to regulate your temperature (despite having a hindered metabolism). Someone running on stress hormones can also have artificially elevated body temperatures (as discussed in the Peat quote above), especially first thing in the morning.

Thus, including the pulse rate measurement helps to interpret the temperature readings and provide more nuance. Because a high body temperature with a very low pulse is not a sign of a strong metabolism. Your pulse rate is reflective of the amount of nutrients and energy delivered to cells throughout the body (and this delivery is vital for proper ATP production!)

Despite popular belief, while a low heart rate may come with a super fit body, it is not always a sign of good health and is a sign of a lowered metabolism. With a low pulse (<60 bpm), the athlete’s body is becoming more efficient, using less energy to perform the same amount of work.

While this is helpful for the athletic event, this will come with negative effects in the long run like increased rates of aging, lowered libido, hindered digestion and other consequences of a lower metabolic rate. We of course do not want high pulse readings but staying in the 70-90/95 BPM range is ideal.

You can separate the effect of your stress hormones from your thyroid function by measuring your body temperature throughout the day and (optional) including the pulse rate.

Maintaining a high body temperature is also vital for optimal function of various organ systems throughout the body. A body temperature of 98.6 degrees F is the optimal temperature at which the systems in the human body function.¹

Why? Enzymatic function depends on temperature. And every loss of optimal enzyme activity means a loss of functionality for the respective organ system. A drop of only 1.8 degrees F can result in a loss of approximately 50% of enzymatic activity.

Professor Hiromi Shinya, Ph.D., (Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY, USA) demonstrated that lowering the body temperature by only 0.9° results in a 30% decline in enzyme and immune activity. He also discovered that cancer cells can multiply much faster at 95°F than at 98.6°F. The conclusion from his studies:²

“Humans with low body temps have decreased immunity, suffer circulation disorders, have increased genetic changes and thus an increased cancer risk.”

As your core body temperature falls, overall body function declines.³

Why Are Body Temperatures Low?

Lower body temperatures may be common these days, but it is not normal. Humans used to have an average body temperature of 98.6 deg F,⁴ but this temperature measurement has been on a steady decline⁵ while obesity rates have been on a steady rise.

As metabolic rates go down, weight gain rises as less energy is burned off as heat and more energy is stored. There are a number of reasons for this decline in body temperature (and metabolic rates) including (but not limited to):

Environmental pollutants and toxins like glyphosate	Xenoestrogens
Under-eating and constant restrict-binge cycles	Low-carb diets
High stress levels	Increase in PUFA (polyunsaturated fatty acids) consumption

Image source: eLife 2020; 9: e49555

It’s Kind of Like Squirrels

Squirrels and other mammals like bears and groundhogs are hibernating animals. Hibernation involves lowered body temperatures and slowed metabolic rates so that an animal can survive the winter (or adverse weather conditions) without eating. Non-essential tasks are down-regulated so that the animal can conserve energy.

Multiple studies have shown that hibernating animals require significant PUFA in their diets to fully enter hibernation.^6,^7,^8,^9,¹⁰ This is very well documented in the literature!

"Patterns of hibernation and daily torpor are influenced by the composition of dietary fats. Heterothermic mammals fed diets containing plant oils that are rich in UFA and PUFA have longer torpor bouts, lower Tb [body temperature] and lower MR [metabolic rates] during torpor than individuals fed diets containing fats that are rich in SFA." Geiser et al., 1994¹¹

What do squirrels eat a TON of in the fall to get ready to hibernate in the winter? PUFA-rich nuts. Now, it is very advantageous for the survival of hibernating animals for them to fully enter hibernation. But it is NOT advantageous for humans to enter a hibernation-like state. The result = non-essential tasks are downregulated, and you gain weight on lower and lower calories.

Metabolism-Focused Health

If you currently have low body temperature measurements, all hope is not lost. But you likely need to make dietary and lifestyle changes so that you can THRIVE not just survive.

Utilizing simple body temperature measurements at home can be a great tool to see if dietary or lifestyle changes you make help boost metabolic rate (and thus raise body temperature). As your body temperature rises, your symptoms will reduce as more and more as “non-essential tasks” are upregulated again (because your body has the energy to spend!) So how can you improve body temperature measurements?

"Keeping the metabolic rate up is the main thing, and there are lots of ways to do it." Ray Peat Ph.D.

There is no single cookie-cutter approach as we all come from different restrictive backgrounds. But here are a few tips to get started (using temperature measurements to guide you):

Eat enough calories for your needs (you will not thrive at 1,600 calories)	Reduce PUFA consumption as much as you can
Eat carbs that work well for you	Strength train to build muscle
Lower stress in your life where you can	Pursue JOY and creation
Stop choosing restrictive dietary pathways like excessive fasting or low-carb diets. While there may be short term benefits to restriction, they almost always come at a long-term metabolic cost (which is hard to see in the short term)

To Learn More, Join Rooted in Resilience

If you need some nutritional support and guidance, and are interested in learning more about improving your metabolism so that you can eat more calories, eat food you enjoy, lose weight, and feel great, my sister and I teach you exactly how to do this in our course, Rooted in Resilience.

We have both been through it all: keto, carnivore, fasting, dairy free, vegan, plant-based, gluten-free, AIP and more. Our course provides over 10 years of experience and research packed into one place.

We help you leave behind all the restrictive diets, fear, and confusion around food. We empower you to become your best resource and start living your best life with the energy and confidence to follow your dreams, lose weight, and be confident in your health again.

“After one month since starting Rooted in Resilience my body temperature is now 98.6 deg F!” — Valerie

Learn more about Rooted in Resilience here.

About the Author

Ashley Armstrong is the cofounder of Angel Acres Egg Co., which specializes in low-PUFA (polyunsaturated fat) eggs, and the Nourish Cooperative, which ships low-PUFA pork, beef, cheese, A2 dairy and traditional sourdough to all 50 states. Waitlists will reopen shortly.

Maca Is Good for More Than Your Mojo

Mon, 15 Apr 2024 17:00:00 -0700

Editor's Note: This article is a reprint. It was originally published March 13, 2017.

Superfoods seem to be more abundant than they've ever been. One of the best, but lesser known, is an ancient root vegetable called maca, belonging to the same cruciferous family as kale and cauliflower. However, maca is most closely associated with mustard, turnip, cabbage, garden cress and watercress.¹

Grown in the Peruvian mountains, maca's history is long and distinguished, as it was used even earlier than the Incans for both food and traditional medicine. Its most notable use was to proliferate fertility in both men and women and, serendipitously, increase sexual desire. That may be why another name for it is Peruvian ginseng.²

In modern times, maca is taking on new life with clinically proven and remarkable health benefits, both as a food and supplement. Studies showed it helped improve mood and memory, lower stress levels, treat osteoporosis, protect against UV radiation,³ help balance hormones⁴ and perform a dozen other functions.

Similar to turnip, maca root (Lepidium meyenii) is the world's highest-growing cultivated crop, still flourishing in the rocky soil, high winds, intense sunlight and widely fluctuating temperatures of the Andes Mountains, at altitudes at or above 13,000 feet. Rain Tree, a tropical plant database, notes certain basics of the maca root:

"It is rich in sugars, protein, starches, and essential nutrients (especially iodine and iron). The tuber or root is consumed fresh or dried. The fresh roots are considered a treat and are baked or roasted in ashes (in the same manner as sweet potatoes).

The dried roots are stored and, later, boiled in water or milk to make a porridge. They also are made into a popular sweet, fragrant, fermented drink called maca chicha. In Peru even maca jam, pudding and sodas are popular. The tuberous roots have a tangy, sweet taste and an aroma similar to that of butterscotch."⁵

Maca roots are still grown, harvested, sun-dried and ground down to powder form. Its "earthy, nutty" essence is often sprinkled in such dishes as oatmeal, smoothies and trail mix. A good place to start might be 1 tablespoon daily, working up to 3 per day for maximum benefits.

More on Maca: Nutritional Aspects and Health Benefits

There are several phytonutrients in maca,⁶ including more than 20 amino acids, eight of them essential, as well as minerals, vitamins, fiber and 20 "good" fatty acids, such as oleic acid. Vitamins B1, B2, C and E are plentiful, plus maca has more calcium than milk, and a copper level similar to that found in lentils.

In terms of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) percentages maca offers for daily intake, Authority Nutrition⁷ notes that just 1 ounce (28 grams) provides:

Vitamin C — 133% RDI	Copper — 85% RDI	Iron — 23% RDI
Potassium — 16% RDI	Vitamin B6 — 15% RDI	Manganese — 10% RDI

What can all these nutritional attributes do for people who consume maca? According to Rain Tree:

"The nutritional value of dried maca root is high … It contains 60-75 percent carbohydrates, 10-14 percent protein, 8.5 percent fiber, and 2.2 percent lipids.

The protein content of maca exists mainly in the form of polypeptides and amino acids (including significant amounts of arginine, serine, histidine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glycine, valine, phenylalanine, tyrosine and threonine).⁸

Maca for Your Thyroid

As a dried root, maca can be stored for as long as seven years. It can range in color from back to white and many colors in between, such as purple, orange or green. The color is significant, because the darker the root, the more iodine is present, making it a natural substance to help prevent goiters.

