Herbs for health

Certain herbal teas can help relieve many stress symptoms. Teas that are derived from the flowers, leaves, seeds, stalks, stems and roots of plants contain natural substances that nourish the central nervous system and glandular systems.

Find the ones that work for you:

• Camomile
• Lemon balm
• Skullcap
• Ginseng
• Valerian
• Honey lavendar
• Hops
• Oatstraw
• Kava
• Passionflower

Siberian ginseng and panax ginseng increase the tone and function of the adrenal glands, helping to balance hormonal excretions. Ginseng has been shown to protect against the effects of physical and mental stress. Do not use if you have high blood pressure.

Licorice root is beneficial for correcting low cortisol output and will give the adrenal glands a chance to recover.

Rhodiola increases the body’s natural resistance to stressors.

Astragalus supports the immune system and helps the body adapt to stress.

In addition to herbal teas, ensure you are getting these key nutrients during times of stress.

• Vitamin C
• Magnesium
• Calcium
• Vitamin B5
• Mega B complex
• Antioxidant formula containing beta carotene, vitamin E, zinc and selenium
• Tyrosine

 Taking herbal teas and vitamins and minerals will not only help manage stress, they will boost your immune system as well. Have a cup of tea and a multivitamin, and relax.

Stress and weight gain

While it is not possible to avoid stress, it is possible to learn how to manage stress better and thereby minimize the damaging side effects of distress. Our bodies were never meant to handle long-term stress. They were designed to handle immediate, short-term stress.

Stress hormones are important for our safety and our ability to respond to physical demands, like running for the bus. Adrenaline and cortisol also make fat available for fuel. They take the fat that surrounds the internal organs, the so-called stress fat because this fat is most easily accessible and most readily converted into energy. Which is all good. Here’s the rub: when there is too much stress fat, it becomes toxic, overwhelming the liver and impairing its daily functions. This can lead to a variety of metabolic disruptions including: high blood sugar, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and high blood coagulability, which can lead to blood clots. These imbalances lead to serious illnesses, including heart disease and diabetes.

Once the stress response is over, balance is restored: The hormones and the fuel need to be replenished. This is why cortisol sparks your appetite. Your body typically craves fats and carbohydrates after stress because these were used up as the primary sources of fuel. This explains how activating the stress response on a constant basis can make you fat.

While it is true that hormones, lifestyle choices, and aging all play a part in weight gain, toxic stress can trigger additional toxic weight gain in mid-life and beyond. This stress weight is held on the waist where it is most dangerous to health.

So how do we combat this destructive cycle? In addition to exercise, it is helpful to first understand your own response to food in the face of stress. Some will reach for food, while others will avoid food. Some will do something effective to lower their stress. Put another way, there are people who are stress-resilient, stress over-eaters and stress under-eaters. Everyone has a different stress profile that determines his or her eating response to stress.

To become more stress resilient is possible. First examine what happens when a life stress interferes with normal exercise and eating routine. Keep a journal logging what your patterns of behaviour are when faced with stress. They will help you identify patterns of self-destructive behaviour. By being aware of the triggers that cause you to self-destruct, you can be better prepared to deal with them.

Develop a contingency plan to resolve the stress. If Plan A is your healthy eating and exercise program on the ideal days, your Plan B would be your contingency plan to be put into effect when too many things go wrong. Recognizing that you may have to regroup from time to time will help you transition between the more controlled routines and the stresses that challenge your ability to maintain these regimens. Regrouping permits you to keep your stress hormones in check so that your eating doesn’t go off the rails.

Health = Successful Adaptation

Stress and cortisol

Stress is a normal part of everyday life. Some stress is good for us, some stress can be harmful. But chronic, long-term stress has been called toxic stress because it can lead to self-destructive eating behaviours. Toxic stress puts fat on and can lead to disease. 

When a threatening event takes place, our bodies are purpose-built to act on that event. Our entire being from tissues, blood cells, brain chemicals and hormones pump messages to our heart, lungs, and limbs. Our stress response was designed to protect us from danger. However, we live in a much less dangerous world than our ancestors did. As we became less physical, we got smarter. We substituted intellectual stresses for physical ones. But our bodies are still wired for some sort of physical response. Fight or flight.

Our bodies are built to move, to balance thought and action. So when we don’t have a physical release, stress accumulates and may become toxic.

Here’s what happens: when the brain first registers a stressful event, it releases a chemical known as corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH); it raises the alarm. There is a baseline of this hormone in our body, and it can be elevated by anything that stimulates your senses: fear, excitement, passion, panic, anxiety, happiness, or joy. Once the alarm is triggered, a cascade of neurochemical sparks, designed to prepare the body for fight or flight, kicks in.

The alarm hormone also activates the adrenals, two glands located in the abdomen, and tells them to secrete two substances: adrenaline and cortisol. Cortisol is known in the scientific literature as glucocorticoid, because of its ability to stimulate glucose elevations in the blood and because it is secreted by the outer part of the adrenal gland called the cortex.

CRH (the alarm hormone), cortisol and adrenaline follow a distinct rhythm of secretion throughout the day. These stress hormones tend to peak between 6 and 8 a.m. and begin a gradual decline later in the morning reaching their lowest levels at night. By about 2 a.m., the levels begin to rise again, preparing you for the morning to help you cope with the next day’s stresses.

The body reacts to a stressful event within seconds of it happening. The body goes into code red: pupils dilate, blood pressure rises, thinking and memory improve, and lungs take in more oxygen. Digestion is put on hold, allowing the body to concentrate its energy on the muscles needed for the physical stress response. Immune function is momentarily suppressed for the same reason. Physical sensation of pain is dulled to minimize distraction and focus more attention on the coping mechanism. All systems are on high alert.