The Maca Team, dedicated to getting this little-known superfood "out there" for people to experience its organically grown nutritional benefits, notes that iodine is very important for thyroid health. One teaspoon contains 0.025 milligrams (mg); 4 teaspoons contain 100% of the RDI. It's also important to note that maca:

"Is essential in helping the thyroid gland to produce hormones. Beyond that, iodine supports healthy metabolism, balanced moods, healthy blood pressure and may also be useful in preventing cancer.

A lack of iodine in your diet can lead to goiters, hypothyroidism, low metabolism, problems in pregnancy, depression, mood disorders, fatigue and other conditions resulting from hormonal imbalance."⁹

It should be noted that maca contains sulfur-containing glucosinolates. As a result, a side effect of eating maca in very high amounts is that it could potentially cause goiter. According to the University of Michigan Medicine:

"Glucosinolates can cause goiter (swollen thyroid gland with decreased activity) if taken in excess combined with a low-iodine diet. Though this is documented to occur with other glucosinolate-rich foods, it is not known if maca causes goiter."¹⁰

There is also some suggestion that the iodine in maca may cause goiter, but according to The Maca Team, "Based on the amount of iodine in [m]aca it is highly unlikely that taking [m]aca alone will contribute to the formation of a goiter even in people with a compromised thyroid gland."¹¹

Nutritional Benefits of Maca for Men and Women

One of the most dramatic contributions maca provides is its ability to improve libido in men,¹² but with the added benefit shown in other studies that it does so without affecting testosterone or any other sex hormone.¹³ The University of Michigan Medicine (UMM) recommends 1,500 or 3,000 mg per day for eight weeks for this purpose.

Further, this root has demonstrated increased sperm counts, sperm motility and semen volume,¹⁴ for which UMM recommended the same amount with an open-ended time frame. As an example, one study reported that, taken as a supplement, strength and endurance athletes, in this case cyclists, reported improved cycling time and, as an aside, increased sex drive.¹⁵

For older men, prostate issues may appear, and maca has been shown in animal studies to deal with two of the most troubling by reducing prostate size¹⁶ and possibly reducing men's prostate cancer risk, although more tests are needed.

Menopause, the bane of many women as middle age approaches, is often accompanied by hot flashes. Studies have shown maca to have positive effects on both of these by balancing female hormones. Supplemental amounts suggested were 2.5 to 3 grams per day for six to 12 weeks.¹⁷

Regarding depression experienced by some women associated with menopause, one study noted that maca:

"Reduces psychological symptoms, including anxiety and depression, and lowers measures of sexual dysfunction in postmenopausal women independent of estrogenic and androgenic activity."¹⁸

Additional Maca Benefits

Maca is an "adaptogen," which describes a natural substance that helps your body deal with such stressors as alarm clocks, traffic jams and illness, among others.¹⁹

An animal study reported that maca extracts given over 28 weeks appeared to preserve bone mineral density compared to placebos, increase femur diameter and calcium content more than control agents and normalize bone mineral density.²⁰ Paraphrasing a Chinese study, the Maca Team²¹ noted:

"Dietary supplementation with [m]aca may have potential effects on prevention of postmenopausal lipid abnormality and bone metabolism via a different mechanism from estrogen."²²

Studies also indicated that maca may make you feel more energized and alert for a day at the office or before playing sports, with the added benefits of quick results after taking it, and no nervous "jitters" such as you might experience after drinking coffee. A study published in Nutrients also noted that workout performance may be improved:

"The decrease in inflammation and improvement of physical fitness in elite athletes helped their performance. These changes were observed in the requirement of ATP-PC and aerobic energy systems but more in fin swimming athletes (FSA) requiring aerobic energy systems.

This effect is the increased antioxidant activity and influenced mitochondrial biosynthesis and associated regulatory factors due to black maca supplementation intake."²³

Additionally, taking maca root supplements doesn't necessarily claim to help control diabetes, but a 2007 study found that after taking them for two weeks, animals fed a high-sucrose diet demonstrated "significantly improved glucose tolerance" and lowered levels of glucose in their blood.²⁴

How to Take Maca Supplements

Maca should be taken gradually at first, e.g., taking a small amount for a few days and determining how your body reacts before upping your dosages.²⁵ Because of its effects on hormone levels, physicians say people who rely on hormone-altering medications for diseases like breast or prostate cancer, high blood pressure or other serious conditions should avoid eating or taking maca; the same is advised for pregnant or nursing women.²⁶

Over time, your body can start taking the nutrients in maca for granted; in other words, they don't seem to do as much "good." Consequently, some nutritionists recommend that you take maca tablets for short periods rather than daily for months. Some suggest six weeks on and six weeks off.²⁷

As a supplement, maca studies often used 500 to 1,000 mg three times daily.²⁸ One reason maca is suggested as a supplement, according to Examine, is that "maca root does not taste nice, [and has] a very dirt-like grassy taste; capsules are generally better liked than powders for the uninitiated."²⁹ However, others say maca has a "pleasant" taste.³⁰ Superfoods like maca provide something wild, fresh and extra-nutritional that processed foods can't:

"Call them what you will, foods with high nutrient levels are going to be superfoods when compared to the depleted, over-hybridized, GMO, soil depleted, and over farmed varieties we are all used to consuming from the common grocery and even health food store!

The problems with the modern food supply are many. One of the biggest that even traditional foodies frequently don't seem to grasp is the significant loss of both mainline nutrients — minerals, vitamins, protein and the like — from our food combined with the loss of other types of beneficial compounds and phytonutrients over the past few hundred years."³¹

Because this is true on nearly every level for nearly every food, maca represents a safe, primeval food source with nutritional attributes that supersede many others, especially in terms of the conditions it targets.

Should You Take a Break from Weight-Loss Over the Holidays?

Fri, 25 Nov 2022 12:07:56 -0700

With the holidays approaching, it’s perfectly normal to feel a little anxious about how to handle the sudden change of routine and flurry of festive foods coming your way. Depending on where you’re at in your weight-loss journey, you may not be prepared to indulge much for fear of backsliding your progress—or perhaps you’ve come a long way and feel you are ready for a season of reprieve from your otherwise structured approach to eating.

The holiday season is usually not just a single party or weekend. When you account for the time from Thanksgiving to New Year’s, it’s more like a month-long of festivities, so it’s important to keep that in mind when deciding which path to take.

Let’s look at three possible scenarios—and the implications of each—so that you can make the best decision based on your individual situation and weight-loss personality.

1. Pause Weight-Loss Efforts

If the idea of restricting yourself in any way bums you out and you feel confident in your journey to take a reprieve—knowing for certain that you’ll get back at it promptly after the holidays— then taking a break altogether could be an option.

Just because you’ve decided to temporarily pause your pursuit to lower the number on the scale (experts recommend one-to two-pounds per week for healthy weight loss) it doesn’t mean that there aren’t some equally important things to focus on. Shift your focus to non-scale wins like how amazing you feel in your holiday outfits, how much energy you have and how happy you feel. You may even notice that your cravings for all the things aren’t really there anymore.

Here are some pros and cons to ponder if a full-on weight-loss pause is something you’re considering.

Upsides:

You won’t feel deprived or left out
You can test out what a balanced lifestyle will feel like in the maintenance phase
You won’t snap under the pressure of depriving yourself entirely, which has been shown to be potentially more detrimental than allowing a few indulgences

Downsides:

There’s a chance you may struggle to get back on track
You may regress in your progress and gain a few pounds, depending on how much you relax your plan

2. Forge Forward in Your Weight-Loss Efforts

If you suspect that a pause in your weight-loss journey might be a slippery slope, then forging ahead will be the best approach for you. With so many temptations this time of year, you’ll need some proven strategies to stay on track, but deciding to stay consistent is a decision that may be especially important to you given how far you’ve come and your personal relationship with food—only you know and can decide.

Consider these pros and cons when deciding whether you’ll mostly adhere to your current lifestyle over the holidays.

Upsides:

You’ll continue to make progress and not have to worry about taking a step backward
You’ll reinforce your mental fitness in the face of temptation

Downsides:

You may experience intense moments of temptation, frustration or isolation
You may have to deal with the peanut gallery questioning your dietary choices and giving you a hard time—have a polite response prepared

3. Compromise and Choose Maintenance

Maybe you don’t have to choose one of the other and can enjoy a happy medium instead. If pausing feels too risky and forging forward isn’t realistic and you refuse to not have any fun, then a maintenance month is an option that allows you to approach the season with balance.

Figure out when the bulk of your festive engagements are taking place—perhaps it’s one week or two or three—and for that time period, temporarily move into a maintenance phase where you’re neither losing or gaining weight but instead maintaining your current weight, wherever you’re at in your journey.

It may be helpful to re-adjust your macronutrient mix using a nutrition app or calculator so that you know how many more calories you can consume during this time and where you’ll “spend them” but if that sounds too restrictive for you, just eat mindfully, savor your food, exercise portion control and stop when you’re full. Know that a short period of occasional treats won’t have an irreversible impact on your weight-loss goals.

Upsides

You will enjoy your holidays stress-free while still maintaining some balance
You can fully experience what balanced living in the maintenance phase will feel like after you reach your ultimate goal

Downsides

You might get a little carried away and have to rebound more than expected—but decide ahead of time that it won’t stop you

Bottom line:

The main thing to remember is to ditch all-or-nothing thinking because whether you choose to pause, press forward or maintain, in each scenario, it is possible to get carried away and overindulge.

In this case, practicing compassion with yourself and remembering that on-off instances are just a drop in the bucket will be paramount to your long-term success. Ultimately, take a balanced approach to eating and enjoy the holidays!

*The links used in this article are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by Iovate Health Sciences International Inc. or any of its affiliates (“Iovate”) of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual. Iovate bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of the external site or for that of subsequent links. Contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content.

The post Should You Take a Break from Weight-Loss Over the Holidays? appeared first on Hydroxycut.

Drink This, Not That: Healthier Holiday Cocktail Swaps

Fri, 25 Nov 2022 11:57:31 -0700

‘Tis the season for celebratory sippers—but anyone who’s been on a weight-loss or a weight-maintenance plan knows how quickly those cups of cheer can add up and make weight-loss more difficult to achieve.

Take your classic holiday cocktails such as spiked eggnog, hot toddies, Christmas punch or mulled wine and you’ve got yourself a calorie- and sugar-bomb in a cup. Just a single serving of spiked eggnog contains 374 calories, 12 grams of fat and 38 grams of sugar. Indulge in a few of those bad boys and you might even reach your daily calorie quota.

Luckily, not all cocktails are created equal and you don’t have to forgo all adult beverages in order to stay on track with your weight-loss efforts this holiday.

Here are 8 healthier, low-cal drink swaps to choose:

1. Dry Wine Instead of Sweet Wine

When buying or ordering wine you might assume that they are all the same as far as calories and sugar content goes but the difference between a dry and sweet wine is about 50 calories per glass. For sugar, you’ll find approximately 1.4 grams of sugar per glass in a dry wine compared to as high as 17 grams in a sweet wine. That’s because dry wines ferment longer, reducing their sugar content while sweet wines ferment for less time, resulting in more sugar per glass. Always choose dry wine over sweet and aim for 6 grams or less per liter.

2. Prosecco Instead of White Wine

If you want to whittle the sugar and calorie counts down even more, replace a glass of white wine with prosecco. A 9-ounce glass of white wine will run you about 209 calories, while prosecco clocks in at a modest 85. A great choice for a healthier holiday toast.

3. A Gin Sonic Instead of a G&T

If you’re a fan of G&Ts but not all the sugar that comes with them, we’ve got an easy solution. Cut the sugar in half by mixing one part tonic and one part soda water for a low-calorie version that still satisfies. A traditional G&T contains 170 calories, while a gin sonic only packs 115 calories. You’ll also save more than 11 grams of sugar with this simple switch.

4. A Spirit and Seltzer Cocktail Instead of a Spirit and Soda (or Juice)

This one may be the easiest swap of all. Trade any sweetened mixers—think sodas and juices—for an unsweetened mixer like flavored seltzer or sparkling or flat water. It may take some getting used to but the simple swap will save you anywhere from 10 to 15 grams of sugar per drink, which adds up fast when you have more than one.

5. A Skinny Margarita Instead of Regular Margarita

If you’re a fan of margs, this one’s for you. According to the USDA, a typical margarita packs 274 calories, 36 grams of carbs and 36 grams of sugar—yikes! But a “skinny margarita” made with seltzer or club soda and stevia instead of sugar—or no sugar at all—cuts all of that in half.

6. Unsweetened Hard Seltzer Instead of Canned Cocktails

The canned cocktail craze is a massive trend enjoyed by many, but not all canned concoctions are created equal. With endless canned bevvies to choose from, it’s key to check the label and pick one that is entirely unsweetened and only flavored with flavored seltzer or uses stevia or monk fruit—both calorie-free sweeteners. What’s the difference? 0 to 2 grams of sugar per can of unsweetened hard seltzer compared to 12 to 40 grams for sweetened cocktails in a can.

7. A Bottle of Beer Instead of a Pint

This one simply comes down to volume. Skip the beer belly by opting for bottled beer over a pint anytime you order a beer. A pint of beer contains about 220 calories whereas a bottle is about half of that—and even less if you opt for light beer.

8. A Mocktail Instead of a Cocktail

If you really want to dial in your calories consumed and save it for something else this holiday season, like the dessert table, skip alcoholic beverages altogether and opt for a mocktail. Just remember that even mocktails can contain a lot of sugar so employ the tips above about choosing unsweetened mixers for all your mocktail orders.

5 More Tips for Smarter Sipping This Holiday Season

Alternate between one alcoholic beverage and one glass of water—it’s good for hydration and preventing hangovers too!
Set a drink limit ahead of time that fits into your daily macronutrient mix and stick with it.
Ask for a tall glass—it will help dilute the alcohol and take you longer to finish.
Pour yourself half as much and sip slowly.
Abstain from alcohol in the days around your holiday gatherings for balance and to reduce your overall alcohol consumption.

The post Drink This, Not That: Healthier Holiday Cocktail Swaps appeared first on Hydroxycut.

Step Into Your 2023 Mindset Now

Fri, 25 Nov 2022 07:44:40 -0700

Setting outcome goals with extrinsic motivators are the shiny objects of resolutions but psychology research continues to prove that they simply aren’t as effective as some other proven strategies for changing habits, mindsets and behaviors for lasting change. Think of it as an evolution instead of a resolution.

Best of all, you don’t have to wait until the strike of midnight 2023 to lay the groundwork for your evolution. You can start right now. Here’s how to get into your 2023 mindset now.

But First, What’s the Difference Between Intrinsic and Extrinsic goals?

To put it simply, an intrinsic goal can be defined as a goal that you are pursuing that builds on your core values and authentic passions and will contribute to your growth as a person—either personally or in your relationships. Another way to look at it is that you are doing the thing for the love of the thing itself, not the outcome that may be associated with it.

Extrinsic goals on the other hand, would be the aforementioned outcome associated with doing the thing. They can materialize in the form of recognition from others, a career promotion, reaching a certain level of fame or obtaining something you’ve been wanting. Extrinsic goals are solely focused on the outcome and not the journey getting there.

Why is Self-Care More Important Than Ever?

After a couple of tumultuous years, we’ve all had a chance to reflect on what’s important (and what’s not), where we want to spend our time and the goals, both intrinsic and extrinsic, that matter to us. In examining all of this, common themes like health, wellness and self-care become something of a zeitgeist after our physical health was threatened by Covid-19 and mental health and emotional health was threatened by isolation, working from home and other factors.

In the wake of that, we suddenly saw an unprecedented thing happen called The Great Resignation—or the Great Reshuffle— in 2021, where nearly 47 million Americans voluntarily resigned to pursue new paths after realizing they were overworked or underappreciated in their roles.

We also saw the rise of another revolution called “quiet quitting” where instead of resigning, employees detach from their roles and instead of working themselves into the ground, they consciously choose to do only what is required—the bare minimum—and refuse to go above and beyond.

To be clear, we’re not saying that we condone or advise either tactic as an act of self-care but one conclusion we can draw from these massive shifts in the workplace is that the pandemic gave us a lot to think about—and people are now taking a stand and putting self-care first.^1,2,3

By using self-care as our compass, and knowing that intrinsic goals are the true path to an evolution of self, here are 4 ways you can shift into your 2023 mindset now and get a head start on lasting habits for meaningful change.

1. Make Yourself Priority #1

We’ve all heard the analogy about putting your own oxygen mask on first before helping someone else and if the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that we are no good to anyone around us if we are passed out on the floor. In some ways, we’ve been conditioned to think that this mentality is selfish—but it’s far from the case. We can only be at our best for others when we’ve taken care of our needs and have a full cup to pour from.

A few ways to honor yourself and practice self-care is by first asking yourself what you need—and often—taking guilt-free breaks when you need them and establishing a few non-negotiables that nurture your physical, mental and emotional health. Perhaps it’s your daily workout, meditation time, no phones during dinnertime or 15 minutes of quiet time after work.

2. Change from a “Missing-Out” Mindset to a “Gaining” Mindset

A lot of people tend to focus on what they are giving up or missing out on when they attempt to make healthy changes, such as cutting out junk food or embarking on a sober month like Dry January.

When you wrap the effort in language that emphasizes what you’re missing out on, it will dictate how you view the overall experience—like you’re missing out on something—even if it’s an unhealthy habit to begin with. Instead, focus on what you’re gaining. Make notes for yourself and repeat affirmations that reinforce the positives of making the change. Instead of “Sober October” why not try, “Soaring October” because you’ll be so high on life from detoxing, no hangovers and feeling great!

Another tactic to try is to replace saying, “I have to” with “I get to”. So, if you commit to working out five days a week, replace saying, “I have to workout today” with “I get to workout today!” and watch how your energy around that statement and the action changes. Basically, you’re shifting your mind to recognize your healthy habits as a privilege—not a punishment.

3. Put Emphasis on Behaviors VS Outcomes

This goes back to the intrinsic vs extrinsic goals we talked about. An end-goal like losing 10 or 20 pounds is an outcome, and oftentimes an extrinsic one. But the journey to getting there is all about changing your habits for the healthier—moving your body more and fueling it with nutritious foods for example—behaviors that are so life-changing, you’ll want to maintain them.

Work on shifting your focus from an over-glorified end-goal and instead move your energy into behaviors that you want to instill for life. Perhaps it’s sleeping more, drinking less alcohol, eating better or exercising more—insert your goal here. Oftentimes when you’re busy reinforcing all those amazing day-to-day habits, the big end-goal just sort of takes care of itself.