In addition to these physical responses, the alarm hormone activates the reward and pain relief areas of the brain. Most physiological functions in the human body involve stressing the body’s systems in a healthy way. This includes digestion and metabolism. This concept of reward helps to explain what can go right as well as what can go wrong in some people’s eating patterns under stress.

The fight or flight response is ideal for situations that require you to defend yourself or cope with daily stresses that require physical strength and endurance.  This response is designed to get you moving away from danger. Cortisol grabs high-octane fat and energy-propelling glucose from the body’s stores, diverts blood away from internal organs, and directs them to your brain, heart, lungs, and muscles for immediate energy.

Once the immediate “danger” is over the adrenaline level in the bloodstream rapidly decreases. Cortisol, on the other hand, lingers in the system and is designed to help bring the body back into a balanced state. The behavioral and physical adaptations to stress reverse, and the body returns to its normal state.

But what if one is under chronic stress? You can clearly see how this could lead to disease because the body will keep secreting stress hormones until a critical threshold is reached. When that happens, the body, being constantly primed for action, is bathed in waves of these hormones and it never gets a chance to return to homeostatis (balance). And this is when health begins to break down.

Friday fat facts – flax oil

While flax has become a household word, as with most nutrients, all the facts are less well known. Flax seed, also known as linseed, is technically a seed but it is so small it resembles a grain. It can be consumed whole, ground into flax meal, or consumed as an oil extracted from the seed. In today's blog, I will be focusing on the latter.

When purchasing and storing flax oil, it is important to understand how quickly it can go rancid. As with all essential fatty acids (EFAs), flaxseed oil is extremely sensitive to light, air, and oxygen and must be stored in airtight, dark bottles. If the oil smells, it should be discarded. Never heat flaxseed oil as it is highly sensitive to temperature as well. Heating destroys the value of the EFA and produces toxic chemical components that lead to arteriosclerosis and cancer.

The fresh oil of the golden flaxseed oil is the richest known source of omega-3 fatty acids and is very high in LNA, or alpha-linolenic acid. This deep, golden-coloured oil has been called liquid sunshine because sunlight energy is stored in the bonds between the carbon and the hydrogen atoms, of which oils are composed. 

Why is LNA useful?

LNA is useful for treating fatty degeneration in cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and other diseases. To get the most benefit from flax oil, the diet should also contain optimum amounts of vitamins B3, B6, C, and the minerals magnesium and zinc. Flax oil on its own is not going to have therapeutic benefits. For this reason, the seed is better than the oil, and the seed enriched with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, is even better.

Flax oil is thought to contain a substance resembling prostaglandins that regulate blood pressure, platelet, kidney, immune, and arterial function, inflammatory response, and play important roles in calcium and energy metabolism. More and more functions of prostaglandins are being found each year. They work in the brain where they regulate the release and performance of neurotransmitters, and low levels are known to be involved in depression and schizophrenia. There is increasing evidence that shows omega-3 fats improve learning, behavioural problems, attention deficit disorder, depression and schizophrenia.

Fresh, unrefined flax oil contains lecithin and other phospholipids that help emulsify fats and oils for easier digestion, and contribute to physical health. It also contains carotene and vitamin E. These vitamins stabilize the oil in the bottle and in the body. When oil is refined, vitamins and lecithin are removed, and its stability and many nutrients are lost.

Another interesting fact about flax oil is that it shortens the time necessary for fatigued muscles to recover after exertion, and shortens the healing time for bruises, sprains, and other injuries. It increases energy, stamina, and the feeling of vitality, and makes skin soft, hair shiny and nails strong.

As you can see, the benefits of flax and flax oil are considerable. I recommend that everyone supplement their diet with a high-quality flaxseed oil or fish oil daily. Other ways to get your daily requirement is to add a teaspoon of oil to your juice or smoothie, use it as a salad dressing or a topping for popcorn.

Foods that calm

Once you have eliminated or reduced the foods that are causing you stress, you may want to consider replacing those harmful foods with beneficial ones, foods that will actually reduce stress. Under stress, your body increases the production of stress hormones, which contribute to symptoms like high blood pressure, muscle tension, digestive upset, among other things. Nutritious foods that also support adrenal gland function are especially beneficial for stress reduction.

Foods that  lower stress

• Celery helps to lower blood pressure. Compounds within the celery lower the concentrations of stress hormones that cause blood vessel constriction. Celery contains nutrients such as niacinimide, which are calming.
• Sunflower seeds – are a rich source of potassium, B-vitamins, and zinc which play a role in supporting the adrenal glands.
• Brown rice – is a low glycemic index (GI) carbohydrate that can trigger the release of the body’s feel-good chemicals, serotonin and norepinephrine. It can help you deal better with stress by helping to lift the mood and giving you more sustained energy.
• Algae – contains 60% protein, including all 8 essential amino acids. Algae has an energizing effect on the liver, helping to eliminate the buildup of toxins, thus lowering stress levels in the body. Algae contains virtually every nutrient known to man, including all those that have a positive effect on the nervous system. It provides all the nutrients that stress robs from the body.
• Cabbage – is a good source of the antioxidant vitamins A, C and E, beta-carotene and the mineral selenium. Antioxidants fight the damaging effect of free radicals in your body, which are released in response to stress and they help with the conversion of tryptophan to serotonin, helping to boost mood.
• Almonds – are high in magnesium, the mineral responsible for helping muscles to relax. Almonds support adrenal function as well as the metabolism of fatty acids. Low levels of magnesium are associated with nervous tension, irritability, and insomnia.
• Berries – Rich in manganese and vitamin C, blackberries stave off stress by supporting the immune system. Strawberries and raspberries are also good sources of manganese and vitamin C. If you feel generally stressed and run down, you may be deficient in vitamin C.
• Sesame seeds – are an excellent source of zinc. The need for zinc increases in times of stress and it is necessary for the metabolism of fatty acids and for the production of serotonin.
• Cucumbers – have a cooling effect on the blood and the liver and, you guessed it, on the mood as well. When the liver is balanced, the liver assists in balancing hormones, boost mood, and beat stress.
• Asparagus - Many of the elements that build the liver, kidneys, skin, ligaments and bones are found in green asparagus. It also helps in the formation of red blood capsules, and is high in glutathione, an antioxidant which helps the liver function optimally. When the liver is healthy, your mood and ability to deal with stress is greater.
• Garlic - significantly impacts the lowering of blood pressure associated with stress. Garlic contains a powerful antibiotic called allicin, which is both antiviral and anti-fungal as well as cholesterol-lowering, blood-pressure lowering, and mood-boosting.
• Avocados – contain 14 minerals all of which regulate body functions and stimulate growth. They contain enough iron and copper to aid red blood regeneration and the prevention of nutritional anemia – one common cause of fatigue and an inability to cope effectively with stress.

Eating these foods may not have the immediate effect that popping a pill might. But the effects of changing your eating habits to include the foods listed, among others, will have long-lasting effects. Practicing proper nutrition is the first step in managing stress. Isn't your health worth it?

Foods that cause stress

April is stress awareness month. We are all aware of stress, but maybe not as aware of foods that contribute to stress. A well-balanced diet is critical in preserving health and helping to reduce stress. Certain foods and drinks act as powerful stimulants to the body and hence are a direct cause of stress. This stimulation can overwork the liver, upset blood sugar levels and be harmful to your health over the long term.

Foods that stress

• Caffeine – increases the level of stress by causing the release of adrenaline. If you are addicted to caffeine, the stress hormone-producing adrenal glands become worn out. These stress hormones also interfere with metabolism. This is why too much stress can cause you to hold onto excess weight. Too much caffeine has the same effect as long-term stress.
• Alcohol – although many people turn to alcohol to relieve stress, it is actually a stimulant. Like caffeine, alcohol stimulates the secretion of adrenaline, resulting in nervous tension, irritability and insomnia. Alcohol limits the ability of the liver to remove toxins from the body. During stress, the body produces several toxins. Without proper filtering by the liver, these toxins continue to circulate through the body resulting in serious damage.
• Sweets – Like other stimulants, sugar may also cause the adrenal glands to become exhausted. High sugar also puts a severe load on the pancreas.
• Salt – Salt increases blood pressure, depletes the adrenal glands and causes emotional instability.
• Fatty foods – fats, especially saturated fats, put undue stress on the cardiovascular system.
• Margarine and other manufactured oils – products high in trans-fatty acids can have a detrimental effect on cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease. Trans-fats also block the body ability to assimilate healthy essential fatty acids.
• Dairy – can stress the body if you find milk proteins difficult to digest or if they trigger allergic responses.
• Red meat – elevates brain levels of dopamine and norepinephrine, neurotransmitters associated with higher levels of anxiety and stress.
• Refined and processed - products like white bread and flour stress the body because they are low in nutrients and high in empty calories, which means that in order to digest them, the body has to use its own vitamins and minerals, depleting its own precious stores.
• Additives, preservatives, and other toxic chemicals – these unnatural substances place considerable stress on the body because your body has to work harder to deal with them. Valuable energy and nutrients are used up taking care of these toxic substances instead of being made available for boosting the immune system, among other things.

Now that you know what foods are causing your body stress, you can take steps to avoid them. In tomorrow's post, I will outline foods that you can eat to de-stress the body. Until then, be kind to yourself, and avoid these foods, especially on stressful days.

Spring cleaning!

Now that Easter weekend is over, perhaps you feel in need a reboot. You may have over-indulged in chocolate or a big family dinner. Now may be the perfect time to detoxify your body, give the digestive system a rest and clean out your system. Spring is usually the best time for an overhaul - spring-cleaning for the body.

There are many ways to go about it but if you have pre-conceived ideas about what it means, a detox need not be dramatic or extreme. It can be as gentle, easy, simple and minimal as you want to make it. It depends on your goal and how badly you are in need of a cleanse. In some cases, a one-day detox is all that is required. Many people are able to lose weight much more easily after an easy one-day detox.

Why detox?

The body stores foreign substances and toxins in it fatty deposits. Many people may be carrying 10 or more pounds of unhealthy mucus-harboring toxic waste! This waste may account for symptoms like PMS, digestive disorders, headaches, joint pains, bad breath, allergies, constipation, brittle nails, skin conditions, poor: memory, depression, insomnia, excess weight, and the list goes on.

What is a toxin?

A toxin is any kind of substance that causes harmful effects in the body, leading to intolerances, allergies and a general feeling of illness. The most insidious toxins are invisible. The body has a natural ability to expel toxins readily but sometimes it just needs a little extra help.

Everyday detox tips:

1. Have these top detox foods available to you every day: fruit and vegetable juices; water; raw foods, sprouts, greens; fruits, veggies, whole grains, legumes, seeds.

Avoid these toxic “foods”: sugar, fried foods, dairy, alcohol, caffeine.

2. Use a juicer to make your own vegetable juices.

A blender for smoothies.

3. Dry skin brushing – buy a skin brush and use it to speed up how quickly your body expels toxins by motivating blood cells and lymph tissue, two of the major physiological detoxification avenues of the body.