That said, changing behaviors can be challenging because we have to rewire our brain and work against an established reward system that we’ve been reinforcing for years—sometimes our entire lives. For that reason, scientists say it’s important to start with small, realistic goals and celebrate and reward small progress steps along the way to reprogram your mind towards the new, healthier behaviors you’re establishing.

4. Identify with The Person You Want to Be

In addition to shifting your focus from outcomes to behaviors, take it one step further and identify with the person you are working to become in order to evolve into that version of yourself. For example, if you’re offered a donut in the employee break room, instead of saying, “No thanks, I’m trying to eat better”, which implies you want to that person but you’re not yet convinced that you are, try saying,” “No thanks, I don’t eat that stuff” and fully identify as a healthy eater that doesn’t eat fake food. Identifying with “You 2.0” is a proven strategy for behavioral change.

A University of Oregon Neuroscientist wrote for Consult Psychol J that, “A behavior will hold greater subjective value to the degree that it is related to one’s core values and sense of self. Identity-linked goals are more likely to be successful than identity-irrelevant or identity-counter ones.”

So in other words, if it aligns with your core values and you believe it—and identify with it—you can achieve it.

RESOURCES:

1: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/when-to-leave-a-job/
2: https://fortune.com/2022/09/28/mental-health-timebomb-fuel-great-reshuffle/
3:https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/09/what-is-quiet-quitting-burnout-at-work/671413/

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Healthy Holiday Dishes That Still Taste Great!

Wed, 09 Nov 2022 06:44:21 -0700

Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s there’s no shortage of gatherings that will have you sitting around festive tables with family and friends eating a little more than you’re used to.

While it’s important to keep your health goals in mind this time of year, the holidays are also meant to be enjoyed. But because the festivities span over a month long, it’s important to have some smart solutions when it comes to celebrating—without going too far in a direction that derails your hard work and weight-loss efforts.

Here, we’re sharing 10 festive dish inspirations that still taste great but won’t set you back in your efforts to manage a healthy weight. Best of all, your friends and family won’t even know these dishes were selected with your health in mind—that’s how delicious they are!

1. Roasted Mashed Cauliflower

If you’re watching your carb intake but love the creamy mouthfeel of mashed potatoes, then cauliflower is here to save the day (again).There are countless recipes to choose from online but the gist is that you roast sliced, oiled and seasoned cauliflower at 425F for 25 minutes and then blend them up with a little bit of heavy cream until you reach your desired smoothness. Top them as you would normal mashed potatoes and enjoy for a fraction of the calories and carbs found in traditional mashed potatoes.

2. Hearty Squash Salad

Every holiday table should have a fresh, green salad but many are loaded with huge hunks of cheese, fruit, sugary dressings and candied nuts. Get all the sweetness and satiety without the belly-busting calories with a squash- and pomegranate-studded salad with a super simple dressing. Try this recipe.

3. Crispy Brussels Sprouts

Brussels Sprouts make an excellent holiday side because they can be cooked until crispy and flavored a bunch of different ways. Try preparing them in an air fryer if you have one, and if not, in an oven with a convection setting which, if you didn’t know, has the same effect! Try them with chopped bacon and onions or lemon and garlic and if you’re into spicy and sweet, who can resist the combination of honey and sriracha over brussels sprouts? Try this recipe.

4. Broccoli and Cheese Casserole

It’s always nice to have something draped in gooey cheese on the holiday table but most casseroles are loaded with hunks of bread, biscuits and potatoes. Meet in the middle to watch your middle with a broccoli and cheese casserole that’s loaded with good-for-you fiber, a slew of beneficial vitamins and also contains anticarcinogenic compounds that help reduce your risk for a number of cancers.

5. Hasselback Sweet Potatoes

Swap traditional white potatoes for their more nutrient-dense cousin, the sweet potato, and not only will you reduce the amount of blood-sugar spiking glucose you consume thanks to sweet potato’s lower GI Index, you’ll also double down on vitamin A, which is great for immunity, vision and reproductive health. Hasselback potatoes are super impressive to serve but surprisingly easy to make. Top them with rosemary and garlic for a festive flair or traditional potato toppers, sour cream and chives.

6. Butternut Squash Lasagna

Here’s an unexpected dish that’s always first to disappear at festive feasts: Butternut Squash Lasagna. Search one that contains sage for a truly wintery flavor and take comfort in knowing you’re trading in empty-calorie and carb-rich noodles for vitamin-rich layers of squash instead.

7. Mashed Sweet Potato Casserole

No holiday spread is complete without a sweet potato casserole but most are loaded with sugar, butter and milk—most of which isn’t even necessary considering the natural sugar and creaminess in sweet potatoes. Try this recipe with a fraction the sugar and milk that clocks in at just 220 calories per serving.

8. Pan-Roasted Squash Rings

Here’s a super simple side that doesn’t require a recipe, is comforting, sweet and simply screams, “happy holidays!”. Slice a few types of squash—try delicata, acorn and butternut—drizzle with olive oil, honey, salt and pepper and roast in the oven at 350F for 35 minutes. Once ready, top with crispy sage, thyme or chopped pecans for a truly festive dish.

9. Green Bean Casserole

In more “better-for-you casseroles” news, we present the healthier green bean casserole that skips cream of mushroom soup, canned green beans and anything mushy at all and instead opts for fresh beans, onions and mushrooms. Luckily the internet has cleaned this classic up a ton of times, so you’ll have no problem picking a healthier version that best suits you.

10. Roasted Pears with Brie and Honey

You didn’t think we’d skip over a better-for-you dessert solution did you? No chance. If you’re tempted by the dessert table at every holiday party you attend, why not roast up a pan of halved pears topped with cinnamon, sliced brie and honey and bring it as a party offering—and sweet tooth savior for you! It’s the perfect ending to a savory meal and will hit the spot without all the heavy carbs and sugar found in pie crusts, bars and cakes.

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4 Ways to Stay Calm On Your Weight Loss Journey

Wed, 09 Nov 2022 06:39:58 -0700

Staying calm and optimistic may be one of the most important mental habits you can form in order to be successful on your weight-loss journey—but anyone that’s ever embarked on a path to reducing body fat knows just how easy it is to become overwhelmed from time to time—and accept defeat.

With these four proven strategies for overcoming overwhelm while losing weight, you‘ll be more equipped to stay calm and weight loss on.

1. Ditch All-or-Nothing Thinking

All or nothing thinking is a negative thinking pattern that causes you to think in extremes. In other words, if everything isn’t perfect then it’s a total failure. This type of extreme thinking is unrealistic, leads to overwhelm and may lead you to giving up because, let’s face it, perfectionism doesn’t exist.

This type of thinking is common in people trying to lose weight but doesn’t usually end well because once a misstep occurs with diet, exercise or there’s a regression in weight loss, the all-or-nothing reaction is to throw in the towel.

To overcome all-or-nothing thinking, it’s important to stop thinking in absolutes. If a setback occurs, instead of deeming your efforts failed, pause, reframe, consider other reasons why the setback occurred—and be compassionate with yourself. Remind yourself that setbacks happen—and will continue to happen—but you can get back on track despite them. Remind yourself of your strengths, what did go right and try to find a positive in the situation.

2. Take a Digital Detox

If you’re feeling overwhelmed on your weight-loss journey, then chances are you are also suffering from low self-esteem—and one of the least helpful things to do in this state is to scrolling social media.

Doomscrolling, a term that means endless scrolling of news or social media feeds is a habit many of us are guilty of doing on occasion and can exacerbate feelings of depression, anxiety and may even be a function of obsessive compulsive behavior. Couple that with the negative effects that social comparison can have on your psyche—especially when trying to lose weight—and you’ve got a recipe for overwhelm.

Limit the amount of time you spend scrolling social media feeds each day and do your best to stop when you find yourself doomscrolling mindlessly. If you struggle to limit screen time, consider a digital detox one day a week or for the weekend—or better yet—temporarily delete your social media apps for a digital detox while you work through a sticking point in your weight-loss journey.

3. Don’t Rush the Process

Changing your mindset from, “Lose 10 pounds by the wedding” to “Lose 10 pounds for life” is one of the most profound mental shifts you can make to reduce feelings of overwhelm, succeed with weight loss and keep it off.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, 80 to 95% of dieters regain weight and experts believe that that’s because they treat weight loss like a sprint and not a marathon. To avoid becoming overwhelmed, pace yourself with the recommended one- to two-pounds weight-loss a week.

In addition to that, you want to ensure you’re losing the right kind of weight and fast-tracking weight loss has been shown to reduce the wrong kind. A meta-analysis published in the British Journal of Nutrition compared two weight-loss groups—a rapid group and a gradual group. Both groups lost the exact same amount of weight. Fascinatingly, the gradual group lost body fat percentage and fat mass, while the rapid group lost water weight and muscle mass—which is not the mass you want to lose in order to maintain weight loss long term.

4. Don’t Overschedule Yourself

An overpacked schedule where you’re rushing from one place to the next and you’re chronically 10 minutes behind schedule will not only raise your stress hormone cortisol, which is known to make weight loss harder—especially around your midsection—but it is also one the fastest ways to feel completely overwhelmed by life in general and can lead to falling off the wagon. In that frenzied state, you’re much more likely to miss nutritious meals, cave in to comfort foods, skip workouts and sleep less, all bad news for weight-loss.