4. Diaphragmatic breathing - oxygen feeds the blood and cells, and detoxifies the organs and glands.

5. Daily exercise – exercise is essential to detoxifying the body. Anything that gets you moving will do the trick; if the activity makes you break a sweat, even better! By flexing, moving, stretching and relaxing muscles, the lymph fluid pulls out toxins. Sweating does the same thing.

6. Drink 6-8 glasses of filtered water a day.

In addition to these daily practices, consider a one-day detox to jump-start your systems. For the detoxification process to work properly, you do not need to starve yourself. A detox will give your organs a rest from the usual foods you eat while you add foods that cleanse your organs and facilitate the expulsion of toxins from your body. It will do you a world of good and make your path to health and well-being much easier.

The world’s healthiest foods – Turkey!

Let’s face it, we don’t eat turkey very often, but when we do, you start hearing a lot of noise about working off the turkey. Turkey is not the culprit, unless you are consuming the fatty skin. Gravy, white bread and white potatoes are. Or maybe too much chocolate. And eating past satiety – stuffing yourself!

In fact, grass-fed skinless turkey is one of the world’s superfoods. Skinless turkey is one of the leanest meats on the earth. Skinless roasted white chicken meat is higher in saturated fat than skinless white turkey meat. Turkey is heart healthy and helps lower the risk of cancer.

Ham has significantly more saturated fat. As a comparison, three ounces of meat contain the following quantities of saturated fat:

Ham       5.5 grams

Steak     4.5 g

Turkey   0.2 g

A low-fat protein source, turkey helps promote a positive outlook as well as high levels of energy and vitality. Turkey is known for its high tryptophan content, a protein from which the body makes serotonin. Serotonin is a mood, sleep and appetite-regulating brain neurotransmitter. The selenium content of turkey also promotes sleep and boosts immunity. The B vitamins, specifically B3 and B6, are helpful in controlling insomnia as well.

Turkey’s high protein also helps control appetite by balancing blood sugar levels which curbs sugar cravings and energy fluctuations. The white meat of turkey is considered healthier than the brown meat due to its lower fat content, but dark meat has more iron, zinc, folate and B vitamins. Ironically, dark meat can raise your metabolism more than white meat making you more efficient at burning fuel, more likely to lose weight, and less susceptible to overeating.

A 100g serving of turkey contains the following nutrients:

• Calories 110 
• Protein - 24.6 g 
• Fat  - 0.21 g
• Vitamin B3 - 6.23 mg 
• Vitamin B5 - 0.72 mg
• Vitamin B6 - 0.58 mg
• Iron - 1.17 mg
• Selenium 29 mcg
• Zinc - 1.24 mg

Turkey also contains glutamic acid which helps balance blood sugar and combat the aging effects of stress.

Free-range, organic skinless chicken is the next best thing to turkey, with many similar benefits but more fat. A free-range bird which has had a healthy diet and lived more naturally, will be leaner, tastier, and lose less water when it is cooked.

Happy Easter everyone! Feel good and sleep well!

Easter chocolate

This Easter weekend, why not try making this healthy chocolate snack.

Ingredients (measurements are approximations):

• 1 cup cocoa butter
• 1 cup coconut oil
• 3 tbsp raw cacao powder
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp Stevia sweetener
• Mint oil (optional)
• Pure vanilla extract

Melt equal parts cocoa butter and coconut oil over low heat. You may also add some organic butter. Add the cacao powder, cinnamon, sweetener, mint oil and vanilla to the oil mixture. Stir. Pour mixture into a pan or dinner plate, or if you like, you can pour into a mold for individual chocolates. Refrigerate. Once it turns solid, crack it into pieces.

Remember, healthy fats do not stimulate insulin release, which is the primary cause of weight gain. And it isn't so much the calories as the type of calories that contribute to weight gain. I hope you enjoy this healthy snack! Happy Easter everyone!!

The World's Healthiest Foods - Kale

Curly kale

A few days ago, a bag of kale chips in hand, our German friends who were unfamiliar with kale, began trying to figure out what it was by searching for a German translation. The best they came up with was cabbage. I thought this was wrong. But, as it turns out, kale is a "hardy cabbage of a variety that produces erect stems with large leaves and no compact head." Who knew? It is so different in appearance, texture and taste.

If you are familiar with kale, you probably know that kale is right up there with spinach in terms of its superfood status. These two vegetables rank the highest on the ORAC score, a measure of how well they act as antioxidants. Other vegetables that rank a close second on the ORAC meter are: collards, Swiss chard, mustard greens, turnip greens, bok choy, romaine lettuce, and orange bell peppers. These foods are all superfood powerhouses.

Kale is one of the best known cancer-fighting vegetables on earth. It is richest in carotenoids and contains an abundance of lutein, a phytochemical which is likely the key to its cancer-fighting potential. Following is a list of other health benefits of kale:

• prevents many forms of cancer, including breast, bowel, bladder, prostate, and lung cancers
• helps regulate estrogen 
• protects against heart disease
• regulates blood pressure
• is an excellent source of calcium, which is more absorbable than the calcium in milk
• protects against osteoporosis, arthritis, and bone loss

Key nutrients include:

• lutein (one of the carotenoids, yellow and orange pigment)
• plant-derived omega-3 essential fatty acids
• vitamin C and E
• Vitamin K
• B vitamins (riboflavin, niacin, thiamine, folate)
• minerals (calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, zinc and copper)
• sodium and potassium
• polyphenols

Heat destroys some of the carotenoids, but the resulting balance is more available for absorption by the body and the chlorophyll content is not affected. It is best to consume both raw and cooked forms. Chop off the tough stalks and only eat the leaves. Remove veins extending into the leaf if they are tough as well.