Once a week, take some time to plan the coming week out carefully. Schedule in time to shop, meal prep, pre-book your workouts, set a sleep-wake schedule, reserve time for self-care (think meditation, reading, journaling and breathwork) and once you have your health, work and family priorities set, only then start to layer on any extracurricular social activities. In order to lose weight successfully and calmly, you must put yourself first on the list and make it a non-negotiable.

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If You Can’t Stop Snacking at Night, Read This

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 11:14:41 -0700

There are a few reasons you might be snacking at night and unfortunately if you’re not careful with your snack choices, your evening munchy habit can result in weight gain and a night of fitful rest.

Here’s why you snack at night and 10 better-for-you snacks to reach for.

Why you’re snacking at night

This may come as a surprise but your willpower isn’t entirely to blame for your late-night noshing. Researchers say that it’s actually our internal clocks—known as our circadian clocks— that trigger us to reach for sweet, salty and starchy foods at night—specifically around 8pm.

The reason for this is because it helped to prompt our ancestors to load up on high-calorie foods for survival—but times have obviously changed and we no longer need to stockpile fat to survive. Unfortunately, those pesky light-night cravings are still innate.

Other reasons you might be overeating at night is because you overly restrict calories throughout the day, leaving you hungry at night. This is especially true for some important macronutrients like protein and fiber which help to keep you satiated for longer and support healthy weight loss.

Another possibility is that you’re not drinking enough water throughout the day and you’re dehydrated. Lack of hydration has been scientifically shown to mimic hunger and lead to overeating. In clinical studies, 37% of people mistake thirst for hunger thanks to the empty stomach, gurgling and light headedness that can also accompany dehydration. Make sure you’re getting at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water each day.

And lastly, you may be failing to manage stress levels. Elevated cortisol levels caused by stress is a well-known contributor to food cravings. Make sure you’re managing stress by exercising, meditating, practicing breathwork, yoga and more and you’ll likely find that you’re less inclined to eat your stress away.

Better-For-You Late-Night Snacks

That said, just because you have a growling tummy as bedtime approaches doesn’t mean you should go to bed hungry. You just have to choose the right late-night snacks that won’t derail your weight-loss efforts—or interfere with sleep.

Here are the 10 best late-night snacks that are not only nutrient-dense but may even help you fall—and stay—asleep.

1. If you have a sweet tooth: Try low-sugar dark chocolate

If you have a sweet tooth at night but you’re watching your waistline and worry about compromising sleep, upgrade your chocolate. Dark chocolate has an enormous amount of positive research around it for its heart-health benefits and more. Look for a dark chocolate that has no more than four grams of sugar per serving and is at least 70% dark chocolate (the higher the better). Snacks that are high in sugar are known to negatively impact a good night’s sleep.

2. If you crave salty snacks: Try cheese crisps

If you find yourself craving cheese in the evening, there’s a better alternative you may even prefer: Cheese crisps or cheese chips. You can easily make them yourself by grating parmesan or any hard cheese and baking them into little cheese chips but there are pre-packaged options too. Cheese crisps are low-carb, keto-friendly and gluten-free—all great for weight management—and they make a super satisfying bedtime snack. An added bonus is the combination of fat and protein that make for a good night’s sleep.

3. If you crave chips: Try sweet potato chips

What vegetable hasn’t been turned into a bag of healthy chips? Well, it’s sweet potato’s turn and we’re here for it. Rich in beta-carotene, sweet potato snacks are super satisfying and contribute to a restful sleep. In a study that looked at various foods for sleep support, participants that ate complex carbs before bed were three times more likely to have better sleep patterns.

4. If you like cookies: Try healthier, grain-free cookies

If nightfall turns you into a cookie monster then you’re in luck! There are now countless grain- and gluten-free cookie brands on the market. Just search for “healthy cookies” and look for all the aforementioned criteria. All that’s left to do is pour a glass of tryptophan-rich organic milk known to help you drift off to dreamland.

5. If you like candy: Try low-sugar, high-fiber gummy treats

Your typical gummy-style candies are not your friend when it comes to supporting a healthy weight—or a good night’s sleep. Luckily there are much better options available. Look for the next iteration of gummy sweets that are low in sugar and calories and pack a good amount of fiber, a macronutrient that supports satiety and improves sleep quality.

6. If you crave popcorn: Sprinkle on some Himalayan pink salt

Popcorn is the perfect couch snack but many varieties are loaded with salt, which has been shown to disrupt sleep. Make your own at home and sprinkle on some Himalayan pink salt instead. It’s high in potassium and magnesium, two nutrients that help support sound sleep.

7. If you like sour: Try dried tart cherries

Trade high-sugar sour candy for tart cherries and you’ll benefit everything from muscle repair to improved joint health, while also improving sleep. Tart cherry juice is another option that’s been shown to extend sleep. But if it’s a handheld snack you’re after, dried tart cherries are the perfect confection to help lull you to sleep.

8. If you crave cold and creamy snacks: Try Greek Yogurt

Replace your evening bowl of ice cream with something equally cold and creamy but worlds healthier: Greek yogurt. You’ll still get that satisfying mouthfeel but you’ll slash sugar and increase protein, healthy fats and gut-healthy probiotics—all great things for weight loss and restorative sleep.

9. If you crave nuts: Opt for cashews, pistachios and almonds

A handful of nuts is the perfect snack to fill a growling belly and also support good sleep. High in healthy fats and low in calories, cashews, pistachios and almonds contain melatonin, magnesium, and zinc, all studied for their sleep-supporting abilities.

10. For the health nut: Anything with quinoa

Don’t worry, we’re not suggesting you eat a bowl of quinoa as a midnight snack, although a sweetened version with raisins and maple syrup is delicious if you’ve never tried it! There are loads of snacks on the market that contain quinoa from crisps, cookies, muffins and more. The reason why quinoa makes so much sense before bed is because quinoa is a complex carb proven to help drift you to dreamland—not to mention that it’s a solid source of protein, which supports your weight-loss efforts.

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4 Ways to Manage Food Cravings This Thanksgiving

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 11:05:43 -0700

Food Cravings. We’ve all had our fair share. 50% of people report experiencing cravings on a regular basis and that’s really no surprise when you consider all the factors that contribute to food cravings.

Food cravings are a temptation to contend with—but there are things you can do to help resist the urge for junk food.

First, let’s look at how cravings work from a neurological standpoint. Food cravings go far beyond willpower. Our brains are actually hardwired to release feel-good hormones even just thinking about eating something indulgent.

According to Harvard, when we eat foods that are hyperpalatable—meaning they are sweet, salty or rich—the reward region in the brain called the hypothalamus lights up like a Christmas tree and stimulates the release of hunger hormones as well as the “feel-good” hormone dopamine and this combined release of hormones creates the perfect storm for food cravings.

The more you give in to your favorite junk foods, the more you stimulate the reward region in your brain and scientists credit this pattern loop to cravings, addictive food patterns and emotional eating.

With Thanksgiving around the corner, temptation will abound—and between the fatigue of travel and the stress of everyone under one roof—it may lead to over consuming comfort foods. The following strategies can help. Keep them in your back pocket and use them to manage food cravings this Thanksgiving, and over the holidays ahead.

4 Ways to Manage Food Cravings This Thanksgiving:

1. Get enough good calories—and stay hydrated

If you want to keep food cravings at bay, it’s just as important to get enough nutrient-dense calories as it is to not exceed your upper calorie limit.

Studies show that people that severely restrict calories have more food cravings, therefore it’s important to calculate how much you need—right down to your macronutrient mix—and aim to eat within it each day. For help calculating your daily need based on your goals, read this.

You may have also heard that thirst and dehydration can both be confused for hunger—and researchers have found it to be true. In clinical studies, 37% of people mistake thirst for hunger thanks to the empty stomach, gurgling and light headedness that can also accompany dehydration—so be sure you’re getting enough water each day. The Mayo Clinic says the easiest rule of thumb to remember is the 8×8 rule: 8 8-ounce glasses of water each day.

2. Delay and distract

Two proven methods for sidestepping food cravings are to put them off and distract yourself in the process. Harvard says that food cravings could naturally disappear in just five to seven minutes if you put it off just a few minutes at a time while doing something else.

Try replacing tempting foods with other dopamine-releasing activities like taking a walk, watching funny memes, playing with the family pet or listening to music—all things that can be equally enjoyable to do with family members over Thanksgiving.

3. Plan your meals around Thanksgiving thoughtfully

Don’t get us wrong, just because you’re on a weight-loss journey or watching your watch doesn’t mean you can’t indulge a little over the holidays. If you don’t allow yourself a little bit of your favorite Thanksgiving trimmings, you’ll most likely cave and overindulge later on.

Decide which gathering you’re going to allow for indulgences and then plan the rest of your meals that weekend or throughout the holiday week accordingly so that you’re balancing your meals mindfully. In the days surrounding the big meal, focus on plenty of fresh salads, green vegetables, lean proteins and lots of water. Limit sugar, simple carbs, alcohol and unnecessary extras like sauces and condiments in the meals surrounding turkey dinner so that you don’t totally fall off the health bandwagon.

4. Practice mindful eating

In a nutshell, mindful eating is being fully present in the moment while you enjoy a meal. Experts say to eat only when hungry and stop when you’re full—being mindful not to overeat (though it may be tempting). While that’s easier said than done at Thanksgiving, there are a few mindful eating tactics that you can employ to indulge just enough without going totally overboard, feeling uncomfortable afterwards and having to deal with the ugly shame monster. Though the Thanksgiving dinner table is typically a tornado of distractions, try these mindful eating tactics that keep eating in check, according to experts:

This one should be a no-brainer at Thanksgiving: Express gratitude for the food you eat
While eating, think of how your food was grown, harvested and prepared in order to get to your plate—imagine your host thoughtfully preparing each dish throughout the day
Despite many conversations happening at once, try to take note of each bite you take—savoring everything on your plate versus speeding through and going back for seconds
Take small bites and chew well. Experts say you should chew every bite about 30 times
Notice how your food looks, tastes and makes you feel while you enjoy it—and afterwards

After your holiday meal, be proud of how you gave yourself space to enjoy some foods your rarely eat and reaffirm your plan to get back on track tomorrow

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Self-Confidence Is The Key to Weight-Loss Success

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 11:01:12 -0700

Let’s start by looking at what confidence truly means. Confidence is when you know your own self-worth, you trust yourself and you have a healthy, positive self-image. Sounds great right? But if you lack self confidence, you’ll doubt that you can do hard things—and that includes weight loss.

On the flip side, people who work to develop confidence, and are mindful to work on it daily, have a more positive outlook on life and believe in themselves. When it comes to weight loss, this is kind of like getting a headstart on your goal and trusting yourself to reach it.

Of course, it’s hard to feel confident when you’re not happy with the way you look and feel, which is why you’re on a weight-loss journey to begin with. But in order to succeed—harnessing self-confidence while you are losing weight is absolutely key.

Not to worry, we are here to help. Here are 5 strategies for building self-confidence while losing weight.

1. Build internal confidence

When building your confidence, it’s important to know that there is a difference between internal and external sources of confidence. When you reach your goal weight, your self-esteem will probably improve, but if you happen to gain some weight back, your confidence may fluctuate along with your rising and falling weight. That’s what is considered external confidence.

It’s important to develop and nurture internal confidence—that can’t be shaken—despite external factors that change outside and around you. Building internal confidence will help you maintain a sense of peace and pride even when things don’t go your way.

One of the best ways to nurture inner confidence is to work on self-talk and challenge negative thoughts. Your internal voice is extremely powerful when it comes to motivating yourself to change and could make all the difference when it comes to steadily building up confidence.

Strategies for honing internal confidence are:

Acknowledge your skills and talents and reflect on them often
Know your worth
Believe that you are strong and smart enough to develop new skills and overcome future challenges
Live with integrity and do what you say you will do. This one is particularly important to your weight-loss journey because once you train yourself to follow through on just about anything in life, that value will trickle down into your personal health goals too.

2. Make a list of your successes at the end of each day

There’s no better way to truly believe your self-worth than taking time out to count the ways. While you’re working on building confidence, commit to journaling about your wins.

At the end of each day, spend a few minutes writing down everything you did well or succeeded at that day and then read each item over again and reflect on how you feel and how proud of yourself you are for accomplishing so much in a single day.

This is a surefire way to becoming a much more confident you. And just imagine how you’ll feel once your weight-loss wins start to appear more and more frequently in your journal! You’ll be much more likely to keep going.

3. Get out of your comfort zone

It’s pretty hard to level up your self-confidence by doing what you’ve always done. The old adage, “Do one thing each day that scares you” applies particularly well to folks that are trying to build self-confidence.

One way to get out of your comfort zone is by simply saying “yes” to things you’d otherwise avoid like attending a party where you don’t know anyone or speaking in public. You’ll probably still experience some level of anxiety during these experiences but the reward afterward—and the more you get out of your comfort zone—is enhanced confidence.

4. Makeover your body language

Think of people that you perceive as self-confident. Rarely are they slouching or have a feeble handshake. Before you even noticed how they carried themselves, you were probably struck with an err of confidence because they’ve honed their sense of self for so long that now, their energy exudes a certain confidence that nearly precedes them.

Rewind 10 or 20 years and that same person may not have been quite so self-assured. These traits are most often learned and practiced behavior—and you can embody them too!

Here are 5 ways to makeover your body language:

Whether you’re sitting, standing or walking, stand up straight with your shoulders back and remember to focus on good posture as often as you can.
Use a strong and firm handshake
Make eye contact
Speak up and don’t be afraid to be firm and clear in your communication.
Apologize less and accept compliments with, “thank you!”

5. Practice self-love and compassion

The path to becoming more confident doesn’t mean you won’t have moments of insecurity and doubt—you always will. An important ingredient to a strong sense of self is being kind to yourself and giving yourself the space and grace to make mistakes and have all kinds of days—not just good ones.

When you start to realize that shaming yourself for missteps only pulls you down further and that being compassionate with yourself allows you to rebound faster but reinforces how you love and feel about yourself—confidence will follow naturally.

The way you treat yourself will also be reflected in the way that others see and treat you so this tactic in particular is an all-around slam-dunk for developing confidence.

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5 Ways to Push Through a Weight-Loss Plateau

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 05:33:03 -0700

The beginning of a weight loss journey is often quite encouraging because the sudden changes to diet and exercise often have some pretty immediate effects—and the more weight you have to lose, the more you’ll see fall off right at the start.

Once you’ve been on the path to weight loss for a little while, progress may slow a little and if you’re not quick to make a few key adjustments, you could hit a weight-loss plateau.

Luckily, there are some very effective strategies for avoiding the dreaded weight-loss plateau. Once you see your progress start to stall, try these 5 tactics to push past a plateau.

1. Take a break from booze

A small omission with a big weight-loss payoff, taking a break from alcohol while you work through a weight-loss plateau—or simply cutting back—is one of the best ways to move the needle on weight loss.

Studies have shown that drinking alcohol actually inhibits weight loss and if that weren’t enough, drinking is also associated with belly fat accumulation.

In a study done on 283 participants trying to lose weight, reducing or removing alcohol led to more weight loss and fewer incidences of overeating by the end of the study period. The reason many people tend to overeat when drinking is because inhibitions are lower under the influence of alcohol.

2. Eat less carbs

If you’re not on a carb-restricted diet, it’s one worth considering. There are decades of research on low-carb diets for weight loss and one meta-analysis of 13 prominent studies showed that dieters who consumed less than 50 grams of carbs each day saw a significant reduction in overall body fat.

One way to reduce carbs naturally is by simply removing all refined carbs, bread products, pasta and rice and replacing starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes, peas and squash with leafy greens and cruciferous veggies. But if you really want to get the job done right, enlist the help of a carb-tracking app so you get it down to a science right away.

3. Keep a food journal

Most of us think we eat less than we actually do. So much so that when study authors decided to test the theory, they found that when people don’t log what they eat and instead estimate, they are usually underestimating how much they eat by a whopping 50%. Read that again.

Weight loss is hard enough as it is without wasting precious time guessing and never seeing the scale budge. Get it right the first time by tracking every meal and snack as you go along so you can course correct right away if you exceed your macronutrient limit for the day.

4. Add weight training to your exercise program

It was previously thought that cardio exercise was the holy grail of fitness for fat loss because it burns so many calories per session but emerging research is now revealing that strength training and cardio are actually pretty neck and neck when it comes to calories burned per session.

In addition to these findings, what gives weight training a leg up in the competition is what happens after the workout is over. Unlike cardio where all your calorie-torching magic stops when the workout ends, with strength training you continue to burn calories for an impressive 72 hours after. That means that for nearly three days afterward, your metabolic rate remains high and zapping calories—even when you’re resting.

For the best results and to help you move past a weight-loss plateau, experts recommend a combination of cardio and strength training—but whatever you do, don’t skip out on strength training.

5. Try time-restricted eating

Intermittent fasting (sometimes called IF) is when you split your 24-hour day into fasting and feeding windows. The 16:8 method is arguably one of the most popular IF splits, which just means you’d eat for eight hours a day and fast for 16—so if you eat your first meal at 10am, you’d eat your last meal of the day by 6pm.

If you’re new to fasting, start out with 12:12 fast—eat meals as you normally would for 12 hours and then fast for the other 12 hours. As you acclimate and if you feel good eating this way, work up to 16:8 and then maybe even 18:6. Always consult with your doctor before starting an intense fasting protocol and listen to your body. Some days you’ll have the stamina to fast longer and you’ll feel great while other days, you’ll have to cut it short and extend your feeding window and that is perfectly fine.

The post 5 Ways to Push Through a Weight-Loss Plateau appeared first on Hydroxycut.

11 Easy Ways to Save Money on Groceries

Thu, 03 Nov 2022 11:20:30 -0700

The rising cost of food has been making headlines since mid-2020 and the cost of at-home groceries has jumped 11.5% just in the last year. Even basic things like bread have increased 16% and eggs an astounding 39%.

Experts have no idea when food prices will start to go down so the only reasonable thing to do in the meantime is to reevaluate your grocery shopping habits and make some small, doable changes that will save you big on your grocery bill now.

Here are 11 easy ways to save money on groceries that will also save you time and cut down on food waste.

1. Buy (some things) in bulk

There are certain items that you buy again and again—and always will—such as pantry staples like oatmeal, nut butters, quinoa, protein powders, paper towels, toilet paper and toothpaste.