Because of its strong flavour, kale is best steamed or added to soups. Raw, it can be added to smoothies, or massaged with olive oil to soften the leaves and bring out the sweetness for a great-tasting salad base.

Here is a simple recipe to get you started:

Toss shaved kale with Parmesan cheese. Whisk the juice from two lemons and half a cup of olive oil and pour over salad. Season with sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Let sit at room temperature for an hour before serving.

Each of the green leafies offers a tremendous nutrient boost. If you vary your green leafie intake among those listed and have at least two servings most days, your health will improve dramatically. A serving is one cup raw, or half a cup steamed.

Green superfood

Have you tried any of the green powder superfoods like super blue-green algae, chlorella, or sea vegetables? If you're like me, you find these hard to swallow, literally. Because it is so horrible tasting, I have two containers that are mostly full. Well I made what may seem like a small but significant discovery recently. I found a way to mask the taste! I had run out of green plants to put in my smoothie, so I used a heaping tablespoon of Chlorella powder and a heaping tablespoon of Raw Superfood Sea Vegetables. To the powders I added equal parts blueberries and raspberries, roughly half a cup each, I didn't measure. Also, I put in about 3 tablespoons of softened coconut oil. This made enough for 3-4 glasses. This mixture was pretty thick, so I added enough water to make it drinkable. If you like your smoothie thick like pudding, no liquid is needed. The result was not only palatable, it was downright tasty! I was shocked.

Years ago I used to take super blue-green algae in pill form. The algae was harvested from Klamath Lake in Oregon. It was amazing stuff. I never got sick while taking it and it helped improve energy during bike rides. But it became too difficult to get it across the border so we stopped ordering it. Thanks to the federal government for keeping us safe from health foods - not! However they did succeed in forcing us to spend our health dollars in Canada: Now I buy Chorella powder from Prairie Naturals, a product of Canada. It is organic and fair trade fresh-water phytoplankton. The whole plant is used to make the powder, but the cell wall must be broken down before people can digest it. The powder is made from broken cell wall chlorella.

The label advertises that  chlorella helps improve metabolism for maintenance of good health, but it does a lot more: Chorella is also used to increase beneficial bacteria in the intestine in order to improve digestion; and to help treat ulcers, colitis, Crohn's and diverticulitis, ailments of the digestive and intestinal systems.

People have used chlorella for prevention of stress-related ulcers, treatment of constipation, bad breath, and hypertension, as well as as an antioxidant, to reduce cholesterol, to increase energy, to detoxify the body and as a source of magnesium to promote mental health, relieve premenstrual syndrome, and reduce asthma attacks. It is also good for people with fibromyalgia. Chlorella can be applied to the skin for treating skin ulcers, and rashes caused by radiation.

Those are a lot of health benefits! What about the sea vegetables? According to the label, Schinoussa Sea Vegetables purple label formula is a synergistic blend of the world's most powerful super food, and is nature's multivitamin. Indeed back when I took super blue green algae,it was my only supplement. The product I have is known as E3 Live and contains berry antioxidants. The added berries are known to increase the antioxidant profile and reduce stress. Diets high in sea vegetables are known to nourish immune function, increase energy, balance pH levels, and support the maintenance of good health.

If you are not convinced about the benefits of these green powders, try them yourself in a smoothie as suggested above. Add your own ingredients. Making these smoothies with green powder a regular part of your diet will go a long way to keeping you healthy. And now you know how to make it taste good too!

Please make sure you read the label for directions before taking any green powder supplement.

Relaxed and strong

I have a Bruce Lee calendar hanging in my kitchen. This month's quote says "You have to create your own luck. You have to be aware of the opportunities around you and take advantage of them." Today I was lucky. I discovered that two high-level martial artists who were visiting from Germany also trained in
Russian Systema. Systema I know a little bit about - the breathing principles and some of the exercises they do to train the breath - enough to know that I was interested in talking to these guys.

I have trained with Scott Sonnon, head coach of CST (Circular Strength Training) and Alberto Gallazzi, head coach of Tacfit. These two do some bodyflow movements that are incredibly similar to what I saw today with the Systema. I understood that mobility was important. The real key, I found out, is relaxing the body. Easy to say relax but not so easy to execute. For the Russians it seems, strength comes from relaxation.

You may remember I blogged about flow in movement back in February. Why is flow important in body movement? I can now add to that list strength and control. When we go with the flow, life becomes effortless. I felt this when Stefan was able to use my strength to control me. He could throw me with no effort, stop me from getting up with only the slightest contact. He could help me get up with two fingers and a loose hand, no problem. He moved like water. I kid you not. As Master Ken said, feeling is believing!

I asked about exercises. He said they do exercises while relaxing. Pushups, squats, relaxed. How do you do pushups and squats, or any other exercise without tension? By learning how to breathe. He demonstrated a relaxed pushup. It was like a wave. Talk about flow! And yet, the body moved as one. Then he had someone stand on his hand while he lay on the ground and he moved his body around his hand. Very mobile, very agile, very relaxed.

Then he put me in a wrist lock. He said pain comes from tension. If you relax, you can escape the pain, and the lock. Of course, unless you are very practised at staying relaxed, this won't work because there is no time. But the concept is interesting.

My key teacher/mentor is always on me about being more relaxed. It's all coming together! Every time you learn something here, it connects to something you learned there, and eventually there is understanding.

These are the things I learned after spending fifteen minutes with my German friend. His English was limited but he used few words: he communicated through action. Talk about luck! I don't know if any of this makes sense, but it was an eye-opener for me and a step on my journey that I wanted to share. Systema is such a fascinating martial art and I would like to learn more. One way or another, I will discover flow.