Buying these things in bulk can save you an estimated 25% on your grocery bill—and will also save you time and gas money having to run back to the store more often.

If you typically spend $1000 on these items in a year, you could save approximately $250 by buying these repeat purchases in bulk.

2. Buy some foods frozen and canned

Fresh is not always best. Americans toss one third of the food they buy and a lot of that is fresh produce. In some cases, frozen vegetables are cheaper and just as nutritious. Even better, they don’t spoil and you can have them at the ready in your freezer for months.

Some canned foods offer the same benefit and in some cases are even healthier. For example, canned tomatoes are even more nutritious—they are higher the antioxidant lycopene. Just be sure to choose BPA-free cans and check labels to make sure nothing sneaky was added to your canned or frozen foods.

3. Once a month, use up fridge and pantry stragglers

Dedicating a day or two each month to clearing out your fridge and pantry and using up anything that’s still good in creative ways is one of the best ways to prevent food waste and save a chunk of cash on groceries.

But sometimes the weird medley of foods left behind will leave you scratching your head at what to make. Try this free tool that generates recipe suggestions based on what you have on hand.

4. Embrace leftovers

Don’t turn your nose up at leftovers! They are huge money- and time-savers. Flavors always taste better the next day anyway and if you think that leftovers are destined to be soggy, switch from warming them up in a microwave to a toaster oven and then liven them up with some fresh herbs, and maybe a little hot sauce to make your meal new again.

Double up your recipes and have leftovers for lunch or dinner in the coming days and watch your food spending go way down.

5. Make your own snacks

Americans reportedly spend $500 a month on snacks. Once you see how easy it is to whip up healthy snacks at home for a fraction of the price, you’ll never buy an overpriced $5 snack again.

Make a big batch of crave-worthy trail mix, grab-and-go veggie and hummus packs, big-batch granola bars and healthy muffins and watch your food dollars stretch further. Freeze individual portions and only thaw what you need at a time.

6. Shop no name brands

Name brands are not always the holy grail, especially when it comes to food. Don’t be fooled into thinking brand names taste better or are higher quality than your in-house grocery store no-name brand.

In one consumer test, blind testers found no-name brands to taste just as good as their branded counterparts—sometimes even better—and by switching to the no-name brand, they saved an average of 25% on their overall grocery bill.

7. Plan your meals and list before shopping

This just may be the most important rule of thumb for saving money on groceries. Always plan your meals and write or type out your shopping list ahead of heading to the store.

Going in without a plan is almost a guarantee that you’ll overshop and eventually waste food, too. You’ll also miss items you need for your weekly meals and will be forced to go back to the store and spend even more money on food. No bueno. Try a meal planning app complete with recipes and a shopping list generator.

8. Eat more plant-based meals

It’s no secret that animal proteins can really add up. Eating more plant-based meals throughout the week is a brilliant way to keep food costs down.

For inexpensive plant-based proteins, fill your cart with dried or canned beans, lentils, nuts and nut butters, seeds, edamame, tofu, tempeh, quinoa and chia seeds.

9. Shop in season

Eat with the seasons to save big on groceries. The reason in-season food is cheaper is because it has far less distance to travel, which lowers its cost.

Take cherries for example. If you buy non-seasonal cherries in the dead of winter, you’ll pay a lot more for them because they’re grown in Chile and then shipped to the US, meaning they have to travel many miles to get to your local grocery store. They will also lack flavor and will likely be bruised from their travels.

10. Get down with ingredient cross-utilization

A genius hack for saving money on groceries is with ingredient cross-utilization—which is a chef term that means buying fewer ingredients that get used in many meals throughout the week.

Take ground beef. You can buy it in bulk and use it endlessly in dishes like stuffed peppers, bowls, chili, tacos, quesadillas, burritos and more. Another example of this is making a large batch of something versatile like versatile tomato sauce and putting it to work in a bunch of different ways throughout the week such as in lasagna, tomato soup, over a healthy bowl of zoodles and meatballs, eggplant parmesan, chili and more.

11. Batch cook and freeze meals

Similar to cross utilization, batch cooking is not only a money saver but a massive time saver.

Make-ahead batch meals that keep well in the freezer are soups and stews, casseroles, curries, cottage pie, pasta bakes, sauces, healthy baked goods and snacks.

Slow cooker, pressure cooker or casserole-cooked dishes are the best for batch cooking as they’re mostly hands off and leave you with big batches that you simply package up, label with a name and date and store them in your freezer for later use. This hack will save you tons on groceries.

The post 11 Easy Ways to Save Money on Groceries appeared first on Hydroxycut.

Lars testar

Thu, 04 Mar 2021 03:42:15 -0700

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The post Lars testar appeared first on Appethyl.

Mat för en god hälsa

Tue, 22 Dec 2020 06:57:18 -0700

Är vitt mjöl verkligen så farligt? Det där med lchf och 5:2 hur bra är det, egentligen? Och hur vet jag att min dotter som blivit vegan får i sig alla näringsämnen hon behöver? Teorierna om vad vi bör äta för att hålla oss friska och må bra duggar tätt.

1. Grunderna

• Maten innehåller energi
• Kroppen behöver en viss mängd energi
• Den som rör sig mycket behöver mer energi
• Hunger och mättnadssignaler styr aptiten
• Hungersignaler styr både hunger och belöning
• God mat är belönande

2. Belöning

Vet DU att belöningar är vår grej. Vi behöver dem för att förhindra stress och ångest. Det bästa är att hitta sin belöning. Den är oftast personlig. Den belönande maten är den som ger goda associationer och glada minnen.

Visste du att tuggandet stimulerar hjärnan? Njut och smaka!

3. Vår kropp

Kroppen behöver lite av varje. Vi mår bättre av att äta mångsidigt. Då får kroppen näringsämnen, energi, skyddsämnen mot sjukdom och belöning. Måltiderna får gärna vara regelbundna. Då ökar belöningen.
Att vänta på något gott ger belöning i sig.

4. Sömn

Fettförbränning sker på natten när du sover. Därför är det bra att sova minst sex, helst åtta timmar.

The post Mat för en god hälsa appeared first on Appethyl.

Hey team. I always see you guys asking how to stream my app to your tv. Well, if you have a Samsung TV it just got even easier, but if you don’t, you can still use find me on the apple tv app or just mirror play or cast the old fashioned way https://www.

Fri, 29 May 2020 12:36:32 -0700

Hey team. I always see you guys asking how to stream my app to your tv. Well, if you have a Samsung TV it just got even easier, but if you don’t, you can still use find me on the apple tv app or just mirror play or cast the old fashioned way https://www.jillianmichaels.com/blog/health-and-fitness/my-fitness-app-now-samsung-tvs …

It’s time for a reset. Join @YahooLife for expert tips and strategies for finding moments of peace, joy and meaning during these unprecedented times. #ResetYourMindset starts now! http://www.yahoo.com/resetyourmindset …pic.twitter.com/KsqUo0eZVx

Wed, 20 May 2020 12:38:18 -0700

It’s time for a reset. Join @YahooLife for expert tips and strategies for finding moments of peace, joy and meaning during these unprecedented times. #ResetYourMindset starts now! http://www.yahoo.com/resetyourmindset … pic.twitter.com/KsqUo0eZVx

At home training tips from meeeeee and @GraziaUK https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/health-fitness/jillian-michaels-fitness-tips/ …

Wed, 20 May 2020 08:36:57 -0700

At home training tips from meeeeee and @GraziaUK https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/health-fitness/jillian-michaels-fitness-tips/ …

One of my fave new recipes from my fitness app Protein Packed Banana Bread! Enjoy and have a great Sunday! https://www.jillianmichaels.com/blog/food-and-nutrition/protein-packed-banana-bread …

Sun, 17 May 2020 08:38:29 -0700

One of my fave new recipes from my fitness app Protein Packed Banana Bread! Enjoy and have a great Sunday! https://www.jillianmichaels.com/blog/food-and-nutrition/protein-packed-banana-bread …

Happy almost mom’s day! I have two different offers for you $19.99/quarterly (regularly $29.99) And the current $69.99/annual we did for Covid still stands until this lockdown is over! Sending you guys love and respect xoxoxo http://www.jillianmichaels.c

Mon, 04 May 2020 11:58:17 -0700

Happy almost mom’s day! I have two different offers for you $19.99/quarterly (regularly $29.99) And the current $69.99/annual we did for Covid still stands until this lockdown is over! Sending you guys love and respect xoxoxo http://www.jillianmichaels.com/moms pic.twitter.com/a7aae0eC5q

when and how to do cardio... by meeeeeee https://www.weightwatchers.com/ca/en/article/how-ease-cardio-routine …

Mon, 04 May 2020 11:30:09 -0700

when and how to do cardio... by meeeeeee https://www.weightwatchers.com/ca/en/article/how-ease-cardio-routine …

.@Delta thank you for listening, caring, and reaching out.

Mon, 27 Apr 2020 19:27:25 -0700

. @Delta thank you for listening, caring, and reaching out.

https://www.jillianmichaels.com/blog/food-and-nutrition/delicious-greens-recipes … Check out this weeks blog for super tasty recipes that are healthy, quick, and easy!

Wed, 15 Apr 2020 20:09:55 -0700

https://www.jillianmichaels.com/blog/food-and-nutrition/delicious-greens-recipes … Check out this weeks blog for super tasty recipes that are healthy, quick, and easy!

https://www.jillianmichaels.com/blog/food-and-nutrition/curb-your-appetite-during-covid-19-quarantine … Top tips to curb appetite, combat emotional eating, and avoid the "Covid Quarantine 15lb"

Wed, 08 Apr 2020 16:21:38 -0700

https://www.jillianmichaels.com/blog/food-and-nutrition/curb-your-appetite-during-covid-19-quarantine … Top tips to curb appetite, combat emotional eating, and avoid the "Covid Quarantine 15lb"

https://www.jillianmichaels.com/blog/health-and-fitness/working-out-home …pic.twitter.com/L66C51lITz

Tue, 31 Mar 2020 10:08:07 -0700

https://www.jillianmichaels.com/blog/health-and-fitness/working-out-home … pic.twitter.com/L66C51lITz

Tomorrow - You and Me - IG live workout. 10:30 pst. Be there pic.twitter.com/qXvk1FQcz8

Sat, 21 Mar 2020 11:46:14 -0700

Tomorrow - You and Me - IG live workout. 10:30 pst. Be there pic.twitter.com/qXvk1FQcz8

Hey team. I'm seeing gyms close and people get more and more anxious. So for now, we have free mini at home workouts available every day via my app. And - if you want more we have cut the price pretty much in half for the annual subscription. Just go to

Mon, 16 Mar 2020 09:45:33 -0700

Hey team. I'm seeing gyms close and people get more and more anxious. So for now, we have free mini at home workouts available every day via my app. And - if you want more we have cut the price pretty much in half for the annual subscription. Just go to http://www.jillianmichaels.com/athome pic.twitter.com/SJTdxd5FJO

https://www.understandably.com/p/culturally-clueless-or-the-big-break …

Thu, 05 Mar 2020 13:44:42 -0700

https://www.understandably.com/p/culturally-clueless-or-the-big-break …

Are there foods and nutrients that can help us fend off corona virus... Check out these powerful foods with potential anti viral benefits! https://www.jillianmichaels.com/blog/food-and-nutrition/are-there-foods-could-fight-coronavirus …

Thu, 05 Mar 2020 09:59:08 -0700

Are there foods and nutrients that can help us fend off corona virus... Check out these powerful foods with potential anti viral benefits! https://www.jillianmichaels.com/blog/food-and-nutrition/are-there-foods-could-fight-coronavirus …

Check out my super tasty cauliflower crust pizza! Better for you, lower in calories, and no processed carbs! https://www.jillianmichaels.com/blog/food-and-nutrition/cauliflower-crust-pizza-recipe …

Mon, 02 Mar 2020 17:35:54 -0700

Check out my super tasty cauliflower crust pizza! Better for you, lower in calories, and no processed carbs! https://www.jillianmichaels.com/blog/food-and-nutrition/cauliflower-crust-pizza-recipe …

I'ma need some company London! Come hang and train with MEEEEEEE on April 5th!! https://hearstlive.co.uk/womenshealth/ I even have a discount code jillian10 #whlivepic.twitter.com/56W2WqWkCS

Fri, 31 Jan 2020 15:22:46 -0700

I'ma need some company London! Come hang and train with MEEEEEEE on April 5th!! https://hearstlive.co.uk/womenshealth/ I even have a discount code jillian10 #whlive pic.twitter.com/56W2WqWkCS

Fun parenting piece I got to contribute to :) What would your top quote on parenting be ? https://parade.com/985505/leighweingus/parents-quotes/ …

Fri, 31 Jan 2020 11:28:19 -0700

Fun parenting piece I got to contribute to :) What would your top quote on parenting be ? https://parade.com/985505/leighweingus/parents-quotes/ …

Quick Plank circuit for ya to condition your total body :) https://www.besthealthmag.ca/best-you/workout-routines/jillian-michaels-plank-variations/ …

Tue, 28 Jan 2020 17:15:56 -0700

Quick Plank circuit for ya to condition your total body :) https://www.besthealthmag.ca/best-you/workout-routines/jillian-michaels-plank-variations/ …

I know everyone has a "kobe story" and for good reason... He was an incredible human being. My story with him is the same - one of generosity and kindness. He went out of his way for me and so many others. Heartbroken. You and your entire family are in ou

Sun, 26 Jan 2020 15:18:46 -0700

I know everyone has a "kobe story" and for good reason... He was an incredible human being. My story with him is the same - one of generosity and kindness. He went out of his way for me and so many others. Heartbroken. You and your entire family are in our thoughts and prayers. pic.twitter.com/SE62GN66Yc

A few manageable strategies for getting more fitness in at work! https://www.futureofbusinessandtech.com/workplace-health-and-safety/planning-a-healthy-workday-with-help-from-jillian-michaels/# …

Fri, 24 Jan 2020 12:44:10 -0700

A few manageable strategies for getting more fitness in at work! https://www.futureofbusinessandtech.com/workplace-health-and-safety/planning-a-healthy-workday-with-help-from-jillian-michaels/# …

What Are Thylakoids That Are in Appethyl? | All Natural Appetite suppressants

Wed, 21 Sep 2016 02:48:05 -0700

via All Natural Appetite suppressants https://allnaturalappetitesuppressants.wordpress.com

What Are Thylakoids That Are in Appethyl?

Wed, 21 Sep 2016 02:31:09 -0700

Have You Ever Asked What Thylakoids Are?
I have been asked so many times over the past many months about Thylakoids and what they really are and how they work. So much so that I considered making an audio recording and playing it for anyone who asked! Even putting an audio file on my website! Ok, not really but almost.

So if you are wondering what those strange sounding little green things are and what they do – stick around. That is what we will quickly discuss today.

So what are they?

Thylakoids are small parts of the chloroplasts in the green cells of the spinach. They are actually part of a lot of plants and vegetables. But spinach for some reason is loaded with them. A lot more than any other vegetable. So for this reason this particular vegetable was chosen to yield the ingredients for an appetite control product (the one that worked beautifully for me).

Here is a short clear explanation of the part they play in curbing appetite taken from the website of thylakoids.com itself :

HOW DO THYLAKOIDS PLAY A PART IN APPETITE CONTROL?

Clinical studies have shown that Appethyl® helps reduce hunger and cravings by giving the body’s own satiety signals time to work*, thereby helping you make healthy food choices and stick to a healthy diet.

The thylakoids’ profound effects on appetite control were first discovered by Charlotte Erlanson-Albertsson, Professor of Medicine and Physiological Chemistry at Lund University in Sweden. In her own words:

“It is about making use of the time it takes to digest our food. There is nothing wrong with our digestive system, but it doesn’t work well with the modern ‘pre-chewed’ food. The thylakoids extend the digestion, producing a feeling of satiety and reducing hedonic hunger. This means that we are able to stick to the diet we are meant for without snacks and unnecessary foods like sweets, crisps and such”.

The above section and below photo were obtained from Thylakoids.com website and all credits go to this page : https://thylakoids.com/faq/

Maybe I can just eat Spinach?

Nope. It’s too bad, really, but these little vegetable parts are not released by just chewing the green leaves. They are, in fact, released but not in a very negligible quantity. So pounds and pounds of the leaves would need to be eaten to get a small amount of benefit.

The studies I have looked up show that the greens are taken through a very delicate and through process to crush the leaves into a powder in a way that releases the thylakoids in abundance. It is this reason that the researchers in Sweden took years to develop this and that the ingredient was awarded the ingredient of the year award in 2013 from Nutracon group.

It is also why normal spinach powder will not provide any noticeable benefit at all. In fact that was one of the primary reasons I decided to try it for myself.

Will You Benefit from them?

Studies have shown that when taken correctly, every study participant lost weight. Sounds great so far. They work by affecting a couple hormones in the body. But in a natural normal way, remaining safe. Part of the reason for them working is that by delaying the digestion a bit, they tell the brain that they body is full sooner than would normally happen. In fact, they just allow the normal hormone process to function properly.

In today’s world, our normal digestion is off balance and off from its normal timing. This allows us to eat far too much before enough of these “I am full” hormones are released. Thylakoids restart the normal processes. But most seem to report that even from the first dose or two, they can tell that their hunger has been curbed.

It seems an important addition, according to that same website and others, is to make sure you eat some type of fat with supplement. Without this you will lose much of the benefit as fat is need to have the activation take place. Just a little butter or some olive oil. You know which fats you like. Just make sure to have a little.

So thylkaoids, while sounding like something from a high shcool biology class (well, in fact they are) are simply a normal substance that is available to help us when unbound from the spinach. Currently they have only been used the past 2 years in Appethyl Spinach Extract. However, Appethyl itself is now begin added to other appetite suppressants such as one line of Hydroxycut and a couple others. Unfortunately, those others also ramp up the body, possibly causing jitters.

I like things that are clean and simple, without a lot of ingredients that have differing effects.

So there it is. A basic primer on the little chloroplasts that help us say no to unhealthy snacks or just plain over-eating. If you struggle with craving foods even you know you should already feel full. Or you can’t seem to ignore those donuts on a co-worker’s desk, then chug down some thylakoids and see if they will help you.

I still believe this was the biggest part of my being able to lose almost 30 pounds during a traumatic time in life that could normally have caused me to put the pounds on instead.

For that I am very thankful. Woohoo! Rock on Spinach!

Curb Your Appetite Google Drive

Sat, 17 Sep 2016 15:55:01 -0700