Thinking while exercising

A friend and former cyclist has said the reason she quit cycling is boredom. She finds it boring cycling for hours on end with nothing to think about. The idea for this blog came from her. In fact, I have had the same quandary at times. But there are upsides.

In addition to the fantastic health benefits, exercise is a wonderful time to think, to practice mindfulness, to socialize, to escape distraction. But first, what kind of exercise are we talking about? Cycling and running are similar activities in that your mind is free to wander while your legs are moving without thinking. This can be a time to ponder a problem or brainstorm ideas for an upcoming challenge or project. I have come up with some of my best ideas while out pedalling my bike alone. It is also a good time for reflection, thinking about something you are working on, or learning, or teaching.

Cycling and running can also be a great time to practice meditation. Zen meditation is expansive and calls on us to use all our senses to notice what is happening in our environment: sights, sounds, smells, tactile sensations. Practicing mindfulness while exercising, particularly outdoors, allows you to improve  your awareness skills.

If I am riding with a friend or in a group, large or small, there is time to socialize and take your mind of the passing kilometers. You must also pay attention to the wheel in front of you as well as what is happening ahead and behind. Things happen in the blink of an eye, so you can't stop paying attention.

I also use music to help pass the time. When I am riding indoors, music is absolutely essential. I also find it to be a great motivator when the intensity is high (during intervals) or when the workout is long.  I also love listening to music while I do a strength training, less as a distraction, more to inspire the best effort. That being said, I have noticed during an intense kettlebell workout, my mind can become so engaged in what I am doing, I don’t even notice the music.

Weight lifting is different. While it doesn’t require absolute focus, it does require attention to form and the weight being lifted. I focus on the muscle being worked. However, lifting weights can sometimes get boring which is one reason I prefer kettlebells. There is an endless variety of exercises and workouts that you can put together to achieve a variety of goals.

Because of their technical nature, kettlebells require your full attention. During a workout, your mind must be completely focused on what you doing in each moment. If your mind wanders, you could make a mistake and run the risk of injuring yourself or your neighbour.

Likewise with clubbells. They are a notch up from kettlebells in terms of technical performance and require your full attention. If you are doing high volume, it can be easy for the mind to wander off, but the form will reflect any lapse in focus.

TRX, or suspension training requires focus because the movements involve many joints and muscle groups. But the pace is not as high as it is during a kettlebell workout as the movements are done more slowly. Like kettlebells, suspension training offers a lot of variety of exercises as well, keeping things interesting and challenging.

Regardless of your choice of exercise, being present and mindful during practice is part of the game, joining the mental with the physical, and being grateful that you are able to workout hard and push yourself to new limits. 

Friday fat facts

Of all the oils, there is one in particular that is in a class by itself: Coconut oil! It possesses such unparalleled health benefits that entire island nations escaped Western disease for generations by consuming only coconut oil—until it was falsely vilified. Once thought to be unhealthy because it is a saturated fat, coconut oil has been shown to be one of the healthiest oils on the planet. 

Here is a short list of some of many the health benefits.

Coconut oil:

·         is comprised of medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs) that are easily digested and readily cross cell membranes. MCFAs are immediately converted by your liver into energy rather than being stored as fat.

·         combats disease

·         beautifies and protects the skin—even against skin cancer!

·         contains a unique combination of fatty acids with powerful medicinal properties-plus a specific healing compound that fights bacterial and viral infections

·         protects against UVB rays

·         is a powerful destroyer of all kinds of microbes, from viruses to bacteria to protozoa, many of which can be harmful, and provides your body with high quality fat that is critical for optimal health

·         aids heart health

·         promotes healthy brain function

·         provides an excellent “fuel” for your body and supporting a strong metabolism that can aid in weight loss

·         supports proper thyroid function

·         strengthens your immune system

·         maintains youthful and healthy looking skin

·         is easy on your digestive system and does not produce an insulin spike in your bloodstream, so for a quick energy boost, you could simply eat a spoonful of coconut oil, or add it to your food.

To get more coconut oil into your diet, you can add it to your tea or coffee, in lieu of a sweetener. It will also help improve absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, so taking a spoonful of coconut oil along with your daily vitamins may help boost their effectiveness. Coconut oil is ideal for all sorts of cooking and baking, as it can withstand higher temperatures without being damaged like many other oils (olive oil, for example, should not be used for cooking for this reason). Try to get 3 tablespoons a day for maximum benefit.

Furthermore, coconut oil does not go rancid, which is a huge boon when you’re making homemade concoctions. Coconut oil that has been kept at room temperature for a year has been tested for rancidity, and showed no evidence of it. Since you would expect the small percentage of unsaturated oils naturally contained in coconut oil to become rancid, it seems that the other (saturated) oils have a powerful antioxidant effect. 

If you don't like the taste of coconut, the taste is easily masked. Used in cooking, it is virtually unnoticeable. In fact, it enhances the flavour of the food you are cooking. And added to other foods, even smoothies, the taste goes undetected. 

Do you need any more reasons to incorporate coconut oil into your daily diet?

Thirsty Thursday

Sometimes I get asked "what should I drink?" People who, like me, are trying to be healthier and cut down on sugar wonder what on earth there is to drink.  I can sympathize because nearly every commercially made beverage is loaded with sugar. Soft drinks especially so. And since artificial sweeteners are even worse than sugar, going the “diet” route is not an option. But even drinks like Vitamin Water, which is a great marketing gimmick, has a fair amount of sugar: 13 grams in a 250 mL serving, which is less than your average store- bought beverage but still too much.

On a typical day, here is what I drink: 2 glasses of water on rising, a smoothie, organic black and green tea blend or other teas (cinnamon spice herbal tea made from rooibos, green, rooibos, or kombucha green tea), coconut water with no sugar added (Blue Monkey is my favourite brand), and water (sometimes at room temperature, sometimes cold).

I also love Kombucha fermented, sparkling living tea. Kombucha comes in various flavours such as mint chlorophyll, ginger, and hibiscus rosehips. The Rise brand that I buy is organic and it’s made in Quebec. It is refreshing and tasty but it may take some getting used to. This ancient fermented tea enhances vitality, aids digestion and detoxifies the body. You pay a little more, but it is worth the price!

That is about all I drink on a regular basis. Sometimes I mix Kiju organic grape and apple juice with my energy powder before a workout. It adds flavour and gives me an extra boost of carbohydrate. Kiju juice is 100% juice from concentrate. It contains 24 grams of sugar in one cup. Other than the occasional Kiju, I rarely drink juice unless I juice it myself.

One other juice I have from time to time is vegetable juice such as a V8. V8 vegetable juice is 100% vegetables and is available in low sodium for those concerned with sodium intake. Of course, you can also make your own vegetable juice if you have a good blender.

After a workout, I sometimes have a protein drink. Bolthouse Farms makes a nutritious line of drinks. However, always read the label before buying: some of the fruit smoothies are high in sugar and calories. I buy the Protein Plus chocolate. It has 16 grams of protein and 21 vitamins and minerals but it also has 240 calories and 26 grams of sugar in a 250 mL serving! Most varieties of chocolate milk have less protein and less sugar than the protein drinks. Remember 4:1 ratio of carbohydrate to protein is optimal after a hard workout. So you would need more carbohydrate in addition to one of these protein drinks. These ready-made options are okay now and then for convenience but the sugar content and the type of protein being utilized is not recommended for regular use. For long-term health, it is always optimal to make your own recovery drink using high quality protein and whole food carbohydrate sources.

Odwalla is another brand of juice that is healthy. The juice is not from concentrate and there is no sugar added. It is pure juice. Beware of the protein smoothies however. They are made from soy milk and isolated soy protein. Boldhouse protein drinks also contain soy protein isolate. I recommend avoiding all products that contain soy.

There you have it. The juice and beverage industry does not make choosing a healthy drink an easy decision but there are some options. Of course, most of these are not available at your neighbourhood convenience store. If you are on the go, take some filtered tap water in a reusable bottle with you when you leave the house and avoid this problem entirely.

Common weight-training myths

Back in the day, I used to hear all kinds of nonsense coming out of the mouths of the uninformed, usually from those who wanted excuses not to enter the gym. Some of these myths still exist today. Maybe you have heard these as well.

• Spot reduction – The best one is doing lots of sit-ups to lose belly fat. Or triceps extensions to lose fat on the back of the arm. Strengthening these areas as an end in itself is fine. But no amount of exercise targeting specific muscles will burn the fat off. Fat loss is a function of caloric intake. You must burn more than you ingest. Of course it is not that simple: quality of calories is important too. It is true that you burn calories while building muscle, but it isn’t muscle specific.
• Muscle can turn into fat – Fat cells and muscle cells perform completely different functions. It is not possible to transform one into the other. If you become soft and lumpy after being hard and lean, it is because your training has decreased and your eating – of unhealthy foods – has increased. Muscle loss is due to a lack of external stimulation. Muscle atrophies as fat increases; they are not transformed one into the other.
• Your muscles will get too big if you do strength training – It is common to make noticeable gains in muscle size in the first few weeks or months of strength training because the muscles are adapting to the stimulation of lifting weights. Accidentally getting too big is a myth. And if you have been doing strength training for very long, you will find this one quite funny. It takes a lot of hard work to build muscle mass and strength. It takes time. A strong, muscular body is built through consistent dedication to strength training and proper nutrition. Consistency means training regularly and steadily, week in and week out, never missing a workout.
• More is better – If you are weight training, in general, 30-40 repetitions, is enough to build strength. This can be broken up into sets of 3-4, totalling between 30 and 40 repetitions for one muscle group. Overtraining will not make you stronger. With other forms of strength training, sufficient work depends on many factors such as genetics, diet, sleep, training intensity, frequency, and volume or duration. If you are overtraining, chronic fatigue will set in, you may lose motivation, sustain injuries, and develop and increased resting heart rate.
• You can reshape a muscle doing isolation exercises – Your muscles can better bigger or smaller but shape is genetically determined. You can reshape your body but doing strength training, by reducing fat and building muscle, but you cannot reshape individual muscles by doing isolation exercises.
• You need high reps for definition, and low reps for mass – Muscle definition is based on the size of the muscle and the amount of fat surrounding the muscle. Doing high repetitions to burn extra calories is highly ineffective. Building muscle burns calories and high repetitions is a long road to building muscle. A consistent variety of high-intensity interval training along with proper nutrition is the way to get defined muscles.
• Strength training makes you big, cardio makes you lean – Again, diet is the major factor that regulates body composition. Strength training is the best fat burning strategy. More muscle burns fat. Endurance training can assist in fat burning but it won’t build muscle. To gain weight, increase caloric intake and build muscle through strength training. To get lean, decrease calorie intake and increase your metabolism by building muscle. Coupled with endurance training, you will become leaner.
• You can’t build muscle and lose fat at the same time – With proper nutrition it is possible to make gains in strength while losing fat at the same time, especially if you are just starting out. For more experienced athletes, it becomes more difficult but not impossible. You need to take in sufficient calories to build muscle. By choosing your food well, you can build muscle and lose fat.
• Weight lifting decreases flexibility – weight lifting will actually make you more flexible. Lack of movement makes you inflexible. Increasing your muscle mass or strength won’t reduce your flexibility at all.

So, there you have it. Strength training in combination with proper nutrition is important for everyone’s health and longevity. No excuses. So get out there and train!

Remember, “pain is weakness leaving the body”. - Unknown

Smoothie starters

A common question I get asked is what to use as a liquid base for delicious and nutritious smoothies. Many recipes call for ice. Depending on your blender, ice is used to keep the smoothie from warming up during blending, which can cause a loss of some of the nutrients. There are many good options for liquids, including the following:

Filtered water

If you find yourself tired throughout the day, it may be due to lack of hydration. When you are adequately hydrated, your body can flush out toxins, and you will find that you have more energy. Your body needs water, and most people do not get enough. Use fresh, filtered water for a cheap, easy and healthy smoothie base.

Raw organic coconut water

The health benefits of coconut are far reaching. Coconut water is loaded with electrolytes and potassium, which the body needs when it is expending a lot of energy. Using coconut water as a base for your smoothie is a great option if you are getting ready to work out. It also gives you a good start in the morning if you have a busy day planned and it is low in calories.

Organic green tea

Green tea has been researched for its amazing ability to help fight cancer, heart disease, obesity and diabetes. It contains massive amounts of polyphenols, which are a particular type of antioxidant. Green tea will refresh and rejuvenate skin cells giving you a clearer complexion.

Organic coconut milk

If you prefer a smoother base for your healthy drink, try organic coconut milk. Coconut milk is squeezed from the meat of the coconut and has a refreshing and sweet taste. It is high in protein, fiber, micronutrients and healthy saturated fat. Be sure to buy only milk that has no additional ingredients.

Yogurt

Yogurt makes for a thicker base but helps with masking strong flavours and adds probiotics to your smoothie.

Here are three recipes you can also use as bases for smoothies.

Great Green Mix

§  Celery – 2 pieces

§  Cucumber – ½

§  Kale – handful

§  Apple – 1 small

§  Parsley – a few pieces

§  Lemon – ½

§  Ginger – ½-inch piece

Cleanser and Antioxidant Mix

§  Beets – 1 small

§  Carrots – a few small

§  Apples – 1 small

§  Blackberries – handful

§  Ginger – ½-inch piece

Digestive Mix

§  Parsley – a few sprigs

§  Spinach – handful

§  Watercress – handful

§  Ginger – ½-inch piece

If you are after just a little natural sweetener for your smoothie, try juicing an apple, citrus, carrots or beets and adding this juice to your smoothie.

Functional flexibility

We hear so much about the need to stretch, especially as athletes. We are told to stretch before and after exercising. But what is stretching, physiologically? The conventional thinking is that you are taking your muscles and forcing them to lengthen until they change shape and length. But if you think about it, this would be like taking a rubber band, lengthening it, until it adopts a new length. Because it has lost elasticity! Shouldn’t the goal be to gain elasticity?

Our joints need elasticity in order to protect themselves, to keep things controlled. The most flexible people in the world suffer debilitating injuries later in life due to permanent changes in tissue length. Loose connective tissue cannot protect the joints from hypermobile injuries.

Traditional static stretching deforms the plastic region of connective tissue. A balance of strength and relaxation is desired. Flexibility is a measure of increased range of motion due to an improved strength and corresponding release. Dynamic range of motion - the ability to move through, about, and around a specific joint - is more applicable to daily life. Dynamic mobility is not a measurement; it is function.

Soviet scientist and physician Alexander Bogomoletz once said “Man is as old as his connective tissues”. Editha Hearns wrote a book on the subject called: “You are as young as your spine.” The long and the short of it – no pun intended – is this: We cannot rely on tissue stretching for flexibility, because we will lose it. We must master the regulation of selective tension in order to gain dynamic strength. Without strength, there is no control, so what is the point?

The combination of a sudden stretch and muscular contraction can result in tearing tendons. A stretch on one side and a simultaneous contraction on the other is known as the stretch reflex. A muscle that is stretched by an external force too far or too fast will contract to oppose the stretch. This is obviously not healthy.

Before beginning dynamic strengthening exercises to develop plasticity, we must learn to regulate muscular tension. Tendons and ligaments are composed of collagen (lending tensile strength) and elastin (lending elasticity). As we age, our tissues endure an irreversible process of increasing collagen and decreasing elastin. Conventional static stretching does not prevent the connective tissues from stiffening.

If elasticity is a material’s ability to return to its original state following deformation after removing load, to increase elasticity of a tissue, we must apply a load to the tissue in a range of motion, then remove the load, after the initial stiffness ceases and before the tissue is permanently deformed so that the tissue returns to its original state. This stress increases the capacity for storage of elastic energy. Elastic energy is a fascinating concept because it has so much potential usefulness in everyday life. Think of the jungle cat: The balance of strength and elastic energy is a powerful combination. 

There is another characteristic that affects mobility: that is, viscosity. Think of honey versus water leaking out of a cup with a hole in the bottom. The rate of drainage is much different depending on the viscosity of the liquid. Likewise, flexibility is also speed specific. Temperature affects the rate of stretchability. Different tissues respond differently to various rates of loading. When loaded rapidly, they resist deformation moreso than if they are loaded slowly. Flexibility is speed specific. Therefore dynamic flexibility cannot be gained through static stretches. 

As we age, the collagen/elastin ratio changes in favour of collagen. With decreased integrity of tissue elasticity, connective tissue is more likely to snap. So it is not how far we can move in a particular direction that is important, but how strong our tissues are, how quickly they resolve deviations in movement and afford us mobile security - movement with strength. As a result, we must train for flexibility in motion, coordinating range of mobility at our activity's velocity.

We are mobile beings, and we should train that way.